Islam

Bold textISLAMBold text

Islam, which means literally "submission", is a religion that was founded in the 600's AD in the middle east by Muhammed. He claimed to be the last prophet of Allah, a name he used for the God of the Old Testament but which at the time was a local moon god, hence the crescent moon of Islam. Muhammed wrote the Koran, which he said was a holy book that existed eternally in heaven but was revealed to him by an angel of Allah. Islam claims to exist peacefully with Judaism and Christianity, claiming that Jews and Christians are "people of the book", and while certain passages in the Koran support this, others say that Jews and Christians are pagans and should be killed. Islam denies that God ever had a son or became human, saying that Jesus was a prophet, as well as denying that He ever died on a cross or otherwise, saying he ascended to heaven like Muhammed. Whereas biblical Christianity spread under heavy persecution in the Roman empire and later through the Reformation and up to the present day, Islam spread primarily by military conquest and forced conversions.