Qur'an Sura [9:44] Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day ask thee for no exemption from fighting with their goods and persons. And Allah knoweth well those who do their duty.

Islam was founded in the early seventh century in Arabia by Muhammed. When he was 40 years of age, in A.D. 610, Muhammed claimed to be receiving messages from God mediated by the angel Gabriel. These messages were later compiled and recorded in the Qur'an--Islam's holy book. About this same time, Muhammed began preaching against the greed, economic oppression, and idolatry that plagued the Arab peoples. He called on the many factions of the Arab peoples to unite under the worship of Allah, the chief god of the Arab pantheon of deities. Though his message was initially rejected, by the year 630 he had succeeded in gaining control of Mecca, the economic and religious center of the Arabian peninsula.

Though Muhammed died two years later, the religious/political movement he founded rapidly spread throughout the Arab world, and far beyond. By A.D. 750, the Muslim empire spanned from Spain in the west to India in the east. In the centuries that followed, Islam penetrated deeper into Africa and Asia, extending as far as the Philippines. During its "golden era" Islam claimed some of the world's finest philosophers and mathematicians. It was during this time also that Islam and Christianity clashed as a result of the Crusades to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslims.

Muslims regard the Qur'an as the speech of God to Muhammad, mediated by Gabriel, the angel of revelation; they believe that God himself, not Muhammad, is the author and therefore that the Qur'an is infallible.(JS:This Infallibility being the reason Islam will have a hard time going thru a reformation as the Christians did.) The document called the Qur'an is the collection of the passages revealed to Muhammad during the approximately 22 years of his prophetic life (610-32). It is divided into 114 chapters of unequal length, the shortest containing only 3 short verses, the longest containing 287 long verses. Both Islamic and non-Islamic scholars agree on the essential integrity of the text of the Qur'an throughout its history.

The second substantive source of Islam, the Sunna, or example of the Prophet, is known through HADITH, the body of traditions based on what the Prophet said or did regarding various issues. Unlike the Qur'an, which was memorized-either in whole or in part-by many followers of Muhammad during their lifetime and which was compiled in written form quite early, the transmission of Hadith was largely verbal, and the present authoritative collections date from the 9th century. Unlike the Qur'an, Hadith is not considered infallible. In the early Islamic period, whether or not the Prophet himself was infallible (apart from the revelations in the Qur'an) was a point of controversy. Later, however, the consensus of the Islamic community was that both he and the earlier prophets were infallible. Because Hadith was mainly transmitted orally, however, it was conceded that error could enter into the human transmission. Hadith, therefore, is a source secondary to the Qur'an, although it is almost equally fundamental for most Muslims. Recent research, not yet accepted by the large body of Muslims, has demonstrated that much of Hadith was not derived from the Prophet but represents the opinions of the early generations of Muslims, opinions that were subsequently attributed to the Prophet. In some cases a genuine statement of the Prophet was preserved, but additions to it were later made by Muslims who wanted to advance certain theological or legal opinions.

Prophets are one indivisible unity, and one must believe in all of them, for to accept some and reject others amounts to a denial of the divine truth. All prophets are human; they have no share in divinity, but they are the most perfect exemplars for humanity. Some prophets are superior to others, however, particularly in steadfastness under trial. Thus, the Qur'an describes Muhammad as the "Seal of all Prophets." From this arises the Islamic belief that prophethood was consummated and finished with him and that the Qur'an is the final and most nearly perfect revelation of God, consummating and superseding all earlier ones.

Five duties, known as the "pillars of Islam," are regarded as cardinal in Islam and as central to the life of the Islamic community. Profession of Faith. In accordance with Islam's absolute commitment to monotheism, the first duty is the profession of faith (the Shahadah): "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his Prophet." This profession must be made publicly by every Muslim at least once in his or her lifetime "by the tongue and with full assent from the heart"; it defines the membership of an individual in the Islamic community. Prayer. The second duty is that of five daily prayers. The first prayer is offered before sunrise, the second in the very early afternoon, the third in the late afternoon, the fourth immediately after sunset, and the fifth before retiring and before midnight. In prayers, Muslims face the KAABA, a small, cube-shaped structure in the courtyard of al-Haram (the "inviolate place"), the great mosque of MECCA. A single unit of prayer consists of a standing posture, then a genuflection followed by two prostrations, and finally a sitting posture. In each of these postures prescribed prayers and portions of the Qur'an are recited. All five prayers in Islam are strongly recommended to be offered in a mosque, but they may be offered in the privacy of one's own home. Individual prayers are not obligatory, but it is recommended that Muslims offer them after midnight; they are called tahajjud ("night-vigil").