Other important teachings in Islam are the Sunnah (which tell about Muhammad's life) and the Hadith (which are collections of dialogues of conversation that Muslims believe Muhammad said).
The Qur'an is considered in Islam as a manual to all of humanity and its teachings are to be implemented and shared by its readers.
Muslims pray in a place of worship called the mosque. A mosque is called a "masjid" in Arabic. Most mosques were mostly recognized having at least a single dome, and some have one or more towers. However many mosques were built without either domes or towers.
Muslims take their shoes off before entering the masjid to pray. Prayer is one of the most important things that a Muslim does.
The Muslim is called to prayer or solah five times a day. This call to prayer is called Adhan. The muezzin, a man chosen to make the call to prayer, uses a loudspeaker, which carries his voice to the people nearby. The call to prayer is often done out loud, in public, in Muslim countries. Being called to solah is a normal part of daily life for most people in Muslim countries.
Muslims pray on a mat, which is called a "prayer mat" or "prayer rug" in English. Common Arabic names for the prayer mat include "sajjāda" and "namazlık".
When it is time to pray, Muslims face the direction of Qibla - the direction they are supposed to pray in, towards Mecca. They then roll out their prayer mat, and perform their prayers to God.
According to Islamic teachings, Muslims must say "Peace be upon him" (PBUH or pbuh) whenever they hear Prophet's name. In this way, they show respect to Muhammad and other prophets.
In 2009, a study was done in 232 countries and territories. This study found that 23% of the global population or 1.57 billion people are Muslims. Of those, between 75% and 90% are Sunni and between ten and twenty five percent are Shi'a. A small part belong to other Islamic sects. In about fifty countries, more than half of the people are Muslim. Arabs account for around twenty percent of all Muslims worldwide. Islam has three holy sites; Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina.
Most Muslims live in Asia and Africa. Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million followers in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. In the Middle East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the biggest Muslim communities.
Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has about 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population). However, data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims. Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries,
and is slowly catching up to that status in the Americas.
Like with other religions, over time different movements have developed in Islam. These movements are based on different interpretations of the scriptures. The following sections list the most common movements.
General references
Notes
Dua
Judaism
"This article is about the Jewish religion. For more information about the Jewish people, see Jew."
Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות) is the world's oldest Abrahamic religion. It is almost 4,000 years old. There are about 15 million followers. They are called Jews. It is the oldest monotheistic religion. The Torah is the most important holy book of Judaism. The laws and teachings of Judaism come from the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and oral traditions. Some of these were first oral traditions and later written in the Mishnah, the Talmud, and other works.
Both Christianity and Islam are similar to Judaism. These religions accept the belief in one God and the moral teachings of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), which includes the Torah or "תורה."
The three main beliefs at the center of Judaism are Monotheism, Identity, and covenant (an agreement between God and his people).
The most important teachings of Judaism is that there is one God, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate. Judaism teaches that a person serves God by learning the holy books and doing what they teach. These teachings include both ritual actions and ethics. Judaism teaches that all people are made in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
The main teachings of Judaism are about God, that there is only one God and that god is Yahweh. Only God created the universe and only He controls it. Judaism also teaches that God is spiritual and not physical.
Jews believe that God is one – a unity: He is one whole, complete being. He cannot be divided into parts and people cannot say how He looks in words; they can only say how He is and what He does.
Jews believe that all goodness and morality is from God. God is interested in what people do and that He watches what they do.
Judaism teaches that all people are made in the image of God. This is why people must be treated with dignity and respect. A person serves God by being like God. This means that they must do what is fair and just, show mercy, and behave with kindness and love for people.
Judaism says that God exists forever, that He is everywhere, and that He knows everything. He is above nature (“supernatural”) but He is in the world and He hears those who pray to Him and will answer them. God is the main power in the universe.
Judaism teaches that God allows people to choose what to do – this is called “free will.” Free will is the freedom to do whatever a person wants, but that they must be responsible of his/her own actions. People are responsible for their actions. God rewards people who do good, and will punishes those who do wrong. God gives a person a reward or a punishment in this world, but He gives the final reward or punishment to the soul of the person after their death.
Jews believe that God made an agreement called a “covenant” with Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish people. The Bible says that God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants if they worshipped God and were faithful to him. God made this covenant with Abraham's son, Isaac, and with Isaac's son, Jacob. God gave Jacob another name, Israel. This is how Jacob’s descendants got the name the “Children of Israel” or “Israelites.” God later gave the Torah to the Israelites through their leader, Moses. The Torah told the Israelites how to live and build their community. God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and other laws in the Torah.
The Jews are sometimes called the “Chosen People". This is because the Bible says God told them, “You will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6) and “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose you to be His own special nation out of all peoples on the earth” (Deuteronomy 14:2). Jews understand that this means they have special duties and responsibilities commanded by God. For example, Jews must build a just society and serve only God. Jews believe that this covenant works in two ways: if they follow God’s laws, He will give them his love and protection, but they are also responsible for their sins – bad actions – and disobeying what God told them. Jews believe that they must teach other people that God exists and that God wants all people to do good actions. Jews believe that their job in the world is to be "a light to the nations" (Isiah 49:6) by showing the people of the world ways to make the world a better place.