islam there are ten pronunciations of islam in english differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress whether the s is or and whether the a is pronounced or when the stress is on the first syllable merriam webster the most common are oxford english dictionary random house and american heritage dictionary arabic pronunciation varies regionally the first vowel ranges from the second vowel ranges from at some geographic regions such as northwestern africa they don't have stress is the monotheistic religion articulated by the qur'an a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of god and by the teachings and normative example called the sunnah and composed of hadith of muhammad considered by them to be the last prophet of god an adherent of islam is called a muslim