Despite its huge following around the world and the growing Muslim communities in the United States, Islam is foreign to most Americans who are familiar with Christianity or Judaism. Because most Americans know little or nothing about Islam, they have many misconceptions about Muslim beliefs and rituals. The negative image many people in the United States and Europe have of Islam and the Muslim world has a long history. Many have judged Islam without making an effort to consider this religious tradition on its own terms, without bothering to become acquainted with its teaching and the ways in which Muslims practice their faith.
             Like Judaism and Christianity, Islam is a monotheistic religion, based on the belief in one God. This religion was proclaimed by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia, in the 7th century A.D. The term Islam virtually means "surrender." Within Islam the believer (called a Muslim) use the Arabic word for God, Allah, to refer to the creator of the world and of all life within it. Allah is viewed as the sole God creator, sustained, and restorer of the world. The will of Allah, to which man must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the Qur'an (Koran). Allah revealed the Qur'an to his messenger, Muhammad. According to Islamic beliefs, Muhammad is the last of a series of prophets including Adam, Noah, Jesus, and others). Muhammad's message was to do away with the "revelations" attributed to earlier prophets. From the very beginning of Islam, Muhammad had indoctrinated a sense of brotherhood and a bond of faith among his followers. The Prophet Muhammad fled to Medina in AD 622, it was during this time that his preaching was accepted and the community-state of Islam emerged. During this early period, Islam acquired its characteristics as a religion uniting in itself both the spiritual and temporal aspects of life. Islam also seeks to regulate not only the individual's relationship with God, but human relatio...