The Arabic word "Islam" literally means "Submission." Islam, as a religious faith, means total submission to the will of Allah (God). One who submits his or her will to the God is called a Muslim. The name Islam is universal in its meaning. It does not refer to a nation of people, like the term Judaism, which refers to the tribe of Judah. Nor does it refer to a particular individual, as does Christianity. Islam was not a name chosen by human beings. It was chosen by Allah (God) Himself. Islam is not a new religion. It is the original religion of humanity revealed to all the Prophets and Messengers since the time of Adam (peace be upon them all). Allah is the proper name of the One True God who created the heavens and the Earth. Allah is the God mentioned by Abraham, Moses, and Jesus Christ (peace be upon them all). It should be mentioned that Arabic speaking Jews and Christians call the one true God by the name Allah.

I was much surprised to know that Arab-speaking Christians and Jews refer to God using the word Allah. I always had a feeling that people of different religions talk about the same in different words. Christians and Muslims and Jews have common prophets and same notions of good and bad in their holy scriptures. They differ between each other and even have different confessions within themselves but that is in details only. They just try to explain unexplainable and name something beyond any name.
It may be so that none of the human versions of God even comes close to truth. It is no wonder because God is so infinitely beyond any human understanding that it is unwise to declare any copyright for the only true understanding of Him.

For millions of people Islam is more than a simple religion, it is a way of living. For them spiritual goods are more valuable than material ones. They are ready to give their lives for it. It is a pity that sometimes these believes are used for manipulation.

Islam is one of the most influent religions in the world. Its influence is felt not only in the spiritual sense, but also in political and economic way. There are now up to 1.5 billion Muslims in the world or 23%.
Islam is the very old religion. It was founded in by Muhammed in 610 A.D. He received some messages from God and recorded them in the Koran.
Muhammed managed to unite the Arab peoples under the worship of Allah.
Muhammed didn’t live much, he died two years later, but his religious movement rapidly spread throughout the Arab world, and far beyond and continued to develop in our days.
Islam is very various religion, having different currents. The most important division is Sunni and Shia. It is very difficult to understand the differences between these two kinds of the same religion. For me the most important division of Islamic flows is the attitude and contact with the Western world and modern time. One trend accepts some degree of liberty and adjustment to modern ways of life. The example of such country is which have Western ways of life, maintaining Islamic religious practices.
The opposite trend fights for implementation of Sharia laws in all fields of the life, rejecting totally the Western and modern ways. Sometimes this flow manifests in in the various forms of Islamic fundamentalism. The examples of such countries are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan. Moreover fundamentalists are very active to impose their views all over the world, applying to violence and terrorism in attempting to implement their goals.
There are six basic articles and five pillars of Islam common to nearly all Muslims.
I will only mention these without a full description.
Basic articles:
- There is no God but Allah.
- Belief in angels and jinn.
- Belief in God's holy books.
- Belief in God's prophets, through whom Allah appealed to man to follow His will as revealed in His holy books..
- Belief in the absolute predestinating will of Allah.
- Belief in the final judgment.
Basic Pillars:
- Recitation of the creed: "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammed is his prophet." It is commonly held that to recite this creed in the presence of two witnesses is to constitute oneself a Muslim--one in submission to God. Of course, the word Islam simply means "submission."
- Regular practice of prayers. Usually all muslims pray together each Friday at noon.
- Almsgiving. The Koran requires that 2.5% of one's income be given to the poor or to the spread of Islam.
- The fast during the month of Ramadan
- Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca.

How many of us know what a marriage and a family of Muslims? I do not just have to face the fact that most of the uninitiated - is something bizarre called "polygamy" (sometimes - harem) is strictly defined roles of all the characters. Male - smug voluptuary, capricious despot, who manages their wives as property, intended only to satisfy his whims. Wife - slaughtered recluse who does not remove the veil that man shoulder issued for him and forcibly deprived of any rights. About love (except for wife- mistress ), women's dignity and justice, there is nothing to talk about.

Of course, this picture can be seen in the lives of Muslims. However, unless they? Is the play of the same story is not played out in different religious and cultural environment ? It is not Islam itself. A more reliable source than casual observation and entertaining books say that the true attitude of Islam towards marriage and the family is markedly different from the conventional image. Shall mention only some aspects of this broad topic, bearing in mind that the ethics of marital relations in Islam is unusual for Europeans and surprises with its contradictions. This strict morality combined with tradition to openly discuss details of married life, including those which touch uncomfortable even with our permissiveness.

The Muslim family: a man and his wife

First of all, how she chooses her mate. Contrary to common belief, a Muslim woman can not marry without her wish. However, the need for marriage, as a rule, and consent of the custodian. But if he denies without sufficient grounds, a marriage license can be obtained from a judge. Moreover, Islam is just a typical marriage of love.
Now about polygamy, about which there is a lot of prejudice. For example, a polygamy exists in favor of the depraved and loving Muslims. In fact, polygamy in Islam has a very different meaning: give women more opportunities to have a family, have children of lawful husband, to use the material and social protection. From the point of view of Islam, polygamy humane and moral because it helps solve the problem of female loneliness, abandonment and prostitution. Sharia is no accident so severely punished for adultery.
The sacred book of the religion called the Qur'an. The second group of the sacred book of Islam is called the Sunnah. It includes a collection of six essays and about a hundred volumes. According to the teachings of Islam, there is heavenly Qur'an, which is stored under the throne of Allah. This is the only instance.

There are also many copies of Quran earth. But the most accurate of them and that is written in Arabic. Earthly Quran was written by Muhammad disciples he said. He, in turn, dictated his angels, who passed it by word of Allah.

Jesus in Islam

Muslims respect and revere Jesus (peace be upon him). They see it as one of God's greatest messengers to mankind. Kuran version supports his virgin birth, and one of the verses of Kuran entitled 'Maryam' (Mary). Kuran describes the birth of Jesus as follows: "[Remember] when they said [the angels]:" O Mary! Truly, God proclaims the good news of a word to you from me! His name - Isa, son of Mary, celebrated it in this world and the world of the future, one of those close [to God]. Will he talk to people in the cradle and into adulthood, and he from among the just. " She said, "Lord, how can I have a child when no man touched me? '. Said [the angel]: "That's what creates God willing, when he decides some matter, they just said," Be! "- And it's become." (Kuran, 3:45-47). The birth of Jesus was a miracle happened after the instructions of God who created Adam without a father. God said, "Verily, Isa before God like Adam, He created him from dust, then said to him:" Be "- and he arose." (Kuran, 3:59). During the prophetic mission Jesus did many miracles. God tells us that Jesus said, "Truly, I came to you with a sign from your Lord, I will make you a clay image of a bird, blow on it and it will be so with the permission of God. I heal the blind and the leper, revive the deceased with the permission of God. I'll tell you about what you eat and what zapasayetesya in their homes. Indeed, around the same time - a sign you if you are believers " (Kuran, 3:49).
Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified. The enemies of Jesus were going to crucify him, but God saved him and brought her to him. The appearance of Jesus was given to another person. The enemies of Jesus, they took this man and crucified him, thinking that it was Jesus "... their words:" Verily, we have killed the Messiah, son of Mary, the messenger of God, "but they killed him not crucified, and it only seemed to them " (Kuran, 4:157). And neither Muhammad nor Jesus came not to change the basis of the doctrine of the faith in one God, founded earlier prophets, but rather to confirm and renew it.

Muslims also believe that God revealed Scripture to Jesus, which is called Indzhyl, some parts of which may be available to the teachings of God to Jesus in the New Testament. But this does not mean that Muslims believe in the Bible that we have today, because it is not the original scriptures given by God in revelation. They have undergone changes, additions and deletions.It was also stated by the Committee, which specialized in viewing the Holy Bible (Revised Standart Version).
This Committee consisted of thirty-two scholars who were its members. They hid the view and the meeting of the Advisory Board of fifty representatives of different denominations. The Committee expressed its opinion in the foreword to the Holy Bible (Revised Standard Version, p. Iv): «Sometimes it is evident that the text has undergone changes during transmission, but none of the existing version does not provide a satisfactory recovery. Here we can only follow the opinion of leading scientists, for the most probable reconstruction of the original text. The Committee also noted (ibid, p. Vii), «added comments indicate significant additions as well as omissions in the ancient sources" (see Matt. 9:31, Mk.: 3:16, 7:4, Lk. 24 32, 51, etc.).