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Primary Beliefs and Faith Traditions:
Islam is a monotheistic (mono=one theistic=god) faith tradition and its roots go back to the days of the Patriarchs of the Old Testament; the days of Abraham. The word “Islam” in Arabic means peace, purity, obedience and total submission and commitment to the one and only God, and to His laws. The Arabic word for God is Allah; therefore Islam describes and attitude: the attitude of total submission to the will of Allah. Essentially, a Muslim is anyone who submits to the will of Allah. Islam teaches that everything in creation – plants, animals, mountains, hills, rivers, deserts, streams, oceans and people were created “Muslim”. Humans have the conscious choice through their ability to reason whether or not they chose to remain a Muslim or turn away from their original spiritual orientation (Klass 2002, 12-14).
Anyone may become a Muslim, regardless of race, nationality, social or economic status, as long as they believe in the Shahadah. The Shahadah is the basic creed of Islam: “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His messenger”. The Muslims must also embrace a lifestyle in accord with the Islamic principles and values.
Muslims believe that throughout history many prophets have been chosen by Allah and according to the Qur’an, this prophetic membership ended with Muhammad. Their belief states that all of the other prophets (biblical) were spiritual brothers.
Although Islam essentially began about 1450 years ago, Muslims believe that Islam is not a new religion. Muslims believe that it is a continuation and reiteration of the monotheistic teachings and traditions of early Judaism (McCarthy 1992, 119-123).

Sacred Islamic Texts
The Qur’an: The Qur’an literally ...

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...rn free from sin and with the spiritual potential to be good Muslims. Salvation is acquired by grace and guidance from Allah and personal faith, good works and deeds. All mankind is born Muslim and is endowed with the spiritual and intellectual ability to acknowledge Allah as God and obey His laws and submit to them. Humanity has a special place in creation as humanity alone is gifted with rational faculties, spiritual aspirations, freedom of choice and power of action.
Fridays is the Muslim day of congregational worship in a Mosque. Women may worship at home or in a Mosque but men and women worship separately. The leader of the Mosque is called an Imam, or “one who leads”. The Imam is chosen by virtue of his sincerity and dedication and leads the prayers and sermons.
The Muslim calendar is lunar as far as setting festival dates; the month begins with the

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