Islam

American  

[is-lahm, iz-, is-luhm, iz-] / ɪsˈlɑm, ɪz-, ˈɪs ləm, ˈɪz- /

noun

1. the religious faith of Muslims, based on the words and religious system founded by the prophet Muhammad and taught by the Quran, the basic principle of which is absolute submission to a unique and personal god, Allah.

2. the whole body of Muslim believers, their civilization, and the countries in which theirs is the dominant religion.

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Islam British  

/ ˈɪzlɑːm /

noun

1. the religion of Muslims, having the Koran as its sacred scripture and teaching that there is only one God and that Mohammed is his prophet; Mohammedanism

2. 1. Muslims collectively and their civilization

   2. the countries where the Muslim religion is predominant

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Islam Cultural  

1. A religion, founded by Muhammad, whose members worship the one God of Jews (see also Jews) and Christians (see also Christian)(God is called Allah in Arabic) and follow the teachings of the Koran. Islam means “submission to the will of God”; adherents of Islam are called Muslims. The fundamental belief of Islam is “There is only one God, and Muhammad is his prophet.” Muslims are obliged to pray five times a day, to fast in the daytime during the holy month of Ramadan, to abstain from pork and alcohol, and to make gifts to the poor. All of them are expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca (see also Mecca), Muhammad's birthplace, at least once in their lives.

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Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims make up the two main branches of Islam.

Islam is the dominant faith in Arab nations, a number of countries of central Asia, and Malaysia and Indonesia.

Other Word Forms

• Islamic adjective
• Islamitic adjective
• non-Islamic adjective
• non-Islamitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of Islam

First recorded in 1610–20; from Ottoman Turkish islām, from Arabic islām “submission (to God),” from aslama “to surrender, resign oneself, submit oneself (to God's will),” from the Semitic root šlm “to be whole, sound”; akin to Arabic salām and Hebrew shālōm “peace,” from the Semitic noun šalām

Compare meaning

How does islam compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Muslim vs. Islam
• Nation of Islam vs. Islam

Example Sentences

A west African journalism group specialising in security reporting said the attack was carried out by the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims, better known by its acronym JNIM.

From Barron's

Also since 1979, Saudi Arabia—the cradle of Islam—had used oil money to spread its own Sunni ultra-conservative version of the faith around the world.

From The Wall Street Journal

Islam, the official state religion of Saudi Arabia, the self-styled guardian of Islam’s holiest sites, also prohibits alcohol consumption.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bangladeshi investigators were in contact with their Indian counterparts who had arrested the two suspected accomplices, Islam said.

From Barron's

The sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam whose members make up one of the country's biggest religious minorities.

From BBC