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Muslims believe that Islam is the final form of a religion that began with Prophet Adam and was modified and perfected through time.
There are five pilars of Islam:
1. Belief that there is only one God and that Muhammed is his last (but not only) messenger/prophet.
2. The commitment to five daily prayers, to be said before sunrise, after noon, in the late afternoon, after sunset, and at night before bed.

3. Fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
4. Giving of 2.5% of ones wealth (excess earnings) to charity.
5. Making a pilgrammage to the holy city of Makkah (where a number of religious rites are performed)once in a lifetime if possible.

There are also the six articles of faith:
1. Belief in the oneness and supremacy of God. He has ninety-nine names. To view them, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9 9_names_of_God. In Islam, God is referred to by Allah, which is Arabic for "the God."
2. Belief in the prophets of God. These people were sent as relayers of God's message. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, not a son of God.
3. The books; through many of his prophets, God gave messages that were written down. These include the Bible and the Torah. The book of Islam, however, is the Qur'an (Koran). The Qur'an is available on many websites on-line; try www.islamonline.net.
4. Belief in the afterlife is essential to the Islamic faith. Muslims believe they will be judged and sentenced to Heaven or Hell based on their deeds; belief is not enough.
5. The Angels are believed to be creations from the Nur, or light, of God
6. This last article is a little confusing, even to Muslims. It is believed that even though people are given free will, the fate of the world has been prewritten. How can this be? God is already aware of the decisions you will choose - that's is what is written down. He didn't not decide on your fate for you; this is the belief of Muslims.

Islam has been in the headlines lately because of "jihadists" and the so-called treatment of women. All I can say is that many of these abusive and oppressive practices have been in place BEFORE Islam came to those peoples who are Muslim today. Due to lack of education of their own faith, many Muslims have confused cultural values with Islamic beliefs.

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