Islam is the religion preached by a prophet named Mohammed in 600 A.D.  Mohammed was born in Mecca in 570 A.D.  He said to people that he had been sent to guide them and thell them that there is only one god (Allah), and that Mohammed is his messenger.  People who believe in Islam are called "Muslims".

Islam is the world's largest religion.  There is a large community of Muslims in the Middle East and North Africa.  Muslims are spread all over the world.  Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa all have a large population of Muslims.

Beginning of Islam:  Islam was started in Mecca in 610 A.D.  At first the prophet Mohammed made only slow progress.  Some Meccans were frightened by his preaching and made plas to kill him.  In 622 A.D. Mohammed migrated to the city of Madina where many people helped him to preach Islam.  This migration is called hijra.

In the year 630, Mohammed and his followers returned to Mecca.  By destroying the idols in Kaaba, the mosque, Muslims occupied the city Mecca.  The people of Mecca accepted Islam.  The cities Mecca and Madina became the important cities of Islam.  In 632 A.D. Mohammed died and then Abu Bakr became the caliph who was the Muslim leader.  Abu Bakr and his companions encouraged jihad (the holy war).  Muslims built a strong empire that stretched them from India to southern Spain.  Muslims united millions of different people into one great society.

The Teachings of Islam:  There are five pillars of Islam that Muslims have to obey.
    1.  Praying five times a day
    2.  Reading the Qoran
    3.  Fasting during the month of Ramadan
    4.  Charity of money, clothing or a place to live for the poor
    5.  Pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca

The holy book for Muslims is the Qoran.  The words of Qoran were sent by god to Mohammed by an angel.  The words of Qoran resemble the Bible.

Muslims have their own lunar calendar called the Islamic Calendar by which Muslims date their year.
 

By Mehreen
source: WorldBook 99
 
 
 
 

Illustrated Text of the Koran This beautifully decorated page comes from a Koran of the late 8th century or early 9th century. Muslims believe that the Koran is an infallible transcription of God's message to Muhammad. As the messenger of God and seal of the prophets, Muhammad was charged with the responsibility of relaying this message to all believers. Divided into 114 suras, or chapters, the Koran is meant to be chanted or sung as part of Islamic worship.  Bojan Brecelj/Corbis     "Illustrated Text of the Koran," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Dome of the Rock The oldest extant Islamic structure, the Dome of the Rock stands on the sacred rock in Jerusalem where the Prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended to heaven. Caliph Abd al-Malik built the mosque during the late 7th century. The mosque's basic octagonal design encloses a central space topped by a dome. A rich mosaic decoration covers the outer walls.  Israel Ministry of Tourism     "Dome of the Rock," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

     Pakistan is divided into four regions or four provinces. Each province has their own language but the official language of Pakistan is Urdu. The four provinces are Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan, and N.W.F.P. (NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE). Their languages are sindhi, Punjabi. Baluchi, and pushto.

   URDU: Urdu is the language which is very old and it has its own literature. Urdu shows Persian influence, and this is the main difference between the Urdu and Hindi languages which are written differently. The Urdu language is the combination of Arabic. Persian, and Turkish. There are about forty-three alphabets in Urdu. There is a big difference between Urdu and English, which is that Urdu handwriting is written from the right to the left and English is written from the left to the right.

   PUNJABI: Punjabi is the language, which is spoken in the Punjab area, a historic region that is now divided among Pakistan and India. Many different kinds of dialects are spoken in this region. A Pakistani speaker of Punjabi would not easily understand all of what is said by an Indian speaker of the same tongue.

   SINDHI: Sindhi language is spoken by over 3 million people in the southern part of Pakistan in the province of sindh. Hyderabad is counted in the largest cities of Pakistan. It has the greatest number of Sindhi speakers. The fact goes back to the days of partition in 1947. In those days many educated persons who spoke Sindhi were Hindus. They left Sindh to settle for a new life in India.

    PUSHTO: Pushto is the language that is spoken by pathans, and they have spoken it for centuries. Recently in the attempt to remedy this and help preserve the rich oral tradition of the language, qualified Persian script was introduced. A large population who speaks pushto is afghan refugees. They escaped Afghanistan when it was invaded in late 1979, by what was then known as the Soviet Union. The refugees have helped spread the use of pushto in Pakistan.

     MY EXPERIENCE AND OPINION: I have a lot of experience in languages because my mother tongue is Sindhi, but I understand and can speak Punjabi, I also speak Urdu because in Pakistan Urdu is the most important language. I can't speak pushto and Baluchi because they are really different from Urdu, Sindhi, and Punjabi. All these languages are hard to speak and understand too.