In 610 CE, Allah ordained the final Prophet He would send to earth. Over five centuries had passed since the previous Prophet He sent, Jesus the son of Mary. This final Prophet was Muhammad ibn Abdillah (saas). Though Muhammad (saas) was born in the Arabian peninsula, he was sent to all of humanity. He was commissioned to deliver a message from Allah to Arabs and non-Arabs alike.

The message was the same one which Allah had sent down to the earliest humans. It contained a description of the way of life which Allah had established for people to follow while they lived here on earth. By agreeing to follow this way of life, people would essentially be submitting themselves to Allah. The name of this way of life was simply 'submission'. In Arabic, this is Islam (pronounced "Isslaam").

The message of Islam was conveyed in only two ways: in the form of a book, and in the living example of the Prophet. These two are the basis for a way of life which is acceptable to both mind and heart - it is neither illogical nor impersonal. It is in fact the only true way of life revealed from the Creator. The scope of this way of life is vast enough that it transcends the traditional notion of 'religion'. Islam includes submitting to Allah in the realm of politics, economics, law, etc.

Whoever wishes to understand Islam can only start at one place: the Oneness and Uniqueness of Allah. This is the essence of the creed of Islam, and no other creed on earth approaches its power and elegance. Scholars have written at length on the beliefs of Islam (e.g. Ibn Taimiyah and at-Tahawi), but the core belief is undisputed:

Islam (Arabic: al-'Islam is a monotheistic religion originating with the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. It is the second-largest religion in the world today, with an estimated 1.4 billion adherents, spread across the globe, known as Muslims. The word "Islam" means "submission", referring to the total surrender of one's self to God (Arabic:, Allāh), and the word Muslim means "one who submits (to God)".

Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad and that Muhammad is God's final prophet. The Qur'an and the traditions of Muhammad in the Sunnah are regarded as the fundamental sources of Islam. Muslims do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham, Jesus, Moses, Noah, and other prophets. They hold that part of the messages of these prophets became distorted over time either in interpretation, in text, or both. Like Judaism, and Christianity, Islam is an Abrahamic religion.

Today Islam is the predominant religion in North Africa, West Africa the Horn of Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of the Indian subcontinent. Large communities can also be found in China, the Balkan Peninsula and Russia. Only about 20 percent of Muslims originate from Arab countries. Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries, such as France, which has the largest Muslim population in Western Europe and the United Kingdom.