"What Everyone Needs To Know About Islam" by John L. Esposito

• Islam is the second largest religion in the world (after Christianity) and will soon be the second largest religion in America.
• The Quran is the Muslim scripture. It contains the revelations received by the Prophet Muhammad from God through the angel Gabriel.
• Recitation of the Quran is central to a Muslim’s life; many Muslims memorize the Quran in its entirety.
• For Islam, no aspect of life is outside the realm of religion.
• Muhammad was and is the model of the Muslim ideal to be emulated by all believers.
• Despite a rich diversity in Islamic practice, there are five simple required observances prescribed in the Quran that all practicing Muslims accept and follow. These “Pillars of Islam” represent the core and common denominator that unites all Muslims and distinguishes Islam from other religions
• Declaration of faith: A Muslim is one who bears witness, who testifies that “there is no god by God [Allah] and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
• Prayer: Muslims pray (or, perhaps more correctly, worship) five times throughout the day: at daybreak, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and evening.
• Zakat (“purification”): Zakat expresses a Muslim's worship of and thanksgiving to God by supporting the poor. It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s wealth and assets, not merely a percentage of annual income.
• Ramadan: The Fast of Ramadan, occurs once each year during the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the month in which the first revelation of the Quran came to Muhammad. During this month-long fast, Muslims whose health permits must abstain from dawn to sunset from food, drink, and sexual activity.
• Hajj: The Pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. At least once in his or her lifetime, every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to make the sacrifice of time, possessions, status, and normal comforts necessary to make this pilgrimage, becoming a pilgrim totally at God’s service.
• Sunni Muslims believe that because Muhammad did not designate a successor the best or most qualified person should be either selected or elected as leader (caliph).
• Shii Muslims believe that succession to leadership of the Muslim community should be hereditary, passed down to Muhammad's male descendants.
• Islam, like Christianity, is a global religion with a universal mission, calling all of humankind to worship the one true God.
• Muslims believe that Islam supersedes Judaism and Christianity -- that the Quran is the final and complete word of God and that Muhammad is the last of the prophets.
• Muslims believe that what is written in the Old and New Testaments is a corrupted version of the original revelation to Moses and Jesus.
• Both alcohol and pork are forbidden in Islam.
• Many Muslim men wear beards in honor of the Prophet Muhammad, who had a beard.
• In its most general meaning, jihad refers to the obligation incumbent on all Muslims, individuals and the community, to follow and realize God’s will: to lead a virtuous life and to extend the Islamic community through preaching, education, example, writing, etc. Jihad also includes the right, indeed the obligation, to defend Islam and the community from aggression.
• Islam means submission to the will of God.