About Our Religion

Allah, Arabic Allāh (“God”), the one and only God in Islam.Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilāh, “the God.” The name’s origin can be traced to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for god was il, el, or eloah, the latter two used in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Allah is the standard Arabic…

Mecca,Arabic Makkah, ancient Bakkah, city, western Saudi Arabia, located in the Ṣirāt Mountains, inland from the Red Sea coast. It is the holiest of Muslim cities. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, was born in Mecca, and it is toward this religious centre that Muslims turn five times daily in prayer.…

Kaaba, also spelled Kaʿbah, small shrine located near the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca and considered by Muslims everywhere to be the most sacred spot on Earth. Muslims orient themselves toward this shrine during the five daily prayers, bury their dead facing its meridian, and cherish the ambition of visiting it on pilgrimage, or hajj, in…

Muslims follow five basic pillars that are essential to their faith. These include: Shahada: to declare one’s faith in God and belief in Muhammad Salat: to pray five times a day (at dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening) Zakat: to give to those in need Sawm: to fast during Ramadan Hajj:…

The prophet Muhammad is credited with building the first mosque in the courtyard of his house in Medina. Mosques today follow some of the same principles he established in 622 A.D. Muslim prayer is often conducted in a mosque’s large open space or outdoor courtyard. A mihrab is a decorative feature…