Common Questions

No. “Allah” is the Arabic word for God — Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use it too, and it appears throughout Arabic Bibles. Muslims understand themselves to worship the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus: the one Creator. Where Islam differs is in its strict insistence that God has no partners, offspring or physical form.

The Arabic root s-l-m means both “peace” and “surrender”. Islam is the peace found in surrendering to God; a Muslim is one who surrenders. It's a description of a relationship with God rather than a tribe or ethnicity — which is why anyone, from anywhere, can be Muslim.

Muslims love and revere Jesus (Isa in Arabic) as one of God's mightiest prophets. The Quran teaches that he was born of the Virgin Mary — an entire chapter is named after her — that he performed miracles by God's permission, and that he was the Messiah sent to Israel.

The differences: Muslims believe Jesus was fully human, a prophet rather than God or the son of God, and that he was not crucified but raised up by God. A Muslim cannot reject Jesus and remain a Muslim — belief in him is required.

No. Worship in Islam is for God alone — directing it to any created being, including Muhammad ﷺ, is considered the gravest possible error. Muslims love him, follow his example, and ask God to bless him, but they pray to God, never to him. His own recorded words: “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary; I am only a servant.”

Muslims believe God truly revealed scriptures to Moses and Jesus, and the Quran speaks of both with respect. However, Muslims believe those earlier texts were altered and partially lost over the centuries, and that the Quran was sent as the final, protected revelation. So a Muslim reads the Bible with interest, but treats the Quran as the criterion.

Halal means permissible; haram means forbidden. Applied to food, Muslims don't eat pork or drink alcohol, and meat must come from animals slaughtered with a prayer and minimal suffering. The vast majority of food is halal by default — vegetables, grains, fish, dairy. The categories extend beyond food: honest trade is halal, charging exploitative interest is haram.

The Quran instructs both men and women to dress and behave modestly; for women this traditionally includes the hijab, or headscarf. Muslim women who wear it generally describe it as an act of devotion to God and an assertion that they'd rather be judged by their mind and character than their appearance.

Honesty requires two additions: practice varies enormously across the Muslim world, and Islam holds that religious acts must be freely chosen — a coerced hijab contradicts its own purpose. Many Muslim women wear it proudly; some don't wear it at all.

Yes — visitors are welcome in most mosques, and many hold regular open days. Inside you'll find a large carpeted hall with no statues, images or pews; worshippers pray in rows facing Mecca. You'll be asked to remove your shoes, and modest dress is appreciated. Nobody will pressure you to participate — you can simply watch from the back. Find a mosque near you.

Yes, even water, from first light to sunset during Ramadan. The Quran gives the purpose in one word: taqwa — God-consciousness. Fasting trains self-restraint, forces gratitude for things usually taken for granted, and builds real empathy for the hungry. Muslims typically describe Ramadan not as misery but as their favourite month — evenings are spent breaking fast with family, friends and neighbours.

Literally, “striving”. In Muslim usage it covers every effort made for God's sake: struggling against your own bad habits, supporting your family, speaking truth to unjust power. It can also refer to lawful defensive war — with strict rules: civilians, women, children, clergy, crops and even trees are protected, and treaties must be honoured.

Terrorism violates these rules at every point, which is why Muslim scholars worldwide have condemned it as a betrayal of the faith, and why the vast majority of its victims have themselves been Muslims. We won't pretend no one commits violence in Islam's name — but the Quran's own standard is: “whoever kills an innocent soul, it is as if he had slain all of humanity” (5:32).

Islam's own texts gave women rights that were radical for the 7th century — to own property, run businesses, inherit, consent to marriage, initiate divorce and receive education. The Prophet's ﷺ first wife was his employer; one of Islam's most cited scholars was his wife Aisha.

At the same time, women in some Muslim-majority societies genuinely face oppression. Muslims would argue the fair comparison is between those cultural practices and Islam's actual teachings — and invite you to judge the faith by its sources, not by its worst examples, a courtesy every tradition asks for.

The split began as a political question after the Prophet's ﷺ death: who should lead the community? Those who favoured elected leadership became the Sunni (today roughly 85–90% of Muslims); those who believed leadership belonged to the Prophet's ﷺ family became the Shia. Over centuries some theological differences grew as well — but both share the same God, Quran, prophet, prayer, fasting and pilgrimage.

The Quran's first revealed word was “Read”, and it repeatedly points to nature as evidence worth studying. Historically, the Islamic world led global science for centuries — algebra and algorithms take their names from Muslim mathematicians, and the Islamic world was home to what many consider the first universities. Muslims see no conflict between studying creation and worshipping its Creator.

By sincerely saying the declaration of faith: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” That's it — no baptism, no clergy, no certificate required. Islam also teaches there is no compulsion in religion (Quran 2:256), so nobody should ever pressure you. Explore at your own pace; the door doesn't close.

Three good first steps: read our short introduction to Islam, request a free Quran and skim a few chapters yourself, and if you're feeling brave, visit a local mosque — meeting actual Muslims beats reading about them. And you can always send us any question, however basic or blunt.