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Islam is one of the three major world religions, along with Judaism and Christianity that profess monotheism, or the belief in a single God. In the Arabic language, the word Islam means “surrender” or “submission”—submission to the will of God. A follower of Islam is called a Muslim, which in Arabic means “one who surrenders to God.” The Arabic name for God, Allah, refers to the same God worshiped by Jews and Christians. Islam’s central teaching is that there is only one all-powerful, all-knowing God, and this God created the universe. Mohammed, the founder of the religion, proclaimed himself the last in a series of prophets and messengers. The revelation, which Mohammed received from God through the Angel Gabriel, continued for twenty-three years, and is known as the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Muhammad laid the foundation for the ideal Islamic state. A core of committed Muslims was established, and a community life was ordered according to the requirements of the new religion, which came to include a number of institutions that continue to characterize Islamic religious practice today. Foremost among these were the five pillars of Islam, the essential religious duties required of every adult Muslim, who is men