What do Muslims believe?

Muslims follow a religion called Islam. The word Islam means "submission to God," but they don’t mean the God of the Bible.

A man named Mohammed started Islam in Saudi Arabia, and today Islam has over 1 billion followers around the world. The country of Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims.

Islam’s main belief is that there is only one god, and his name is Allah. Allah means "the god." But again, this is a false God, and not the God of the Bible. Muslims worship their god in a building called a mosque.

Another thing Muslims believe is that Mohammed is the final prophet with the "true" and "complete" revelation from God. That’s why they say that there is no other god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.

Muslims believe that a person must pray five times a day facing toward Mecca, the main holy city in Islam. This prayer may take place in the mosque or anywhere they happen to be. In some places they chant the call to prayer, and all the Muslims must bow and pray. Muslims pray toward Mecca because that is where the holiest city of Islam is located.

Finally, Islam has a holy book they use called the Qur’an (sometimes spelled Koran). Mohammed wanted a book like the Bible, so he said that the angel Gabriel came to him and gave him the words and he wrote them down. He said that this gives the Qur’an divine authority. But the Bible is the only divine authority, because it’s God’s words (2 Timothy 3:16).

The Bible says, "But suppose even we should preach a different ‘good news.’ Suppose even an angel from heaven should preach it. I’m talking about a different one than the good news we gave you. Let anyone who does that be judged by God forever" (Galatians 1:8). Jesus told us to preach the true gospel to the whole world. We need to love and share the truth of Jesus with Muslims, so they can know and love Him too.