Let’s discover five interesting Islam facts for kids.
Those who follow the Islamic faith are called Muslims. In the world today there are around 1.9 billion Muslims. This makes Islam the second largest religion in the world, the largest is Christianity. Islam is a monotheistic religion, meaning Muslims only believe in one God, Allah. Allah is the Arabic name for God. Muslims believe that Islam was founded in Makkah or now Mecca, Saudi Arabia at the start of the 7th century CE.
Muslims believe that the words of the Qur’an were given to Muhammad from Allah through the angel Gabriel. The Qur’an is generally given a high place in the Muslim home. There is sometimes a special stand where the Qur’an is placed. The Qur’an is also known as the Koran. The Qur’an is written in Arabic. Muslims follow many rules that are in the Qu’ran. One rule is that Muslim men must wear clothes that cover them from the nose to the knee. Some Muslim women wear a head covering called a “hijab.”
The Five Pillars of Islam are the five duties that the Qur’an states Muslims must follow. These are;
The Shahadah – The declaration of faith, which Muslims recite every time they pray and repeat several times a day: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.”
Salah or Salat – The five daily prayers that are said in Arabic. When saying these prayers, Muslilms face toward the holy city of Mecca.
Zakah or Zakat – This is Muslims duty to give money to help the poor and in need.
Sawm/ Fasting – Muslims must fast during the month called Ramadan and not eat or drink during daylight hours. Not all followers of Islam are required to fast during Ramadan. Those excluded are sick people, pregnant women, and young children.
Hajj – This is a religious pilgrimage to the city of Mecca which Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lifetime if they are able to.
Friday is the Muslim holy day and it is when when Muslims go to the mosque and pray. A religious teacher called an imam, which translates to “’man of knowledge”, leads local prayer and takes care of the mosque. Every mosque has running water as Muslims must wash their face, hands and feet before they pray. Muslims must also remove their shoes when they enter the mosque.
Muhammad was born around 570 A.D. in the city of Mecca. Muhammad is considered to be the Holy Prophet of Islam and the last prophet to be sent by Allah to humankind. Muslims believe that Allah’s message was passed to the prophet Muhammad who then mesmerised these words and wrote them down. Muhammad proclaimed the Quran as the last Book of God and that he was the last Prophet.
We hope you enjoyed learning more things about Islam as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic the Islam religion is, you can move on to learn about religions like: Buddhism, Sikhism and Christianity.
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