RE

• Muslims


  Believe in one God (Allah) and worship him as the divine creator
• Shari'ah


  Clear laws set out by God to guide human beings and allow them to live together in peaceful communities
• Islam is the world's second largest religion after Christianity, with an estimated 1.6 billion Muslims (23% of world population)
• Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world
• The Middle East and North Africa has the highest concentration of Muslim population today (93% of people in this region are Muslims)
• Nearly two-thirds of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region
• In Britain today there are nearly 3 million Muslims, making up more than 4.5% of the population
• Britain is now home to one of the most diverse Muslim communities in the world, with the largest groups originating from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as many from Arab, African, south-east Asian, Balkan and Turkish communities, and many converts from other faiths
• 3 per cent of people in this region are Muslims. However, nearly two-thirds of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region (in countries including Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Indonesia)
• In Britain today there are nearly 3 million Muslims, making up more than 4.5 per cent of the population
• Up until the mid-twentieth century there were very few Muslims in the UK, but from the 1950s onwards significant numbers of people came from the former colonies, taking up the offer of work in post-Second World War Britain
• Some of the first were East African Asians, while many others came from South Asia
• The 2011 census shows that Britain is now home to one of the most diverse Muslim communities in the world
• Largest groups of Muslims in Britain originate from

  • India
  • Pakistan
  • Bangladesh
• Other Muslim communities in Britain come from


  • Arab
  • African
  • South-east Asia
  • Balkans
  • Turkey
• There are also many Muslims who have converted from other faiths
• Types of Muslims in Britain

  • Sufis
  • Ahmadiyya
• The majority of British Muslims are Sunnis (95 per cent), with the remaining 5 per cent coming from the Shi'a tradition</b>
• Groups within the Sunni community

  • Deobandi
  • Barelvis
  • Salafi
• Types of Shi'a groups

  • Twelvers
  • Zaydis
  • Ismailis
• Islam


  Submission or peace
• Divine


  Perfect or God-like
• Creator


  One who brings something into existence, in this case the world
• Muslims believe that Islam did not begin with Prophet Muhammad; it goes right back to the earliest humans (Adam). Islam is the natural religion of all people, and while Muhammad is understood to be the final prophet, he is not the founder of Islam
• The Qur'an is the word of God
• Qur'an


  Means 'reading' or 'recitation'. The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad as a 'living sound' and it must be spoken to reveal its beauty and truth
• Hafiz


  Someone who has been able to memorise the whole Qur'an in Arabic
• The Sunnah is the second most important source of authority for Muslims
• Sunnah


  Describes the customs, practices and traditions of Muhammad
• Hadith


  An account describing the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. To 'tell' or 'narrate'
• Shari'ah


  A way of life; Muslims believe God has set out a clear path for how Muslims should live. Shari'ah law is the set of moral and religious rules that puts the principles set out by the Qur'an and the Hadith into practice
• Halal


  Actions or things which are permitted within Islam, such as eating permitted foods
• Haram


  Any actions or things which are forbidden within Islam, such as eating forbidden foods
• The ummah is the worldwide community of Muslims. Within the ummah all Muslims are equal, whatever their language, culture or nationality
• The central belief for Muslims is that there is one God (Allah) who has revealed his divine teachings to the Prophet Muhammad, in the Qur'an
• Sunnis form the majority of Muslims in the world today (87–90 per cent); they live in the countries of North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Indonesia
• The remaining 10–13 per cent of Muslims today are from the Shi'a community (although only about 5 per cent of British Muslims are Shi'as)
• Shi'as live mainly in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and India
• Sunnis and Shi'as have coexisted for centuries, living peaceably side by side, often worshipping together in the same mosques, sometimes inter-marrying
• Although they share most central beliefs, they do have significant differences in the way they understand religious truth, laws and practices