30 facts about Islam, with sources

Short answer: Islam is the religion of submission to one God, Allah, taught by a line of prophets ending with Muhammad ﷺ. It began in Makkah in 610 CE, its holy book is the Quran with 114 chapters, and Muslims practise it through five pillars: the declaration of faith, five daily prayers, yearly charity, fasting in Ramadan and the Hajj. According to the Pew Research Center (2025), Muslims were about a quarter of the world's people in 2020. The 30 facts below each give their source.

What Muslims believe

1. Islam means submission. The Arabic word islam means handing yourself over to God. It comes from the root s-l-m, the same root as salam, peace, and a Muslim is "one who submits". Source: Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon, root s-l-m. What is Islam?
2. Allah is the Arabic word for God. It is not the name of a separate god. Arabic-speaking Christians use the same word in their Bibles: the first verse of Genesis in the Arabic Bible says Allah created the heavens and the earth. Source: The Arabic Bible (Van Dyck translation, 1865), Genesis 1:1. Who is Allah?
3. Muslims believe in one God, with no partner and no son. This belief, called tawheed, is the heart of Islam. The shortest summary is Surah Al-Ikhlas: "He is Allah, [who is] One ... He neither begets nor is born." Source: Quran 112:1 to 4. Tawheed explained
4. The Quran names 25 prophets. They include Adam, Noah (Nuh), Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa) and Jesus (Isa). One passage alone names eighteen of them. Muslims believe in all of them, making no distinction in faith between them. Source: Quran 6:83 to 86. The 25 prophets
5. Jesus is named in the Quran 25 times, Muhammad ﷺ four times. Isa (Jesus) is named in 25 places. The name Muhammad appears in four verses (3:144, 33:40, 47:2 and 48:29), and the name Ahmad once (61:6). Source: a count of the Arabic Uthmani text of the Quran. Jesus in Islam
6. Mary is the only woman named in the Quran. Maryam, the mother of Jesus, is named in the Quran, and a whole surah, the 19th, carries her name. The angels told her that Allah had chosen her "above the women of the worlds". Source: Quran 3:42 and surah 19. Read Surah Maryam
7. Allah has ninety-nine names. The Prophet ﷺ said Allah has ninety-nine names, and that whoever learns them will enter Paradise. They include ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful, and al-Ghafur, the Forgiving. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 2736, from Abu Hurayrah. The 99 Names of Allah

The Quran

8. The first word revealed was "Read". The first revelation, in 610 CE, began "Recite (iqra) in the name of your Lord who created". It came to the Prophet ﷺ in the cave of Hira near Makkah. Source: Quran 96:1; Sahih al-Bukhari 3. How Islam began
9. The Quran has 114 chapters. The chapters are called surahs. They were revealed over about 23 years, and range from three verses (Al-Kawthar) to 286 (Al-Baqarah). Source: the standard mushaf. All 114 surahs
10. Every surah but one begins with "Bismillah". Surah 9, At-Tawbah, has no Bismillah at its start, while surah 27 has it twice, once inside a letter from Solomon. So it appears 114 times in all. Source: the standard mushaf; Quran 27:30. What Bismillah means
11. The Arabic text has been kept as it was compiled. The Companions wrote the Quran down in the Prophet's ﷺ lifetime, and the caliph Uthman had official copies sent to the main cities. Muslims around the world recite the same text today. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 4987, from Anas ibn Malik. History of the Quran

Worship and the calendar

12. Muslims pray five times a day, facing Makkah. Every prayer faces the Kaaba in Makkah, called the qibla. In the first months in Madinah, Muslims faced Jerusalem, until the Quran turned them toward the Kaaba. Source: Quran 2:144. Find the qibla
13. Friday is the day of congregation. On Friday, Muslims gather at midday for the Jumuah prayer and a sermon, in place of the usual Dhuhr prayer. Islam has no sabbath: once the prayer is over, the Quran says people may go back out and "seek from the bounty of Allah". Source: Quran 62:9 to 10. How to pray Jumuah
14. Cleanliness is half of faith. Before praying, Muslims wash in a set way called wudu. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Purity is half of faith." Source: Sahih Muslim 223, from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari. How to make wudu
15. The Islamic calendar follows the moon. A lunar year has 354 or 355 days, about 11 fewer than the solar year. So Ramadan and the Eids move about 11 days earlier every year and pass through every season. Source: Quran 9:36 and 2:189. The Islamic calendar
16. Muslims fast for a whole month. In Ramadan, healthy adult Muslims eat and drink nothing from dawn to sunset, for 29 or 30 days. The sick, travellers and some others are excused and make up the days later. Source: Quran 2:183 to 185. Ramadan fasting rules
17. Zakat is 2.5% a year. Muslims whose savings are above a minimum, the nisab, for a lunar year give one fortieth of them to people in need. It is one of the five pillars. Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 1572, from Ali ("pay a fortieth"). Zakat calculator
18. Islam has two main festivals. Eid al-Fitr comes at the end of Ramadan and Eid al-Adha during the Hajj. The Prophet ﷺ told the people of Madinah that Allah had given them these two days in place of their old festivals. Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 1134, from Anas ibn Malik; graded sahih. Eid 2027 dates
19. Hajj is once in a lifetime. Every adult Muslim who is able, in health and money, must make the pilgrimage to Makkah once. It takes place over five to six days in the month of Dhul Hijjah. Source: Quran 3:97. Hajj 2027

Those last acts are the five pillars of Islam. See them side by side, with a quiz and a printable sheet, on the five pillars of Islam.

History

20. Islam began in Makkah in 610 CE. Makkah, in the west of today's Saudi Arabia, was a trading town around the Kaaba. Muhammad ﷺ was about forty when the revelation began. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 3, from Aishah. Where Islam began
21. The Islamic calendar starts with a journey. Year 1 is the year of the Hijrah, the Prophet's ﷺ move from Makkah to Madinah in 622 CE. The Companions chose it over his birth or his death. Source: Sahih al-Bukhari 3934, from Sahl ibn Sa'd. What is the Hijrah?
22. Muslims believe Ibrahim built the Kaaba. The Quran says Abraham and his son Ishmael raised its foundations. It has been rebuilt several times since, and Muslims face it in every prayer but do not worship it. Source: Quran 2:127. Kaaba facts
23. The words "algebra" and "algorithm" come from a Muslim scholar. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi worked in Baghdad in the 9th century. "Algebra" comes from al-jabr in the title of his book, and "algorithm" from the Latin form of his name. Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, "al-Khwarizmi". The Islamic golden age
24. The oldest university still running was founded by a Muslim woman. Fatima al-Fihri founded al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, in 859 CE. UNESCO and Guinness World Records describe it as the oldest existing, continually operating educational institution in the world. Source: Guinness World Records, "Oldest university"; UNESCO, Medina of Fez. Women in Islam

Daily life and Muslims today

25. The Muslim greeting is a prayer for peace. "As-salamu alaykum" means "peace be upon you". The Prophet ﷺ told Muslims to spread this greeting among themselves. Source: Sahih Muslim 54, from Abu Hurayrah. Assalamu alaikum
26. Pork and alcohol are forbidden. The Quran forbids eating pork and drinking intoxicants. Food that is allowed is called halal, and what is forbidden is haram. Source: Quran 2:173 and 5:90. Halal and haram
27. Faith cannot be forced. "There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion." Belief in Islam has to be chosen freely. Source: Quran 2:256. Islam and other religions
28. Islam has no priests. There is no clergy between a person and God. An imam simply leads the prayer, and any Muslim can pray to Allah directly: "I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls upon Me." Source: Quran 2:186. Sheikh, imam and mufti
29. About a quarter of the world is Muslim. Muslims were 25.6% of the world's population in 2020, the second-largest religious group after Christians, and the fastest-growing major group between 2010 and 2020. Source: Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020 (2025). What Muslims believe
30. Most Muslims are not Arab. 59% of Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region, and the country with the most Muslims is Indonesia. Source: Pew Research Center (2025), as above; Pew Research Center, The Future of World Religions (2015). How Islam spread

Three things that are not true

• "Islam has an official symbol." It does not. The crescent and star became linked with Islam through the Ottoman flag. Read the star and crescent.
• "Muslims worship Muhammad ﷺ." They do not. Muslims love and follow him as the last messenger, and worship Allah alone.
• "All Muslims are Arabs." Most are not: see fact 30.

FAQ

Sources

1. Quran: 112:1 to 4, 6:83 to 86, 3:42, 96:1, 27:30, 2:144, 62:9 to 10, 9:36, 2:189, 2:183 to 185, 3:97, 2:127, 2:173, 5:90, 2:256 and 2:186, translation by Sahih International. Name counts from the Uthmani Arabic text.
2. Hadith: Sahih al-Bukhari 3, 2736, 3934 and 4987; Sahih Muslim 54 and 223; Sunan Abi Dawud 1134 and 1572 (graded sahih by al-Albani).
3. Pew Research Center, How the Global Religious Landscape Changed From 2010 to 2020 (June 2025).
4. Pew Research Center, The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 (April 2015).
5. Edward William Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon (1863 to 1893), root s-l-m.
6. The Arabic Bible, Smith and Van Dyck translation (1865), Genesis 1:1.
7. Encyclopaedia Britannica, "al-Khwarizmi".
8. Guinness World Records, "Oldest university"; UNESCO World Heritage List, "Medina of Fez".