Understanding Islam

Islam is one of the world’s major faiths, followed by close to two billion people across every continent. This page offers a plain, respectful introduction to its central beliefs and practices, written for anyone who would like to understand it a little better.

Belief in one God

At the heart of Islam is the belief in one God, known in Arabic as Allah, the same word Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians use for God. Muslims believe God is the single creator and sustainer of all things, without partner or equal, and that the purpose of human life is to know God and live according to His guidance. This belief in the oneness of God, called tawhid, is the foundation on which everything else rests.

The Prophets and Muhammad ﷺ

Muslims believe God has guided humanity through Prophets in every age, including many figures familiar from Jewish and Christian tradition, among them Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, each held in deep respect. For Muslims, the final Prophet is Muhammad ﷺ, who lived in Arabia in the seventh century and through whom, they believe, God’s message was completed. He is honoured as a Prophet and an example, not regarded as divine.

The Qur’an

The Qur’an is the holy book of Islam. Muslims believe it to be the word of God as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, preserved in Arabic since that time. It is recited in prayer, studied throughout life, and many Muslims commit large portions, or all of it, to memory. Alongside the Qur’an, the recorded sayings and example of the Prophet ﷺ, known as the Hadith and Sunnah, help Muslims understand and live their faith.

What Muslims believe

Muslim belief is often summarised in a few core articles of faith. These include belief in one God; in His angels; in the scriptures revealed before the Qur’an, including those given to earlier Prophets; in all of God’s Prophets; in a Day of Judgement, when each person accounts for how they lived; and in God’s ultimate knowledge and wisdom over all things.

What Muslims do

Just as belief has its foundations, so does practice. The everyday practice of Islam is commonly described through five acts of worship, often called the Five Pillars:

• Declaration of faith (shahada): affirming belief in one God and in Muhammad ﷺ as His Prophet.
• Prayer (salah): five daily prayers that punctuate the day, facing the direction of Mecca.
• Charity (zakat): giving a set share of one’s wealth each year to those in need.
• Fasting (sawm): abstaining from food and drink from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan.
• Pilgrimage (hajj): the journey to Mecca that every Muslim who is able makes at least once in a lifetime.

Together these weave faith into the rhythm of daily life, from the prayers that mark each day to the annual fast and the once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage.

Part of Irish life

Much of what Islam teaches will be familiar to people of other faiths and of none: care for family and neighbours, honesty, generosity to those in need, and the pursuit of a just and peaceful society. For Muslims in Ireland, these values are lived out as part of everyday Irish life. Muslims here are neighbours, colleagues, classmates, and friends, contributing to their local communities and to the country as a whole.

Faith and Irish identity sit comfortably together. Muslims take part in the civic, economic, and cultural life of Ireland while keeping their traditions alive, and that combination is now a natural and settled part of the wider Irish story. Building understanding and friendship between communities is at the very heart of the Irish Muslim Council’s work.