Islam

"There is no god except Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet"

This is one of the phrases which are repeated again and again, when loudspeakers, five times a day, sound the prayers from the Moslem mosques. For Moslems there is only one god. The word "Islam" itself means "submission" or "surrender to the one and only god", namely Allah.

Religion and politics

Islam is the youngest of the world religions. Their holy book, the Koran, is divided into many small sections, called suras. They contain rules about how to live and behave - from the order in which to eat and drink to the kind of punishment a criminal should receive. In some Moslem countries, religion and politics are closely related. The religious leaders have taken over political power and make the laws according to their own interpretation of the Koran. When for instance, the Talibans in Afghanistan  prohibited men to shave themselves, they did it with reference to the belief that the prophet Mohammad had a long beard.

Holidays

Friday is the weekly Moslem holiday - and the mosques are very crowded with men kneeling with their head in the direction of Mecca. One month every year, Moslems celebrate Ramadan. During this period they fast from sunrise to sunset. When the holy month is over, they celebrate Eid where everyone gets new clothes and visit each others and bring presents.

In many Moslem countries and areas, a strict division between men and women are maintained. Women are often the ones in charge of Moslem households, and one practically only sees men in the street. Strict Moslems believe that women should decide less than their husbands. In the legal system in Pakistan a woman's testimony only count half of that of a man. This means that it takes two women's testimonies to counterbalance one man's testimony in a court case.

You can read more about Islam at: http://www.islam-guide.com/