Iowa

The Minor League soccer teams are:. The number of Muslims in North America is variously estimated as anywhere from 1.8 to 7 million, depending on which source is used. The Minor League hockey teams are:. There are also significant Muslim populations in China, Europe, Central Asia, and Russia. The Minor League baseball teams are:. Adherents.com (http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html)); estimates of Islam by country based on US State Department figures yield a total of 1.48 billion, 22.82% of the world's population (see Islam by country.) Only 18% of Muslims live in the Arab world; a fifth is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, about 30% in the Indian subcontinental region of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, and the world's largest single Muslim community (within the bounds of one nation) is in Indonesia. List of United States Senators who have represented Iowa:. Commonly cited estimates of the Muslim population today range between 900 million and 1.4 billion people (cf.

The caucus, held in January of the election year, involves people gathering in homes or public places and choosing their candidate, rather than casting secret ballots, as is done in a primary election. According to "The Almanac Book of Facts", the overall population increased 137% within the past decade, Christianity increased 46%, while Islam increased 235%. president. This is mainly due to the higher birth rates in many Islamic countries while a high conversion rate is also a noted factor. The state gets considerable attention every four years because of its presidential caucus, a gathering of voters which, along with the New Hampshire primary a week later, has become the starting gun for choosing the two major-party candidates for U.S. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance (http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_numb.htm) estimate that it is growing at about 2.9% annually, as opposed to 2.3% per year global population growth. The Iowa Code is republished in full in odd years (i.e., 1999, 2001, 2003, etc..) and is supplemented in even years. Center for World Mission (http://www.religioustolerance.org/growth_isl_chr.htm), and the controversial Samuel Huntington, Islam is growing faster numerically than any of the other major world religions.

The Iowa Legislative Service Bureau is a non-partisan governmental agency that is responsible for organizing, updating and publishing the Iowa Code. According to the World Network of Religious Futurists (http://www.wnrf.org/news/trends.html), the U.S. The Code of Iowa contains the statutory laws of the State of Iowa. Based on the percentages published in the 2003 CIA factbook, Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Congressmen:. Proponents of modern Islamic philosophy sometimes respond to this by arguing that, as a practical matter, "fundamentalism" in popular discourse about Islam may actually refer, not to core precepts of the faith, but to various systems of cultural traditionalism. The five U.S. The claim that only "liberalisation" of the Islamic Shariah law can lead to distinguishing between tradition and true Islam is countered by many Muslims with the argument that any meaningful "fundamentalism" will, by definition, reject non-Islamic cultural inventions -- by, for instance, acknowledging and implementing Muhammad's insistence that women have God-given rights that no human being may legally infringe upon.

Senators:. See Modern Islamic philosophy for more on this subject. The current Governor is Tom Vilsack (Democrat) and the two U.S. This movement does not aim to challenge the fundamentals of Islam; rather, it seeks to clear away misinterpretations and to free the way for the renewal of the previous status of the Islamic world as a center of modern thought and freedom. The state capital is Des Moines. One vehicle proposed for such a change has been the revival of the principle of ijtihad, or independent reasoning by a qualified Islamic scholar, which has lain dormant for centuries. One of the suggested ideas is switching from 180 days to a year-round school system. as proposed by advocates of the Islamization of knowledge, and would deal with the modern context.

An overhaul of the current education system is being planned. This would require formulating a new fiqh suitable for the modern world, e.g. In 2003, Iowa had the second highest average SAT scores by state, and tied for second highest average ACT scores in states where more than 20% of graduates were tested. The national office of ACT is in Iowa City, and the ITBS and ITED testing programs used in many states are provided by the University of Iowa. Early shariah had a much more flexible character than is currently associated with Islamic jurisprudence, and many modern Muslim scholars believe that it should be renewed, and the classical jurists should lose their special status. Iowa has a strong emphasis on education, which is shown in standardized testing scores. Although the most visible movement in Islam in recent times has been fundamentalist Islamism, there are a number of liberal movements within Islam which seek alternative ways to reconcile the Islamic faith with the modern world. Iowans' responses in 2001 to the question "What is your religion, if any?" were as follows:. See also: Islam by country.

"Rural flight" as it is called has led to offers of free land and tax breaks as enticements to newcomers. However, the relationship between the West and the Islamic world remains uneasy. 89% of the total number of cities in those states have fewer than 3000 people; hundreds have fewer than 1000. Between 1996 and 2004 almost half a million people, nearly half with college degrees, left the six states. Islam and Islamic political power have revived in the 20th century. Iowa, in common with five other Mid-West states (Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North and South Dakota), is feeling the brunt of falling populations. Following WWI, the remnants of the Ottoman empire were parcelled out as European protectorates or spheres of influence. Females made up approximately 50.9% of the population. By the 19th century, these realms had fallen under the sway of European political and economic power.

6.4% of Iowa's population were reported as under 5, 25.1% under 18, and 14.9% were 65 or older. In the 18th century there were three great Muslim empires: the Ottoman in Turkey, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean; the Safavid in Iran; and the Mogul in India. The 5 largest ancestry groups in Iowa are German (35.7%), Irish (13.5%), English (9.5%), American (6.6%), Norwegian (5.7%). Saladin however restored unity and defeated the Shiite Fatimids. The racial makeup of the state is:. After the disastrous defeat of the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Christian Europe launched a series of Crusades and for a time captured Jerusalem. Census Bureau, as of 2003, Iowa's population was estimated at 2,944,062 people. Nonetheless, the later empires of the Abbasid caliphs and the Seljuk Turk were among the largest and most powerful in the world.

According to the U.S. After this, there would always be rival dynasties claiming the caliphate, or leadership of the Muslim world, and many Islamic states or empires offering only token obedience to an increasingly powerless caliph. Iowa also produces the nations largest amount of ethanol. Within a century of his death, an Islamic state stretched from the Atlantic ocean in the west to central Asia in the east, which however was soon torn by Fitnas. Its industrial outputs are food processing, machinery, electric equipment, chemical products, publishing and primary metals. Islamic history begins in Arabia in the 7th century with the emergence of the prophet Muhammad. Iowa's main agricultural outputs are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle and dairy products. Main articles: History of Islam.

Its per capita income for 2003 was $28,340. Conversely, some modern Muslim states are far less tolerant towards non-Muslims than they were during the Golden Age of Islam. The state's total gross state product for 2003 was $103 billion. Now most Christians embrace tolerance and freedom of religion -- as do most religions. Iowa is home of 49 endangered & 35 threatened animal species as well as 64 endangered & 89 threatened plant species [1] (http://www.iowadnr.com/education/wldresbs.html). As many have pointed out, the classic Islamic state, while deficient by modern standards, was more tolerant than the Christian states of the time, which insisted on complete comformity to a state religion. These are some of the wild animals that can be found in Iowa:. They were second-class citizens, or dhimmis.

These are the United States highways that go through Iowa:. In Islamic territories, they were not to bear arms or proselytize, and they were to pay the aforementioned special tax, the jizyah. These are the interstate highways that go through Iowa:. The classical Islamic solution was a limited tolerance -- Jews and Christians were to be allowed to privately practice their faith and follow their own family law. National parks, etc. Sura 9:29 commands Muslims to fight against Jews and Christians until they either submit to Allah or else agree to pay a special tax. The state capital, Des Moines, is located in Polk County (#60). Sura 5:51 commands Muslims not to take Jews and Christians as friends.

Iowa has 99 counties. Later passages of the Qur'an speak more disparaging of them. Considering the size of the state (145,743 km˛), there is very little elevation difference. Earlier passages of the Qur'an are more tolerant towards Jews and Christians. The point of highest elevation (509 m) is Hawkeye Point, located in a feedlot north of Sibley in northwest Iowa. The mean elevation of the state is 335 m. There are Quranic grounds for both attitudes. The point of lowest elevation (146 m) is Keokuk in southeast Iowa. At different times and places, Islamic communities have been both intolerant and tolerant.

In the northeast along the Mississippi River is a section of the Driftless Area, which in Iowa consists of low rugged hills covered with conifers - a landscape not usually associated with this state. Some Muslims have respected Jews and Christians as fellow "peoples of the book" (monotheists following Abrahamic religions) and also have reviled them as having abandoned monotheism and corrupted their scriptures. Some of these are several hundred feet thick. The Qur'an contains both injunctions to respect other religions, and to fight and subdue unbelievers. Loess hills lie along the western border of the state. Main article: Islam and other religions. The topography of the state is gently rolling plains. The following religions might have been said to have evolved from Islam, but are not considered part of Islam, and no longer exist:.

Man-made lakes include Saylorville Lake, Lake Red Rock, and Rathbun Lake. However, Sikhs are forbidden from practices such as eating ritually prepared meat (halal) that are central in Islam. There are many natural lakes in the state, most notably Spirit Lake, West Okoboji Lake, and East Okoboji Lake in northwest Iowa (see Iowa Great Lakes). Sikhism also rejects image-worship and believes in one God, just like the Bhakti reform movement in Hinduism and also like Islam does. The Mississippi River forms the eastern boundary of the state. The boundary along the west is formed by the Missouri River south of Sioux City and by the Big Sioux River north of Sioux City. The philosophical basis of the Sikhs is deeply-rooted in Hindu metaphysics and certain philosophical practices. Iowa is bordered by Minnesota on the north, Nebraska and South Dakota on the west, Missouri on the south, and Wisconsin and Illinois on the east. However, its history lies in the social strife between local Hindu and Muslim communities, during which Sikhs were seen as the "sword arm" of Hinduism.

Highlights:. Some see Sikhism as a syncretic mix of Hinduism and Islam.
. As of January 1926, their final ruling on the matter of the origins of the Bahá'í Faith and its relationship to Islam was that the Bahá'í Faith was neither a sect of Islam, nor a religion based on Islam, but a clearly-defined, independently-founded, Faith. The state is named for the Native American Iowa people. The claim of the adherents of the Bahá'í Faith that it represents an independent religion was upheld by the Muslim ecclesiastical courts in Egypt during the 1920's. Post Office abbreviation for the state is IA. The following religions are said by some to have evolved or borrowed from Islam, but consider themselves independent religions with distinct laws and institutions:.

The official name of the state is "State of Iowa", and the U.S. The following groups consider themselves to be Muslims, but are not considered Islamic by the majority of Muslims or Muslim authorities:. Iowa is the 29th state of the United States, having joined the union on December 28, 1846. See also: Imam -- Islamic philosophy -- Zaiddiyah. Leonard Boswell (D). See: Liberal Islam. Tom Latham (R). They may be either Sunni or Shi'ite, and generally favour the development of personal interpretations of Qur'an and Hadith.

Steve King (R). Another recent group is the Ijtihadists, which represents a wide variety of views alternatively known as progressive, liberal or secular Muslims. Jim Nussle (R). "Wahhabism" is a movement founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab in the 18th century in what is present-day Saudi Arabia. Jim Leach (R). Another more recent group are the "Wahhabis", though some classify them as the conservative branch of the Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Tom Harkin (D). A large number of Ibadhi Muslims today live in Oman.

Chuck Grassley (R). Members of this group in the present day are more commonly known as Ibadhi Muslims. University of Northern Iowa. Another denomination which dates back to the early days of Islam are the Kharijites. University of Iowa. This position is not generally accepted by mainstream Sunni scholarship, and al-Azhar itself distanced itself from this position. Iowa State University. According to Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot, Head of the al-Azhar University in the middle part of the 20th Century, "the Ja'fari school of thought, which is also known as "al-Shi'a al- Imamiyyah al-Ithna Ashariyyah" (i.e., The Twelver Imami Shi'ites) is a school of thought that is religiously correct to follow in worship as are other Sunni schools of thought".

1% "Evangelical". Sufism is found more or less across the Islamic world, though bearing distinctive regional variations, from Senegal to Indonesia. 1% "Assemblies of God". There are also some very large groups or sects of Sufism that are not easily categorised as either Sunni or Shi'a, such as the Bektashi. 1% "Non Denominational". Instead of focusing on the legal aspects of Islam (fiqh) as other madhhabs do, Sufism focuses on the internal aspects of Islam, such as perfecting the aspect of sincerity of faith and fighting one's own ego. 1% "Church of Christ". However, some consider Sufism a separate mystical school.

2% "Congregational/UCC". Sufism occupies a place between the various schools of Islam, with practitioners falling into either Sunni or Shi'a. 2% "Pentecostal". The main Shi'ites areas are Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. 2% "Protestant". The term Shi'a is usually taken to be synonymous with the Ithna Ashariyya/Twelvers. 3% "Presbyterian". The Shi'a consist of one major school of thought known as the Ithna Ashariyya or the "Twelvers", and a few minor schools of thought, as the "Seveners" or the "Fivers" referring to the number of infallible leaders they recognise after the death of Muhammad.

5% "Christian". Shi'a Muslims are those that are not Sunni. 5% "Baptist". All four accept the validity of the others and a muslim can choose any one that he thinks is agreeable to his ideas. 5% "Refused". On some issues, each school of thought differs slightly on fiqh (thoughts on how to practise Islam) although all accept the fundamentals contained within the Holy Quran. 6% "Other". They are named after their founders Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi, and Hanbali.

13% "Methodist". It consists of four similar schools of thought (madhhabs) which interpret specific pieces of Islamic practice. 13% "No religion". The Sunni sect of Islam comprises the majority of all Muslims (about 95%). 16% "Lutheran". All denominations, however, follow the five pillars of Islam and believe in the six pillars of faith (mentioned earlier). 23% "Catholic". The major branches are Sunni and Shi'a, with Sufism often considered as an extension of either Sunni or Shi'a thought.

1.1% mixed race. There are a number of Islamic religious denominations, each of which has significant theological and legal differences from each other. 0.3% American Indian. Here as elsewhere in Islam, scholars disagree on specific applications of core principles, with some prominently advocating a punitive approach to "exclusionary" issues and others tending to de-emphasize such questions. 1.3% Asian. Other punishments prescribed by sharia (depending on interpretation) may include the annulment of marriage with a Muslim spouse, the removal of children, the loss of property and inheritance rights, or other sanctions. 2.8% Hispanic. In each of these countries Islamist regimes are estimated to have executed, flogged, and imprisoned hundreds or thousands of people believed to be apostates or blasphemers.

2.1% Black. However, some countries, notably Iran under the Islamic Republic, Afghanistan under the Taliban, and Sudan, have been less reluctant to enforce the laws on the books. 92.6% White non-Hispanic. In most of these countries, such laws are invoked only sporadically and selectively; convictions tend to be reversed at a higher level, or if not reversed, those convicted may be allowed to leave the country. 6, 18, 20, 30, 34, 52, 59, 61, 63, 65, 67, 69, 71, 75, 77, 136, 151, 169, 218, 275. Blasphemy is also an offence in many of these countries. 29, 35, 74, 80, 129, 235, 280, 380, 480, 680. Today apostasy is punishable by death in the countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, Iran, Sudan, Pakistan, and Mauritania.

Herbert Hoover National Historical Site. In the period of Islamic empire, apostasy was considered treason, and was accordingly treated as a capital offense; death penalties were carried out under the authority of the Caliph. Effigy Mounds National Monument. There can be no sharp distinction between these concepts, as many believers feel that there can be no blasphemy without apostasy. Iowa is also a major producer of ethanol. Blasphemy is showing disrespect or speaking ill of any of the essential principles of Islam. Although Iowa's primary industry is agriculture, it also produces refrigerators, washing machines, fountain pens, farm implements, and food products that are shipped around the world. Apostasy is public disloyalty towards Islam by any one who had previously professed the Islamic faith.

The Farm Crisis of the 1980's saw a major decline of family farms in Iowa and around the midwest, and was marked by a sharp drop in the state's rural population. In orthodox Islamic theology, conversion out of Islam is forbidden and punishable by death. Iowa had been a large supporter of alcohol prohibition. Islamic communities, as well as Christian and Jewish ones, often exclude apostates and blasphemers from the community of believers. Total recovery didn't happen until the 1940s. Main article: Apostasy in Islam. These hardships were the result of the removal of war-time farm subsidies. In a related development, Mohammad Hashim Kamali has questioned the reliability and contemporary relevance of the above quoted hadith of Hakim ibn Hizam.

Iowa saw a large increase in farming of beef, corn, and pork during World War I, but farmers saw economic hardships after the war. In recent times, traditional Islamic law has often been questioned by liberal movements within Islam. The Iowa General Assembly passed a women's suffrage amendment in 1870. And the Prophet said: sell not what is not with you." This hadith has rendered controversial within the Muslim world much of what is considered routine finance outside of it, including the sale of futures and options, both of which might be characterized as the sale of 'what is not with you.'. Iowa had a higher percentage of soldiers serve in the Civil War, per capita, than any other state in the Union, with nearly 60% of eligible males serving. A merchant named Hakim ibn Hizam reported, "I asked the Prophet: O Messenger of Allah! A man comes to me and asks me to sell him what is not with me, so I sell him and then buy the goods for him in the market. A small battle fought at Athens, MO in 1861 resulted in a few shots finding Iowa soil; a raid into Davis and Van Buren counties by Confederate guerrillas was stopped by Home Guards in October 1864. One hadith of special importance for Islamic contractual law should be mentioned here.

During the American Civil War, more than 75,000 Iowans participated in the war, 13,001 of whom died. The Sunnah is not itself a text like the Qur'an, but is extracted by analysis of the Hadith (Arabic for "report") texts, which contain narrations of the Prophet's sayings, deeds, and actions of his companions he approved. The completion of five major railroads across Iowa brough major economic changes as well as travel opportunities. The Qur'an is the foremost source of Islamic jurisprudence; the second is the Sunnah (the practices of the Prophet, as narrated in reports of his life). Council Bluffs was designated the eastern terminus for the Union Pacific railroad. For Muslims living in secular Western countries sharia ceases to be relevant as law, but remains a source of personal ethics (for example, the avoidance of pork and alcohol, and the use of Sharia-compliant banking services). The Chicago and Northwestern railroad reached Council Bluffs in 1867. Muslims in Islamic societies have traditionally viewed Islamic law as essential to their religious outlook.

Iowa became the 29^th state in the union on December 28, 1846. Main article: Sharia. Primarily, they were families from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia. It is enough to believe and say that one is a Muslim, and behave in a manner befitting a Muslim to be accepted into the community of Islam. The first white settlers officially moved to Iowa in June 1833. This is formally done by reciting the shahada, the statement of belief of Islam, without which a person cannot be classed a Muslim. Today, only the Mesquaki tribe is left in Iowa and live in Tama County. It is enough to believe in the central beliefs of Islam.

Iowa has been home to approximately 17 different tribes. Islam is open to all, regardless of race, age, gender, or previous beliefs. They described Iowa as lush, green, and fertile. There is no official authority who decides whether a person is accepted to, or dismissed from, the community of believers, known as the Ummah ("Family"). French explorers Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette are believed to be the first Europeans to visit Iowa. Other beliefs include the Angels, the Jinns (a species of beings not composed of solid matter, but of fire), and the existence of magic (the practice of which is strictly forbidden). A significant fraction of the Qur'an deals with these beliefs, with many hadith elaborating on the themes and details.

Like Christianity and some sects of modern Judaism, Islam teaches the bodily resurrection of the dead, the fulfillment of a divine plan for creation, and the immortality of the human soul; the righteous are rewarded with the pleasures of Jannah (Paradise), while the unrighteous are punished in Jahannam (a fiery Hell, from the Hebrew ge-hinnom or "valley of Hinnom"; usually rendered in English as Gehenna). Islamic eschatology is concerned with the Qiyamah (end of the world) and the final judgement of humanity. Main article: Islamic eschatology. However, most Muslims remain unaffected by those claims and simply regard those said groups to be deviant from Islam.

However, there have been a number of sects whose leaders have proclaimed themselves the successors of Muhammad, perfecting and extending Islam, or, whose devotees have made such claims for their leaders. Mainstream Muslims regard Muhammad as the 'Last Messenger' or the 'Seal of the Prophets' based on the canon. In the Qur'an, 25 specific prophets are mentioned. Islam demands that a believer accept most of the Judeo-Christian prophets, making no distinction between them.

Notable messengers include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses(Musa), Jesus(Isa), and Muhammad, all belonging to a succession of men guided by God. All prophets are said to have spoken with divine authority; but only those who have been given a major revelation or message are called messenger. In general, messengers are the more elevated rank, but Muslims consider all prophets and messengers equal. The Qur'an speaks of God appointing two classes of human servants: messengers (rasul in Arabic), and prophets (nabi in Arabic and Hebrew).

Main article: Prophets of Islam. Translations were the result of human effort and human fallibility, as well as lacking the inspired poetry believers find in the Qur'an. Translations are therefore only commentaries on the Qur'an, or "translations of its meaning", not the Qur'an itself. From the beginning of the faith, most Muslims believed that the Qur'an was perfect only as revealed in Arabic. The Qur'an is regarded as an infallible guide to personal piety and community life, and completely true in its history and science.

Old Qur'ans are not destroyed as wastepaper, but deposited in Qur'an graveyards. Most Muslims regard the Qur'an with extreme veneration, wrapping it in a clean cloth, keeping it on a high shelf, and washing as for prayers before reading the Qur'an. Only reformist or liberal Muslims are apt to take something approaching the Mu'tazili position. The caliph persecuted, tortured, and killed the anti-Mu'tazilis, but their belief eventually triumphed and is held by most Muslims of today.

The Mu'tazili position was supported by caliph Al-Ma'mun. Their opponents, of various schools, claimed that the Qur'an was eternal and perfect, existing in heaven before it was revealed to Muhammad. In the 8th century, the Mu'tazilis claimed that the Qur'an was created in time and was not eternal. The Qur'an early became a focus of Muslim devotion and eventually a subject of theological controversy.

The form of the Qur'an most used today is the Al-Azhar text of 1923, prepared by a committee at the prestigious Cairo university of Al-Azhar. Eventually, most commentators accepted seven variant readings (qira'at) of the Qur'an as canonical, while agreeing that the differences are minor and do not affect the meaning of the text. For hundreds of years after Uthman's recension, Muslim scholars argued as to the correct pointing and reading of Uthman's unpointed official text, (the rasm). Eventually, scripts were developed that used "points" to indicate vowels.

Because the Qur'an was first written [date uncertain] in the Hijazi, Mashq, Ma'il, and Kufic scripts, which write consonants only and do not supply the vowels, and because there were differing oral traditions of recitation, as non-native Arabic speakers converted to Islam, there was some disagreement as to the exact reading of many verses. Some suras (eg surat Iqra) were revealed in parts at separate times. Later scholars have struggled to put the suras in chronological order, and among Muslim commentators at least there is a rough consensus as to which suras were revealed in Mecca and which at Medina. More conservative views state that the order of most suras was divinely set.

Uthman's version organized the revelations, or suras, roughly in order of length, with the longest suras at the start of the Qur'an and the shortest ones at the end. Zayd's written collection, privately treasured by Muhammad's widow Hafsa bint Umar, was used by Uthman and is the basis of today's Qur'an. (This is covered in greater detail in the article on the Qur'an.) Most Muslims accept the account recorded in several hadith, which state that Abu Bakr, the first caliph, ordered Zayd ibn Thabit to collect and record all the authentic verses of the Qur'an, as preserved in written form or oral tradition. There are also numerous traditions, and many conflicting academic theories, as to the provenance of the verses later assembled into the Qur'an.

However, some skeptics doubt the recorded oral traditions (hadith) on which the account is based and will say only that the Qur'an must have been compiled before 750. He sent copies of his version to the various provinces of the new Muslim empire, and directed that all variant copies be destroyed. Scholars accept that the version of the Qur'an used today was first compiled in writing by the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, sometime between 650 and 656. Muslims believe that the Qur'an available today is the same as that revealed to Prophet Muhammad and by him to his followers, who memorized his words.

In addition to memorizing his revelations, his followers are said to have written them down on parchments, stones, bones, sticks, and leaves. Muslims believe that the Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel on numerous occasions between the years 610 and Muhammad's death in 632. Qur'an is the currently preferred English transliteration of the Arabic original (قرآن); it means “recitation”. It has also been called, in English, the Koran and the Quran.

The Qur'an is the sacred book of Islam. Main article: Qur'an. while two "branches", and one "root", are specifically Shia:. and four of what the Shia call the Branches of Religion:.

All Muslims further agree on two of what the Shia call the Roots of Religion:. Sunni Islam's most fundamental tenets are referred to as the Five Pillars of Islam², while Shia Islam has a slightly different terminology, encompassing five core beliefs (the "roots of religion") and ten core practices (the "branches of religion".) All Muslims agree on the following statements, which Sunnis term the Five Pillars of Islam, and Shia would consider two of the Roots of Religion and four of the Branches of Religion:. These are consequently the most important divine attributes in the sense that Muslims repeat them most frequently during their ritual prayers (called salah in Arabic, and in India, Pakistan and Turkey called "namaaz" (a Persian word)). All but one Surah (chapter) of the Qur'an begins with the phrase "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful".

Instead, Muslims describe God by the many divine attributes mentioned in the Qur'an, and also with the 99 names of Allah. Moreover, many Muslims believe that God is incorporeal, rendering any two or three dimensional depictions impossible. No Muslim visual images or depictions of God exist because such artistic depictions may lead to idolatry and are thus prohibited. And Allah is sufficient as its defender." [Chapter 4 : Surah 171].

His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth . Far is it removed from His transcendent majesty that he should have a son . Cease! ( it is ) better for you! Allah is only One God . So believe in Allah and His messengers , and say not "three" .

The Messiah , Jesus son of Mary , was only a messenger of Allah , and His word which He conveyed unto Mary , and a spirit from Him . As it says in the Qur'an, "O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth . However, Muslims completely disagree with the Christian theology concerning the unity of God (the doctrine of the Trinity which sees Jesus as the eternal Son of God), seeing it as akin to polytheism. In spite of the different name used for God, Muslims believe in the same deity as the Judeo-Christian religions.