Islam is the religion that Allah revealed through His prophets, finally through the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. This page explains its foundations in simple words.
The Arabic word Islām means "submission": to entrust oneself completely to the one God, Allah, and to follow His commands. It comes from the same root as Salām, "peace".
A Muslim is someone who accepts this submission and believes in Allah and His Messenger.
The Prophet ﷺ said that Islam is built on five pillars:
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 8
In the well-known hadith of the angel Jibrīl, the Prophet ﷺ names what a Muslim believes in:
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 8
In the same hadith, the Prophet ﷺ describes the highest level of faith, Iḥsān: striving for excellence in every deed.
"That you worship Allah as though you see Him; and if you do not see Him, He surely sees you."
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 8
The sources of Islam are the Qurʾān, the word of Allah revealed to the Prophet ﷺ over 23 years, and the Sunnah: the words, deeds and approvals of the Prophet ﷺ, transmitted in the hadith collections.
Scholars have preserved, explained and passed on both over the centuries.
The Qurʾān reminds us that all people share the same origin and that the variety of nations exists so that we may get to know one another. A person's worth before Allah lies in their God-consciousness, not in their origin.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلنَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقۡنَٰكُم مِّن ذَكَرٖ وَأُنثَىٰ وَجَعَلۡنَٰكُمۡ شُعُوبٗا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ أَكۡرَمَكُمۡ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ أَتۡقَىٰكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٞ ١٣
O mankind, We created you from a male and a female and made you nations and tribes so that you may get to know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you before Allah is the most God-conscious of you. Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.