ISLAM is the world’s second largest religion with a following of over one billion people called Muslims—one-fifth of humanity. The word “Islam” actually means “submission to God.” Therefore, “a Muslim is one who strives to submit to God.” Where is Islam found? Islam has spread across the entire globe. Muslims can be found in North and South America as well as in Western Europe, but they are predominately found in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Their predominant homelands lie in the area commonly referred to as the “10/40 Window” (between 10 degrees latitudinal north and 40 degrees latitudinal north ranging from the eastern side of Nort…

What is religion? This question has puzzled theologians throughout human history. But how did religion start in the first place? Why did it start? In order to understand some of these issues, let us have a look at the etymology of the word “religion” itself, and see that when and where this word was used for the very first time in the human history.

The word religion was used for the very first time in the Latin language. The actual word used in Latin was “religio”, which changed into religion when came into English. The roots of the Arabic word “Mazhab” or “Deen” can also be traced back to “religio”. In the Latin language, the word “religio” had three basic meanings; which are Faith, Trust & Belief.

If you further analyse these three words, faith, trust and belief; then you realize that there are actually three different characteristics