Who are Muslims?

It is estimated that there are over 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide. There are an estimated 10 million Muslims in America. The Arabic word “Muslim” literally means “someone who submits himself to the will of Almighty God”. The message of Islam is meant for all of mankind and whoever accepts the message of Islam becomes a Muslim. Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth, since in actuality, over 80% of the world’s Muslims are not Arabs! The Largest Muslim nation is Indonesia! Even though most Arabs are Muslims, there are Arabs who are Christians, Jews, and atheists. If one just takes a look at the various people who live in the Muslim World – from Nigeria to Bosnia and from Morocco to Indonesia – it is easy to see that Muslims come from all different races, ethnic groups, and nationalities.

From the very beginning, Islam had a universal message for all people. This can be seen in the fact that some of the early companions of the Prophet Muhammad were not only Arabs, but also Persians, Africans and Byzantine Romans. Being a Muslim entails complete acceptance and active obedience to the revealed will of Almighty God. A Muslim is a person who freely accepts to base his beliefs, values and faith on the will of Almighty God. In the past, even though you don’t see it as much today, the word “Mohammedins” was often used as a label for Muslims. This label is a misnomer and is the result of either willful distortion or sheer ignorance. One of the reasons for the misconception is that Europeans were taught for centuries that Muslims worshiped the Prophet Muhammad in the same way that Christians worship Jesus. This is absolutely not true since a Muslim is not permitted to worship anyone or anything besides Almighty God.

 Disclaimer: If you believe that there is One God and that Jesus is not the son of God, but the Prophet of God (and had many mircales) and believe in all the other Prophets of God, the Books of God (in their original form), the Angels of God, Accountability, Life after Death…then by definition, you are a Muslim (a believer).
Muslim Unity Center