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Introduction

The Kaaba at Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest Islamic site

} Islam is an Abrahamic religion based on the Quran and the teachings of Muhammad. The monotheistic religion has an estimated 2 billion worldwide adherents, called Muslims. Islam is the world's second-largest religious population after Christianity. Muslims believe that there is a primordial faith that was revealed many times through earlier prophets and messengers, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and they believe that Islam is the universal and complete version of this faith. Muslims consider the Quran to be the verbatim word of God and the unaltered, final revelation. Alongside the Quran, Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (Gospel). They believe that Muhammad is the main and final of God's prophets, through whom the religion was completed, and after whom no new prophet or divine law will come. The teachings and normative examples of Muhammad, called the Sunnah, documented in accounts called hadith, provide a constitutional model for Muslims. Islam is based on the belief in the oneness and uniqueness of God (tawhid), and belief in an afterlife (akhirah) with the Last Judgment—wherein the righteous will be rewarded in paradise (jannah) and the unrighteous will be punished in hell (jahannam). The Five Pillars, considered obligatory acts of worship, are the Islamic oath and creed (shahada), daily prayers (salah), almsgiving (zakat), fasting (sawm) in the month of Ramadan, and a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. Islamic law, sharia, touches on virtually every aspect of life, from banking and finance and welfare to men's roles and women's roles and the environment. The two main religious festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The three holiest sites in Islam are Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Prophet's Mosque in Medina, and al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem.

The religion of Islam originated in Mecca c. 610 CE. Muslims believe this is when Muhammad received his first revelation. By the time of his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. Muslim rule expanded outside Arabia under the Rashidun Caliphate. The two main Islamic branches are Sunni Islam (87–90%) and Shia Islam (10–13%). While the Shia–Sunni divide initially arose from disagreements over the succession to Muhammad, they grew to cover a broader dimension, both theologically and juridically. The Sunni canonical hadith collection consists of the six books, while the Shia canonical hadith collection consists of the four books. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 53 countries. Approximately 12% of the world's Muslims live in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country; 31% live in South Asia; 20% live in the Middle East–North Africa; and 15% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Muslim communities are also present in the Americas, China, and Europe. Muslims are the world's fastest-growing major religious group, according to Pew Research. This is primarily due to a higher fertility rate and younger age structure compared to other major religions. (Full article...)

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4 July 2026 – Mali War
The Al-Qaeda-linked Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin and Tuareg Azawad Liberation Front separatists launch coordinated attacks on the Malian communes and towns of Aguelhok, Anéfis, Gao, and Sévaré. The Malian army says it has repelled the assaults, while local sources report continuing fighting. (AFP via France 24)
3 July 2026 –
In Pakistan, a bus en route from Quetta to Islamabad plunges into a deep roadside ditch in Sherani District, Balochistan, killing 40 people and injuring eight others. (Reuters)
2 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says that they have killed five members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan near Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan, Iran. (Reuters)
1 July 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
Islamabad Memorandum
Iranian state television reports that a foreign container ship was grounded in shallow water after using an unapproved route through the strait. (MS Now)
30 June 2026 – Middle Eastern crisis
The Israeli military and Shin Bet in a joint statement says that Israel has killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander Talal Jaber Mohammad Abd al-Aal, who was involved in taking hostages during the October 7 attacks including Rom Braslavski. (Times of Israel) (JNS)

Selected biography

Wail al-Shehri (July 31, 1973 – September 11, 2001) was an al-Qaeda associate and hijacker on American Airlines Flight 11, which was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center as part of the September 11 attacks. Shehri was an elementary school teacher from Khamis Mushait in the Asir region of Saudi Arabia. In early 2000 he traveled to Medina to seek treatment for mental issues. He and his younger brother Waleed traveled to Afghanistan in March 2000 and joined an Al-Qaeda training camp. The brothers were chosen, along with others from the same region of Saudi Arabia, to participate in the September 11 attacks. Once selected, Shehri returned to Saudi Arabia in October 2000 to obtain a clean passport, then returned to Afghanistan. In March 2001, he recorded his last will and testament on video. Shehri arrived in the United States in early June 2001, staying in budget motels in the Boynton Beach area of south Florida. On September 5, 2001, Shehri traveled to Boston and checked into a motel with his brother. Six days later, Shehri arrived early in the morning at Boston's Logan International Airport and boarded American Airlines Flight 11. Fifteen minutes after take off, the flight was hijacked and deliberately crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.

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The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue.

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  1. ^ "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2026.