A Simple Introduction to Islam

For many people, learning about Islam begins with something simple: curiosity. Sometimes it starts with a question, sometimes with a conversation, and sometimes just with the desire to better understand a faith that may feel unfamiliar at first. At the Jaffery Center in Roanoke, one of our hopes is to make that first step easier by sharing simple reflections in plain English about what Muslims believe and why Islam continues to matter in people’s lives.

At its heart, Islam teaches that God has guided humanity from the beginning. Muslims believe that God sent prophets across time to call people back to Him: to worship one God, to live truthfully, to care for others, and to remember that life has purpose. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon them all, are all honored in Islam as part of that long chain of guidance. The Qur’an presents this message as one of continuity: a repeated call to faith, morality, worship, and accountability before God. (quran.com)

Moses holds a deeply honored place in Islam. He is remembered as a prophet of courage, patience, and leadership, a man who stood before oppression, received revelation, and guided his people through hardship. Muslims have often reflected on the biblical passage in which God says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you … and I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet.” From an Islamic perspective, many have understood this as pointing forward to Muhammad, who would come later as a prophet, lawgiver, and messenger carrying God’s words. (biblegateway.com)

Jesus is also loved and honored in Islam. Muslims believe he was born miraculously, was the Messiah, and was one of the greatest messengers of God. The Qur’an says that Jesus came confirming the revelation before him and giving glad tidings of a messenger who would come after him, whose name would be Aḥmad, a name understood in Islam to refer to Muhammad. In that way, Islam teaches that the story of prophecy did not stop with earlier messengers, but continued until the final revelation of the Qur’an.

Muslims believe that God also sent revealed books to guide humanity. Among them are the Torah given to Moses, the Psalms given to David, the Gospel given to Jesus, and finally the Qur’an revealed to Prophet Muhammad. In Islam, the Qur’an is understood as the final revealed book and the final preserved message for humanity.

So Islam is not presented as a disconnected religion or a sudden beginning. It is the final part of a much longer story: God sending guidance again and again through prophets, until that message reached its completion in Muhammad and the Qur’an. Muslims see this not as a break from what came before, but as the completion of a long chain of revelation.

At the Jaffery Center in Roanoke, one of the hopes behind sharing posts like this is simply to make Islam easier to understand in plain English. Not as a slogan, and not as a debate, but as a faith centered on God, prayer, character, and guidance. For anyone who has ever wondered where Islam begins, this is a simple place to start: with the belief that God did not leave humanity alone, but sent prophets and revelation to guide people back to Him.