Islam is a religion based on the surrender to God who is One. The very name of the religion, AL ISLAM in Arabic, means at once submission and peace, for it is in submitting to God's Will that human beings gain peace in their lives in this world and in the hereafter.

'Mohammedanism' is thus a misnomer because it suggests that Muslims worship Muhammad (pbuh) rather than God. 'Allah' is the Arabic name for God, which is used by Arab Muslims and Christians alike.

Monotheism in Islam

 The message of Islam addresses itself to humanity's most profound nature. It concerns men and women as they were created by God--not as fallen beings. Islam therefore considers itself to be not an innovation but a reassertion of the universal truth of all revelation which is God's Oneness.

This truth was asserted by the prophets of old and especially by Abraham (peace be upon him), the father of monotheism. Islam reveres all of these prophets including not only Abraham, who is the father of the Arabs as well as of the Jews, but also Moses and Christ (peace be upon them).

The Prophet and Messenger of God, Muhammad (pbuh) was the last of this long line of prophets and Islam is the last religion until the Day of Judgment. It is the final expression of the Abrahamic tradition.

One should in fact properly speak of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, for Islam shares with the other Abrahamic religions their sacred history, the basic ethical teachings contained in the Ten Commandments and above all, belief in the One God. And it renews and repeats the true beliefs of Jews and Christians whose scriptures are mentioned as divinely revealed books in Islam's own sacred book, the Qur'an.