Mohammed recited the words of Allah to his followers. Some of them wrote down what he recited and this was called the Koran (Qu'ran). Koran came from an Arabic word meaning recitation. It is the holy book of the Muslims. The Koran does not contain the words of Mohammed. It contains only the words of Allah which Gabriel told Mohammed.
The Koran says that a Muslim man can have up to four wives at a time. Muslims must not eat pork or ham or bacon. They must not eat food unless it has been cooked by Muslims. Muslims must not drink alcohol. They must not gamble or lend money and charge interest on the loans. They are not allowed to keep Muslim slaves. If the leader calls for a holy war, all Muslims must fight to defend Muslims.
Koran and Hadith
The Koran is the last revealed word of God and the basic source of Islamic teachings and laws. The Koran deals with the bases of creeds, morality, history of humanity, worship, knowledge, wisdom, God-man relationship, and human relationships in all aspects. Comprehensive teachings on which sound systems of social justice, economics, politics, legislation, jurisprudence, law and international relations can be built, are important contents of the Holy Koran.
Mohammed himself was an unlettered man who could not read or write. Yet, the Holy Koran was committed to memory and writing by his followers, under his supervision, during his lifetime. The original and complete text of the Koran is available to everybody in Arabic, the language in which it was revealed. Translations of the meaning into many languages are widely used.
Hadith, the teachings, sayings and actions of Prophet Mohammed, meticulously reported and collected by his devoted companions, explain and elaborate the Koranic verses.
Concept of Worship
Islam does not teach or accept mere ritualism. It emphasizes intention and action. To worship God is to know Him and love Him, to act upon His law in every aspect of life, to enjoin goodness and forbid wrong-doing and oppression, to practise charity and justice and to serve Him by serving mankind. The Koran presents this concept in the following sublime manner: "It is not righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or the West, but righteous is he who believes in God and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the Prophets; and gives his wealth for love of Him to kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and observes proper worship and pays the Zakah. And those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the patient in tribulation and adversity and time of stress; such are those who are sincere. Such are the Godfearing". (Koran 2:177)
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