The Arabic word “Muslim” literally means “someone who submits to the Will of Allah”. The message of Islam is meant for the entire world and anyone who accepts this message becomes a Muslim. Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth. Over 80% of the world’s Muslims are not Arabs!

Even though most Arabs are Muslims, there are Arabs who are Christians, Jews and atheists. If one takes a look at the various people who live in the Muslim World – from South Africa to Norway and from Morocco to Indonesia – it is easy enough 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 reinstated by the fact that some of the early companions of the Prophet Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him) included Arabs, Persians, Africans and Byzantine Romans.

Being a Muslim entails complete acceptance and active obedience to the revealed Will of Almighty Allah. A Muslim is a person who freely accepts to base his beliefs, values and faith on the Will of Allah. In the past, even though you don’t see it as much today, the word “Mohammedans” 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 worshipped 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 Allah. In fact, worshipping Prophet Muhammad (May the Peace and Blessing of Allah be upon him) or praying to him is considered a major sin in the religion of Islam.