Understanding Islam

Islam – explained clearly, warmly and honestly

What do Muslims believe? What is the Quran, who was the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which cities are holy to us, what distinguishes Sunnis and Shia – and how does one pray? Chapter by chapter, written in the spirit of the Emirates: with respect for every school, with moderation, and with the hospitality with which we welcome everyone who asks.

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FoundationsWhat is Islam?Islam means surrendering to Allah, the One, in peace – and, from that surrender, living with mercy, justice and balance. On this page we explain, calmly and simply, what Muslims believe, how they live their faith, what the Sharia aims to protect and what the Quran says about living together. Whether you are Muslim, newly curious or simply want to understand, you are warmly welcome here.Read · 26 min read
Iman – what Muslims believeThe Six Pillars of FaithIslam has pillars you can see: the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, zakat and the pilgrimage. Beneath them lies a foundation you cannot see: iman, faith in the heart. The Prophet ﷺ summed it up in six points: belief in Allah, in His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and divine decree. In this chapter we go through them one by one, with the Quran in hand, and also look at how Shia scholars arrange the same beliefs.Read · 18 min read
The BookThe QuranFor Muslims, the Quran is the word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through the angel Jibril over about twenty-three years. For fourteen centuries it has been recited, memorised and explained – in mosques, in families and in Quran schools all over the world. Here you will learn how it was revealed, structured, compiled and preserved, how the readings came about, and how you can begin with it and understand it yourself.Read · 19 min read
Life, character and exampleThe Prophet Muhammad ﷺMuhammad ﷺ is the final Messenger of Allah, through whom the Quran was revealed. His life is well documented – from his birth in Makkah, through the hard years of persecution, the migration to Madinah and the return to Makkah with forgiveness, to his passing in Madinah. To get to know him is to see Islam at its most human: mercy lived out every day. In this chapter we walk his path together.Read · 25 min read
The Sahabah and the Ahl al-BaytThe Companions and the Family of the Prophet ﷺAround the Prophet ﷺ gathered people whose names Muslims still speak with love: his family, the Ahl al-Bayt, and his Companions, the Sahabah. They preserved the Quran, passed on his Sunnah and showed with their lives what faith means. In this chapter you will meet the four rightly guided caliphs, Khadijah and Aishah, Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn, and many other Companions, men and women, rich and formerly enslaved, from Makkah and Madinah, from Abyssinia and Persia.Read · 22 min read
One family of messengersThe Prophets in the QuranMuslims believe in all the prophets Allah sent – from Adam to Muhammad ﷺ. The Quran names twenty-five of them and tells their stories not as distant legends but as light for our own lives. Here you will meet all 25, each with his trial, a key passage of the Quran that you can listen to verse by verse on our platform, and a lesson for today.Read · 25 min read
Al-Asma' al-HusnaThe Most Beautiful Names of AllahHow do you come to know someone you cannot see? Allah has introduced Himself to us through His names – the Most Gracious, the All-Forgiving, the Provider, the Light. Whoever knows these names prays differently, trusts differently and sees the world with new eyes. Here you will find the well-known list of the 99 names with their meanings, and ideas for living with them.Read · 27 min read
Prayer · SalahHow to pray – in Sunni IslamPrayer is a person's daily conversation with their Creator: five times a day, at set times, with body, tongue and heart. This chapter walks you step by step through how Sunni Muslims pray – from the ablution and the call to prayer to the greeting of peace at the end. Where the four schools of law differ, we say so openly; all four are recognised and valid.Read · 11 min read
Prayer · SalahHow to pray – in Shia Islam (Ja'fari)Shia Muslims of the Ja'fari school pray the same five obligatory prayers, with the same rak'at, towards the same qibla as all Muslims. This chapter explains the prayer as it is taught to a learner in this school – step by step, with transliteration and meaning. The school is named after Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (عليه السلام) and is one of the recognised schools of law in Islam.Read · 10 min read
From morning to nightIslamic lifestyle – everyday life with the Quran and the SunnahIslam is not a religion for the mosque alone – it accompanies you from the first thought in the morning to the last one before sleep: at the table and at work, in the family, at sport, on journeys and even on your phone. In this chapter we walk together through an ordinary day and through the great areas of life. You will find small, doable steps from the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ – not a burden, but anchors for your everyday life to hold on to.Read · 23 min read
The third pillarZakat – the obligatory almsZakat is the yearly obligatory payment on wealth that Muslims pass on to those in need. It is not charity on a whim but a pillar of Islam – a right of the poor in the wealth of the well-off. Here we explain calmly who pays zakat, how much, how to calculate it and who is entitled to receive it.Read · 19 min read
The month of the QuranRamadan and fastingRamadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar – the month in which the Quran was sent down, and the month in which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. It is a time of stillness and community, of patience and generosity. Here you will learn how the fast works, how to stay well through the month, what makes the last ten nights so special and how to set your own goals with the Quran using a gentle 30-day plan.Read · 16 min read
Festivals and seasonsThe important days of the Islamic yearThe Islamic year has its own rhythm: it follows the moon, and through its twelve months run days of joy, fasting, remembrance and reflection. In this chapter we walk through the year together – from the New Year in Muharram through Ashura, the Night Journey, Ramadan and the two festivals, to Friday, the festival of every week. Where Muslims have different traditions, we set them side by side with respect.Read · 19 min read
The pilgrimageHajj and UmrahTo travel to Makkah once in a lifetime and visit the House of Allah is the dearest wish of millions of Muslims. Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam and an obligation for everyone who is physically and financially able; Umrah, the "lesser pilgrimage", can be performed at any time of the year. Here you will learn what it means, how the rites unfold step by step and how to prepare well.Read · 23 min read
Learning pathThe Path to Becoming a Reciter – from the First Letters to the IjazahNo one is born a qari'. Every great reciter once began with Alif, Ba, Ta – with a teacher, much patience and an intention renewed again and again. This chapter shows you the path in nine stages, the way a good Quran school builds it: with a goal, an honest time range, a daily routine, a checkpoint and the typical pitfalls of each stage.Read · 10 min read
Competition & preparationThe Quran Competition in Dubai – and How to PrepareEvery year in Ramadan, young huffaz from many countries come to Dubai to recite the Quran from memory before a jury. The Dubai International Holy Quran Award was founded in 1997 under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and is known around the world today. Here you will learn what the Award is, what juries listen for – and how to prepare step by step, with patience and a sincere intention.Read · 10 min read
Holy places, cities of knowledgeThe Most Important Cities of IslamThree cities are holy to all Muslims: Makkah, Madinah and Jerusalem. Around them, over the centuries, grew cities where mosques, schools and libraries flourished, and places such as Najaf, Karbala and Mashhad that keep alive the memory of the Prophet's ﷺ family. In this chapter we travel to these places together, and end at home, in the Emirates, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Sharjah.Read · 17 min read
Faith and progress under one skyWhy the Emirates are a wonderful place to live Islam – in the midst of modernityFive times a day the adhan rings out over towers and desert, a prayer room is waiting in the shopping mall, halal is the rule at every meal – and a few kilometres away stands the Museum of the Future. In the Emirates, faith and progress belong together. In this chapter we tell you why so many Muslims love living here, what people of every faith value about this country, how to be a respectful guest – and why, in the end, it is your own heart that decides.Read · 16 min read
Houses of Allah, from Makkah to DjennéThe most beautiful and significant mosques in the world – and how to visit themA mosque is more than a building: it is a house of Allah, a place of calm, learning and meeting. In this chapter we visit together the three holy mosques, the mosques of our home, the Emirates, and some of the most beautiful houses of worship in the world. You will also learn what mihrab, minbar and minaret mean – and how to enter a mosque with respect and an open heart.Read · 20 min read
Beauty that points to AllahIslamic Art and CalligraphyWhoever steps into a mosque in Isfahan, the Alhambra or the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque feels it at once: here beauty speaks a language of its own. It shows no faces, but endless patterns, climbing blossoms and above all writing: the word of Allah, artfully written. In this chapter you will learn where this art comes from, how to tell the great scripts apart, what muqarnas and mashrabiya are, and how the Emirates are carrying the tradition forward today, right into the design of these pages.Read · 15 min read
Fiqh and the madhahibThe Schools of Law in Islam – an OverviewWhen Muslims pray, fast, trade or marry, they follow a carefully grown understanding of what Allah asks of them. Great scholars derived this understanding from the Quran and the Sunnah over centuries – and from their work the schools of law, the madhahib, were born. In this chapter you will learn what a school of law is, why there are several, and why their diversity is a richness for the Ummah.Read · 14 min read
Imam Abu Hanifa and his studentsThe Hanafi School of LawThe Hanafi school is the most widespread school of law in the Muslim world – from Istanbul to Sarajevo, from Bukhara to Lahore. It goes back to Imam Abu Hanifa an-Nu'man ibn Thabit, may Allah have mercy on him, who taught in Kufa and whom later generations called "the greatest imam". In this chapter you will get to know him, his great students, his method and the traces his school has left in history.Read · 11 min read
The heritage of MadinahThe Maliki SchoolThe Maliki school takes its name from Imam Malik ibn Anas, the great scholar of Madinah, may Allah have mercy on him. More than any other school it preserves the lived Islam of the Prophet's ﷺ own city, and for centuries it has shaped North and West Africa, historical Andalusia and the Gulf region. Many people in the Emirates pray, fast and live according to its understanding – reason enough to get to know it with special affection.Read · 14 min read
The architect of methodThe Shafi'i SchoolThe Shafi'i school goes back to Imam Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him – a scholar who travelled from Makkah to Madinah, to Iraq and finally to Egypt, gathering the knowledge of his age along the way. With his Risala he laid the foundation of the science of legal methodology. Today his school is followed from Egypt through East Africa and Yemen all the way to Indonesia and Malaysia.Read · 13 min read
The school of Imam Ahmad ibn HanbalThe Hanbali School of LawThe Hanbali school carries the name of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah have mercy on him – a man who devoted his life to the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ and remained steadfast through a severe trial. From his answers, carefully recorded by his students, grew a school of law that gives special priority to the texts of the Quran and Sunnah and to the words of the Companions. Today it is taught and lived above all on the Arabian Peninsula, and its books are studied throughout the Muslim world.Read · 11 min read
The school of Imam Ja'far as-SadiqThe Ja'fari SchoolThe Ja'fari school carries the name of Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (peace be upon him), a great-grandson of Husayn and one of the great teachers of Madinah in the second century after the Hijrah. It is the school of law of Twelver Shia Muslims, and the Amman Message names it explicitly as one of the eight recognised schools of Islam. In this chapter you will get to know it as its followers understand it themselves – calmly, precisely and with respect.Read · 12 min read
The school of Imam Zayd ibn AliThe Zaydi SchoolThe Zaydis take their name from Imam Zayd ibn Ali, a great-grandson of Ali ibn Abi Talib and grandson of Husayn. Their school of law belongs to the Shia tradition, yet in many practical matters it stands remarkably close to the Sunni schools. For more than a thousand years the highlands of Yemen were its home, and from its milieu came scholars who are read throughout the Islamic world today.Read · 10 min read
The school of the people of steadfastnessThe Ibadi SchoolThe Ibadi school is one of the oldest schools of law in Islam. Its roots lie in Basra in the first century after the Hijrah, with the great scholar Jabir ibn Zayd, a student of Ibn Abbas and Aishah. Today Oman is its main home, a country known for its tolerance and peaceful coexistence. Smaller communities live in North Africa to this day.Read · 10 min read
The school of the apparent meaningThe Zahiri School of LawThe Zahiris sought to understand the texts of the Quran and Sunnah as they plainly (zahir) stand, without adding anything to them. Founded by Dawud al-Zahiri in Baghdad and brought to its fullest flowering by Ibn Hazm in Córdoba, this school has few followers today – and yet it is still studied, quoted and respected. The Amman Message counts it among the eight recognised schools of law in Islam.Read · 11 min read
One ummah, different pathsSunnis and ShiaSunni and Shia Muslims pray to the same Allah, follow the same Prophet ﷺ, recite the same Quran and turn towards the same Kaaba. Their differences grew over centuries and concern mainly the question of leadership after the Prophet ﷺ and details of legal practice. We tell this story calmly, respectfully and without taking sides.Read · 9 min read
A faith that carries – yesterday, today, tomorrowThe Meaning and the Future of IslamIslam gives a person's life meaning, stability and direction, and it has shaped families, societies and entire civilisations. Today nearly a quarter of humanity follows it, and a young generation is learning the Quran in new ways. In this chapter we ask what Islam means – and what its future can look like.Read · 8 min read
From the cave of Hira to the EmiratesA Short History of IslamFourteen centuries in one chapter: from the first revelation in the cave of Hira through Madinah, Damascus, Baghdad, Córdoba, Cairo and Istanbul to our own time and the founding of the United Arab Emirates. We tell the story in eras, with short timelines: the great achievements, the painful ruptures, and the people who carried faith, knowledge and trade across continents.Read · 15 min read

In the spirit of the Emirates

The United Arab Emirates stand for an Islam of the middle way: deeply rooted in faith, open towards people, respectful of every school of law and every religion. In 2019 the Document on Human Fraternity was signed in Abu Dhabi; in 2023 the Abrahamic Family House opened. These pages follow that spirit.

These pages give an overview. For religious questions in your daily life, please ask a qualified scholar of your school.