Häufige Fragen zum Islam

„Allah“ ist der arabische Name des einen Gottes, des Schöpfers — auch arabischsprachige Christen verwenden ihn. Muslime glauben, dass Er der Gott Abrahams, Moses und Jesu ist: Einer, ohne Teilhaber, und nichts ist Ihm gleich.

Muslime glauben an Jesus, den Sohn der Maria, als einen der größten Propheten und Gesandten, auf wundersame Weise ohne Vater von der Jungfrau Maria geboren und durch Wunder bestärkt. Sie glauben nicht, dass er Gott oder Gottes Sohn ist. Niemand kann Muslim sein, ohne an ihn zu glauben.

Der Koran ist das Wort Allahs, das Muhammad ﷺ über den Engel Dschibril im Laufe von 23 Jahren auf Arabisch offenbart wurde. Muslime glauben, dass er genau so bewahrt ist, wie er offenbart wurde. Er hat 114 Kapitel (Suren).

Nein. Muslime beten Allah allein an. Die Kaaba ist die Richtung (Qibla), der sich alle Muslime im Gebet zuwenden und die sie vereint. Muhammad ﷺ ist ein Diener und Gesandter Allahs — geliebt und befolgt, niemals angebetet.

Im Islam sind Frau und Mann gleich an Menschlichkeit, Würde und Lohn bei Allah, jeweils mit Rechten und Pflichten. Vor über 1.400 Jahren gab der Islam Frauen das Recht auf Eigentum, Erbe, Bildung und die Wahl ihres Ehemannes.

Nein. Der Islam verbietet die Tötung Unschuldiger und betrachtet sie als eines der schwersten Verbrechen: „Wer einen Menschen tötet — außer als Vergeltung für einen Menschen oder für Unheil auf der Erde —, ist, als hätte er alle Menschen getötet“ (Al-Ma’ida 5:32, sinngemäß). Die Taten einzelner Menschen repräsentieren nicht die Lehren der Religion.

Weil Allah es zur Pflicht gemacht hat. Es hält einen Muslim den ganzen Tag über mit seinem Herrn verbunden und erinnert ihn an ein Ziel, das größer ist als die Sorgen des Alltags.

Das Fasten ist eine Anbetung, die Allah vorgeschrieben hat, um Gottesbewusstsein zu stärken. Es übt Selbstbeherrschung, weckt Mitgefühl mit den Armen und ist ein Monat für den Koran und das Gebet.

Sie trägt es im Gehorsam gegenüber Allahs Gebot der Bescheidenheit und als Ausdruck ihres Glaubens und ihrer Identität. Auch Männern ist geboten, sich bescheiden zu kleiden und den Blick zu senken.

Halal bedeutet erlaubt. Bei Speisen ist es das, was Allah erlaubt: Schweinefleisch und Alkohol etwa sind verboten, und Fleisch muss auf islamische Weise unter Nennung des Namens Allahs geschlachtet werden.

Muslims honour Jesus (ʿĪsā) as one of God’s greatest messengers, born miraculously to the Virgin Mary without a father. They believe God supported him with miracles, and that he called people to worship God alone. Muslims do not believe he is God or the Son of God, or that he was crucified, and they believe he will return before the end of time.

Yes. The word Islam comes from a root meaning peace and submission to God, and Muslims greet each other with “peace be upon you.” Islam forbids killing innocents and aggression, and permits self-defence under strict rules. Peace does not mean accepting injustice, and anyone who commits violence in religion’s name contradicts its own texts.

No. Muslims believe the Quran is preserved exactly as it was revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It was memorised and written during his lifetime, gathered into one volume under Abu Bakr, and copied into standard codices under Uthman. It is still recited worldwide through unbroken chains of transmission, with one agreed text.

Islam is the religion of pure monotheism: belief in one God, Allah, the Creator of everything, and surrendering to Him through worship and obedience. Muslims believe it was the message of all prophets, from Adam, Noah and Abraham to Moses and Jesus, completed with Muhammad ﷺ and the Quran. About two billion people, roughly a quarter of humanity, are Muslim.

“Allah” is simply the Arabic word for the one God, and Arabic-speaking Christians use it too in their Bibles and prayers. Muslims believe the God of Abraham, Moses and Jesus is the God they worship, while differing with Judaism and Christianity about aspects of His nature, such as the Trinity and the sonship of Jesus, which are real points of theological disagreement.

The five pillars of Islam are: the declaration of faith (there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God), establishing the five daily prayers, paying zakat (obligatory charity), fasting in Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Makkah for those able to go. The Prophet ﷺ described them as the foundation of the religion, joining devotion to God, kindness to people and self-discipline.

You become a Muslim by sincerely declaring the Shahada: “I bear witness that there is no god but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” You do not need a witness, a special place or a particular language; you can say it privately to God. After that you learn prayer and the rules gradually, and it helps to connect with Muslims who can support you.

Muslims pray five times a day because God prescribed it, and it is the most direct link between a person and their Lord. The prayers are spread through the day (dawn, noon, afternoon, sunset and night), keeping a person mindful of God, bringing calm and order, and reminding them that all of life belongs to Him.

Halal means permitted by God, and in food the default is that things are permitted. What is forbidden: pork, carrion, flowing blood, meat offered to anything other than God, and intoxicants. Meat must be slaughtered mentioning God’s name. Muslims avoid the forbidden out of obedience to God, and for the care of body and mind.

Muslim women who wear the hijab do so out of obedience to God’s command to dress modestly, and as an expression of faith, identity and dignity. The majority of Muslim scholars hold it is obligatory, while a few contemporary voices differ. Islam also insists faith cannot be forced: the measure of belief is the heart, not a garment.

The Quran is the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through the angel Jibril over about 23 years, in Arabic, and Muslims believe it is the final scripture and is preserved. It has 114 chapters (surahs), is recited as an act of worship, and is guidance for belief, ethics and law.

The Sunnah is what is authentically reported from Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in word, action, approval or description, and a hadith is the narration that carries it. It is the second source of Islamic guidance after the Quran, explaining and detailing it. Hadith were recorded with chains of narrators and graded by scholars as sound, good or weak.

Sunni and Shia Muslims share belief in one God, the Quran, the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ and the pillars of Islam. They differ historically over who should lead after the Prophet ﷺ: Sunnis hold the community chose Abu Bakr, while Shia believe Ali, may God be pleased with him, and a line of imams from the Prophet’s family had the right. Pew estimates Shia at about 10–13% of Muslims.

Muslims believe this life is a test, that every person dies and will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment and judged justly for their deeds. Those with faith and righteous deeds enter Paradise by God’s mercy, while those who chose disbelief and injustice face Hell. Details such as the barzakh, the scale and the bridge are established in authentic texts.

Muhammad son of Abdullah ﷺ is the final prophet and messenger in Islam. Born in Makkah around 570 CE, he received revelation at forty, called people to worship God alone for 23 years, migrated to Madinah and passed away in 632 CE. Before prophethood he was known as “the Truthful, the Trustworthy,” and the Quran describes him as a mercy to the worlds.

Muslims face the Kaaba in Makkah because God commanded it, which unites them worldwide in one direction. The Kaaba is not worshipped: it is the House of God built by Abraham and Ishmael, peace be upon them, and Muslims worship God alone wherever they are.

Linguistically, jihad means striving. In Islam it includes striving against the self to obey God, striving with knowledge, words and wealth, and defensive fighting bound by strict conditions: repelling aggression under legitimate authority, never harming non-combatants. It is not a name for killing innocents, and those who do so contradict Islam’s texts.

No. The Quran states plainly that there is “no compulsion in religion”: faith is a conviction of the heart and is not valid if forced. Followers of other religions lived under Muslim rule for centuries while keeping their faith, and any compulsion in history or today contradicts Islam’s texts.

Zakat is a pillar of Islam: an obligatory share of wealth owed by those who have enough to the poor and the other categories named in the Quran. It is 2.5% of savings, cash, gold and trade goods once they reach the nisab (the value of 85 grams of gold) and have been held for a lunar year, after deducting due debts.

Hajj is a pillar of Islam: travelling to Makkah to perform set rites in the days of Dhul-Hijjah, required once in a lifetime for those able. Umrah is a visit to Makkah for ihram, tawaf and sa‘i that may be done at any time of the year. The central day of Hajj is Arafah, the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah.

It is established in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet ﷺ contracted the marriage with Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, when she was six and the marriage began when she was nine. It was common in her time and none of his opponents objected to it. It should be understood in its historical context, not by today’s standards.

Islam does not permit harming a wife. The verse most often cited is An-Nisa 4:34, which many scholars explain as a last, symbolic step that leaves no mark and causes no pain. The Prophet ﷺ never struck a woman and said, “The best of you are the best to their families.”

The Quran permits up to four wives on the condition of justice, restricting a practice that had no limit before Islam. A single wife is the norm in Muslim families; polygyny is an exception with conditions, and many countries regulate or restrict it.

Surat at-Tawbah 9:5 was revealed about idolaters who broke their treaty and started fighting; its context is war, not a general call. It excepted those who keep treaties and those who seek safety, and orders that they be escorted to security. The Quran also commands kindness and justice toward peaceful people, so the verse must not be read apart from its context.

Slavery was a worldwide institution before Islam. Islam did not originate it; it restricted its sources, made freeing slaves one of the greatest acts of worship, opened many routes to freedom and commanded kind treatment. It also forbade enslaving free people outside of war. Today slavery is outlawed in international and Muslim-country laws.

Scholars differ on this. The Quran affirms freedom of belief and names no worldly penalty for leaving Islam, while a hadith says, “Whoever changes his religion, kill him.” Some limit it to treason and rebellion against the community in wartime; others held a penalty for open apostasy. No one may be forced into Islam.

Judgment of individuals belongs to Allah alone. Muslims hold that whoever received a clear, true message and rejected it stubbornly is accountable to Allah, while the one it never reached, or reached distorted, is in the hands of the Merciful and Just. The Quran gives glad tidings of reward to the righteous of every community.

Muslims hold the Quran to be revelation from Allah. The Prophet ﷺ was unlettered, able neither to read nor write, and was not known before prophethood for eloquence or learning from books. The Quran challenged the Arabs, masters of eloquence, to produce its like and they could not, and its text has been preserved unchanged to this day.

No. The Quran treats killing an innocent person as killing all of humanity, and the Prophet ﷺ forbade killing women, children and those under a treaty. What extremist groups do in killing civilians contradicts the texts of Islam and has been condemned by leading Muslim scholars and institutions.

War in Islam is restricted: it is only to defend life and faith or to repel injustice. Civilians may not be attacked, the killing of women, children, the elderly and monks is forbidden, as are mutilating bodies and destroying crops and trees without need. Whoever seeks peace is answered with peace.

It is not a general rule in all cases: a woman inherits equal to a man in some cases, more in others and half in some. The reasoning is that a man is obliged to maintain his family, while a woman’s wealth is her own and she is not required to spend it even on herself. Before Islam women were deprived of inheritance altogether.

Islam prohibits sexual relations outside marriage between a man and a woman, which includes same-sex acts, and treats it as a sin like others between a person and his Lord. It does not permit assaulting, harming or despising anyone: all people are honoured, and judgment of deeds belongs to Allah alone.

Islam teaches that this world is a place of testing, not of final recompense: Allah created death and life to test people, and suffering carries wisdom we may or may not see. He is just and never wrongs anyone, and the Hereafter will redress every wrong and reward the patient.

There is no conflict between Islam and empirical science. The Quran calls for reflection on the universe and raises the rank of the learned, and the sciences flourished in Islamic civilisation for centuries. The Quran is a book of guidance, not an experimental science text, and matters of the unseen are taken from revelation.

Es bedeutet, sich Allah allein in Gehorsam hinzugeben, und stammt von derselben Wurzel wie „Salam“, Frieden.

Fünf: das Glaubensbekenntnis, das Gebet, die Zakat, das Fasten im Ramadan und der Haddsch für diejenigen, die dazu in der Lage sind.

Sechs: der Glaube an Allah, Seine Engel, Seine Bücher, Seine Gesandten, den Jüngsten Tag und die Vorherbestimmung.

Nein. Muslime glauben, dass er dieselbe Botschaft vom einen Gott ist, die alle Propheten brachten, vollendet mit Muhammad ﷺ.

Nicht für die Gültigkeit deines Islam. Später brauchst du vielleicht eine offizielle Bescheinigung, etwa für Heirat oder Haddsch; eine Moschee oder ein islamisches Zentrum kann sie ausstellen.

Nein — es sei denn, seine Bedeutung widerspricht dem Islam, etwa ein Name, der „Diener“ von etwas anderem als Gott bedeutet.

Mit Güte und Respekt. Allah sagt über die Eltern: „… und geh mit ihnen im Diesseits auf gütige Weise um“ (Luqman 31:15, sinngemäß).

Überhaupt nicht. Der Islam ist für alle Menschen, und du wirst nach und nach das Arabisch lernen, das du für das Gebet brauchst.

In Mekka im „Jahr des Elefanten“, um 570 n. Chr.

Es steht für „sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam“ — Allah segne ihn und schenke ihm Frieden — ein Gebet, das Muslime für ihn sprechen, wie Allah es geboten hat.

Nein. Er war des Lesens und Schreibens unkundig, was Muslime als eines der Zeichen dafür sehen, dass der Koran von Allah stammt.

Jemand, der dem Propheten ﷺ als Gläubiger begegnet und als Muslim gestorben ist.

Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Chattab, Uthman ibn Affan und Ali ibn Abi Talib.

Most are in the Two Sahihs or the Sunan; anything reported only by historians is marked as such. All content awaits review by an Azhar scholar.

Weil viele Berichte über die Gefährten kursieren und manche ohne Grundlage sind. Wir trennen das Gesicherte vom Übrigen, damit der Religion nichts fälschlich zugeschrieben wird.

Sie gehören zu den Zeichen seiner Wahrhaftigkeit, doch der größte Beweis ist der Koran selbst mit der Rechtleitung, dem Charakter und dem Recht, die er brachte. Der Glaube beruht auf Nachdenken und Beweis, nicht allein auf außergewöhnlichen Ereignissen.

Ein Wunder ist ein außergewöhnliches Ereignis, das Allah durch die Hand eines Propheten geschehen lässt, um ihn zu bestätigen; eine Karama ist ein außergewöhnliches Ereignis, mit dem Allah einen Seiner frommen Vertrauten ehrt.

Weil manches Berichtete nicht gesichert ist. Wir trennen das Authentische vom Übrigen, damit der Religion nichts fälschlich zugeschrieben wird.

Nein. Es ist ein persönliches Zeugnis, das den Islam vorstellt und seine Wirkung auf Menschen zeigt; der Beweis liegt im Koran, in der Sunna und im vernünftigen Nachdenken.

Wir nehmen nur auf, was eine bekannte veröffentlichte Quelle hat, und meiden Zitate ohne Quelle, da viele erfunden oder falsch zugeschrieben sind.

Bete, so gut du kannst, und sage an ihrer Stelle „SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, La ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar“, bis du sie gelernt hast — und arbeite weiter daran, sie auswendig zu lernen.

Die Qibla ist die Richtung der Kaaba in Mekka. Du findest sie mit dem Kompass deines Handys, einer Qibla-App oder indem du Menschen vor Ort fragst.