Islam

the name of the religion founded by Muhammad, Islam embraces all the sects now found among his followers, who are known as Muslims; a Shiite and a Sunni are both Muslims. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims, or 23% of the world's population, making Islam the world's second largest religion. The word "Islam" derives from the same Semitic root as the Hebrew word Shalom, which means peace. "Islamic" is the correct adjective when referring to the religion, but "Islamist" is usually used for fundamentalist political parties or governments; Islamism is the Muslim revival movement. Turkey has an Islamist Party and countries with governments controlled by religious parties are called Islamist states. See also Islamofascism; Koran; Muslim; Muhammad; Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds.