What is Islam?
I thank everyone for giving some time for reading this and apperciate for their desire of learning about Islam. So lets begin with what does Islam mean? The word Islam is an Arabic word which means “submission to the will of God”.  The word Islam does also mean “peace”.  As such, the religion of Islam teaches that in order to achieve true peace of mind, real happiness in life and surety of heart, one must sincerely submit to God and live according to His Divinely revealed Law.  The most important truth that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God, thus all human beings should submit to Him. The follower of Islam is known as Muslim. The word Muslim means "one who submits to the will of God", regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background.  Being a Muslim entails wilful submission and active obedience to God, and living in accordance with His message.  Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth.  Not only are there converts to Islam in every corner of the world, especially in England, France and United States, but by taking a look at the Muslim World from Morroco to Nigeria, and from Indonesia to India, from United States to Russia, Pakistan, Egypt one can clearly see that Muslims come from many various races, ethnic groups and nationalities.  It is also interesting to note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not Arabs - there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the whole Arab World!  So, though even though it is true that most Arabs are Muslims, the large majority of Muslims are not Arabs.  However, anyone who submits completely to God and worships Him alone is a Muslim. Islam is not a new religion as many people mistakenly think. It is the same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God’s prophets and messengers.  Muslims believe that all of God’s prophets, which include Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, brought the same message of Pure Monotheism (Divine Singularity and Oneness of God).  For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad was not the founder of a new religion (Islam), as many people mistakenly think, but he was the final Prophet of God who revived, summerized and finalized the mesaage of all previous messengers and prophets . By revealing His final message to Prophet Muhammad, which is an eternal and universal message for all of mankind, God finally sealed the series of the prophethood. Islam does also places great importance in the belief that the soul gives life to a human body. Likewise, in its absence, the human body dies and disintegrates. However, the soul is eternal and will be reunited with the body on the Day of Resurrection, when God will raise everyone to answer for their deeds on earth.  Islam encourages the individual to focus on keeping the soul healthy, through the remembrance, obedience and worship of God. There should be a correct balance in strengthening the soul and not over-indulging with the pleasures of the body. Islam is a natural way of life that encourages one to give due attention to their relationship with God and His creation. Islam teaches that it is through the doing of good deeds and seeking the pleasure of God that souls find true happiness and peace.  It is in this context that the word Islam means 'peace'.  Islam teaches that true happiness can only be obtained by living a life full of God-consciousness and being satisfied with what God has given us.  Additionally, true “freedom” is freedom from being controlled by our base human desires and being ruled by man-made ideologies.  This stands in stark contrast to the view of many people in the modern world, who consider “freedom” to be the ability to satisfy all of their desires without inhibition.  The clear and comprehensive guidance of Islam gives human-beings a well-defined purpose and direction in life.  In addition to being members of the human-brotherhood of Islam, its well-balanced and practical teachings are a source of spiritual comfort, guidance and morality.  A direct and clear relationship with Almighty God, as well as the sense of purpose and belonging that ones feels as a Muslim, frees a person from the many worries of everyday life.  So in short, the Islamic way of life is pure and wholesome.  It builds self-discipline and self-control through regular prayer and fasting, and frees human-beings from superstition and all sorts of racial, ethnic and national prejudices.  By accepting to live a God-conscious life, and realizing that the only thing that distinguishes people in the sight of God is their consciousness of Him, a person’s true human dignity is realized.