Major world religion belonging to the Semitic family; it was promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century AD. The Arabic term islam, literally surrender, illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islamthat the believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of islam) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (Arabic: God). Allah is viewed as the sole Godcreator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The will of Allah, to which man must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the Quran (Koran), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets (including Adam, Noah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus, Abraham, Ishmail, and others), and his message simultaneously consummates and abrogates the revelations attributed to earlier prophets.