Islam is a monotheistic religion with a central text, the Qu’ran, that was recited by the Prophet Muhammad and written in Classical Arabic. Muslims typically refer to their god as Allah. In common with Christianity and Judaism, Islam recognises Abraham as its first prophet. Hence, all three are known as Abrahamic religions. Islam splintered from Judaism and Christianity in the early 7th century CE in Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. According to Islamic belief, Islam as a faith has always existed and was gradually revealed to humanity by prophets until the archangel Gabriel made the final and complete revelation in the 7th century CE through the Prophet Muhammad. Jesus is regarded as the penultimate Muslim prophet (and not the son of God) in Islam, which repudiates the Christian notion of trinitarianism (that God exists as three entities sharing one identical essence). With 2 billion Muslim followers, Islam is the world’s second largest religion. It is now the fastest growing major religion in the world and the dominant religion in about 50 nations, most of which are situated in North and Central Africa, the Middle East or Southeast Asia. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim-majority country, followed by Pakistan and India. At 100%, the Maldives has the highest concentration of Muslims, followed closely by Mauritania, Somalia, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Algeria and Iran. The word Islam means submission [to the will of Allah], and this is its fundamental doctrine. Islam is characterised by an essential egalitarianism among the faithful. Distinction or privileges based on tribal rank or race are repudiated in the Qu’ran. As with Christianity and Judaism, the Creator is believed to be just and merciful. The story of the Fall of Adam is accepted but according to the Qu’ran Allah forgave Adam and this act is not viewed as original sin. Islam is widely misrepresented in Western news media, which often portrays Muslims through an inadequate binary frame of ‘radical’ versus ‘moderate’ that doesn’t account for complex differences between Muslims, and is potentially limiting and stigmatising. Islamic dietary laws forbid the consumption of alcohol and pork. Muslims are expected to ensure that all foods and other items of consumption (medicine, cosmetics) are halal (lawful). This is especially relevant to meat. Touch between people not of the same gender is strongly discouraged except with family. Muslims have a varied response to all these strictures. One of the five pillars of Islam is prayer in the form of five daily canonical prayers performed at specific times, including before sunrise and immediately after sunset. The five daily prayers are obligatory for observant Muslims, the dawn prayer being the most important, the other 4 occurring: once the sun has passed its zenith; once the shadow cast by an object doubles its length; sunset; night. Prior to prayer, parts of the body are washed clean. The prayer ritual has several stages and usually take between 3 and 10 minutes or longer to perform. Many contemporary workplaces provide dedicated spaces for Muslim prayer. Khutbah is the primary formal occasion for public preaching, and is held in the mosque each Friday and on special occasions, consequently many Muslims do not work on Fridays. All Islamic holidays begin at sundown the evening before the given date and are based on the Muslim calendar or cycles of the moon, and so do not occur at fixed times on the Gregorian calendar. Key Muslim holy days include Eid ul-Adha, Ramadan (month of fasting, the last ten days of which can include all-night prayer vigils) and Eid ul-Fitr (the end of Ramadan, a feast followed by a 3-day celebration). The dates of these vary from year to year. Some Muslims (especially in the US) celebrate Christmas Day on 25 December to revere the prophet Jesus.