To know the only true God, honor and obey Him, and make Him known.
The word “Islam” is an Arabic word that means “peace, obedience, and submission.” In a theological sense, it describes the submission of all humanity to the will of God. Any man or woman that accepts the lordship of the only true God, and submits completely to His will, is considered to be a Muslim. According to islamic thought all people are born Muslim.
One of every five people in the world is a Muslim. That is based on a world population of 6,400,000,000 in 2004. Islam is the second largest religion in the United States, Great Britain, and France. Fifty two countries in the world have a majority Muslim population.
Spain was a Muslim country for eight centuries. Most Spaniards did not actually convert to Islam, but they were definitely influenced by Islamic culture. Spain brought some of this Islamic influence to the New World.
The Royal Chapel of Cholula in the Franciscan church of San Gabriel, not far from Puebla, Mexico, is based on a similar design as the great mosque of Cordorba, Spain.
Many words in Spanish come directly from the Arabic language. The word “ojalá” comes from the Arabic word “in sha’llah”, which means “So be the will of Allah.” Other examples of words in Spanish that come from Arabic are: azul (blue), ajedrez (chess), alumbre (fire), alcohol (alcohol), almacén (store), fulano (guy), algodón (cotton), arroz (rice), and azúcar (sugar).