Umar and his little brother, Ibrahim, are studying together. They’ve been trying for weeks to memorize a long verse from the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book.
Ibrahim already knows it better than his older brother, Umar! Their mother smiles at Umar and says, “Don’t give up. I know you can do it.” She believes that someday Umar will memorize the whole book. Then he will become a respected reciter of the Qur’an. Umar closes his eyes. He tries to see the words and starts again.
Islam’s main belief is that Allah is the one God and Muhammad is his prophet, or messenger. Muslims share some ideas with Jews and Christians. Those religions also say there’s just one God. Islam teaches that the world will end someday. Then God will judge everyone. People who obeyed God will live in paradise, which is a beautiful garden, but people who didn’t obey God will be punished.