ORIGINS AND HISTORY Islam claims up to 1.5 billion followers worldwide. For the last twenty years this religion has made the front page of today's newspapers which is more than any other. "As the fastest growing religion in the world, the U.S. holds up to eight million Muslims, and over eleven hundred mosques or Islamic centers.(2)" "Islam was founded in the early seventh century by Muhammad.(1)" "When he was forty, Muhammad claimed to be receiving …showed first 75 words of 1102 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1102 total…of the Prophet's first successor should have gone to Ali. Ali was the husband of the Prophet's only surviving daughter, Fatima. Eventually, Ali did become the fourth caliph, but was assassinated by a member of another Muslim sect. This sect also splits into further subgroups of religious beliefs called the Seveners, who acknowledge only six of the twelve Imams of the Shi'ites; and the Twelvers, who believe in Ali and his eleven directly hereditary successors.