The religion of Islam is often thought of as beginning with Muhammad, who was born in Mecca in 5770 CE. Forty years later the word of God was revealed to him by the angel Gabriel, and this revelation was the first of many which were collected and came to constitute the Qur'an, the Muslim holy book. But Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last in a line of prophets and that the message given to him was the final one. Thus they do not see him as the founder of the religion, but believe that Islam has its origin in the very creation of man.

In the time before time, God was. And when God wants to create something, all he needs to say is "Be", and it becomes. So it was that God created the world and the heavens. He made all the creatures, which walk, swim. Crawl and fly on the face of the earth. He made the angels, and the sun, moon and the stars to dwell in the universe. And consider, as the Qur'an says, how God poured down the rain in torrents, and broke up the soil to bring forth the corm, the grapes and other vegetation; the olive and the palm, the fruit trees and the grass.
Then it was that God ordered the angels to go to the earth, and to bring seven handfuls of soil, all of different colours, from which he could model man. God took the seven kinds of earth and moulded them into a model of a man. He breathed life and power into it, and it immediately sprang to life. And this first man was called Adam. God took Adam to live in Paradise. In Paradise, God created Eve, the first woman, from out of Adam's side. God taught Adam the names of all the creatures, and then commanded the angel to bow down before Adam. But Iblis, one amongst the angels, refused to do this, and thus began to disobey God's will.
God place the couple in a beautiful garden in Paradise, telling them that they could eat whatever they wanted except the fruit of on forbidden tree, But the evil one tempted them to disobey God, and eat the fruit. When God knew that Adam and Eve had disobeyed him, he cast them out of Paradise and sent them to earth. But God is merciful. The earth was created to give food, drink and shelter to the human race. The sun, moon and stars give light. It is a good world, where everything has been created to serve people. And people, the Qur'an teaches, should serve God and obey his will. For those who submit to the will of God will be saved, and taken to live for ever in Paradise.

The Muslim creation story is found in the Qur'an, and further explained in various teachings given by Muhammad, which were collected and are known as the Hadath. At the heart of the creation story is something which Muslims all over the world hear every day in their Call to Prayer - God is great. For Muslims believe there is only one God who created everything. God's world is a good world, and when people obey or submit to God then life is good. The word 'Islam' means submission. Although God made humans superior to the rest of creation, Muslims believe that this means humans have been given everything on earth to care for and look after. The world is not ours to do with as we want. The Qur'an teaches that Muslims should be thankful for all living things, for God is the creator of all life.

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