Origins of the Nation of Islam

The origins of the Islamic faith date back some 800 years after the death of Christ when a herdsman from Mecca named Mohammad was chosen by Allah(God) via the angel Gabriel to be the prophet of Islam and to spread the word of Allah.
There are 5 main pillars to heaven in the Islamic faith which include praying 5 times per day, fasting, and visiting Mecca once in one's lifetime.
Scripture in the Islamic faith is found in the Koran; the Islamic bible.
There is a 6th pillar in the Koran written by Mohammad in the spirit of defending the Islamic faith from those who would try to destroy it. The Islamic faith is one of practice and peace; the sixth pillar is the only exception to peace that which is known as the Holy Jihad or "holy war."
Muhommed is very clear in the 6th pillar as to the rules by which a Jihad may be carried out and defines in the Koran scripture things not allowed via a holy Jihad among those being; one shall not kill a woman, one shall not kill the old, one shall not destroy a building, a place of home, one shall not kill a man without a raised sword, one shall not destroy a tree having one green leaf upon it.
The Koran is very similar to the bible in many ways. Islam believes in heaven and hell, Islam recognizes Jesus of Nazareth, and Moses. Similar to the bible the Koran is held to interpretation of scripture in strict and not so strict ways and the Islamic faith has differences within much like protestant and catholic divisions found in Christianity.
Followers of the Islamic faith are known as Muslims. The most common followings among Muslims are Shiites and Sunnites.
Sunnite Muslims are the more 'progressive' of the Islamic faith and have opened their views of the Islamic religion similar to Lutherans division from Catholicism.
Shiite Muslims are the tradional fundamenalists of the Islamic faith. They are strict to the conformity of scripture and the lifestyle it requires in the most rudimentary ways.
Shiite Muslims are perhaps comparable to Baptists in the Christian faith or even the Ommish one could argue in their committment to strict conformity to the faith.
Shiite Muslims often are misunderstood as radicals, this is not the case. Shiites are fundamentalists, not radicals. Ninety nine percent of Shiite Muslims live a strict life in accordance to the Islamic faith and scripture of the Koran, they are peaceful and deeply religous people.