In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “provided as an overview of and topical guide to islam”. Today it says “abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one god”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2010 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2010
The word Islam is a homograph having multiple meanings and a triliteral of the word salam , which directly translates as peace . Other meanings include submission, or the total surrender of oneself to God ( , Allāh) (see Islam (term) ). An adherent of Islam is known as a Muslim , meaning "one who submits [to God]". The word Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islām is the infinitive. There are approximately 1.57 billion Muslims, making Islam the second-largest religion in the world , after Christianity . Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, God's final prophet , through the angel Gabriel , and regard the Qur'an and the Sunnah (words and deeds of Muhammad) as the fundamental sources of Islam. They do not regard Muhammad as the founder of a new religion, but as the restorer of the original monotheistic faith of Abraham , Moses , Jesus , and other prophets . Islamic tradition holds that Jews and Christians distorted the revelations God gave to these prophets by either altering the text, introducing a false interpretation, or both. Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam , which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community. The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Islam: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a template (see the help page ). Encyclopaedia of Islam Online . : |access-date= requires |url= ( help ) ; Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored ( |author= suggested) ( help ) Hava Lazarus-Yafeh.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 370363487.
The opening as it stood in 2015 11 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
An adherent of Islam is called a Muslim .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 666080038.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World .Profession of Faith [...] affirms Islam's absolute monotheism and acceptance of Muḥammad as the messenger of God, the last and final prophet.The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World .Allāh is Unique, the Creator, Sovereign, and Judge of humankind.It is Allāh who directs the universe through his direct action on nature and who has guided human history through his prophets, Abraham, with whom he made his covenant, Moses, Jesus, and Muḥammad, through all of whom he founded his chosen communities, the "Peoples of the Book."
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963428444.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Overview of and topical guide to Islam See also: Index of Islamic and Muslim-related articles , Outline of religion § Islam topics , and Glossary of Islam Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one God ( Allah ) and that Muhammad is His last Messenger . The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World . Profession of Faith [...] affirms Islam's absolute monotheism and acceptance of Muḥammad as the messenger of God, the last and final prophet. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World . Allāh is Unique, the Creator, Sovereign, and Judge of humankind. It is Allāh who directs the universe through his direct action on nature and who has guided human history through his prophets, Abraham, with whom he made his covenant, Moses, Jesus, and Muḥammad, through all of whom he founded his chosen communities, the "Peoples of the Book."
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178812185. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
In 2005 Wikipedia's first sentence called it “provided as an overview of and topical guide to islam”. Today it says “abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one god”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
provided as an overview of and topical guide to islam
Now
abrahamic monotheistic religion teaching that there is only one god
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
