Islam and Sikhism Moses, Jesus and Mohammed in other religions. Islam believes that before Muhammad there were many messengers of God, Muhammad was the last messenger, and Quran was the last revelation to the last prophet. The Five Pillars of Islam are duties incumbent on every Muslim. These duties are Shahada (testimony that "There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God"), Salat (prayers), Zakat (Giving of Alms), Sawm (Fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). These five practices are essential to Sunni Islam; Shi'a Muslims subscribe to eight ritual practices which substantially overlap with the five Pillars.
Islam in the Netherlands arrived through family reunification and asylum seeking. A notable portion of Muslim immigrants also arrived from now-independent colonies, primarily Indonesia and Suriname. The first traces of Islam in the Netherlands date back to the 16th century. Ottoman and Persian traders settled in many Dutch and Flemish trading towns, and were allowed to practice their faith, although most of them belonged to the Jewish or Greek Orthodox community under the Sultan. The English traveler Andrew Marvell referred to the Netherlands as "the place for Turk, Christian, heathen, Jew; staple place for sects and schisms" due to the religious freedom and the