Welcome Roux. I am glad you have come here with an open mind.
Islam is a universal religion not specific to any country or culture. While Islam originated in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was born, it has spread throughout the world. Consequently, people's practice of Islam has been influenced by varying degrees, to the country/cultural backgrounds that they come from. However, there are some basic tenets of Islam which every Muslim follows and the first and most important one is the belief in one God also called "Tauhid". God is the only one, is unique, incomparable, the creator and sustainer of the Universe. He neither begets nor is begotten and there is none like Him. Muslims believe that this message of the oneness of God was brought to mankind by all the messengers from Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus but along the line somewhere it got distorted ie man changed that message and started associating others with God. The final messenger was the Prophet Mohammed who for the final time set right the message and the truth of the oneness of God.
As all of creation is from God who sustains His creation it is imperative that we obey His commands. These commands are set out in the Holy Quran and in the teachings of Prophet Mohammed which Muslims everywhere irrespecive of their cultural backgrounds follow. The Holy Quran is the speech of God revealed to the prophet Mohammed through the angel Gabriel. Muslims believe in the life of the hereafter and that we will all be held accountable for our deeds in this temporary life of ours. The concept of original sin is not there in Islam and every individual will only be held accountable for only his/her deeds.
There are a number of translations of the Holy Quran in English and some very good translators. But as they are all translations from Arabic of the highest form it has not been possible for the translators to give an accurate translation of every word, so it is possible that the right word in the English language either does not exist or not found so the translators have done their best to give as close a meaning as possible. I have found this website very useful which gives the translation of every verse of the Quran by three different translators. http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/ - http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/
I hope you will find the reading useful on the above site and to improve your understanding you could get hold of a copy of the English translation with commentary. (one good translation I would recommend is by Yusuf Ali, though many would not agree with me). There are also some very good books such as Towards Understanding Islam by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi and A Brief Illustrated Guide to understanding Islam by I.A Ibrahim. The latter is generally available free of cost. If you can't find them I would be happy to mail it out to you free of cost of course.
I am sure members on this forum including myself will be able to help you in understanding Islam and to answer any specific questions you may have.
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