Assalaamu alaikum and welcome to Islam, Hollie.
Originally Posted by hollie
Where was Islam created? Did it begin in Israel as well as Christianity and Judaism?
Islam is the way of life and faith that is and has always been, the original and only message and way of life ordained by God, and the true and natural religion. We believe that all the Prophets sent by God taught people to worship One God alone, without any associates in His Divinity, and to obey the Prophet He sent, and that no prophet ever claimed divinity. Thus, Islam is not a new faith but is the same Ultimate Truth that God revealed to all prophets, including Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them all). Since the time of prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), that message is available unchanged and unadulterated. He is the last, not first, prophet of Islam; a messenger to all mankind, to be followed until the end of time.
Islam was ordained for humans from the creation of the first human. Indeed, it is a religion for all people, all times, and all places. Thus you'll find that if you look carefully at the name Islam, it is not named after a specific person (like Christianity, Buddhism), nor after a certain race (like Judaism, Hinduism), but is named by God Himself, and the meaning loosely translates as 'submission to God', which is what every Prophet and their righteous followers did, from amongst all times, all races and all peoples. That in itself is one fraction of the evidence that it was the way of all the Prophets from the beginning. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was not sent as prophet and messenger for a specific group of people and specific time (e.g. as Moses and Jesus were to the Children of Israil), but he was sent for all the world, for all time, from his prophethood until the Day of Judgement. Thus the scripture God sent down to him, God's final scripture, the Qur'an, is preserved and unchanged with no word coming from any human.
Originally Posted by hollie
What is the difference between Muhammad and Allah, what purposes did they serve?
Have you taken your shahaadah yet? That has some big clues about the difference between Allah and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Allah* is God. The One and True and Only God, the creator of the universe. He is our Creator, Sustainer, Cherisher, Lord and Master. He is Most Merciful, Loving and Forgiving, and where necessary, stern in punishment. He is the Most Just, and Perfectly Just.
*The proper name of God in Arabic is Allah. It has no grammatical derivations, so cannot be turned into gods, goddesses etc.
Our beliefs regarding Him are as follows:
There is only One God. He alone should be worshipped.
He does not beget, nor is He begotten. He has no sons, daughters, siblings, parents, cousins, nor relatives of any sort.
He is eternal and does not die.
There is nothing like Him. He is all Hearing, all Seeing, all Knowing, all Powerful, the Creator of the Universe.
He does not depend on anyone/anything yet we all depend on Him.
He does not/has never dwelt in human/animal bodies or other created beings/objects.
He is not composed of persons, nor a trinity. There are no secondary, lesser, greater, equal, or multiple gods, no intermediaries, and no denying of God's existence either.
There are no sharers or associates or parts whatsoever in His exclusive Divinity. Simply, He is One, in every sense.
He has sent a succession of Prophets to people throughout the ages, with guidance to show us how He wants us to live and worship Him.
The last of those prophets is Muhammad (peace be upon him) after whom no new prophet will come. Prophets are human and not divine in any way. They are righteous people chosen by God to convey His message and are amongst the noblest of humanity to ever walk the face of the earth. They show us how to put into practice God's guidance, and are examples for us to follow. God requires that we obey His teachings that He sent the prophets with.
Each messenger is only for the period until the next messenger is sent by God, after which God requires that allegiance be given to the new prophet, who does not come with any new/changed core beliefs, but confirming the truth of what came before, clearing misconceptions that have crept in, reinforcing the key beliefs that have always been, with possible small changes in ancillary rules/regulations. It is when the previous message gets distorted and people go astray, that a new messenger is sent.
Moses (peace be upon him) was the messenger for the Children of Israel until Allah sent Jesus (peace be upon him), at which point it became incumbent on the Children of Israel to follow Jesus. Jesus was messenger for the Children of Israel until Allah sent the last and final messenger, prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and since he was sent, he is the Prophet for all mankind, with Gods scripture sent to him and his preserved teachings to be followed until the Day of Judgement.
Originally Posted by hollie
I've heard Islam was the first ever religion to be created, is this true?
In the eyes of God, Islam was and is the only true religion. God never taught that Jesus was God, or that He begot a son, or that there were three persons to Him. This is the invention of man. All Prophets taught the same, to worship the One True God, but unfortunately their messages were distorted, so another prophet was sent, when people forgot that prophets teaching and the teachings were distorted, another was sent etc culminating in Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the final scripture from God, the Qur'an. This has not been tampered with by man and has no human author like the books of the Bible. It is because Allah has promised to preserve the Qur'an that there will not be any need for a new Prophet, because the message is, and will remain, in tact.
Originally Posted by hollie
Does anyone know who had actually written the Kuran?
The Qur'an is the word of God revealed to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) via the angel Gabriel (peace be upon him). The prophet would recite what had been revealed to him, and scribes would write it down.
Originally Posted by hollie
At what age can Muslims get married?
Once they reach puberty.
Hope that helps a little.