Islam And Christianity Essay, Research Paper
There are hundreds of religions in this world. Of them two are the most prominent. Islam and
Christianity. It is averaged that there are 750 million people practicing Islam, and another 1 billion
practicing Christianity. The start of Islam is actually derived form Christianity, history books
indicates that one night in the year 610, the first of many revelations came to Muhammad from God
by way of the angel Gabriel (In Christianity this is the same Angel which brings the news of Jesus’
birth, Jesus of course is the founder of Christianity). The message Muhammad received told him
that there was but one God (Identical to the inception of the Ten Commandments), not many gods,
as most Arabs believed. This God was creator of the world (In Christianity, it’s documented in
Genesis Chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth), and He would
one day judge mankind (This is also true in Christianity: “The Lord will judge his people.” Hebrews
10:30). Both of these religions share almost the same framework, but they also differ in many
ways.
The word Islam means “surrender” or “submission,” submission to the will of Allah, the one God.
Muslims are those who have submitted themselves. The basic creed of Islam is brief: There is no
God but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah. Islam teaches that there is one God, the
creator and sustainer of the universe. This God, Allah, is compassionate and just. Because He is
compassionate, He calls all people to believe in Him and worship Him. Because He is also just, on
the Last Day He will judge every person according to his deeds. On the Last Day, all the dead will
be resurrected and either rewarded with heaven or punished with hell. In Christianity one of the Ten
Commandments states that “I am the Lord you God…..you shall have no other gods before me”,
also identical to Islam God is considered the creator of the universe, and he is also just. On the last
day, or judgment day, the same holds true as in Islam in the Christian beliefs, the dead will be
resurrected and either rewarded with heaven or punished with hell.
Mankind is regarded as the crown of creation, entrusted by God with management of the whole
created order. In Christianity this was Adam, who had dominion over all the animals and beasts of
the earth. Islam sees humanity as weak and prone to disbelief in God and to disobedience to His
will. Humanity’s weakness is pride. In the Christian religion it was pride that caused the downfall
of man, Eve thought that God had no right to tell them what they could and could not eat. In Islam,
God sent prophets to communicate His will. These prophets, all mortal men, were elected
messengers to whom God spoke through an angel or by inspiration., identical to Christianity, an
example of that was God sending Moses to free his people out of Pharaohs hands. In Islam, they
also believe in forgiveness, another basic Christina principle, Islam teaches that God is always
ready to pardon the individual and restore him to the sinless state in which he started life. In
Christianity this is called being “born again”.
The life of each Muslim is always within the community of the faithful: All are declared to be
“brothers to each other,” with the mission to “enjoin good and forbid evil.” Within the community,
Muslims are expected to establish social and economic justice. They are also expected to carry their
message out to the rest of the world. In the early Islamic community, this meant the use of force in
the form of jihad, or holy war. This also happened in the Christian faith, it was known as
“Crusades”, where missionaries would go out and spread the word of God. The intent was not to
force conversion on anyone; this was forbidden by the Koran and the Bible. The object of jihad and
the crusades was to gain political control over societies and run them in accordance with the
principles of Islam and Christianity. Both took separate paths to accomplish their prospective goals,
thus explaining the Islam influence in the Middle East and North Africa, and the Christian influence
in Europe and North America.
During the decades following the death of Muhammad certain essential principles were singled out
from his teachings to serve as anchoring points for the Islamic community. These have come to be
called the “five pillars of Islam.” Some early, and more fanatical, believers added jihad as a sixth
pillar, but it was never accepted by the whole community. Similar to the five pillars, the Ten
Commandments are regarded as law in the Christian faith.
The revelations that Muhammad received were collected into a new book, the Koran, directing his
followers what to believe and how to live (In the same manner, the Bible is a collection of writings
from prophets, including Abraham, Moses, Elijiah, etc. Identical to the Muslim prophets.) Many
Muslims (the name for people who practice Islam) believed that everything Muhammad said and did
was inspired by Allah, many reports of his sayings and deeds were collected. At first these were
just remembered and spread by word of mouth. Later they were captured in writing, to serve as an
additional guide for believers, along with the Koran.
The Koran relies heavily on Christian traditions. It was Muhammad’s contention that Christianity
had departed from belief in God’s message as revealed in their Scriptures. God had sent many
prophets, among them Abraham, who is considered the founder of the faith for Islam, as he is also
for and Christianity. The Koran, using sources in the older Scriptures and later traditions, relates the
stories of Abraham, Joseph, Moses and Aaron, David, Solomon, Jesus, and others, all of whom
are declared to have been true prophets whose messages were largely ignored: “We sent forth Noah
and Abraham, and bestowed on their offspring prophethood and the Scriptures. . . . After them we
sent other apostles, and after those, Jesus the son of Mary.” The lack of success these prophets had
was reflected in Muhammad’s own experience, as he preached the oneness of God to the Arabs in
Mecca. The implication was that he was the last in the series of prophets, the last reveler of divine
truth.
After Muhammad’s death in AD 632, it was feared that the content of the revelations might be lost,
as those who had originally memorized it died. It was therefore decided to collect all the revelations,
from whatever source, and make a compilation. Even at this early date, variations in the Koranic
revelations were becoming common in different parts of the new Islamic empire. So that there
would be a definitive version, the Caliph `Uthman (the caliphs were successors of Muhammad)
commissioned one of the Prophet’s followers, Zayd ibn Thabit, and others to sort through and pull
together all the material and compare it with the remembrances of those who had learned it by heart.
In this manner, an authorized version was created. The arrangement of putting the longer chapters
first and the shorter ones last violates the chronological order of the revelations as they came to
Muhammad. But a fairly accurate chronology can be worked out on the basis of knowledge about
Muhammad’s life: He began his work in Mecca, spent a long period in Medina, and returned again
to Mecca. In addition, the chapters indicate in which place the many revelations came to him. The
main emphasis of the book is on the oneness of Allah, in contrast to the multiplicity of gods
worshipped by the Arabs. These gods are denounced as powerless idols who will be unable to help
unbelievers on the day of judgment. Other doctrines, common to Israel’s later history and early
Christianity, were incorporated into the Koran, as well. There is a strong assertion of belief in the
resurrection from the dead, in angels and devils, and in heaven and hell. All of humanity is regarded
as subject to the will and power of Allah. It is He who has created and will one day judge mankind.
The faithful are called upon to believe in Allah and to listen to His Prophet.
Islam recognizes two forms of prayer. One is the personal, devotional, and spontaneous type, not
bound by any rituals or formulas. The other is ritual, often congregational, prayer, with specific
words and postures, to be offered five times a day: at sunrise, midday, midafternoon, sunset, and
before going to bed. Similar to Christianity, which requires you to prayer individually, but also
collectively. (”Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves…….) In Islam, before you prayer,
ablutions are performed by washing the hands, feet, and face. A person called the muezzin calls for
prayer and chants from a raised platform or minaret tower at the mosque (the house of communal
worship). earlier Christianity, in order to prayer to God sacrifices had to be made i.e.: lamb, goat,
etc. Congregational prayer is started with the imam, the prayer leader, standing at the front of the
mosque facing Mecca, the holy city of Islam being the death place of Muhhamed). The congregation
is lined up in rows behind him. (There are no seats in a mosque.) Each prayer consists of several
units, during which the individual is either standing, kneeling, or prostrate. At every change in
posture, “God is great” is recited. The chief day of communal worship is Friday. Believers gather at
the mosque to pray, listen to portions of the Koran, and hear a sermon based on the text. The
sermon may have moral, social, or political content. Islam has no ordained clergy such a Christian
churches, but there are men specially trained in religion, tradition, and law
The hajj, “pilgrimage,” is an annual Muslim rite that every believer is expected to take part in at least
once in his lifetime. From the seventh to the tenth day in Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic
calendar, thousands of Muslims converge on the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to visit the holy
shrine of the Kaaba in the Great Mosque. Tradition has it that the shrine was built by Abraham. The
pilgrimage is intended to reenact the hegira, the flight of Muhammad from Mecca to Medina in 622.
Most travelers will visit both cities, in addition to performing a number of other ritual observances.
The pilgrimage culminates with the feast of sacrifice, one of the two major festivals that are
celebrated during the Islamic year. Christianity does not require such a pilgrimage, but most
Christians indirectly have the need to visit Jerusalem, the birth place of Jesus. most Christians
consider it an honor to visit it.
Fasting. In the second chapter of the Koran is the statement “Fasting is decreed for you as it was
decreed for those before you.” Because the Koran was first revealed to Muhammad in the month of
Ramadan, the whole month was set aside as a period of fasting. During each day, from first light to
darkness, all eating, drinking, and smoking are forbidden. Those who are ill or on a journey may
postpone the fast until a “similar number of days later on,” according to the Koran. The second
major festival of the Islamic year begins at the termination of the fast and lasts several days. In
Christianity, this could be compared to the Lenten period, where Jesus was sent to the desert for 40
days and nights, where he was tempted by Satan. Christians usually give up something of
importance during that period. Although some do go on fasts, it is generally not as long. The end of
the 40 day fast is known as Ash Wednesday, which begins the most holiest point in the Christian
calendar (Good Friday, and Easter).
Another similar attribute both religions share is the given of money. In Islam, the zakat is an
obligatory tax, a contribution made by Muslims to the state or to the community. In the modern
period, the zakat has become a voluntary charitable contribution. In Christianity this is known as
tithe. Believers are expected to contribute 10% of there salary to God (”Bring the whole tithe into
the storehouse, that here may be food in my house”)
As you can see Islam and Christianity are indeed woven from identical fabrics. In a sense, it was
geography that separated these prodigal brothers. In recent years people (Christians) have come to
view Islam as an “evil” religion, mainly because of the fanatics, but they must also look at the
Christian fanatics who kill, and bomb in the name of God. Thus all the religions in the world have
it’s faults and it’s pluses, but in short they are all intertwined