Differences And Similarities Between Muslims And Islam

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1. There are many differences and similarities between Muslim, Jews and Christians. One similarity that all three religions share is the belief in one god, although, Muslims refer to God as Allah. (242). All three religions have places where they go to pray and worship their god along with gathering with others of their faith for various other reasons (247). A Mosque is what the Muslims call their house of worship, a church is where Christians worship and a synagogue is where members of the Jewish community worship (247). Muslims do not believe in the Trinity as Christians do because Muslims do not consider Jesus to be the son of God, nor did they find him to be a “divine” being, meaning he is not god like (243). To Muslims, Jesus was just …show more content…

The Jihad of Islam and the Christian crusades both involved killing people of different religions that were not their own. The Jihad started because Muhammad was forced to leave the city of Mecca, all the while, people who believed in him and in what he preached were either brutally hurt or killed (242). When he returned he did so with an army with plans to take control over the city, which in fact happened (242). He had those who believed in multiple Gods killed and he forced the rest to turn from their religion and adopt his God, Allah (243). He converted the whole city to Islam (243). It was later that Christians decided to wage a war to get back the “Holy Land” that was taken from them (243). Once again just like Muhammad it was because of their strong faith and their beliefs that they felt the need to act on reclaiming what had once belonged to them (243). When Muhammad died wars were started to see who would be in control now that he was dead (247). Again in all three instances it was the faith and beliefs of these religions that was the driving force behind them. The difference between the two was that Muhammad had every intention on killing those who would stand in his way and who would not convert to his beliefs and to reform those who would (242). Christians on the other hand were trying to get back what they claimed was rightfully theirs even if it meant killing those in their path but it was not the goal of the crusades to kill those who did not convert to …show more content…

There are more Muslims who are Sunni rather than Shia (246). The Sunni and Shia disagreed on who the successor of Muhammad was supposed to be (246). They were at odds with each other because they did not agree with what the other group believed to be right (246). Muslims that were part of the Sunni thought that Muhammad’s father in law was the next in line as the next caliph, while the Shia believed that Muhammad’s son in law was to be the next caliph (246). The Sunnis also believed that the Qur’an approved and backed the majority decision of the Muslim community (246). Muslims who were Shia thought the all inheritors of the title Caliph must be of direct blood relation to Muhammad and his son in law, such as a child or grandchild and so forth (246). The Shia also believed that that Ali, Muhammad’s son in law, had special gifts like Muhammad and could explain and clarify the Qur’an (246). It was because of both groups lack of approval of the other ones beliefs, that many wars began over the decision on who would lead the Muslim religion since the death of Muhammad

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