Islam is currently the worlds 2nd largest and fastest growing religion with nearly one-fifth (approximately 1.2 billion) of the world’s population believed to be Muslim (About.Com, 2008, Online http://islam.about.com/od/muslimcountries/a/population.htm). Islam is a monotheistic religion which means it believes in the one God. It is Abrahamic or one of the ‘Religions of the Book’, this means that, similar to in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the Jewish Torah, stories such as that of the Creation story in Genesis and the stories of Abraham (abc.net 2009, Online http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s790151.htm ). This essay includes a brief summary of the general beliefs of Islam, the Islamic take on social justice, a summary of Islam in Australia, the similarities and differences to Christianity and the efforts for interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Islam.
Islam means submission to Allah (God). Islam is said to have been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad who lived from 570 CE to 632 CE in Mecca in which is in modern-day Saudi Arabia. It is believed that, through the Archangel Gabriel, Allah dictated the Qur’an to Muhammad. The Qur’an is the core source of Islamic beliefs and is their sacred text; it is believed to be the exact words of God. Muslims believe in the same God as the Jewish and Christian God, but unlike in Christianity, it is believed that God is a unique being with no other parts, sons etc (About.Com, 2008, Online). They believe in the same prophets such as Adam, Abraham and Moses. They believe that Muhammad was the last and greatest of all God’s prophets.
In Islam, there are 5 key elements of faith; these are called the Pillars of Islam. These 5 pillars are:
Faith: The Shahada is the Mu...
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...ue prophet of God who’s message had been distorted. They do not believe in his crucifixion or resurrection but that Judas Iscariot died in his place, they do believe that he ascended into heaven. Another key difference is the way of worship, Muslims worship in Mosques while Christians worship in Churches. In Islam there is no set interpretation of their Holy Text, the Qur’an, it is up to individual authorities to interpret it, unlike the Christian churches where it has been interpreted by a ruling body (ie in Catholicism the Pope and Vatican) (ReligionFacts, 2009, Online). Other key differences are the Islamic worship of Muhammed as the last and greatest of prophets. While Christianity has a highly structured hierarchy including the Pope, Bishops and Priests, Islam has no sole leader, they have religious leaders called Imans who are relatively equal in authority.
In Zainab Ali's book, "Unveiling Islam: What Muslims Believe," she explains the basic beliefs of a Muslim. She also elaborates on the images of Muslims in the media created by important leaders such as Saddam Hussein and Louis Farrakhan and how they contradict the Islamic belief. The writer then gives her explaination of these contradictions with respect to Islamic rules. She focuses on the rules of the faith - the five pillars of Islam - by provinding explanations, definitions, and examples. After an elaboration of each pillar, the writer explains the relevance of the pillars in life and the affects that the pillars have on the character of a true Muslim. She then compares this character to the characters of the Islamic leaders in the media to support her claim that people of the Islamic faith are not compatible with the images portrayed through the media. By making this claim, the author is trying to correct the misunderstandings of the Islamic faith and of the Muslim image by providing examples, explanations, and comparisons to define a "true" Muslim.
These metaphorical “pillars,” are what Muslims base their life decisions and actions around. To clearly understand Islam’s core philosophy of life, one must first know what these five pillars entail. The first pillar is called Shahada, which is the Muslim’s declaration of faith and belief. The declaration is a short phrase, which translates from its native language of Arabic to English as, “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” Then the second pillar is the Salat, which is the pillar of worship. In Islam, daily prayers are greatly important. A Muslim is required by their religion to pray five times a day; at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset, and then lastly in the evening. Devout Muslims also wash their hands and feet as a religious practice to purify themselves symbolically before prayers. (University of Calgary,
common. However, by exploring into the fundamental areas such as, beliefs, rituals, founders, ethics, and sacred objects, the two show strong differences. The literal word Islam means,"submission." This submission is to the one god, Allah. In this instance, Muslims are those who have submitted themselves. Both Muslims and Christians are monotheists, believing
Like many other religions, the Muslim faith has experienced many changes and branches. Like Christianity, the original faith is still practiced by some, but others have started new branches with their own unique interpretation being Muslim. Despite these differences within the Muslim religion, one set of rules for moral guidance is central to all. These rules are the Five Pillars of Islam. The Five Pillars act as a moral compass for Muslims and are universally accepted as they are mentioned specifically in the Qur’an, the sacred Muslim book of God’s words as they were recited to Muhammad (Molloy, 425).
It is said that the religion of Islam was revealed to Muhammad ibn Abdullah, who is known as the Prophet Muhammad. The religion of Islam are as varied as any other however there are certain values and beliefs that identify as Muslim. To understand a person’s faith (of any kind) the first step is to learn some background and understand a little of the beliefs held. A good start understands the cornerstones of a faith; in the case of Islam these are called the five pillars. The five pillars are more based on actions than beliefs; the first is shahadah is an expression of faith and in the oneness of god and that Muhammad received and delivered gods final revelation to the world, and every Muslim is expected to say the shahadah at least once in his or her life, although most say it every day. The second pillar is salat the prayers which each Muslim must recite five time each day facing in the direction of Mecca. They are five different ones and cannot be said all at the same time and so they create a sort of rhythm which structures th...
The original language is Arabic. There are around 1.3 billion Islamic followers. The text of Islam is the Qur’an which is the scripture and Hadith is the tradition. The Islamic god is Allah. Islam believes the Jesus was a prophet sent by God, but his message was corrupted. Jesus was followed by Muhammad. It was believed that Jesus did not die on the cross, he ascended into heaven during crucifixion. The place of worship is a mosque on Friday. Salvation is achieved by good works, and our righteousness outright our sin.Hell is a fiery punishment but there is levels and you may not spend eternity there.
The world religions of Islam and Christianity may have their differences to the naked eye, but when you take a closer look into their histories similarities arise. They both went through transformations that had drastic impacts on the way they were controlled and the way that the religion was taught to the followers. Christianity and Islam have both experienced splits between their members due to the fact that followers thought that their beliefs were the correct way to practice the religion. While these transformations are long in the past, the splits that have occurred within each religion continue to have lasting effects on Islam and Christianity to this day.
Islam is a religion that was founded by Muhammad in the seventh century. He was believed to have had direct revelations from God. After Muhammad's death, his predecessors took all his words/prophecies and compiled them into a book that is now known as the Qur'an. The Qur'an is a sacred text derived from the Islamic religion. It is the epitome of the heart and soul of the Muslim culture. Although Islam is a separate religion from that of Christianity, a plethora of their ideas are intertwined. The Qur'an is similar to the Holy Bible because both texts establish the practice of monotheism and believe that God is the creator of the universe. The sacred texts are different because the Holy Bible preaches of Jesus Christ being the Son of God while the Qur'an deems him but a prophet. Both texts also differ because while the Bible was written to inform, reform,
3) Five Pillars of Islam- The Five Pillars of Islam are five important actions that all Muslims must complete during their life. Muslims must recite the profession of faith, pray five times a day facing Mecca, give alms, fast during the month of Ramadan, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca. The Five Pillars of Islam are the base for the whole religion of Islam. The pilgrimage to Mecca is the only one that is not required; if a person is not able to go at all, they are not required to.
Introduction: The Belief in God as the creator and sustainer of the universe is central to the Christian,Jewish and Islamic religions. These religions are connected historically. This essay is going to focus on how Christianity and Islam are similar to and differ from each other. Christianity and Islam are very similar in that they both have rules,rituals and traditions,sacred texts,laws that influence how they all view God.
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
Islam is a religion that is based on the submission oneself to the will of God, who is called Allah. Muslims are the people believe in that, regardless of their culture, background or ethnicity. It is believed that God’s prophets brought a message for the people to worship one God without intermediaries and that prophet Muhammad was the end of G...
In addition to the many different ways the followers of Islam spread the religion and expanded their empire, the religion itself was appealing to many people outside of Arabia. The Islamic religion contained many beliefs and practices that were extremely appealing to others. One of these beliefs was that Islam is an uncompromising monotheistic religion, meaning there is only one God. In addition, there was an extremely well and highly developed set of legal codes and a strong sense of community among the followers of Islam. The five pillars were also extremely appealing because they provided the basis for religious unity. The humbleness and prayerfulness of the Islamic people was admirable to those of other faiths.
Renard, John. Islam and Christianity: theological themes in comparative perspective. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. Print.
Religion is an important factor in many lives in today’s society. A particular western religion that is taken very seriously by many is known as Islam. Essentially, Islam means “submission”, or in other words a person is to abide by God and peace will follow. In order to comprehend the Islamic religion, it is consequential to view the major themes associated with this religion. By going through the central themes of Islam it could help others comprehend what is involved with this specific religion.