Would one dare to go a day without food? Food in the twenty first century can be used as medicine, energy and center piece for social gatherings. However in many religions people take time to separate themselves from such consumption in an activity called fasting. The practice of fasting is incorporated in several denominations of Christianity, the Muslim faith, and Hinduism. Fasting can be personal and completed any time of year or seen specific times of year in forms of a holiday. In particular some denominations of Christianity people celebrate Lent whereas Muslims commemorate receiving the Quran by celebrating Ramadan. Although Muslims have a historically made Ramadan fasting significantly more important to their religion than Christians do Lent, secularization and globalization overtime have brought the two faiths perception of fasting to an almost equal weight.
The Christian and Muslim faiths have historically different elements, clearly distinguishing them into their own separate religions. In regards to this point, Mallory Nye has reviewed the basic outlines of both religions in a comparative table form on page 10 of his book titled Religion: The Basics. Nye states the Christian religion is based on the principles held within their main text, the Bible which is split into two sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Whereas the Islam main text is stated to be the Qur’an. In this table Nye concludes that the essential idea in Christianity is the belief in a single god and the holy trinity incorporating Jesus Christ as the founder. Similarly Nye states that Muslims believe in a single god as well however, they call him Allah. Nye states the country of origin of Christianity is Palestine and Rome and the origin o...
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Nye, Mallory. Religion: The Basics. 2nd ed. Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Pascual Soler, Nieves. Hungering as Symbolic Language: What Are We Saying When We Starve Ourselves? Lewiston: Mellen P, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
Smith, Ted A. "Making Lent Difficult." Christian Century 130.5 (2013): 26-29. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 9 Oct. 2013.
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There are many hardships a Muslim can go through in a non-Islamic country just like America. First, for people in this country it is hard for them to get the concept about us not eating from sunrise to sunset without eating or drinking. For them fasting is not like this, it is rather different. For example, there fast iz like only eating simple foods and drinking water, for us we are not allowed to put a single thing in our mouths or then the fast does not count towards Allah. In the video it showed a girl that was in college still going through ...
Many people believe that fasting is not recommended. That is a false notion to many because they believe that fasting will affect the concentration of a person when one is hungry. This might be true at the beginning but in long run it does not. It has been proven that those people who adopt a serious program of fasting improve their attention, concentration span, focusness and alertness.
Islam and Christianity seem to have very little in common; however, the two actually show strong likeness, principally in the central areas. Both Muslims and Christians are monotheists, believing in one God. While both believe in the same God, He is called by two completely different names. He is referred to as "Allah" by Muslims and "God" by Christians. Although Islam and Christianity are two different religions, their similarities in beliefs and prayers make them comparable in many aspects.
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.
The place of worship for Muslims is called a mosque; for Catholics, it is a church or cathedral. In Catholicism, there are seven sacraments. They are “ceremonies that point to what is sacred, significant and important for Christians” (American Catholic Organisation, 2016). These sacraments include: Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Anointing of the Sick (American Catholic Organisation, 2016). A current issue in Catholicism is that some Catholics perceive the rituals of the Catholic Church as irrelevant and old-fashioned so there has been a steady decline in the number of Catholics attending mass weekly in Australia: in 1954, it was 74% of the Catholic population, but in 2006, it was an estimated 6% (Zwartz, 2013). Like Catholicism, there are also duties to be performed in Islam, which are called the Five Pillars of Islam. Stefon (2010, pp.68-72) states that these are: “the profession of faith, also called the shahadah”, “five daily canonical prayers” (also called salat), “the obligatory tax called zakat”, “sawm, the fast during the month of Ramadan” and “the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca”. It is often difficult to maintain these rituals in contemporary Australia because Muslims are a minority group and the Australian culture does not easily accommodate these rituals. For example, the celebration of Ramadan is misunderstood and not easily accommodated by Australian culture. The Glory Garage skilfully highlights the misunderstandings of Ramadan in Australia “students are told they can’t use fasting as an excuse to get out of sport” and many people also “think of fasting as a way to lose weight” and do not understand its religious significance (Jamal and Chandab, 2005, pp. 72 and 75). Muslim festivals like
This is practiced every year during the month of Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the calendar year, which is September in the United States (What are the Five Pillars of Islam?, n.d.). Every year in the month of Ramadan, all Muslims fast from dawn (fajr) until sundown (maghrib), abstaining from food, drink (including water), and sexual relations. It is the month that Allah first revealed the Qur 'an to our beloved Prophet Muhammad. In this month, the whole Qur 'an was sent down to the first sky from Lauhi Mahfouz. During the month of Ramadan, the gates of Jannah (Paradise) are opened and the gates of Jahannum Hell-fire are shut (FAQ - For Muslims, 2010). By doing this, the Muslim is partaking in an act of worship where the faithful follower denies his own needs and seeks Allah (What are the Five Pillars of Islam?, n.d.). Whilst fasting, Muslims are also obliged to abstain from smoking and other comforts such as chewing gum. Fasting is essentially an attempt to seek nearness to Allah and increase one 's piety. One of the remote aims of fasting is to empathize with those less fortunate members of society who do not always have food and drink readily available. One must also try to avoid cursing and thinking evil thoughts, with the aim of controlling the tongue and temper during the fasting hours. Sawm also carries a significant spiritual meaning. It teaches one the principle of love: because when one observes fasting, it is done out of deep love for God and to learn self-restraint (Alrayes, 2014). When interviewing Mohammed, we discussed the different aspects of Sawm and how practices it. Mohammed moved to the United States at the age of 7, which is an age in which a Muslim is not required to fast, because in order to fast, the Muslim has to reach puberty. By this happening, Mohammed had to start his
Christ, as the ultimate sacrifice in Christianity, gave his own life for the benefit of others. His self-sacrifice continues to this day to be celebrated in the Catholic Mass. Through communion, or receiving the Eucharist, one is able to actively partake of the fruits of that sacrifice. But how does one follow Jesus’ example? One surely cannot strive for the same kind of physical death that Jesus experienced. Thus, practice of another form of self-sacrifice becomes necessary.
Rather than spending the morning in an energetic phase, laziness and long sleep hours are blowing up the essence of fasting. And rather than reading the Quran, Muslims are busy sharing their feelings about the month online – in so many different aspects both good and bad. Taking pictures of the Iftar while and after preparation is also one more thing to add to the list. Muslims families are gathering around Ramadan's Maghrib and after Isha'a TV shows instead of studying a chapter or so together from the Quran or Hadith. Not to mention, that analyzing these aspects is hard – due to the complexities of today's lifestyle. For example, while many TV stations used Ramadan season for marketing their inappropriate shows – at least for the month; others noticed that and how Muslims somehow forgot the actual dignity of this holy time, so they started other shows to portray the real soul of
There are also five formal demonstrations of love which help fortify the confidence and dutifulness of a Muslim. They are much of the time called the "Five Pillars of Islam" I picked this camera loaded with slides to represent culture, since it demonstrates pictures of the journey to Mecca which Muslims are to travel to. Therefore, the Five Pillars of Islam are the structure and rules of the Muslim life. They are the declaration of faith, prayer; Muslims are called to pray five times every day at (dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and evening), donating to charity, fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, where once consistently, Muslims play out a thorough fast during the time of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic timetable. Amid this period, abstention from sustenance, drink, and sex (from dawn to nightfall) is expected of all solid grown-up
Before I entered this course, I always thought that fasting is all about food related. And that the forty hour famine from world vision, was only the true way to fast. I guess its more of a commitment and sacrifice, and that those people who did it, will have blessings poured on them. But, I think that anyone who fasts for God, will be blessed, not matter how long or different they fast, God is pleased.
From the information above it is clear that Christianity and Islam believe in one Supreme God. All believers should focus on following the commandments and rules as stated in the respective holy books. However, Christianity and Islam share great differences hence it is appropriate to conclude that Christianity is different from Islam.
Islam and Christianity have a vast amount of similarities as well as differences. Islam searches for guidance from the Qur’an and Christianity depends on faith in Jesus. Islamic faith believes in the God, Allah. Above anything else, all religious Muslims obey Allah and his commandments to obtain peace. On other hand, Christianity puts faith in Jesus who is the son of God. A major concept that separates both of the religions is the fact that the God of each faith has different qualities. This means Islam and Christianity don’t worship the same God. Islam and Christianity are two separate belief systems in which two separate Gods exist.
Although Islam and Christianity differ in major ways, they also share some similarities in their belief of God. First of all, Christianity and Islam are both monotheistic religions; worshipping only one God. While both believe in the same God, he is called by two completely different names. He is referred to as "Allah" by Muslims and "God" by Christians. 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, whom is compassionate and just. He calls all the people to believe in Him and worship Him. When someone disobeys the Lord, they may be forgiven if they are sincerely repent. In Christianity, the first, and most important of the Ten Commandments states that "I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me". Identical to Muslims, Christians also believe that their God is the creator and sustainer of the universe. The Bible begins with the creation of the Earth by God in seven days.
From: The Cow [2.184] For a certain number of days; but whoever among you is sick or on a journey, then (he shall fast) a (like) number of other days; and those who are not able to do it may effect a redemption by feeding a poor man; so whoever does good spontaneously it is better for him; and that you fast is better for you if you know.
Ramadan is a very special month in the Islamic life. It is consider being a blessed month by the muslins. It is practice in the ninth month of every year and it is place on the Islamic Lunar calendar. It is also very important in the Islamic life because it focus on fasting (sawm or siyam) observe from sunset to sunrise. Which the muslin minds are place on reflection and discipline. During this month of fasting helps make it to contribute to God’s blessings, to help the poor and answer their needs, to repent for their sins, to make stronger their moral characters and to remember that all their glory goes to God. The fasting is usually base on abstinence of drink, food and some different physical needs between the daylight hours. Sometimes,