Islam is a religion expressed by the Quran, a religious book read by its followers and believed to be the literal words of the single God, Allah. Founded by Muhammad, the purpose of Islam is to live according to Sharia, with the ultimate goal of Islam Din being to go to heaven, and to submit to God’s will. In order to achieve this end result there is a series of methods that are practiced; promoting Dhikr, remembering god, and submitting to God’s will. In terms of their methods, their place of worship, where some of their practices are held, is a mosque or masjid.
It is important to know Islam contains five pillars, with the belief that there is one God whose messenger is Muhammad. The 5 Pillars are just one of the many methods practiced by this particular religion. The first pillar is declaration of faith, “There is no God but God,” after which comes consistent prayer. Prayer is required five times daily. The third pillar is “Almsgiving.” Almsgiving is the requirement to give 2.5% of your personal wealth to the needy followed by the fasting of Ramadan. Pillar number five is a pilgrimage to Mecca, which is not necessarily something everyone can do.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji founded Sikhism or Sikh Dharma, around 1469 AD. The Sikh practice revolves around three things, “Recitation and remembrance of Nam, the divine presence, to establish a strong relationship with Akal Purakh, the practice of generosity, dan, to promote right relationships in society, and thirdly ishnan, the practice of pure living to establish right relationships with oneself. ” Sikhs also practice daily prayer to their one God, always keeping in mind the three pillars of Sikhism. The three pillars of Sikhism in other words are, “To remember God at all times which inc...
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... stresses the importance of earning an honest living. They both believe in sharing one’s earnings with the less fortunate to benefit the whole society.
Sikhism also stresses the virtues of being married and raising and supporting a family. Going along with the idea of supporting a family, they both perceive women as equal, even though some Sikhs consider daughters economic liabilities, because it is expensive to marry them off to other families. Lastly, both religions also believe in one God. Islam’s God is referred to as Allah, while the Sikhs refer to their God as Akal Purakh.
In the end, while these two religions are often in the media for their conflicts and continued turmoil, it is important to recognize that they are not all that different, and that they do in fact have some similarities.
Works Cited
http://www.diffen.com/difference/Islam_vs_Sikhism
"Sikh Awareness." Sikh Awareness. © 2002-2012 THE SIKH COALITION, 12 Oct. 2001. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
Christianity and Sikhism are two completely different religions with their own set of beliefs, though when looked at closer, share many similarities. Catholics and Sikhs only believe in one god, have creators who at birth were told they would do great things, had events at the age of 30 that put the ideas of their religions in motion, and both had followings who eventually took over and made the religions what they are today. Even though these religions have a large gap in time between them of when they were founded, they both share a common founding and similar beliefs.
The generalization of the pillars of Islam takes on a very personal meaning to the individual Muslim. The individual is obligated to pray five times per day, pray recitations, and attend special Friday Services at the Mosque (Corduan, 2012). Living out this prayer life becomes the foundation of the Muslims lifestyle and time.
Despite being one of the world's largest world religions, Sikhism remains one of the most unknowledgeable and misunderstood traditions in America now. It is overseen and viewed in a lens based off assumptions of events that have occurred over the years. The lack of understanding has brought up too many serious consequences for their community including discriminatory policies, prejudiced stereotypes, shocking school bullying and violent hate crimes. To begin, Sikhism is a religion originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent about the end of the 15th century. It is known as one of the youngest of the major world religions! The vital beliefs of
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,
Although there are some aberrations in Christianity and Islam, there are many more similarities between the two. Those who practice Christianity consider being Muslim taboo because they are said to have renounced Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity. Aside from that factor, most practices are equal. Sadly, most Muslims and Christians will never get along because in their eyes, the few differences are colossal enough to keep them divided. Each side is too blinded by the error of the others ways to see how analogous to one another they actually are.
Sikhism is its own religion. It is not Hinduism, nor is it Islam. The people of the Sikh religion devote themselves to the remembrance of God at all times. It is also important for Sikhs to live truthfully and treat mankind equally. It is against the Sikh religion to believe in superstitions or to practice blind rituals, such as killing a cow and eating beef. With the Khalsa army, the Sikhs were able to expand their rule of an already powerful empire at the same time the British were pushing through India. The Sikhs were the last major Indian state to surrender to the British in 1849. They have also established themselves as an agricultural powerhouse in the region. The Sikhs maintain the most advanced irrigation system in India. The Sikhs in the Punjab have proven to the British that they are capable of controlling their own province in the Federation of Indian States. For these reasons the British have awarded the Sikhs their own province. The foundation of the Sikh state will be based on a “Statement of Principles” that will include an explanation of the relationship between the Sikh religion and the government, the rights of other religions and the Untouchables, and the economic policies of the future.
Islam the complete ‘surrender to Allah’ is a living religious tradition with the principal belief in one God – Allah. Islam has remained the same in its principle beliefs of Allah, His Angels, His Prophets, His Books, The Last Day and his complete authority over destiny and has also changed over time to ensure that Islam remains a living religious tradition. Over its history Islam has had many significant people including Al Ghazali and Aisha Bint Abu Bakr who have ensured that Islam remains living in the hearts and minds of its adherents. In addition to significant individuals participation in the Five Pillars e.g. the Hajj ensure that Islam will continue to be the living religious tradition that it is.
In conclusion, I find that these two religions are very interesting. I really have learned a lot about these two different religions. I could have gone on and on about all the similarities and differences of these two religions. It was very informative to look at two completely different religions than mine and made me think about how little I actually know about my own.
1. Do you consider yourself a religious person? Would you identify yourself with a particular religious group? (Which one?)
In addition to these expectations from any Sikh, they are expected to work towards one goal which is “Union with God”, as Nanak considered the Union with the God to be a “blissful union” (Huston Smith, 77). Furthermore, Sikhs are expected to accept the teaching ideals of the Gurus such as honesty, piety, love, and compassion in entirety. Additionally, the Sikh community is expected to tolerate other religions and treat everyone equally as according to Sikhism religion, everyone is equal in the eyes of God. According to the Sikh religion, the only way to remember God is by meditating on the name of God, and thus, they are not allowed to worship idols, pictures, or stones. In addition, Sikhs should pray before beginning any kind of work. A Sikh
Guru Nanak's followers were Sikhs (seekers of truth). He taught them to bow only before God, and to link themselves to the Guru, the Light of Truth, who lives always in direct consciousness of God, experiencing no separation. Through words and example, the Guru demonstrates to followers how to experience God within themselves, bringing them from darkness into light. Guru Nanak was a humble bearer of this Light of Truth. He opposed superstition, injustice, and hypocrisy and inspired seekers by singing divine songs which touched the hearts of the most callous listeners. These songs were recorded, and formed the beginnings of the Sikhs' sacred writings, later to become the "Siri Guru Granth Sahib".Guru Nanak taught his way of life:Nam Japa - To get up each day before sunrise, to clean the body, meditate on God's Name and recite the Guru's hymns to clean the mind.
The commonalities of Christianity and Islam center around the idea of believing in one God. The God of Christianity and Islam is separate from the world and creation. With numerous similarities a few that can be discussed pertaining to lifestyle include: both worship in community, believe in life after death, and put God as first priority. More so, we must not get the idea confused that Christianity and Islam worship the
...ethics, and so forth. The crucial piece of information to remember about this religion is that they greatly emphasis unity and have a great amount of diversity. Even though it is a diverse religion, all of the Muslims are monotheistic and solely believe that Allah is the creator of everything, including humans. As a human being they believe that they are in debt to God or simply stated as according to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Therefore, all that we are and all that we have belongs to God for which we are indebted to Him and for whose gifts we must give thanks (shukr)” . God is the Absolute and the main point of the Islamic religion is that it is crucial to worship him and follow his commands, and that will lead to peace among everyone. This particular religion has continued to rapidly grow throughout the world and as with most religions, it will continue to grow.
The Islamic religion has a powerful meaning - surrender. Muslims in their religion pray to Prophet Muhammad who is regarded as the greatest of all prophets. Salat is one of the five pillars of Islam. The doctrinal narrative and experiential dimensions. The doctrinal dimension is important because ritual prayer of Salat Is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and is always in the direction of the ka’ba the shrine in mecca. The narrative dimension is also very important. this prayer must always be preceded by following the steps of washing their face hands and feet that can be done with sand when water is not available. Praying five times a day in a prescribed manner called the Salat. This is an extremely important tenet of Islam and has been enjoined with great emphasis both in the Holy Quran and the sayings of Prophet Mohammad. It is the greatest source for purification of the soul. If a man is not reciting Salat must be considered as soulless man. The way the Salat is offered and the words which are recited explain the true nature of religion.