Compare And Contrast Islam And Christic Religion

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The three most powerful and influential religions in the world share many similarities. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are each a monotheistic religion that believes there is only one true God, however, Muslims and Christians disagreed on who that God is. All three believe that Jerusalem is the center of their religion and it is recognized by each as a sacred place. They all consider the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as a hallowed site and all three have a sacred text where the story of the origin of their people and the creation of man is recounted. While there are some differences between their art forms, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have a common theme of a significant prophet that was a leader of their people and important contributions …show more content…

A fundamental belief of Judaism is that God gave them the Ten Commandments. These commandments are central to the Hebrew culture. They are the word of God and state that He is the only true God and no other God or false image will be worshipped. They also proclaim the seventh day to be a holy day. The Ten Commandments became the basis for the Torah, which are the instructions for the ethical and moral values the Hebrews will live by. The Muslims have similar instructions in the five pillars of Islam. These declare that Allah is the only God and define the ritual of daily prayer. They also include helping the poor, when to abstain and fast, and describe a pilgrimage one should take. The Torah, and what the Hebrews view as the ethical treatment of other human beings, differs from the Qur’an in one major area; “Perhaps because the Hebrews were once themselves aliens and slaves, their law treats the lowest members of society as human beings” (Sayre 51). This is an opposite view from Islam where Muhammad views slavery as “the just spoils of war” (Sayre …show more content…

The art of Islam does not include any images of humans or animals, however, landscapes are portrayed. Muhammad warned his followers regarding the artists who would create images that depicted living beings that, “those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Judgement by being told: Make alive what you have created” (Sayre 296). Christian art consists of some sculpture, however, the majority of Christian art are wall paintings that contain symbolic significance. Symbolism is important to the spiritual beliefs of Christians because symbols, such as a fish, were used as a way of identifying one’s faith in a way that was not seen by the general public. Music was initially seen as a distraction to the Islamic faithful, however, after Muhammad 's death, music became an important part of Muslim worship (Sayre 304). The Muslims incorporated music into their religious practices and worship by chanting verses from the Qur’an and singing the seven phrases during the call to prayer. Christians also incorporate music during worship through the singing of hymns. The Muslims created an oud which would later become the modern version of the guitar and the Arabs were the first to write the concept of music

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