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Five pillars of islam short essay
Five pillars of islam short essay
The three monotheistic religions
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Man has always needed something to worship. The earliest civilizations needed their gods to bow down to. In an early Akkadian work the epic of Gilgamesh is explored in as much detail as the era would allow. In this era temples were built to the gods such as the one in Urik for the gods Ishtar and Anu called Eanna. In this polytheistic world some of the gods worshiped were Anu who was the father of the gods, Ishtar the goddess of both love and war, Shamush who was the god of the sun and justice and many more because there were many thing to be taken care of and it was to much for one god to take care of. Gilgamesh, the king of Urik, could be called demigod if not for the fact he was two thirds god and only one third human and not born of woman. It is said that several gods had a hand in his creation giving him superhuman size and strength. When He arives at Urik it is thought that he is their shepard but he is a fighter and all fall under his weapons, men and women alike.( The Epic of Gilgamesh p.40-41) So the people pray to Aruru to create his double so that they may contend and Urik can have peace. So she creates from clay Enkidu, a wild man of Gilgamesh match. In this time of Gilgamesh and Enkidu the gods listened all one had to do was pray at the temple and offer sacrifice. Gilgamesh and Enkidu are both compared strength wise to Anu himself. When they fight it is to be so epic that the walls of Urik shattered.( The Epic of Gilgamesh p.49) At this time in history it is a of many gods and great epic tales of there offspring. If both of these titans were asked how they know to divine both would have to answer that they know them well because the gods created them . So they know them as both mother and father and have a love hate...
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...itating at Mt. Hira he has a vision of Gabriel who gives him his first revelation from Allah. To Mohammad there is only one God and that is Allah. And some of things that Allah reveals to Mohammad is a need to take care of the poor, the women and travelers. If asked he would say that the way to achieve a harmonious relationship with Allah is to follow the five pillars, fundamental acts that define you as a Muslim. These act are first a statement of faith , next prayer five times a day, giving of alms, fasting during Ramadan and lastly a pilgramage to Mecca. And if there be a disbeliever the fire is prepared, but the garden awaits those whom believe and do the will of Allah. The Qur’an is accumulation of all of Mohammad’s revelations in to one tome. One that has not changed since it first writing unlike the other two who have rewritten or reinterpreted their books.
The Enuma Elish’s emphasis is not on the creation of humanity, but rather on the rise of the sun god Marduk, and how he became the supreme god. Marduk was born of Ea, who was born of the bitter water god Tiamat, and was very powerful. He was enlisted to defeat Tiamat and her monsters in a great war, and agreed on the condition that he will forever remain king of the gods. He defeated Tiamat, tore her body in half and used it to create the Earth and the sky. He is also credited with positioning the constellations to represent the gods, and assigning jobs to the gods who fought on the losing side with Tiamat in the war. He then created man to serve the gods in their defined duties, as it was deemed beneath them to perform such duties. The creation of man as a working servant of the gods established a lower role of humans in the Babylonian society than in that of the Mayans, where the people were created to praise the gods, not serve them through hard
Respecting the gods was one of the most important, and there was retribution for those who didn’t. After killing the Bull of Heaven, the gods punish Gilgamesh and his friend, Enkidu, by sentencing Enkidu to a slow, painful death by disease. Merikare writes that a Pharaoh must, “make ample the daily offerings, it profits him who does it.” In both instances, the gods are where the kings derive their claim to the throne. Respecting them is of utmost importance because they believed that punishment could come if one did not obey. In addition, both kings needed to conquer or secure trade routes to gain access to valuable luxury resources. Both require Cedar, as evidenced when Merikare writes, “I pacified the West…it gives cedar wood,” and when Gilgamesh kills Humbaba so he can build a great Cedar gate at the entrance of Uruk. Both cultures recognized the best way to have constant access to an important commodity was to control the supply and the roads. These works both exemplify this, as both used military force to secure Cedar, which both needed for their monumental architecture. Kings also needed to be accountable to the people. In the beginning of the epic, Gilgamesh is a cruel ruler, and the people hate him. The gods decide, therefore, to give him a rival who can dethrone him. The Pharaoh also writes to his son, “Don 't be evil, kindness is good, Make your memorial last
The Iroquois creation myth comes across a situation in which there is no one for the two females to mate with since there is no male life on earth. Without men, human life on Earth would not continue, and, “when the girl had grown to womanhood, a man appeared,”(Iroquois) which lets the Iroquois tribe know that if they are in a needy situation, the gods have the ability to help out. Because of the gods only helping out humans on Earth when it was needed to sustain life, the Iroquois tribe can assume that in small troubles, it is unlikely the gods will help them. Rather than only helping human life out when it was needed, the gods in the Babylonian myth helped and had a relationship with humans on Earth. The female that helped create human life on Earth felt as if she had sinned, so in result of her sinning, “she changed to a cow to disguise herself, but [the god] changed to a bull and mated with her,”(Babylonian) which ended up creating all of the animals on Earth.
How did people revere their gods differently among three civilizations? Did they worship with the same general intent? What were gods’ role(s) in people’s lives? A brief exploration into the religions of Egypt, Greece, and the Hebrew people may bring insight to these questions. Although the main idea of higher beings remains constant throughout societies’ religion, their form of presence in people’s lives varies. I will present the relationship between the leaders and the gods, as well as resemblance to monotheism and systems of government.
In the ancient civilization of the Sumerians religion was an important part of both the lives of the citizens and the administration of government. People felt very distant from their rulers and this feeling was reflected in their religion. The great gods of the day were unconcerned with human welfare. They were in control of the forces of nature and were the source of authority for the rulers. Both inspired fear and veneration in the populace and the people created lesser gods as guardian intercessors to assuage the insecurity of their world. Although the Sumerians developed systems of writing and mathematics, the use of these arts was restricted to an elite upper class while the majority of the people were enslaved by ignorance and fear. This structure of subservience to a higher power was established in their religion and played out in their government.
Islam and the worship of Allah (god) began with Muhammad and his revelations that lasted for 23 years of his life from (610 C.E.- 623 C.E.). In the Islamic religion it is believed that he was the last prophet sent by Allah (god) and this made all his teachings into to Law and are looked at as the will of God. These messages were given to him through the archangel Gabriel, in a kind of continuation to the Jewish Torah and Christian Bible, which the Qur’an shares some similarities or past “history” with them such as the belief in Abraham and Jesus as a prophet, but in the eye’s of Mohammad the Jews and Christians had fallen astray from the real teaching of god.
Enkidu was created to be Gilgamesh’s equal and his soul mate. ‘“You made him… now create his equal; let it be as like him as his own reflection, his second self, stormy heart for stormy heart’” (14). So the goddess of creation, Aruru “dipped her hands in water and pinched off clay, she let it fall in the wilderness” and created Enkidu (14). Before Gilgamesh had met Enkidu he loved him; ‘“… I bent down, deeply drawn towards… [Enkidu]… I loved it like a woman and wore it at my side”’ (16). Enkidu had “virtue in him” (14). He was also “innocent of mankind” (14). After Enkidu was civilized the wild animals would not be near him. He felt ...
In the novel The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there are many important themes in the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg. The billboard was constructed to advertise a business of an oculist, symbolizing the growth of commercialism in America. The eyes watch the main characters as they pass the billboard on their way towards New York City, almost like a godly figure. At the beginning of the novel we see the setting as being described as a very terrible, grey land. As the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg appear over the hills people notice the billboard featuring a colorful blue background and the large eyes that give a sense of a godly figure in the heavens. As the eyes look down below they also see all of the lost morals and disdainful actions people do, thus symbolizing the corruption of the people. At the beginning we only see a billboard, but towards the end, the eyes mean so much more than that.
The epic begins with the men of Uruk describing Gilgamesh as an overly aggressive ruler. "'Gilgamesh leaves no son to his father; day and night his outrageousness continues unrestrained; And he is the shepherd of Uruk, the enclosure; He is their shepherd, and yet he oppresses them. Strong, handsome, and wise. . . Gilgamesh leaves no virgin to her lover.'"(p.18, Line 23-27) The citizens respect him, but they resent his sexual and physical aggression, so they plead to the gods to alleviate some of their burden. The gods resolve to create an equal for Gilgamesh to tame him and keep him in line. This equal, Enkidu, has an immediate impact on Gilgamesh. When they first meet, both having never before met a man equal in stature, they brawl. "They grappled with each other, Snorting like bulls; They shattered the doorpost, that the wall shook."(p.32, lines 15-18) In giving Gilgamesh a real battle, Enkidu instantly changes him; having this equal gives Gilgamesh a sense of respect for another man. These two men fighting each other creates a serious mess, but they both end up without animosity toward the other.
Enkidu was created by Anu, the sky-god, to “serve as the subhuman rival to the superhuman Gilgamesh.” In tablet 2, when Enkidu is first introduced to the city of Uruk, he stands up to Gilgamesh for abusing his power to sleep with the wives’ of others. When Enkidu loses to Gilgamesh, accepts his dominance, and the two become friends. This shows Enkidu’s modest attitude, as opposed to Gilgamesh’s egotistical and arrogant attitude. Alos, when Gilgamesh proposes killing the demon, Humbaba, Enkidu accompanies his, despite being apprehensive and risking his life to make sure the king doesn’t die. In tablet 5, while facing Humbaba, Enkidu comforts and encourages Gilgamesh when he runs and hides, which shows how Enkidu thinks of Gilgamesh as a friend. These feelings, however, are not
People of the ancient world often had questions about their existence and how life and people came to be on earth. Most ancient people answered these questions through religion. The Sumerians were the first important group of people to inhabit Mesopotamia and they were known to practice a form of worship called polytheism, which is the worship of several gods. Mesopotamians associated different gods with natural events, emotions, and other occurrences. Their main deities included An (the god of the heavens), Enlil (Lord Storm), Enki (god of wisdom), and Nihursaga (the mother of all living things)(p.22). The Mesopotamians believed that the gods controlled all of the events and occurrences in life. An ancient text called “Creation of Man by the Mother Goddess” (p.34) helps us understand how the M...
Muslims believe that the absolute deity is Allah. However, they also believe that there was a string of prophets sent by God to teach his word. The last of these prophets was Muhammad. His life is used as a foundation for Muslims to see how they are supposed to live and to help explain the teachings of the holy book of Islam, which is called Holy Qur’an. These teachings are said to have been revelations that Muhammad received that confirmed the God’s unity and the direct life in the world.
After ‘The Year of Sorrow’ in which both Muhammad’s uncle- Abu Talib and wife- Kadijah died Muhammad is warned by the angel Gabriel that the situation is getting too dangerous for him in Mecca. “Muhammad knew the faith must find expression in a community which would insure its external force and the opportunity to prevail against opposition” (Cragg). It is at this point that Muhammad is invited to become a leader in Medina (622ce).
When people think about Mecca one of the first things that might come to their heads is the pilgrimage or the black stone. Muhammad is one of the reasons that Mecca is what it is today. Muhhamad was a prophet born 570 in Mecca. He was orphaned as a child and sent to ended up living with his uncle. Muhhamad would get away from everything by going to the desert to meditate. One night while alone at Mt. Hira he was visited by an angel named Gabriel. After this Muhhamad began to accept Allah and started to believe. Some of the things Muhhamad believed was Jihad, holy struggle. He also began to believe you live for Allah. He believed all those who did would be rewarded and the rest punished. Not everyone believed the way Muhammad did. People at first thought that his teachings were a threat to the religious and material order. He was accused of making up what the Angel Gabriel had told him. He got followers from the poor and people who thought they were being unequally treated. Muhhamad took these people and then left and went to Medina to find more followers. He then returned to Mecca later and took over the city and converted everyone to Islam.
For instance, when people complain about Gilgamesh being a ruler who does not treat his people well, Aruru, the Goddess of Creation creates Enkidu, who is supposed to be the equal of Gilgamesh. Later on in the story when Enkidu and Gilgamesh face Humbaba, it is the God Shamash who helps defeat the monster. In the Manas epic, religion, Islam was the main connection between God and human while people in Gilgamesh could speak to God as they met them. Another important difference in the epics, Manas and Gilgamesh, is the end of their story. Although they both returned home from their voyage, they had a different journey.