Catholic And Islam Essay

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Islam and Christianity are two major world religions, which have several significant differences, however, there are also many key similarities which allow the two religions to meet on common ground and develop interfaith cooperation. These similarities are in the doctrines and rituals, and their important roles in the settlement of Australia. Catholicism and Islam are also facing many current issues today. These include stereotyping, living between two worlds and a decline in followers. A better understanding of Islam will make it easier to move beyond the stereotypes, helping Australia to become a more culturally diverse society. Catholicism and Islam can be compared and contrasted through Smart’s Doctrinal and Ritual Dimensions, the history …show more content…

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

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