Biblical and Koranic Personalities - Essay Example

Comparison and contrast between Biblical and Koranic personalities Whether it is the Old Testament, the New Testament or the Koran the aim is to instil a good thought process in the minds of those who read them. So both in Bible and Koran, the ideas for the betterment of humanity have been propagated, the major difference is that the personalities through which these ideas have been put forward are different. Hence the destination is same but there is a difference in the vehicles. The similarity between the three works is that all the key personalities can be united in a common ground in the form of gods, prophets, teachers, adventure heroes etc. The contrast can be portrayed in their styles of teaching, preaching or guiding the mankind. Both the Bible and the Koran believe in one God. This is the greatest similarity between the two of them but the contrast is in the name. Followers of Bible call him God or Lord while the followers of Koran call him, Allah. The stature of Jesus, as lord was fixed even before he was born. As mentioned in the New Testament, the country shepherds were informed about the emergence of lord by the angels in the following way: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ3 the Lord.” In Koran too there is one God. In fact the Koran itself is considered the proof of one God. As mentioned in the Islamic literature“…the Koran is, literally, Gods word and is, like Him, miraculous and eternal…” Based on the works of Koran and bible it is evident that there are prophets in both the religions. In Islam the greatest prophet is Muhammad whose revelations have been compiled together in the form of the Holy book Koran. His importance as a prophet is such that every Muslim aims to read some verses of the Koran, five times a day. The contrast between the Koranic prophet Muhammad and biblical prophet, Moses as mentioned in Islam is that “ The many allusions to Moses (Musa), for example, stress that God may choose even an ordinary, flawed man to be His prophet and say nothing of Moses role as the leader of his people.” (Islamic literature) This is the reason why, where Muhammad is given so much of importance Moses’s importance is recognized but not glorified as much as that of Muhammad. Both Jesus and Muhammad had qualities of the teacher. They taught and preached the lessons of love, trust and peace to their followers. They were the basis of the two widely recognized religions. Though both these teachers are treated with highest regard now, at the time when they were engaged in their preaching, people did not support their endeavors. Islamic literature points out, “Jesus (Isii) who, like Muhammad, had to defend himself against a hostile and unbelieving community.” Both these preachers had to leave their original places because the community to which they were spreading the messages of love and forgiveness was against them. Joseph is considered a supporting character in the bible. He is respected for being the father of God, Jesus. He can also be identified as a prophet. According to the Old Testament, once, he reveals his identity to his brothers who had sold him in Egypt, in the following way: "God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance." This supporting character and prophet of Bible is a prophet in Koran too as mentioned in Koran/1457 sura 12. However, he can also be categorised as the adventure hero based on the evidence of both the Bible and Koran where he is described as a ‘divinely guided man’ who takes a difficult path. Whether he is a supporting character or a prophet, both the works have one common viewpoint about him. Both the works believe that he was the chosen one by the God for treading all the adventurous paths, thus giving an evidence of him being divinely guided. The personality of Abraham as the truest believer of God has been acknowledged both in the bible and Koran. Irigami claims: “Abraham was the first True Believer in God. Christians and Jews glory in the story of Abraham, who demonstrated his total Devotion to God by his willingness to Sacrifice his son because God asked him to do so. It is broadly accepted that this willingness established Abraham as the FIRST True believer in God (even though Adam and Noah and others earlier had interactions with God, none had demonstrated such an amazing Devotion)…. All Muslims face Mecca during their many daily Prayers. One of their "Five Pillars" of Faith is to accomplish a Pilgrimage to Mecca at least once during the persons lifetime. Mecca is important to them primarily for one reason, the presence of the Kaaba. Muslims believe that Abraham himself built that cube-shaped building (with the help of his son, Ishmael) using, among other materials, the "Black Stone". Since Abraham is recognized as the very first True believer in God (Allah), the building that he personally built, the Kaaba, in Mecca, is incredibly important.” (para 5-6) As mentioned in the Bible, Jesus and Mary are Gods. They are believed to have taken the human form to bring the mankind closer to divinity. Since they had adopted all the qualities of human beings they had to go through so much of hardships for the benefit of all. In contrast to this belief according to the Koranic viewpoint Jesus and Mary can be characterized as prophets but certainly not Gods as it believes that divine and human qualities cannot amalgamate so much. This is the reason why Koran stresses on Muhammad as prophet and not Allah. To conclude, the different personalities of the Koran and the Bible can be categorized into different categories like God, prophet, teacher etc. but the soul aim of all these personalities have been to provide as much love and betterment to the mankind as possible. These personalities can be compared and contrasted on different levels but at the end of all this, since they pass the same message they all are one. Word count: 1047 References The Koran The New Testament The Old Testament The Rise of Islam and Islamic Literature Irigami. similarities between Islam and christianity. 2005. 21st June 2007 Read More