Historical Relation between Islam, Christianity and Judaism - Essay Example

9 April Historical Relation between Islam, Christianity and Judaism Religion helps to provide a driving force for every man’s existence onEarth – it is a belief of faith that people indulge in, in order to feel secure and protected in terms of their actions with relation to others around them. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are three of the world’s oldest religions, perhaps stemming and growing from each other initially as per historical evidences; however, today, the three have created a niche for themselves in the world with great followings of their own. It is said that Judaism was the backing that gave way to Christianity and Islam and that is why most of their teachings and beliefs are very much similar. The three religions share a stark relationship with each other in terms of their history with a connection between their messengers, texts and teachings. If checked properly, one can also notice the similarities between their rites and rituals, and how it is only different names and the use of different languages that separates the three from each other. The commonality between the three is that each religion believes in its own God, and has put major emphasis on the higher supreme power that rules the faith. It is said that these Gods were the creators of heaven and hell, and of man’s existence on Earth, and that is why each religion has its own set of beliefs and laws for every man to dedicate his life to serving God. Traditionally speaking, all three religions are bound by history because of their connection with Prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. They each were the servants of their Gods, and came as messengers to people in order to reveal the truth about life that God imparted to them. Abraham gave his people the message provided to him by God, Moses provided the Israelis with the Ten Commandments, and Jesus was the harbinger of the teachings of God and Hebrew prophets. Finally, Muhammad is said to have combined the above messages of God and reject any kind of idolatry while simply establishing some required laws for the rest of humanity to follow. According to history, it is said that Judaism formed the roots of religion from which Islam and Christianity grew with the help of Messiahs. All three religions had their own Messiahs that delivered messages of truth and peace to the rest of their followers. While taking the literal meaning of the word ‘God’ into account, all three religions date back to their creations; The Hebrew word for God is ‘Elohim’ which in Arabic or Islam can be translated as, and means, ‘Allah’. Jews were said to come from Isaac, the son of Abraham, and the Arabs from Ishmael, another son of Abraham. According to this theory, all three religions were born out of the brainchild of a single God, despite having branched out into separate entities. Thus, all of mankind is a child of Abraham. On reading the holy books pertaining to each religion, i.e., the Holy Bible or the Qur’an, many historians as well as people specializing in theology have pointed out that the texts and readings of all religions contain the same teachings in different languages. The names of the Prophets are also strikingly similar, with a few changes in the pronunciation due to being spoken about and written in different languages and scripts. With respect to history, taken from a pragmatic point of view, there is only one God and his sons were the ones to have brought his message to the rest of mankind, and this was done by three different elements, thus leading to the creation of different religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, gradually developed into powerful tools used for the purpose of politics and monarchy in different countries, among different people. Preaching to the people became a widely known concept in the early centuries of the world, and more and more people began to take to power just in order to be able to gather mass following. This came as a threat to the identity and existence of the religions as the purpose of existence for mankind, because it was begun to be used as a tool in the hands of people. All three monotheistic religions contain a great amount of belief in the characteristics of humanity and believe in both good and evil and thus, each individual must use his potential to give back to God the favour of his having created him and brought him on this Earth. All three religions share common ancestors as well as rituals and practices. They each have their own places of holy worship in the world, believed to have been created by the presence of Abraham. It is said that in Spain, between the period of 750 and 1250, all three of these faiths coexisted in relation with one another peacefully. People were glad to accept them, because they arose out of a common belief and objective for taking humanity forward. However, with time and development, hostility began to arise because of being so similar to each other. Competition in the name of God was begun by people following the religions rather than what had been prescribed in their texts and since those times in history, bitter rivalry had commenced in order to proclaim superiority over the other. Each religion tried to undermine the other; Judaism was condemned by Islam and Christianity for not being able to incorporate or update itself with truths and messages from the growing whims of the people; Christianity was accused of worshipping an idol of Jesus Christ because Christians began to sway away from the idea of oneness of God and started serving Jesus as the son of God, who took His holy form and presence and roamed the Earth trying to preach and teach people. Also, Muhammad was blamed by the other faiths for having falsely suggested any kind of connection or revelation with God, which he brought and shared with the people. As time passed and people began to develop and nurture their thoughts with respect to religion, an association with the government also took form, as discussed above, in the form of political alliances of each country having its separate following. All this further created problems as it widened the gap between the three religions even more. Spirituality and philosophy with respect to religion and theology (and the three religions) were made into subjects of interest of people as segregation slowly took a nasty form and heightened the distance between people from different faiths. However, today, the three religions have developed and taken an immense form on the planet; each religion has its own devout followers that have dedicated their lives to worshipping God. Despite having a personal history and connection in the past, the relationship and ties between the three have not broken as they seem to. A bond was created by God, as the intent was to formulate a religion on the basis of spiritual and philosophical existence of mankind; the aim was for God to receive love and care in return for creating man and providing him with the Earth to survive on. The difference lays in the way the historical texts of the three branches of God have been portrayed and accepted by different people. Works Cited Nwigwe, Ify. "Understanding the Relationship between Christianity, Judaism and Islam - by Ify Nwigwe - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. 30 Aug. 2007. Web. 08 Apr. 2011. . Read More