Islam Compared to the Orthodox Church - Essay Example

Islam Compared To Orthodox Religion” Islam compared to the Orthodox Church It is important to observe and contrast different religions around the world and not indulge in ethnocentricism; the belief that one’s own religion is the best and people from another religion know nothing about faith. As the world is becoming more and more globalized, it would be ignorant to remain unaware of the religions around the world. Islam is one of those religions that bind millions of Muslims together from all over the world without borders. It is a monotheistic religion built on the belief of one God, Allah who is Beneficent and Merciful and his last prophet is Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H). It is prevalent in the Middle East and spreading to other parts of the world as well. Islam includes not only the religion of the people but their politics as well i.e. its state and its people cannot be separated. (Swartz, 1981) Their last prophet (P.B.U.H) wanted to establish equality on earth, and not a single powerful body like the Church which would cater to the people, like the Orthodox beliefs. He wanted there to be equal privileges and absence of exploitation in the world, so that everybody had rights. And he believed that the ethic would come from the worship and belief in the one true God. And he would be the decider of all good and bad deeds alike. This would lend peace to the economy as well as the people and therefore Islam is primarily a ‘social religion.’ And being moral is what leads to Heaven or Hell. (admin, 2012) The Orthodox Church on the other hand believes that there is more to society’s well being that the development of an ethical system. That was Christ’s aim as well. He established the Church which does preach ethics and morality It isn’t just about participants of a good society with order and rewards if you do good deeds, but Orthodox Christians believe that as a religious individual one needs to participate in the love for God, and the love for Christ. (Kallistos, 1993) The mission of Christ as perceived by Islam and by Christianity is different. The Orthodox believe that Christ came on this planet to transform mankind into a better race through love for God and this would create a vision of man that would be unique in its essence. However, there is no such mention in Islam and no such concept among Muslims. There were no doctrines towards God, only his worship is must. These are the theological differences between the two religions. (Kallistos, 1993) Another difference is that Muslims believe that there is a threat to their religion from the West because it brings with a great deal of modernization. They believe that they need to follow all the guidelines mentioned in their Holy Book, the Holy Quran which believes that the last prophet is Prophet Muhammad and there is only one God, Allah. Orthodox believes that Christ is the son of God, but they also believe that there is only one God. Their Holy Book of Guidance is the Holy Bible. Fundamentalism has risen over the past years due to modernization which is a perceived threat by the Muslims but it was not present in the religion to begin with. However this fundamentalism is not unique to just Islam but Orthodox Christians also have similar views about modernism. The history of Islam includes Prophet Muhammad striving for a society in which the Arabs, who were a divided nation who indulged in several vices, to be united into one nation. And that was his mission and he is the role model and founder of Islam, creating unity and the belief in a dole God and the establishment of laws according to this belief. This movement has lead to a vast fraternity over the years, to become a Muslim brotherhood. He also believed that morals and values should be simple and everyone should be able to follow them and this made life easier for the Arabs to accept this new religion. The Muslims were to believe in something credible and it was easy to accept his religion. (Williams, 1961) On the other hand, the Orthodox Christians had to believe in a miracle, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ who was the son of God, which was beyond the limitations of the human mind. It is his belief that wine becomes Divine Blood as you consume it even in Church and bread is the ‘Lord’s Risen Body.’ There is no such aspect in Islam to believe in the miraculous aspect of this, even though there have been many miracles in Islam as well. There is no aspect of veneration even though there are saints that are heard of in Islam as well, but not as commonly in Christianity. Holy Prophet simply conveyed God’s message to the Muslims and they had to commit to him and follow him. (etc., 2012) There are also five basic aspects in Islam which are not there in Orthodox Christianity. Five aspects include not just the five beliefs that Muslims have but also five things that they must observe. Five beliefs includes the belief in one God, angels, Holy Prophet as the final prophet and many prophets before him, the day of Judgment and the Big Night which is called Qadar or knowledge of God which exceeds time. (Williams, 1961) Five Pillars of Islam are firstly the belief in the ‘kalma’ or a testimony of ‘shahadah’ which is that ‘there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah’ (Williams, 1961). The second is prayer, which is observed five times a day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and when the darkness sets (Kallistos, 1993). The third pillar is giving ‘Zakat’ or alms to the poor and the needy (the definition of who is deserving of alms is further defined). The fourth pillar is fasting during the month of ‘Ramdan,’ observing abstinence of food and water from morning to sunset. And the final pillar is ‘Hajj’ which is the pilgrimage journey to Makkah, which is their Holy city. (Williams, 1961) Prayer seems to be one of the only essential ways to communicate with God, where as in Orthodox Christians one also needs to actively participate in the Church and share wine and bread to earn a reward in the hereafter. The Orthodox believe in the Holy Trinity concept and they also believe that just believing in the sole existence of a single God confines him, and God is beyond confines, he is something we cannot know and He may be found within as well, but thinking about him as one limits him to the capacity of mankind’s thinking, which is limited. He is one, even according to the Orthodox; however he is much beyond just One. He is a mystery still. We will never be able to fully understand what He is all about but we can only try to understand and connect to Him. God is thus a trinity. (Kallistos, 1993) Another difference is that even though both religions believe in the Oneness of God, however they are miles apart. Islam doesn’t believe that God has ever shown His face as man, or has identified with Him; however Orthodox Christians believe that God has indeed manifested Himself in man’s body, through his son, Jesus Christ. In this way he is a father to a son and has therefore a personal connection with mankind, where as in Islam he is depersonalized. Muslims also believe religious art to be simply calligraphy or verses from the Quran or geometric shapes, which are the norm found in Mosques all over the world. They do not believe in reincarnation and have no pictures in Mosques that will depict any past of Islam or any eventful personality. There also some conditions for prayer such as ‘Wudu’ or ablution, which is cleanliness of the body, cleanliness of clothes, place, facing the ‘Kaabah’ which is believed to be the house of God and so forth which Orthodox Christians do not believe in. (Williams, 1961) Bibliography admin. (2012). MC of the Quaid cities. Retrieved from http://www.mcqc.org/ etc., L. P. (2012). Our Faiths. Retrieved from http://www.assumptionem.org/Pages/Our_Faith.html Kallistos, B. o. (1993). The Orthodox Church. Penguin Books. Swartz, M. L. (1981). Studies on Islam. Oxford University Press. Williams, J. A. (1961). Islam. G. Braziller. Read More