Islamic Religion and Christianity - Essay Example

Introduction: Islam is a monotheistic religion which is considered to be the second largest world religion with over 1 billion followers in the world, the term Islam refers to submission to God. Muslims believe that Muhammad was a prophet who revealed the Quran. They believe that Christians altered text with regard to Moses and Jesus. This paper is an analysis of an interview undertaken on a Muslim male who volunteered to give information regarding religious practices and believes. The following is an analysis of the information provided by the respondent and also an analysis of the differences and similarities that exist between Islam, and Christianity. The interview: The interview was undertaken outside a mosque on a Friday afternoon, a believer volunteered to take the interview that entailed taking note of some of the believes and practices of Islam religion, the respondent was briefed on the importance and purpose of the study and this ensured that information was provided for this report. Interview summary: A guiding questionnaire was prepared in order to undertake an interview. This questionnaire was prepared in order to understand the Islam religion. The first question was the description of Islam faith, the respondent stated that Islam believe in One God who was Allah and Mohammed was a prophet, he stated that there were five guidelines and most important features of Islam, this include Shahadah which is a creed that is required to be recited by those converting to Islam and also Muslims recite it in player. The other is Salah and this is a player that Muslims are required to recite five times in one day. The thirst is Sakat which is a financial obligation that entails giving Allah some of the wealth accumulated. The other believe is the fasting in Ramadan, this entails fasting durian the nine month in the Islam calendar for the purpose of asking Allah to forgive sins, provide and protect. Finally is Hajj which is a requirement that Muslims must visit Mecca once in their lifetime. The other question was to determine what the Quran signified and who wrote the holy book, according to the respondent the Quran was dictated to Islam by God through Angel Gabriel, the Quran was never edited and is the original work. it describes the will of God and therefore is the most important icon in Islam religion. The other question was aimed at determining the individual view on other religions especially Christianity, according to the respondent Christians were non believers because they believe in the trinity, Muslims believe in one and only God Allah and that Christians considered Mohammed to be the son of god whereas Mohammad was a prophet. He also stated that Christians consumed pork which Islam considered to be unclean and for this reason Islam was the true religion stating that Christians had altered with the word of God which is the bible, he however stated that Christianity and Islam were similar but Islam was the True religion. He provided information about the origin of Islam, according to him Mohammed started Islam and that he was considered to have ascended into heaven and never died as Christians put it, he stated that Mohammed was born of a virgin and Muslims believe that he would come again. When asked about their believe in the holy war and heaven he stated that Jihad was a fight in the way of God and that anyone who died during such a war is considered to go straight to heaven, he stated that Muslims believed in heaven and hell and people went to heaven only if they were true believers and that their good deeds outweighed their bad deeds on earth, when asked about baptism and the original sin, he stated that Adam is considered a prophet in Islam and that he was righteous and never sinned, he added that when babies are born they are free from any sin and when they reach puberty an account in heaven is opened to record their bad and good deeds. The final questions was why individuals in their religion wore white robes and women were required to wear cloths that covered their face, according to his response he stated that according to Islam believe individuals are supposed to dress that way and that this was what Allah required them to do, he stated that women in Islam religion were more disciplined and were required to submit to their husbands and stated these laws did not in any way oppress women. Islam and Christianity: Islam and Christianity are closely related in that they are referred to as Abraham religions. This is due to the fact that both have the same believe that Abraham is their ancestor. However there exist many differences between the two regarding rituals, believes and religious practices. The term Islam refers to submission to God while the term Christianity refers to the believe in Christ, believers in the Islam religion are referred to as Muslims while for Christianity believers are referred to as Christians. It is estimated that 33% of the world population are Christians and that 20% of the world population are Muslims. Christianity is said to have been founded in 30 CE (Christian era) while Islam is said to have been founded in 622 CE (Christian era). There exist divisions in Christianity include the Roman Catholic, protestants and the Eastern Orthodox, on the other hand in Islam there are divisions that include the Shiite, Sufi and Sunni. On religious believes there exist a number of differences between Christianity and Islam, Christianity believe in the trinity which is God who is the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus who is the Son of God, Jesus according to Christians was crucified by the Roman army. On the other hand Muslims believe in only God who is Allah. Another difference is that Islam believe that Jesus who they refer to as Mohammed was a prophet while Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, Muslims believe that Jesus was never crucified but ascended to heaven. The Holy book in Islam is the Quran that is said to be written under dictation by Angel Gabriel who was sent by God, on the other hand Christians use the Holy bible that they believe is a historical book written by believers in the past. In the Holy bible the story of creation is similar to that of the Quran but the difference is that Islam believe that Adam was a prophet and therefore free from nay sin, this is different to the Christian believe that Adam sinned against the will of God. The two religions are different in their perception about life after death, Christians believe that that we have heaven, hell and purgatory, Islam on the other hand only believe that after death an individual will either go to hell or heaven and therefore they do not believe in purgatory. In order to go to Heaven Islam believe that goods must outweigh the bad deeds and that after puberty an individual account is opened to determine his bad and good deeds from then on, for Christians after birth a baby is born with the original sin and therefore an individual has to be baptize to be free of the original sin and further that in order to go to heaven one must believe in Jesus Christ and avoid certain evil actions. Muslim worship in Mosques on Friday while Christian worship in church in Sundays while some of them worship on Saturday. Christians celebrate Christmas as the birth if Christ and Easter which is the death and resurrection of Christ, Islam celebrates Ramadan and Eid al Fitr. The treatment of Women among Muslims is affected by cultures that oversee the oppression of women, for Christians the treatment of women varies and is not affected by culture. On marriage women in the Islam religion are not allowed to marry non Muslims but Christians allow such marriages. On fasting Muslims fast for a whole month in the month of Ramadan, fasting in Christianity is not undertaken in any specific month. Leaving the faith religions in the past executed those who converted to other religions, Muslims strongly opposed the creation of the Israel state but Christians were Supportive, Muslims continue to reject Israel through practice of discrimination and suicide bombings. Muslim believe in Jihad which is considered a holy war, they believe that when one dies fighting a holy war then he goes to heaven, on the hand Christians do not believe in such wars. Conclusion From the above discussion it is evident that Islam and Christianity are similar in many different ways but there are still many differences in their believes, the two religions have similar believes in the story of creation and the ten commandments but differ in the treatment of Jesus in their believes, Christians consider Jesus to be the Son of God while Islam believe that Mohammed was a prophet, Muslims believe that pork was unclean but Christians allow consumption of pork, another difference is that Islam perform their players and worship on Friday while Christians attend church on Sundays. References: Fisher, M.P. (2005). Living religions. New Jersey: Prentice Hall publishers. Read More