Islam and Judaism Compared
Aaron Hooper
American Public University System
Abstract
This research paper will explore the many things that Islam and Judaism have in common with each other as well as the many things that are directly opposite. It will examine in detail each religious belief as they are compared and contrasted with each other and will examine the religious texts and writings of both Islam and Judaism. It will then explore the current relationship that Muslims and Jews have with one another especially in regard to the current Palestinian conflict. The evidence gathered for this research paper has been taken from credible sources such as the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the APUS Library and many Jewish and Muslim websites
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The Five Pillars of Islam are five primary obligations that a Muslim must fulfill in his or her lifetime and they form the basic identity of a Muslims, their faith, beliefs and practices (The Five Pillars, 2015, para. 1). The Second Pillar of Islam is Salah (prayer) in which many Muslims around the world will turn individually and collectively to Makkah (Islam's holiest city) and offer up five daily prayers at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and evening (The Five Pillars, 2015, para. 3). Every Muslim when facing Makkah is not just turning to face Makkah but is actually turning towards Makkah to face the Kaba which Muslims believe is a house of worship that Abraham built with his son …show more content…
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The Five Pillars of Islam are lifelong acts of worship, which includes faith, prayer, almsgiving (charity), fasting, and a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Describe each of the five pillars and reflect on why they are referred to as Pillars of Islam.
Shipler provides a look into to the life the Arab and Jews during his timely stay in the Middle East in the 1980s. Shipler was there as a journalist, and saw how each group of people lived their lives. He lived in a non-biased way, and talk to many people about their experiences throughout their life. “I am neither Arab nor Jew. By culture and creed, I should suffer neither pain nor passion over the causes and battles that entangle the two peoples.” His stay provided him with some great information and experiences many would never think of experiencing.
The Middle East is home to the creation of so many different cultures and religions. It is the home to the most prominent monotheistic faiths of this lifetime. Those faiths are Christianity, essentially Catholicism, and Islam. They do not only share a similar origin, but share the same ancestors and stories of prophets and people. There is a connection between the profound values of truth, love, and mercy that Catholics and Muslims hold dear. Although there are a great many commonalities between Catholicism and Islam, it is important to note the key foundations that make both religions special.
Central to the Muslim belief is the importance of devotion and total submission to Allah. This is put into practice through the Five Pillars of Islam –the five obligatory duties that must be performed by all practising Muslims. These are the acts of faith, prayer, charity, fasting and pilgrimage. Carrying out these duties creates structure in a Muslim’s life, teaching them to devote their time to Allah and not get caught up in their own secular lives. The effect the Five Pillars of Islam has on not only the individual but the community as a whole is substantial. Constantly
Throughout this course we have established that although major world religions are similar they are not one and the same. Christianity and Judaism share a monotheistic view, both have their own version of a “Holy Book”, a core prayer, and moral guidelines. However, their theology regarding religion, Jesus Christ, and Salvation are vastly different.
History provides us with few disputes as entangled as Jewish-Muslim relations. Though it was not always such a pervasive problem, it has compiled into one of the most divisive, exclusive, and problematic debates of the current era. Countless scholars have attempted to interpret the Muslim outlook towards the Jewish people. Islamic anti-Semitism is one of the greatest oversimplified nuances of the modern Middle East and of Islamic theology. The mere mentioning of Islam in conjunction with anti-Semitism, can act as a prism through which passes widely varying opinions, histories, and myopias. It can be argued that it is a dire imperative that must be
Every religion has its own goal, and their own path and belief to reach their goals. However, there are many similarities in beliefs. Although the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam may see things differently, they all fundamentally hold the same values and codes. To Islam, the Prophet Mohammad’s teaching is a complete and final revelation. On the other hand, according to the bible, Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the true lord and savior that will grant you the access to heaven in the afterlife. Judaism is founded by Abraham and it is the base from which both of the other two religions sprung. Even though the three religions differ in many areas and on many aspects, they also agree on the monotheistic, the belief in “One True God”. Those religions have many similarities and a number of significant differences about God, role of women, prayer and salvation.
It has only been within the last 60 years that we have witnessed it becoming increasingly associated with interfaith conversation, with the sole purpose to envisage a set of commonalities. Now we are beginning to see the production of an "Abrahamic religion" talk, one that urges us to envision something positive, a typical confidence, or "profound bond”. One important figure that helped shape this change was Louis Massignon. Massignon was a convert to Catholicism who understood Islam through the lens of Jesus’s life and crucifixion. According to the Waardenburg, on February 9, 1934, Massignon took a trip to Egypt to pray at the abandoned Franciscan church in Damietta. Based on this experience, he founded Badaliya, an association of Arab and Christians who desired to show the relevance of Jesus for Islam. In the following two decades, the world saw some of the worst treatment of people in the name of religion- the horrors of the holocaust, the aftermath of WW2, the formation of Israel and the Israeli-arab wars. Now, more than ever, people are looking to find a convenient category- “Abrahamic” - to point to a shared heritage and to include
Out of the Middle East arose the two largest religions of the world, Christianity and Islam. The rise of these two great religions were initiated by their revolutionary founders then fostered by their succesors into great empires. Presently Christianity and Islam appear to be vastly different. However, when one looks back into the ancient history of these two religions, one will discover that Christianity and Islam are actually rather similar. This paper has hopefully illustrated the similarities and differences in origin, beliefs and tenets of ancient Christianity and
Islam is an exceedingly scandalous and sensitive subject in today’s world, and there are many misunderstandings about its beliefs, values, and goals. It is believed that most Muslims live in the Middle East, when in reality; Islam is practiced in many different cultures and many different ways, like Judaism and Christianity. Prophet Mohammad acknowledged the religion practices. The Islamic core beliefs are called the Articles of Faith; they are Belief in One God, Belief in Angels, Belief in Prophets of God, Belief in Revealed Book of God, Belief in Day of Judgment, and Belief in Destiny and Divine Decree. Mofty, C states in his article that these are the collective essential theories that Muslims share. “In, Islam, worship is part of daily life and is not limited to mere rituals” Mofty, C meant by this that the act of worship in this religion is know as the five “pillars”, which are the testimony of faith, prayer, fasting, charity, and pilgrimage. Islam is the second largest religion in the world, followed by the largest, Christianity.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are traditions rooted in sacred scripture. Nonetheless, each tradition understands the meaning and character of the divine Word differently. In this essay I will describe how each religious tradition: Judaism, Christianity and Islam understand the Word of God. Then I will discuss some of the major differences between the status of Moses, Jesus and Mohammad in each of the three religious traditions and provide textual evidence from Torah, the Gospels and the Quran. I end with a conclusion paragraph that will reiterate the paper’s main points.
The five pillars of Islam are the basics of the Muslim life. The first pillar is called the Shahada or Witness. It is a profession of faith that states simply that “there is no god but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the messenger of God.” Someone becomes a Muslim by stating this declaration of faith. It is also used daily in prayers. The second pillar of Islam is called Salat or Prayer. It describes the ritual prayers muslims are called to pray five times throughout the day. The prayers are made in position facing Mecca. The third pillar is called Zakat or Giving. It is the act of charity Muslims do by setting aside about 2.5 percent of their total income and give to the poor. The fourth pillar of Islam is called Swam or Fasting. Every year in the month of Ramadan, (the ninth month of
5 Pillars of Islam is a principle in Islam, considered obligatory by those who believe and is the principle of Muslim life. Islam nurtured than 5 principles and 5 of this principle is very linked between each other. If the principle is lost then the Muslims destroyed the creed of a person. Muslims who reject the one pillar of Islam will destroyed they faith and this is the 5 pillars of Islam:
"” (M.Slick, para. 2.) The second Pillar is Salat, which refers to prayer. The Islamic prayer start off with the confession of sins that purifies the body at the start, and then ends with the purification of the soul. There are five different types of prayer “Fajr, Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, Isha” (M.Slick, para. 6.) The third Pillar is Saum, which is the fasting or Ramadan (as it is more commonly known), which is a month of fasting where followers will deny themselves necessities and seeks forgiveness from Allah (who is seen to be a merciful God) The fourth Pillar is Zakat, which is the Pillar of charity, when a follower donates to the poor they are submitting themselves to Allah, this is seen as a form of worshiping to the Gods. The last Pillar is Hajj, which is the pilgrimage that all Muslims should make to Mecca, it is also seen as an act of worship. As seen from the Five Pillars it is clear that if people understood the Islamic religion they would see that it does promote interfaith understandings and peace. For example in the Five Pillars the Third Pillar, Saum (Ramadan), the Islamic people deprive themselves of their needs, during light hours, so they can beg for forgiveness from their God Allah. This clearly shows that the Islamic religion is a peaceful religion that advocates peace in their teachings. Through Islamic rituals, practices and the Five Pillars that the Islamic religion is based upon, it is clearly seen that the Islamic