A Comparison of Islam and Christianity - Essay Example

The content of your paper is to demonstrate: An understanding and critical thought towards the chosen topic. 2. The structure of your paper is to demonstrate your ability to synthesize and analyze- NOT simply summarize. 3. General format / mechanics • Approximately 6 - 8 pages in length If you go over the 8 page limit I quit reading and you lose points for content and having no conclusion! • APA formatted • Final Reference List page • Reflects upper undergraduate level writing abilities. • Typewritten in double-spaced format with 12-point font Times New Roman style and submitted inside the electronic classroom. • Page margins Top, Bottom, Left Side and Right Side = 1 inch, with reasonable accommodation being made for special situations and online submission variances. Don’t forget about the grammar and spell check functions within MS Word. Research Paper – A 6 - 8 page paper that compares and contrasts two specific characteristics that are evident in two modern religious faiths. For example, a single paper could explore the nature of sacred scripture and cosmogony in both Islam and Buddhism. At a minimum, the paper will consist of: a. Pick two religious faiths. b. Identification of two characteristics of each religion, e.g. ritual, eschatology, creeds, prayer, meditation, etc. c. A detailed description of the similarities and differences between each religion’s concept of each of the two characteristics, d. A detailed discussion on the origin and contemporary expression of each characteristic . e. References from at least five sources. DO NOT USE WIKPEDIA it is NOT a source A Comparison of Islam and Christianity Introduction Two religions that have more in common than any other two are Islam and Christianity. Yet the ways in which they are different, create huge gaps between them which cause them to have irreconcilable differences. However, the ways in which they are alike are more numerous than the ways in which they are different. This, perhaps, is as a result of the fact that Islam follows Christianity the chronology of world religions. Some – and they would not be completely wrong to suggest it – suggest that Islam is built from the writings and teachings of Christianity. This essay will examine the similarities and the differences between these two dominant world faiths through a discussion focused on two distinctly different yet related stories contained their respective scriptures, the Bible and the Qu’ran; the stories of Ascension and Armageddon. Ascensions of the Son and the Prophet If we look for commonalties between Islam and Christianity, one of the most poignant commonalities is the ascension of Jesus Christ and the Prophet Muhammad. In Christianity, the ascension of Christ is discussed without ambiguity in Acts 1:9-11, and is referenced with less specificity in Luke 24:51 (Filson, Floyd, 1956, p. 49). While it tends to be the practice of many Christians to focus on the Resurrection as the most important event in the life and death of Jesus Christ, the event which should be the most significant is the Ascension, because it is the fulfillment of the promise made by Jesus during his testimony before the masses. “For the first Christians, the Resurrection was not the end of the story; it was the climax which leads to momentous developments. Jesus was exalted at the right hand of God (Acts: 2:33) (Filson, 1956, p. 49).” The language that is used to discuss the Ascension of Christ is one of mankind, in order that Christians be able to visualize Jesus in heave; because, as Floyd Filson points out in his book, Jesus Christ: The Risen Lord, it serves the Christian understanding to be able to visualize Christ sitting in heaven at the right hand of God (1956, p. 50). This visualization facilitates the more meaningful idea of the Exaltation of Christ in heaven with God (1956, p. 50). “. . . indeed, eleven New Testament books, by at least seven different writers, refer clearly to this Exaltation (1956, p. 50).” It is the exaltation at the right hand of God that provides the basis for the similarities in the Christian and Muslim stories of ascension. The Muslims seemed to have grasped the concept of the greater point of the story, the exaltation, and, either because the Resurrection had happened in the life of Jesus was perhaps not necessary for Muhammad to prove to Muslims that life was everlasting by way of life after death; but the exaltation of Muhammad at the right hand of God was necessary in order to solidify in the minds of Muslims that the Prophet Muhammad was, like Christ, chosen and did personally meet God in heaven and was the embodiment of the Word of God on earth. This established Muhammad as a Prophet, and Islam, like Christianity to Judaism, as the successor to Christianity. Another significant point for comparison is that while Mecca was the religious center of Islam, Muhammad, when he made his celestial flight upon his winged horse it carried first, not to heaven, but to Jerusalem (Scott, Jamie and Simpson-Housley, Paul, 1991, p. 36). It was from Jerusalem that Muhammad, like Jesus, ascended to heaven (1991, p. 36). This is important because for Islam, like Christianity, it establishes an important connection with Jerusalem and with Christianity in that Islam is the legitimate successor of Christianity. In Jerusalem, Muhammad ascended to heave from the Dome of the Rock, establishing, like Christianity, a holy site for Islam in the city of Jerusalem (1991, p. 36). Now we have two central figures in monotheism religion having ascended to heaven where both God. For Jesus, Ascension followed the Resurrection, which demonstrated to Christians the fulfillment of the promise of everlasting life. Since that promise had been demonstrated for the people of the world, Muhammad did not need to demonstrate that to Muslims. Muhammad needed only to have met with God and to recount that experience for his followers. Muhammad further described having seen both Jesus and Moses in heaven in the company of God, establishing for the descendants of Judaism and Christianity the new reign of religious truth on earth in Islam. There is probably no greater commonality between Islam and Christianity than that of inheritance of the Word of God. The Word, or the Truth, was inherited from the Jews by the Christians and from the Christians by the Muslims. This is significant because Islam holds that the Prophet Muhammad is the last messenger of the Word of God before the end of days. Armageddon in Christianity and Islam The eschatology of Christianity and Islam are very much at the forefront of the religious world conscience today. The eschatology of both Christianity and Islam involve war, plague, natural disasters and a significant loss of human life on earth. Here, however, we look for the similarities between the two religious camps. In Christianity, the end of times is described the final book of the New Testament, Revelations; and, in Islam, the end of times is referred to as “Day of the Lord’ that will bring God’s judgment on humanity and the beginning of an age ruled by a messiah (Abanes, Richard, 1998, p. 162).” Right away, the noticeable similarity between Christianity and Islam is the judgment and the coming of a Messiah (1998, p. 162). “Muslims call their deliverer the great Mahdi (the ‘rightly guided one’). Jews still await the Moshiach and Christians look for the return of Jesus, the Christ (“anointed one”).” Noticeable is the fact that Islam awaits the Mahdi, who could, according to Christianity, be Jesus. Muhammad does not promise the Muslims that he will return after death, while Jesus has yet to fulfill his promise to return to collect the faithful. Islam does not put great emphasis on “the end,” as do Christians (1998, p. 162). “In Christianity, however, Earth’s destruction is via God’s final judgment is often considered a main doctrine (1998, p. 162).” In Christianity, Armageddon marks the beginning of Salvation (1998, p. 162). Christianity and Islam (and Judaism) agree that Armageddon will bring about “Paradise (Mozjes, Paul, 2002, p. 80, para. 5).” That is, the state of being in which all the peoples of the world live as one, in peaceful “unconditional bliss for all who live with God (2002, p. 80., para. 5).” However, before paradise, Christians must return with Jesus to confront the antichrist, the man who will reign in terror over the earth (Abanes, Richard, 1998, p. 7). In Christianity, there is much discussion about the antichrist and about Armageddon; there is less so in Islam. In Islam, the Prophet commented on the Antichrist in this way (Murato, Sachiko and Chittick, William C., 1994, p. 51): “The Prophet came out to us from his house while we were discussing the Antichrist. He said, “Shall I tell you about something that is more frightening to me than the Antichrist? The people responded that he should. He said, “Hidden shirk. In other words, that a man should perform the salat and do it beautifully for the sake of someone who is watching (1994, p. 51).” It was revealed through a later Hadith that the Prophet was concerned, perhaps more concerned with those who worshipped not the sun or some idol, but who would “perform works for other than God with a hidden desire (1994, p. 51).” Whether or not the Prophet is referring to those who would serve the Antichrist is unclear, but Muhammad seems to be less focused on the Antichrist than Christian leaders, and more focused on remaining loyal to God and not falling away from the path of God. However, as is evidenced by the above excerpts, there was, and is, concern in the Muslim community at large about the Antichrist. Like the Christians, the discussion of the Antichrist varies according to sects of Islam (Masse, Henri and Edib, Halide, 1938, p. 136). For Muslims, interestingly enough, the end of time and the reign of the Antichrist involves the presence of Jesus (1938, p. 136). “For the idea of Jesus is superimposed on it, reflecting the apocryphal texts of the Christians. At the end of time there will appear an Antichrist (Dadjdjal), on the subject of which different authors give contradictory details. He will come from a far off island at a moment when Gog and Magog (savage peoples of Asia) break through the walls which imprison them. The Dadjdjal will be a giant riding an enormous donkey; and his rule will last forty days, during which time he will devastate the world. It is then that Jesus will descend to earth from the sky, and will kill the Antichrist with a stroke of his spear, and then go to Jerusalem to pray. And for forty years, that is until Jesus dies, love and happiness will reign in the world “sheep and wolves will be seen together; children will play with serpents (1938, p. 136).” What we see in the above depiction is that, once again, Christianity and Islam are inextricably intertwined (as is Judaism with the other religions of the book). Not long thereafter, according to the Prophet, Judgment will follow and all men will stand with their book of deeds and be judged by God (1938, p. 137). This occurs simultaneously with the end of the Earth (1938, p. 137). Those who are judged as not fit for heaven, will have to cross the Sirat, the bridge to Hell (1938, p. 137). “It is then that Muhammad will intercede in favor of sinners. Thanks to this intercession, the only sinners who will remain in Hell are those who believe in more than one God (1938, p. 137).” Here, again, as seen with the ascension of the Son and the Prophet, Christianity and Islam are inextricably intertwined, actually, if one looks closely, inseparable because Jesus and Muhammad have assigned roles by God that are interdependent one upon the other. In the Bible, the word “antichrist” is found only in the Books of John I and II (Manilla Bulletin, May 7, 2006, p. NA). In other books of the Bible, there are references to what is believed to be the Antichrist, but the word “Antichrist” is not specifically used (May 7, 2006). Some theologians believe that the Book of Daniel gives a description of the rise to power of the Antichrist, and describes him as man of a great charisma, who will be able to mesmerize the world populations (May 7, 2006). Of course, beneath the charisma is a man who is ruthlessly cruel and evil (May 7, 2006). The Christian preoccupation with the Antichrist arises out of the fact that the time of the Antichrist is predicted as the worst of times ever visited upon mankind. Whereas the Islamic focus is less on the man, less on the suffering, but more on the salvation. Islam does not obsess, so to speak, as to the details of the Antichrist, but is focused on salvation and paradise. Summary Conclusion The religious traditions of Christianity and Islam (and Judaism) are interlinked and intertwined. To some extent, Islam relies on Christianity, especially in the promise of Jesus to return. However, Islam holds that Muhammad is the Prophet, the truth, the Word of God; but relies upon the history and sacred geographical places (Dome of the Rock) associated with Judaism and Christianity to affirm its legitimacy. Like Christianity, Islam holds that there is salvation that God’s grace will, in the end, be extended, by Muhammad’s intervention, even to sinners – this is why Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross. So, while the two religions are so closely related in tradition, and while both are monotheistic and share the same God – Muhammad saw Jesus and Moses with God in heaven – the question that we have to ask ourselves is: why, then, do we draw lines of distinction between ourselves as believers in God. There is much to bind us together as Christians and Muslims, yet we stand so far apart in humanity. Read More