Islam And Christianity
Often, one would find themselves learning just about their faith and not necessarily expanding their knowledge upon others. It is difficult at times to compare different faiths because of how different the cultures and traditions can be. However, it is not as difficult when two faiths have similar beginnings in their History. In the case of Islam and Christianity, this is very accurate. Because both of these faiths share many similar aspects, it is important to recognize them to garner respect for both. Just as importantly we must also see the differences to gain a full sense of each religion’s history, worship, culture, etc.
Firstly, it is important to recognize the History of both and how they are similar. Both religions share the same God, just under a different name. In Christianity, God is called God while in Islam his name is Allah (“The One God”) To continue along with history, there are some specific moments within Christianity which share similarity. For example, the appearance of the Angel Gabriel. Of course, this too falls under the Theology of both religions. In Christianity, the Angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary to tell her that she will be the mother of the Messiah, the mother of Jesus. This same sort of prophetic angel also appeared to Muhammad and caused a miracle through Allah which was that Muhammad began to write the Quran when he was illiterate. The Angel did the same with Mary when she was filled by the Holy Spirit. Another similarity in both is the presence of prophets. Throughout Christianity, there have been many prominent prophets who made way for Jesus and prepared the people for his coming. However, Muslim prophets did not make way for Jesus although many of the prophets were the same.
In essence, both faiths are sister faiths. Abraham is the Father of the Arabs and in Christianity Abraham is the Father of the Israelites. Both also believe in Moses’ delivery of the Ten Commandments as well as believing in Jesus. The difference is that Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and we are awaiting his second coming while the Muslims believe that Jesus was simply a prophet sent by Allah and that he is not the Son of God. For Christians, Christ is the sacred presence while in Islam, Muhammad delivered the sacred presence. For the Theology of both faiths there is a belief in angels as demonstrated through the Angel Gabriel. Both religions believe in a life after death. The righteous in Islam go to paradise while the evildoers go to hell. This idea is the same on Christianity with Heaven and Hell. There is also the Day of Judgement for both where God (or Allah) will come down. Jesus does come back for both faiths but for Christians that idea is important because it is the Second Coming of Christ.
As for sacred texts, Christians have the Bible from which passages are pulled out for readings during mass. For Muslims, the Quran is read during services at Mosques. The only difference between both texts is the importance of both. The Bible is important to Catholics but scripture is not as important. The Quran is a sacred presence here on Earth and is therefore important to the Muslim faith. Overall, Christianity and Muslims share similar roots but are very different.