This week in class we began to conclude our learning about religions with a wrap-up of Islam set for next week.

At the beginning of the week, we read part of the Qur’an in class and analyzed it as we went along. One main idea of the part that we read is that the most important thing for a person to do in order to be rewarded in the Hereafter is to have faith in Allah which involves prayers. I noticed how the text says, “Those who believe in the unseen and perform the prayers…and are certain of the Hereafter.” Believing in the unseen especially speaks to faith since it involves believing in an invisible God. This quote was also towards the beginning of the excerpt we read, and that may speak to its importance. Another main idea is about why people should worship Allah. The Qur’an says, “Worship your Lord who created you and those before you, that you may attain piety. He who made the earth a habitat for you… and sends water down from the sky, and brings out fruits thereby…”  The section we read gives two characteristics of Allah: “…the Gracious, the Merciful…” Based on these quotes, in addition to providing for people, Allah is also kind to people and should be worshipped for both reasons.

There was a video we watched about how Islam began. Something that stood out to me was how Islam seemed to shift the power in and around Mecca. The prophet Mohammed was from the city of Mecca, where many idols were being worshipped at the time. When he started spreading his belief in only Allah, the “powerful” people from Mecca were unhappy with this belief because it shifted the power away from them. This reminds me of the persecution of Christians in Rome that we learned about a few weeks ago. In both cases, people in power did not like the spread of a new religion that they thought may diminish their power and social influence.

We were asked to compare and contrast Judiasm, Christianity, and Islam to find things that they share and things that are unique to each individual religion. In this blog, I am going to focus only on the things that the religions share.

 

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all share:

Monotheism – All three of these religions are monotheistic. Believers of these religions believe in only one God.

Abraham – Abraham is considered the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three of these religions can be traced back to him.

Adam and Eve – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all believe that God created people, and the first man and first woman were Adam and Eve respectively.

Each have a specific holy book – The holy books are called the Tanahk, Christian Bible, and Qur’an in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam respectively.

 

Judaism and Christianity share:

Tanakh/Old Testament – Judaism and Christianity have some scriptures in common. In Judaism, these scriptures are called the Tanakh, and in Christianity, they are called the Old Testament.

Ten Commandments – Both Judaism and Christianity believe in Moses and the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the laws that God gave to Moses and the Israelites for them to follow.

 

Judaism and Islam share:

Not eating pork – In Judaism, kosher says that Jews are not to eat pork. Muslims do not eat pork either.

No images of God – Neither synagogues nor mosques have images of what people think God looks like.

 

Christianity and Islam share:

Jesus – Christianity and Islam both involve Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Muslims believe that Jesus was a great prophet.

Belief in an afterlife – Christianity and Islam both believe in an afterlife where people are rewarded or punished based on their actions. (Some Jews believe in an afterlife, but belief in an afterlife does not seem to be part of the core beliefs of Judaism like it is in Christianity and Islam.)

 

Over the past few weeks, I have learned a lot about all three religions. It is helpful to know the beliefs of these religions and where their beliefs overlap.