Islam for Non-Muslims

• RELIGIOUS FAITHS VS IRRELIGIOUS IDEAS
• 1 The Present State of the World Religions
• 2 Religious System as a Historical Reality
• 3 The Evidences of God across the Universe
• 4 The Absolute Oneness of God
• 5 The Reality of the Afterlife
• 6 The Growth of Irreligious Ideas
• 7 Worshipping Natural Elements
• 8 Worshipping Imaginary Idols
• 9 Worshipping Human Beings
• 10 Inventing Relationship to God
• 11 Inventing the Idea of Reincarnation
• 12 Inventing the Theory of Evolution (Darwinism)
• 13 Inventing ‘Nature’ as the Creator of the Universe
• 14 Importance of Religion in this Secular World
• ISLAM AS A RELIGION
• 15 Addressing the Criticisms of Islam
• 16 Islam as a Magnet for the Non-Muslims
• 17 The Quran as the Original Divine Book
• 18 The Quranic Reality in Archeological Findings
• 19 Muhammad (pbuh) as the Great Prophet
• 20 Islam as the True Religion
• 21 Islam as the Universal Religion
• 22 Islam as the Eternal Religion
• 23 Islam as a Practicable Religion
• 24 Islam as an Enjoyable Religion
• 25 Islam as the Peaceful & Savior Religion
• 26 Islam as the Progressive & Rational Religion
• 27 Islam in Health & Hygiene
• 28 Islam in Promotion of Science
• 29 Muslims in Practices of Science
• 30 Islam & Other Monotheisms: Similarities & Differences
• 31 Islamic Tolerance for Other Religions
• 32 Islamic Rights for Non-Muslim Citizens
• ISLAM AS A WAY OF LIFE
• 33 Islamic System vs. Human Ideologies
• 34 Moral & Social Impacts of Islamic Rituals
• 35 Moral Discipline in Islam
• 36 Sinning of 3 W’s: Women, Wine and Wealth
• 37 Dignity & Equality of Man in Islam
• 38 Human Rights in Islam
• 39 Social Duties in Islam
• 40 Dignity & Rights of Labor in Islam
• 41 Dignity of Women in Islam
• 42 Rights of Women in Islam
• 43 Marriage & Family Life in Islam
• 44 Political Philosophy in Islam
• 45 Economic Principles in Islam
• 46 Islamic Economy vs. Capitalism & Communism
• 47 Patriotism & Internationalism in Islam
• 48 Understanding Controversial Issues in Islam
• 49 Conversion to Islam: Problems & Prospects
• 50 Conclusive Message to the Non-Muslims

30: ISLAM & OTHER MONOTHEISMS: SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES

Introduction: Islam has many similarities and some differences with other 2 members of monotheistic family i.e. Judaism and Christianity. All these 3 religions have the commonality of emerging from the same Lord Who is “our Lord and your Lord” and “following the (same) ways of Abraham” as common root (2:139; 16:123). Islam honorably nourishes this root by dedicating one of its Five Pillars named pilgrimage to the honor of Abraham who was like no other in adherence to perfect monotheism and making historic sacrifices.  On this occasion, the Muslims go to Mecca to perform rituals at Kaaba that houses the “Station of Abraham” (2:125). Now a discussion is devoted to this.

(1) Islam & Christianity: Similarities

Age & Influence: Islam is the latest that came next to Christianity on the historical timeline. The revelation of the New Testament part of Bible sent to Jesus (pbuh) at about 30 A.D. marks the beginning of Christianity, and Islam formally started in 610 A.D. when the first verse of Quran was revealed to its Prophet Mohammad (pbuh). Both the religions originated in the Middle East as Jesus was born in Jerusalem and the Prophet of Islam in neighboring Mecca. Jerusalem is the common holy place for the both. Nowadays, they are the 2 most influential religions of the world (with Christianity having little over 2 billion and Islam little less than 2 billion followers), as they both benefit from their relatively recent origination and active missionary efforts.

God, Prophets & Scriptures: Both religions are believers in one God or monotheism and they share many other basic beliefs as well. The Bible got repeated references as ‘Injil’ in the Quran and both the scriptures share many of the core themes. For example, Jesus (pbuh), known as Isa in Islam is recognized as one of the great prophets, enjoying positive remarks in the Quran (3:45; 19:30/31). As per Quran (43:61), he is expected to return to the earth as a follower of Islamic Prophet in the final days of the earth and that will be a “sign for (the upcoming) Hour” (of Judgment)”. He used to speak Aramaic language which was similar to Arabic, spoken by the Prophet of Islam. Both Prophets looked similar to the extent of wearing beard as inspired by God.

Dooms Day & Afterlife: Both the Bible and Quran show remarkable agreements on these 2 basic beliefs even if the details may vary. Both predicted that everything on this earth will be destroyed on the Dooms Day setting the stage for the never-ending Afterlife. Then Great Judgment will take place for placing the righteous in the Paradise and the sinners in the Hell.  

Adam, Eve & Human Creation: Both the Bible and the Quran see eye to eye on their disclosures that Adam (pbuh) and Eve were created by God as complete humans. They were the first couple and from them started the process of human procreation. They were, therefore, not the products of human evolution from ape as Darwin wrongly suggested. Thus both the religions are proponents of the Creation Theory.

Satan & Angels: Both the scriptures describe that Adam and Eve were first placed in the Heaven and from there they were “ousted from (Garden of Paradise) to earth” after they succumbed to Satanic instigation by eating the fruit prohibited by God (2:35/36). Both recognize the continued roles of the Satan in inspiring bad actions. Angels are another types of often invisible entities equally mentioned in both scriptures. Particularly, Angel Gabriel (Jibrail) is named for acting as God’s agent for transporting divine revelations and “breathing into her (Mary) the spirits” of Jesus, leading to his miraculous birth without a biological father (21:91; 19:20).

Accounts of Ancient Prophets: There are lots of common grounds between the accounts given by both scriptures about the earlier prophets with some nominal differences in pronunciation and spelling of their names. Both describe about the Prophet Noah (Nuh in Quran) that he “made an Arc (giant boat)”, under the command and (technical) “Guidance” of God, which was loaded with “pairs of every (living) species, male and female” as a safety measure from “drowning” in the flood (23:27). Both holy Books gave a fairly matching account of the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim in Quran), the common ancestor of all 3 monotheisms and the root of family tree that included many descendant prophets including Ismail, Ishaq, Yakub (Jacob), Yusuf (Joseph) etc. Both Books reveal about how he struggled against idolatry and resisted Satanic instigation against “offering (his beloved son) in sacrifice” in compliance with the divine will (37:102). Jesus was baptized in Jordan River by cousin John who is also known as prophet Yahia in Islam.

Moral Codes: The moral codes of both the religions have very much in common. The Ten Commandments, the ‘crown jewel’ of the Bible, contain four commandments governing human relations with God namely (i) not taking partners (ii) not showing images of God, (iii) not taking His name in vain and (iv) respecting the Sabbath as a holyday. The remaining six commandments relate to humanity, i.e. (v) respecting parents, (vi) not murdering, (vii) not committing adultery (viii) not stealing (ix) not giving false witness and (x) not being greedy on neighbor’s property.  Noteworthy is that the Quran endorses 9 out of 10 (except Saturday as a Jewish holyday while it is Friday for the Muslims) of these advisory and prohibitive commandments, even though the definitions and punishments for the sins may vary.

Cultures: Both the Muslims and Christians have traditional belief in the equality of people as the creations of God, as opposed to the caste system in Hinduism. This aspect of their faith inspired them to be humane with people, particularly through emphasis on the culture of giving.  Both the communities focus on the Afterlife salvation which inspires them to minimize sins and maximize good deeds. Both of them practice some sorts of physical worships to please God. Both have the tradition of some sort of fasting as a training exercise in gaining self-control over the instincts.    
     
When it comes to visible cultures, Christian clerics often wear some sort of cap while almost all of the Muslim Imams wear cap of different variety. Both clerical groups wear long flowing robes even though design or style may vary. Most Christian nuns cover their head and body. This type of dress code is a requirement for all Muslim women in general. In response to other’s sneezing, many Christians wish “God bless you” while the Muslims say “All Praises to God”, both having some spiritual significance. Both communities bury their dead as a rule instead of cremation.

Islam & Christianity: Differences

God, Prophets & Scriptures: Islam views God as One, not sharing His position with anyone else including any Prophet.  It accepts Jesus as ranking prophet as well as His devoted servant with normal human status and cultures such as he “ate (daily) food”, as one example (5:75).  By contrast, the mainstream Christians of the present time believes in Jesus as the son of God, which the Quran was quick to dismiss as he was “no more than a (human) Messenger” (5:17). Jesus remained bachelor during his 32 years of little known life. By contrast, the Prophet of Islam lived a busy life spanning over almost double the period (63 years) and he did marry to run a regular family life.

As regards the crucifixion of Jesus, Christians believe it was real; he was buried and days later, he was revived and raised into the Heaven. The Quran presents a somewhat different version, saying he was not “crucified” as a proxy was substituted for the crucifixion so “it was made to appear to them” (4:157). The real Jesus was directly “raised up unto Himself (God)”, poised to come back in the terminal days of the earth as a follower of the Prophet Muhammad (pbut) (4:158).  
The Bible, divine revelations sent to Jesus, was written by the multitude of his disciples (including Mark, Mathew, John and Luke), many of them years after death of Jesus, without being his eye witnesses. In this respect, the Bible was like the Hadith or the Prophet’s tradition which was written about 200 years after his death.  As a result, the Bible came up with different versions with dissimilar themes, owing to personal differences of the authors.  Differently, the Quran was the direct message of God sent down to the Prophet in his native language Arabic.  It was recorded during his lifetime under his strict supervision and later compiled as a whole book (in one version) with contents that are unique and unchanged. Thus the Bible was pretty similar to the Hadith but different from the Quran.

Salvation: In the Christian world, it is a popular idea that the Afterlife salvation can be achieved only through belief in Jesus without emphasizing the need for good deeds. Differently for Islam, both faith and good deeds are equally important for salvation. 

Prayer: Islam has more proactive rituals than Christianity.  Praying, for example, is mandated five times a day for every adult Muslim and so is “praying on Fridays” in the mosque (62:9). The Christians usually pray in the church on weekly Sundays and not much with regularity, if they pray more.  Prayer of the Muslims involves prostration and the Christians usually pray by kneeling down. Both these communities have a common ritual in the form of retreat which takes place for the Muslims in the Ramadan known as ‘Itikaf’.

Fasting: In Islam, fasting is compulsory for healthy adults for one month (Ramadan) a year in Islamic calendar, with dawn to dusk abstention from food, drink, smoke and sex (2:184/185; 2:187).  Fasting in Christianity, by contrast, is not mandated for everyone for an entire month particularly with the whole day abstention from all types of food intakes.

Charity: Islam inspires charity with all seriousness by making it compulsory to spend annually as ‘zakat’ (2:3; 9:34/ 35), in addition to year round optional giving.  The Christians do not appear to have such an organized program. Nevertheless, their total charitable spending may be higher due to their affluence worldwide as well as incentives from tax exemption in the Christian world. 

Other Rituals: Like the once-in-lifetime compulsory pilgrimage to Mecca for the Muslims (2:196; 22:27; 3:96), the Christians do not have any. Similarly, they do not have any annual ritual of animal sacrifice named Qurbani to match the Muslims (22:28).

Missionary (Dawah) Program: The missionary program for the mainstream Catholics is highly centralized in Rome with multi-layered administration headed by Pope. He and various cardinals, bishops and other members of clergy including nuns under him have traditional restriction from marrying. This is intended to enable them to pay single-minded attention to preaching, relieved of any distractions that could come with caring for the family and making money for them. Apparently, the preaching responsibility is mainly limited to the professional priests only.

Conversely, the missionary program known as ‘dawah’ for the Muslims are quite different. Preaching is a collective obligation not only for the mosque Imams but also for the Muslims in general who must try their level best to promote Islam both inside and outside home (5:67; 4:63; 28:87). Accordingly, they are expected to make individual plan and work socially through horizontal integration for the purpose.  There is, however, no place for vertical integration as they do not have worldwide network of preachers with a hierarchy system under a unified command, to match with the Catholics under Pope.

Cultures: The cultural practices of the Christians and Muslims are uniform in some ways and different in others. For the Muslims, pig and alcohol are totally prohibited whereas both do not seem so for the observant Christians. Muslim men usually wear full-size cap and allow beard to grow. Christian men practice none of this as religious mandates. The cap that their priests sometimes wear is different by shortness in size. Their women (barring the nuns) usually do not wear head scarf like the Muslim women.

Islam & Judaism: Similarities

Belonging to the same monotheistic family, Islam enjoys many similarities with Judaism as it does with Christianity. Judaism, older than Christianity, was led by Prophet Moses (pbuh) who belonged in Egypt around 12century B.C. All these 3 monotheisms were born in The Middle East, with Abraham being the common ancestor and Jerusalem their common holy place. Jews and Muslims share holy sites of Western Wall, Temple Mount, Dome of Rock and Al Aksa mosque located in the same compound in Jerusalem. The Jews pray with orientation to Jerusalem and the Muslims toward Mecca, both places located in the same Middle Eastern region. The followers of Judaism were previously known as Hebrews, now as Jews. Compared to the Christians and Muslims, the Jews make up only a tiny fraction (less than 1%) of the world populace. Historically, the Muslims and Jews were often common victims of external tyranny such as during the Crusades, Spanish monarchy of Isabella and the like.

God, Prophets & Holy Books: Both Islam and Judaism believe in one God and differ from Christianity by not believing in the Trinity. The Jews received their holy Book named Torah or the Old Testament, now part of the Bible. The Quran reconfirmed many of the revelations of the Old and New Testaments. Besides Moses, David and his son Solomon (peace be upon them) were also among the respected prophets in Judaism as they are in Islam.  Judaic prophets wore beard like the Prophet of Islam.

The Quran gave most extensive coverage to Moses among all the prophets, describing about his childhood, miracles, revelations, exposure to God on the Mount Sinai, difficult relations with Pharaoh, leading his people out to safety from Pharaoh by crossing the “dry path” of Red Sea miraculously created by God (known as Exodus in Judaism) and finally His drowning of the chasing “forces of Pharaoh” (20:77/78). In amazing similarities with the Torah, the Quran described about political “wisdom” of David and Solomon’s mastery of “of the speech of the birds” among others (38:20; 27:16). Both scriptures also have matching information about other prophets including Adam, Noah and Abraham (peace be upon them) etc.
Other Facts: Like Islam and Christianity, Judaism believes in many facts of the Afterlife including the Doomsday, the Judgment Day, the Paradise etc. It also accepts Adam and Eve as the first couple created by God as complete man, thereby endorsing the Creation Theory. Likewise, the existence of Satan, Angels like Gabriel are among some common denominators for these three sister religions. 

Moral Codes: The Ten Commandments discussed above were revealed to Judaism as part of the Old Testament which is now part of the overall Bible. Islam endorses all the basics of these moral codes except the 4th item as it replaces weekly holyday Saturday (Sabbath) with Friday. Both Islam and Judaism show marked resemblances about the Do’s and Don’ts even if these are more broad-based in Islam.

Cultures: There are some cultural similarities for both the Muslims and Jews. Both require the men to be circumcised. The clerics of both religions usually wear long flowing clothes, cap and beard. The religious women of both are generally used to modest dress. The Jews greet themselves saying ‘shalom’ which is close to Muslim ‘salam’ (6:54), both words meaning ‘peace’. Like Muslims, they avoid pork, alcohol, and follow the rituals of pronouncing God’s name during slaughtering of animals for making them lawful known as ‘kosher’, similar to ‘halal’ in Islam. Both communities follow the moon-based lunar calendar.  Burying the dead in place of cremation is their common custom.  Crescent is the symbol of Islam while it is star for the Jews.

Islam & Judaism: Differences

The Jews go to pray in temples called synagogue. Their weekly prayer day is Saturday while it is Friday for the Muslims. The Jews usually pray by standing and the Muslim prayer involves prostration in addition to standing and bowing. Muslims perform ‘Itikaf’ in Ramadan which is somewhat similar to Jewish retreat. Jewish priests known as Rabbi usually wear black and a skull cap, different from white clothes and full cap usually worn by the Muslim clerics (Imams).

Conclusion: It therefore appears from the above that Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are three members of a monotheistic family that have more in similarities than differences.   This makes a potential ground for their mutual harmony and cooperation, particularly through inter-faith dialogue, if necessary.