Post by melon1 on Jul 23, 2004 20:43:05 GMT -5
OK, although I've read a book about Islam, it's been a while, so I thought I'd get the viewpoint of my mother since she teaches World Religions. Here is a brief summation of the differences in the two religions:
FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY
Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic religions and recognize one supreme creator God, but Allah of Islam is not the same God that Christians worship. Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), and the Father of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Mohammed, the prophet of Allah, had an interesting life. His father died before he was born (A.D. 570 in Mecca). His mother gave him to a Bedouin woman to nurse in the healthy air of the desert as was the custom. Mohammed's Bedouin nurse said he had numerous epileptic fits and returned him to his mother when he was five. Soon afterward his mother died, leaving him in the care of his grandfather who died two years later. Mohammed was raised by his uncle. At 25, he worked for a rich widow, Khadija, who was 40. She bore him two sons (who died in infancy) and four daughters. Mohammed was faithful to Khadija until she died. Later he married 15 women, one every year after Khadija's death. The youngest, his favorite, was Ayisha. She was only 10 when Mohammed married her. However, the holy book of Islam, the Koran (Quran), which Mohammed allegedly penned, limits faithful Muslims to only four wives! Ayisha said Mohammed loved three things - women, scents, and food.
The religious shrine at Mecca, the Ka'bah, had 360 idols of the local Arab tribes. Once it was damaged by a flood and had to be rebuilt. Mohammed was the one chosen to deposit the black stone (supposedly given to Adam and later found by Abraham to identify place of Allah's worship) back into the temple. At 40, Mohammed began to go to a nearby cave to meditate. He was troubled about the idolatry and debasement of his people. He had dreams and visions and even contemplated suicide. Mohammed thought he was possessed by demons, but his wife Khadija assured him the revelations were divine and he should teach them. He said Gabriel had given him revelations.
Mohammed was persecuted for his message of one god, because the merchants at Mecca depended on the pilgrimages of the tribes to the Ka'bah. Around 100 Muslim families, and later Mohammed, fled to Medina in A.D. 622 (flight known as the Hegira and marked the beginning of the Muslim calendar). The number of his disciples grew, and they waged war on their persecutors. Mohammed used the sword to assert his claim as the apostle of the Most High Allah. Merchant caravans were plundered. One especially bloody battle was with the Quraiza Jews, 2,000 of them. The men were beheaded, the butchery lasting all day and into the night. The women and children were sold into slavery. When questioned about this unmerciful judgment, Mohammed said it was the judgment of the Lord, pronounced from above the seventh heaven!
Mohammed's army had grown so big that in A.D. 630 he decided to attack Mecca and take revenge on his persecutors. He personally destroyed the idols in the Ka'bah. Within a year of Mecca's submission to Mohammad, he unified all the tribes of the Arabian peninsula under the religion of Islam. He died in A.D. 632.
The religion of Islam was spread by the sword. How different from the beginnings of Christianity. Actually, the Christian faith is a fulfillment of the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Moses, and David. Jesus of Nazareth (Hebrew name - Yeshua) fulfilled all the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible. He claimed to be the Messiah (Greek word - Christ) and the King of the Jews. One of his Old Testament titles was the Prince of Peace, which was evidenced in the offering of himself as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." He was God's Passover lamb who actually died on Passover at the moment the priests in Jerusalem were cutting the throats of the lambs brought to the temple by the people coming to celebrate the Passover! Opposite to Islam, Christianity was spread, not by the sword, but by the good news of God's love and forgiveness in the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son, Messiah Yeshua.
The Quran contains excerpts from both the Old and the New Testaments, because Mohammed was drawn to the religion of the Jews and to Christianity. The Jews and Christians could not accept his revelations as divine, however, so they became Mohammed's enemies. Some of the verses in the Quran are explicit in calling Jews and Christians infidels and in commanding holy war (jihad) against them. In contrast, the Bible urges Christians to forgive their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Islam is not a religion of peace as some claim. "Allah loves not those that do wrong" (Surah 3:140, Ali), but in Christianity, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The standard for salvation in Islam is having one's good deeds outweigh one's bad deeds (based on human effort). In Christianity, God offers salvation as a gift, based on His grace and Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. Salvation can be received through faith; it cannot be earned.
The person of Jesus Christ (Yeshua Messiah) is central in Christianity. The revelation of the Quran given by Mohammed is central to Islam. Mohammed is no longer alive. Christians believe that Jesus is still alive!
FOUNDATIONS OF ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY
Islam and Christianity are both monotheistic religions and recognize one supreme creator God, but Allah of Islam is not the same God that Christians worship. Christians worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), and the Father of their Lord Jesus Christ.
Mohammed, the prophet of Allah, had an interesting life. His father died before he was born (A.D. 570 in Mecca). His mother gave him to a Bedouin woman to nurse in the healthy air of the desert as was the custom. Mohammed's Bedouin nurse said he had numerous epileptic fits and returned him to his mother when he was five. Soon afterward his mother died, leaving him in the care of his grandfather who died two years later. Mohammed was raised by his uncle. At 25, he worked for a rich widow, Khadija, who was 40. She bore him two sons (who died in infancy) and four daughters. Mohammed was faithful to Khadija until she died. Later he married 15 women, one every year after Khadija's death. The youngest, his favorite, was Ayisha. She was only 10 when Mohammed married her. However, the holy book of Islam, the Koran (Quran), which Mohammed allegedly penned, limits faithful Muslims to only four wives! Ayisha said Mohammed loved three things - women, scents, and food.
The religious shrine at Mecca, the Ka'bah, had 360 idols of the local Arab tribes. Once it was damaged by a flood and had to be rebuilt. Mohammed was the one chosen to deposit the black stone (supposedly given to Adam and later found by Abraham to identify place of Allah's worship) back into the temple. At 40, Mohammed began to go to a nearby cave to meditate. He was troubled about the idolatry and debasement of his people. He had dreams and visions and even contemplated suicide. Mohammed thought he was possessed by demons, but his wife Khadija assured him the revelations were divine and he should teach them. He said Gabriel had given him revelations.
Mohammed was persecuted for his message of one god, because the merchants at Mecca depended on the pilgrimages of the tribes to the Ka'bah. Around 100 Muslim families, and later Mohammed, fled to Medina in A.D. 622 (flight known as the Hegira and marked the beginning of the Muslim calendar). The number of his disciples grew, and they waged war on their persecutors. Mohammed used the sword to assert his claim as the apostle of the Most High Allah. Merchant caravans were plundered. One especially bloody battle was with the Quraiza Jews, 2,000 of them. The men were beheaded, the butchery lasting all day and into the night. The women and children were sold into slavery. When questioned about this unmerciful judgment, Mohammed said it was the judgment of the Lord, pronounced from above the seventh heaven!
Mohammed's army had grown so big that in A.D. 630 he decided to attack Mecca and take revenge on his persecutors. He personally destroyed the idols in the Ka'bah. Within a year of Mecca's submission to Mohammad, he unified all the tribes of the Arabian peninsula under the religion of Islam. He died in A.D. 632.
The religion of Islam was spread by the sword. How different from the beginnings of Christianity. Actually, the Christian faith is a fulfillment of the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Moses, and David. Jesus of Nazareth (Hebrew name - Yeshua) fulfilled all the messianic prophecies of the Hebrew Bible. He claimed to be the Messiah (Greek word - Christ) and the King of the Jews. One of his Old Testament titles was the Prince of Peace, which was evidenced in the offering of himself as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." He was God's Passover lamb who actually died on Passover at the moment the priests in Jerusalem were cutting the throats of the lambs brought to the temple by the people coming to celebrate the Passover! Opposite to Islam, Christianity was spread, not by the sword, but by the good news of God's love and forgiveness in the substitutionary sacrifice of His Son, Messiah Yeshua.
The Quran contains excerpts from both the Old and the New Testaments, because Mohammed was drawn to the religion of the Jews and to Christianity. The Jews and Christians could not accept his revelations as divine, however, so they became Mohammed's enemies. Some of the verses in the Quran are explicit in calling Jews and Christians infidels and in commanding holy war (jihad) against them. In contrast, the Bible urges Christians to forgive their enemies and pray for those who persecute them. Islam is not a religion of peace as some claim. "Allah loves not those that do wrong" (Surah 3:140, Ali), but in Christianity, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The standard for salvation in Islam is having one's good deeds outweigh one's bad deeds (based on human effort). In Christianity, God offers salvation as a gift, based on His grace and Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. Salvation can be received through faith; it cannot be earned.
The person of Jesus Christ (Yeshua Messiah) is central in Christianity. The revelation of the Quran given by Mohammed is central to Islam. Mohammed is no longer alive. Christians believe that Jesus is still alive!
