The two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam, were implemented by two of religions most powerful leaders, Jesus and Muhammad. Without question, both Jesus and Muhammad have affected humanity powerfully. As religious leaders both men laid down the principles upon which Christianity and Islam are founded yet today. However, while Jesus performed miracles and arose from the dead, thus proving to his followers he was God, Muhammad performed no such feats, and made no such claims. In fact, Muhammad’s only claim was that he was the last prophet sent from God.
While the events of September 11, 2001, cast the Islam religion in an unfavorable light, this has not dampened the enthusiasm of the Muslim members, nor has it stopped the Islam religion from growing. Obviously, with over one billion members worldwide, Islam is one of the largest religions in the world today.
What is Islam, who is Muhammad, and how does Islam compare to Christianity? If Islam was founded by a mere man, what motivates people to not only join Islam, but remain faithful members?
If one were to research the answer to these questions based upon media interpretation, the answers provided by the media would make Islam appear to be a religion of hatred and violence. On the contrary, as stated by Robinson (2007) the Islam religion is divided into many subgroups. Of those subgroups, “a very small, radical, hate-filled, extremist, Fundamentalist, terrorist wing does exist. So too does a much larger peaceful, moderate wing” (Islam: Is It a Religion of Violence or of Peace?, ¶3).
The lack of knowledge about Muslims by non-Muslims has caused a dangerous and growing unease between the two groups. Therefore, it is important to research care...
... middle of paper ...
...am religion seem foreign and strange, it is only foreign and strange because we are not used to such customs. The history, rules, and practices of Christianity seem just as foreign and strange to those who are not familiar with Christianity’s customs.
Islam gives Muslims a purpose in life and the tools necessary to fulfill that purpose, just as Christianity gives Christians a purpose in life and the tools necessary to fulfill that purpose.
The purpose of both Islam and Christianity is to reach Heaven after death, by believing in God (or Allah), living virtuous lives and performing good deeds (Robinson, 2002).
Fisher, M. P. (2005). Living religions. (6th ed.). Prentice-Hall Publishers.
Robinson, B.A. (2002, October 14). Islam: Is it a religion of violence or of peace.
Retrieved September 27, 2007, from http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_war.htm
Thomas W. Lippman gives an introduction to the Muslim world in the book Understanding Islam. He has traveled throughout the Islamic world as Washington Post bureau chief for the Middle East, and as a correspondent in Indochina. This gave him, in his own words, "sharp insight into the complexities of that turbulent region." However, the purpose of the book is not to produce a critical or controversial interpretation of Islamic scripture. It is instead to give the American layman an broad understanding of a religion that is highly misunderstood by many Americans. In this way he dispels many myths about "Muslim militants," and the otherwise untrue perception of Islamic violence. In this way the American reader will become more knowledgeable about an otherwise unfamiliar topic. However, the most significant element of Lippman’s book is that it presents Islam in a simple way that makes the reader feels his awareness rise after each chapter. This encourages him to continue learning about the world’s youngest major religion. Understanding Islam dispels many misconceptions about the Muslim world, and presents the subject in a way that urges his reader to further his understanding of Islam through continued study.
The Islamic faith was founded by Muhammad, considered “the last prophet who came to restore the true religion” (Fisher, 2014) by Muslim devotees. Muhammad is not worshipped as a god, but his life and good deeds serve as models for Muslims. The prophet was greatly compassionate and caring and spent
Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion alongside Judaism and Christianity. It is currently the second largest religion in the world today. Its beliefs come from the Qur'an which literally means "the recitation" which is believed to be a literal transcription of the word of God. Its main prophet is named Muhammad who began Islam by speaking with the angel Gabriel in a cave during his meditation and then acting as an instrument of God to help write the Qur’an. Muhammad then spread Islam to the scattered tribes of Arabia by becoming the leader of Yathrib and using his wonderful leadership abilities to then grow his influence over virtually all of Arabia. Muhammad is known by Muslims to be the seal of the profits because no profits after Muhammad should be considered legitimate. Muhammad also left behind the Hadith or “tradition” which is a collection of writings compiled of reports of Muhammad’s actions as leader of Yathrib. These reports are used as a more specific code of ethics in day to day life and from these reports the 5 Pillars of Islam are derived (Smith 160). Although Islam shares many similarities to Judaism and Christianity it is often viewed in the US with hate derived from preconceived notions following the attack on September 11th 2001. This paper seeks to provide an overview of Islam’s history as well as its two major sects and 5 main pillars to remove preconceived notions and provide a glance into the minds of the Islamic people.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
Islam is not only one of the major religions in the world but also one of the fastest-expanding religions in history with more than 350 million muslims. It’s origin can be traced way back to 610 CE. The period from 600 C.E to 1450 is often referred to as the Post Classical period as many developments and reforms occurred during this period and one of the most important events that happened was the establishment and the spread of Islam. At the times, muslims were very strong, strict and reasonable people. The main keystone of this religion was the prognosticator Mohammad, who completely changed all of Middle East through the religion of Islam.
In both given articles, “The Roots of Muslim Rage” by Bernard Lewis, and “The Roots of Muslim Rage Revisited” by Nicolaas J.E. van der Zee, argue about the enhancement of the Muslim fundamentalism with different perspectives; however, I believe that Lewis’ view may be quiet misleading to the actual perception. Lewis indicates that Muslim fundamentalism is conceived through the Muslim community’s oppression and dissatisfaction with the West’s political involvement, as well as “Islam is a source of aggression” . In defiance of Lewis’ opinion, the word ‘Islam’ comes from the word peace as well as the will of submission to God. The notion of aggression and violence that Lewis conceptualizes to be the headline of Islam does not have any supporting
One of the major misconceptions regarding American Muslims is that they are terrorists but the FBI database clearly states that 6% terrorist acts in the U.S. are due to Islamic groups. Many people assume that Islam teaches its followers to practice terrorism. In actuality, Islam does not teach terrorism but rather the literal meaning of Islam is “peace”. As USA article mentions, "Islam does not support terrorism under any circumstances. Terrorism goes against every principle in Islam. If a Muslim engages in terrorism, he is not following Islam. He may be wrongly using the name of Islam for political or financial gain” (USA Today). From here we see that terrorism is not a teaching of Islam, but, rather prohibited. Islam is an encompassing religion which covers all aspects of one’s life from financial well-being to diet and to marriage. In a s...
According to the secular history, the begging or rise of Islam is greatly linked to the prophet Muhammad. Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last in the line of prophets and not Jesus. They believe this because Muhammad was the chosen recipient and messenger for the word of God through the divine revelations. All those who choose to follow the Muslim religion constantly strive to live life as Muhammad did and to follow his example. In Islam the Qur'an is the most important holy text with the sayings of the prophets (Hadith) and the way of Muhammad's life (Sunna) also being very important. Islam can be traced back to the 7th century, therefore making it one of the more recent great world religions. The prophet Muhammad began to introduce Islam in 610 A.D. after experiencing the confrontation by the Angle
With a world following of over 2 billion and 1.3 billion respectively, Christianity and Islam are without doubt the most popular religions that have had and still do have the most profound influence in the progression of history. Geisler and Saleeb state that even with the massive adherents, it is still astounding the menace of intolerance and mutual distrust among the two religions (207). While these differences inherentlyhave their roots in history, truth be told, many Christians and Muslims know little about their religions. Consequently, these misconceptions have been used as the basis to hold and propagate misleading and mistaken ideas about their religions without valid grounds.
Ahmed, Akbar S. Journey into Islam: the Crisis of Globalization. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 2007. Print.
After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.
At the first glance, Islam and Christianity appear to have nothing in common, however; as you go beyond the surface, they appear to have many similarities such as their beliefs of God, their beliefs of life after death, their holy scriptures, and their prayers. These religions, although two entirely different beliefs, share a similar origin. Like many other religions, they both claim to be the one and only true way to God. In order to truly see and understand their similarities, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam. Throughout the course of this essay, I will compare the many facets that show the alikeness between these two growing religions.
For my paper I decided to choose the religion of Islam. I decided to pick this religion because of its fast growing rate. It is also different from what I am used to growing up with, so I was interested in learning more. I had learned some basic facts after the 9/11 event, but the Muslim religion and culture was still a mystery to me. Picking this topic has helped me learn more about Muslims and will help me better relate to them in my future work.
One of the religions that are famous and great in the world is Islam. Islam began in 622 A.D. Islam is one of the religions with the second largest followers after Christian. The founder of the religion is Prophet Muhammad SAW. Prophet Muhammad was born on the 20th of April 571 in Makkah. He is believed to be the latest messenger of God to brush up the previous religions. He began to spread this religion when he was 40. Islam (Arab: al-islām, الإ
The religion of peace, the religion of terror—both titles have been associated with the Islam religion. Islam is the second most followed religion in the world, only second to Christianity. Therefore, for it to have two contradicting title associated with it prompts a need for deep exploration. The world has been closely watching the religion for little over a decade now and yet even with its large following, much of the world—primarily western populations—remain uninformed. Additionally, many that are informed do not often inform the uninformed properly thus resulting in more confusion and ambiguity. A large quantity of people are aware of the beliefs in Islam that have received attention like Jihad, its view on homosexuality and its view