Grapple
The Historic Relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Comparisons of Islam, Christianity and Judaism have been done and interestingly, all these religions have prophets whose the religious teachings are based upon. This means that prophet hood is a central point in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism which most people have not recognized. Misunderstanding of prophet hood has lead to religions fighting against each other and has also lead to people failing to reap the fruits of religious teachings and benefiting from them.
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheist religions that have existed for over 3000 years (BBC, 2009). Judaism values and tradition have inspired other religions such as the Baha’i Faith, Christianity and Islam which are known as the Abrahamic religions. Although Judaism and Christianity have a common root of history, they diverged in fundamental concepts in various ways. The focus of Judaism is action, in responding to God’s covenant that He made with the Proselytes and the Israelites as written in the Torah. Christianity on the other hand does not emphasize on actions but on correct beliefs. This is seen in Christian anarchism and Sola Fide discussions. The concept of salvation is found in Christianity which is the acceptance of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Partridge, 2005, 258).
Judaism and Islam have a close and special relationship. Both religions are considered Abrahamic religions because they arise form Abraham the patriarch. The Jews are viewed by the Muslims as ‘people of the book’ which the Jews have recorded in the Torah. Similarly, the Jews view Muslim as people who follow the seven laws of Noah. The Muslims and the Jews have interacted since the 7th centaury C. E. The two regions view themselves as people of God who are righteous. As Islam spread through the Arab Peninsula, it based its core practices, jurisprudences, values and structure on Judaism (Partridge, 2005, 267). Practitioners of Judaism have been greatly influenced by Muslim culture.
Although Muhammad and Buddha lived in different generations, much can be drawn from their sayings which are similar parallels. Both of them had a similar vision and mission of keeping the world a place of happiness and peace. They both preached of giving up worldly luxury to worship Allah and Gotama.
Islamic religion is against sectarianism. The religion does not elusive in sects because they are a violation of justice, law, and rights. Therefore, Islam warns Muslims against sectarianism and has to fight the vice. The Quran and the Sunnan records political aspects of Islam. The Muslim was dissatisfied by the Western Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centaury. During this period, they reacted against European encroachment. The Muslim reaction was religious and peasant, thus, not of urban origin. Muslims unlike Christians do not separate religion and state issues. Muslim leaders formed coalition based on tribe and called for a jihad in response to western colonization. In the 20th centaury, Muslims violently resisted the adoption of Western technology, cultural, social, and political aspects (Partridge, 2005, 270).
In reference to 9/11 event, it clearly placed Islam in world stage in conflict with civilization. This conflict is between Islamic Civilization and the West. This has lead to stigmatization of Islam as the ‘other’ in terms of religion, race, ethnic, ideology and economy. The Arab race has been particularly marked as a different race that means ‘them’ who are different from ‘us’.
Reference
BBC (2009) Religion and ethics: Judaism. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/ataglance/glance.shtml
On July 22, 2010
Partridge, C. H (2005) Introduction to world religions, Publisher Fortress Press, pp 250- 345
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