Stacy Maple

World Religions
December 10, 2014
Professor Ritter

My personal thoughts regarding the Islamic religion are skewed Im sure as I dont know much about it beyond what Ive read
online. Because of the many news stories regarding followers of Islam and all the negative press they have received, it seems to
me that the extremists are dangerous people who are not afraid to declare a holy war on those who offend them for any reason.
But just as in the rest of the world, there for every 1 extremist, there are 10,000 who dont agree with what is done in the name of
God or Allah, and just wish to worship and have faith and go about normal daily lives. Just as the song goes, one bad apple
spoils the bunch.
I was able to find an unbelievable chart that compares the two religions. Its listed below.
(http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islam_judaism_christianity.htm)
Islam

Christianity

Adherents called

Muslims

Christians

Current adherents

1.3 billion

2 billion

Current size rank

2nd largest

largest

Major concentration

Middle East, Southeast Asia

Europe, North and South America, rapid growth

in Africa

Sacred text

Qur'an (Koran)

Bible (Jewish Bible + New Testament)

Other written authority

Hadith

church fathers, church councils, papal decrees

(Catholic only)

Religious law

Sharia

Canon Law

Clergy

imams

priests, ministers, pastors, bishops

House of worship

mosque

church, chapel, cathedral

Main day of worship

Friday

Sunday

Church and state

integrated

separate

Date founded

622 CE

c. 33 CE

Place founded

Saudi Arabia

Palestine

Founder

Muhammad

Jesus

Original language(s)

Arabic

Aramaic, Greek

Early expansion

within 12 years, entire Arabian peninsula; within

100 years, Muslim world stretched from the
Atlantic to China

Within 60 years, churches in major cities in

Palestine, Turkey, Greece and Rome; entire
Roman Empire by end of 4th cent.

Major splits

Shia/Sunni, c. 650 CE

Catholic/Orthodox, 1054 CE; Catholic/Protestant,

1500s CE

Type of theism

strict monotheism

Trinitarian monotheism

Ultimate reality

one God

one God

Names of God

Allah (Arabic for God)

Yahweh, the Holy Trinity

Other spiritual beings

angels, demons, jinn

angels and demons

Revered humans

prophets, imams (especially in Shia)

saints, church fathers

Identity of Jesus

true prophet of God, whose message has been

corrupted

Son of God, God incarnate, savior of the world

Birth of Jesus

virgin birth

virgin birth

Death of Jesus

did not die, but ascended into heaven during

crucifixion

death by crucifixion

Resurrection of Jesus

denied

affirmed

Second Coming of Jesus

affirmed

affirmed

Divine revelation

through Muhammad, recorded in Qur'an

through Prophets and Jesus (as God Himself),

recorded in Bible

View of sacred text

inspired, literal word of God, inerrant in original

languages

inspired, some believe inerrant in original

languages

Human nature

equal ability to do good or evil

"original sin" inherited from Adam - tendency

towards evil

Means of salvation

correct belief, good deeds, Five Pillars

correct belief, faith, good deeds, sacraments

(some Protestants emphasize faith alone)

God's role in salvation

predestination

predestination, various forms of grace

Good afterlife

eternal paradise

eternal heaven

Bad afterlife

eternal hell

eternal hell, temporary purgatory (Catholicism)

View of fellow Abrahamic

religions

Jews and Christians are respected as "People of

the Book," but they have wrong beliefs and only
partial revelation.

Judaism is a true religion, but with incomplete

revelation. Islam is a false religion.

I do think that it is possible for the two religions to live side by side. They do already. The only thing needed in this world to
allow everyone to live in peace is tolerance. Not every person who follows Islam is a terrorist or an extremist, they want for
nothing but to live their lives as they choose without being judged or stereotyped or harmed because of their beliefs. Their belief
structure really isnt that different from that of Christianity, so there is no reason why we shouldnt all be able to live and believe
in what we believe.

For my interviews regarding these points, I put it out on Facebook (because there is no better place in the world to solicit
opinions on something than Facebook) for my friends, some of whom are very involved with the Catholic Church and others who
are not. Two of the responses I got are below. The first is from my friend Katy whom Ive known through my figure skating
days for at least 15 years now. She is a well-educated and successful woman just recently graduating from law school and is in
the process of opening her own practice. The second is from my friend Mike who is a grade school friend that Ive known for
over 25 years. The interesting thing about Mike is that he is in the military and has been to Islamic countries, so I was very glad
he replied so I could get his point of view, having lived in those countries.
Katy
Some background on me: I am a Christian believer. My dad is Catholic and my mom is protestant, although she was raised
Catholic.
I think that my mom struggled with her beliefs, so she had trouble committing to a single church. For this reason, we bounced
around from church to church on weekends. The good thing about this was that I was exposed to a lot of different religious
beliefs and sects (Judaism, Catholicism, Baptist, Etc.)
When I read your post, my initial reaction was Wow, I can tell you a lot about different religions, but I really don't know very
much about the Islamic faith or people at all, apart from what you see in the news, which unfortunately is not always positive.

So in response to your first question, I am embarrassed to report that I do not know enough to form a personal opinion about the
Islamic religion. My sense is that it is very strict and structured. However, I suppose that the same can be said of the Christian
faith. It all comes down to the believer. Some are very strict in their religious beliefs and others are not.

I also do not like how women are treated in the Islamic religion, but then again we live in a free society. I'm not sure that it is the
religion itself (per the Quran) or merely Islamic laws or interpretation of religion, etc... But females appear to receive severely
unequal treatment with regards to marriage, the workplace, birth control, etc. Even the dress code!

That said, I do not feel comfortable judging the Islamic faith on this basis because I do not know enough about the religion. This
is just something that stands out to me.

If one were to combine the faiths I think there would be a lot of similarities. For instance both faiths believe in one true God.
Both faiths adhere to a religious text (the Bible and the Quran) ... both believe in an eternal afterlife (heaven vs. eternal paradise)
and both believe there is severe punishment for non-believers (some form of hell) Also, both religions have a founder (a prophet Jesus and Mohammed), both religions are structured in such a way that believers attend regular religious ceremonies (some form
of church) and prayer is a big part of both faiths.

Also, I think that both faiths believe in creation as opposed to evolution or another theory. And I think that both faiths believe
generally that there is a savior. I'm sure that there is a lot more to it but these are the obvious similarities that come to mind.

I strongly feel that these religions can survive side by side if people "live and let live" so to speak

Perhaps I am a bit naive, but I do not necessarily believe that any religion is "right" or "wrong". What is "right" for one believer
may not be right for another. I think it is good that there are so many religious choices out there because it gives us opportunities
to explore the real meaning of life and it allows us to give meaning to our own lives.

If we all believed one thing the world would be very boring. Everyone would look the same and think the same we need differing
viewpoints to function as a society. With regards to religion, politics, etc.
I understand the question in that it simply is not possible to have both conflicting gods and one true god at the same time but I
like to think that it is possible to believe in the same god differently. Maybe my God is their god just being interpreted differently
or maybe there are many "one true gods". The bottom line is that we all need something to believe even if we don't believe in any
particular religion at all and since we're never all going to believe the something multiple religions must survive side by side.

Mike

I'm not religious by any nature but having grown up Christian and lived a few years in the Middle East and conversing and
studying Islam, I'd be happy to help you out with your paper. 1- My personal thoughts on Islam are like that of any religion,
antiquated. There was a time in human history when religion could be used to explain certain things that we, as humans, at the
time could not begin to fathom an understanding. Ancient man had no ideas about gravity, tides, storms, stars. In fact we thought
we were the center of it all. Islam in particular, on its surface requires some decent ideals, pilgrimage, fasting, service, a sense of
community. It is not in the Koran that today's terrorists get their fury, but from the Hadith (the speeches and writings of
Muhammad) in there, they find their justifications for committing acts of jihad. Personally, I think Islam is misunderstood and
perverted by those who see it as a way of social control. 2- The similarities of the two religions are the belief of the bloodline
from Adam and the teachings of Jesus. The Muslims do believe in the teachings in the Bible, however they think it is incomplete
and that Jesus was not the son of God, merely a prophet. The final prophet was Muhammad, and he brought the final messages
from God. Both religions do fast, do celebrate specific holidays, have a sense of community. And history has shown a desire to
kill each other over who said what and who is right. 3- Yes, they could survive if human nature was not a factor. If people could
understand that any afterlife is completely between an individual and the deity and no one else. Meaning if people could just
mind their own business instead of trying to convert, save, or kill anyone else. Unfortunately, it is not in our nature, nor is it in the
doctrine of either religion. You can find plenty of Christians who feel it is their duty to save those who don't follow Christ. And
there are Muslims who feel all those who do not follow the Koran should die or be converted. If we can live and let live than yes,
but that would require major edits to Holy Books, which I do not think either religion would allow.

Some of my favorite photos while researching this topic are below. The first picture, of the two young girls was the first one I
found during my research. It struck me as beautiful because the youth and joy in those girls faces, along with their bright pink
attire, made me feel happy when I saw it. It is not like the photo of the woman that follows it in the traditional black covered
head to toe aside from her eyes that is just a representation of the oppression of women in that culture. The photos of the
buildings I shared because I thought the architecture is amazing and beautiful. The second photo shows followers gathered, and

that to me is just amazing to see. The final picture, of the three hands, is a perfect representation of the third question of this
assignment, how religions can exist side by side.