According
to the Pew Research Centre[1]
Islam is currently the second largest religion in the world after Christianity.
If the demographic trends continue Islam is expected to overtake Christianity
before the end of the 21st century. The state of the world today
makes it easy to imagine two giant entities facing off against one another but
that is simply not the case. There are many similarities between Islam and
Christianity. In fact, it is easy to think that there are more similarities than
differences.
Both Islam and Christianity encourage their followers to
dress and behave modestly, and both believe that being charitable and showing
compassion are desirable qualities in a human being. They both place emphasis
on prayer and communication with God, both call on people to be kind and
generous, and both counsel treating others the way you would expect to be
treated. The two religions expect their followers to be truthful, stay away
from major sins and ask for forgiveness. And both religions respect and love
Jesus and expect him to return to earth as part of their end of days narratives.
Members of both religions would have us believe that
they are poles of apart but their histories begin in exactly the same place, in
the Garden with Adam and Eve. It is in the life of Prophet Abraham that their
paths begin to diverge and as if to add emphasis to their mutual beginning
Islam and Christianity along with Judaism are known collectively as the
Abrahamic faiths.
The Prophets
According to the Quran, Abraham was known as the beloved
servant of God; because of his deep devotion, God made many of his descendants
Prophets to their own people. The story of Prophet Abraham being commanded to
sacrifice his son is known in both Christianity and Islam. In Islam, that son
is Ishmael[2]
and it was through his lineage that Islam was established through Prophet
Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him. In Christianity, the
son in the sacrifice narrative is Isaac[3].
Through the line of Isaac come many Prophets including Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
David, Solomon and Jesus.
One of Islam’s six pillars of faith requires that a
Muslim believes in all of the Prophets. To reject one is to reject them
all. Muslims believe that God sent many Prophets, one to every nation. Some
we know by name and others we do not. Prophet Muhammad is known to have said
that all the Prophets are brothers to one another.[4] Thus you will
find that all the Prophets mentioned in the Bible are respected and
acknowledged by Islam. Many of them are mentioned by name in the Quran with
detailed life stories. Islam treats all Prophet with respect and rejects the
stories in the Bible that ridicule and tarnish some of the Prophets.
Christianity acknowledges that Prophet Muhammad existed
but does not endow him with Prophethood. Throughout Christian history he has
been called a liar and a lunatic; some people even associated him with the
devil. On the other hand, Islam considers Prophet Muhammad to be a mercy from
God to humankind. As far as Jesus is concerned Christians and Muslims have
many similar beliefs. Both believe that his mother Mary was a virgin when she
gave birth to him. Both religions believe that Jesus was the Messiah sent to
the people of Israel and both believe that he performed miracles. Islam
however says that such miracles were performed by the will and permission of
God. Islam calls Prophet Jesus the slave and messenger of God and he is held
in great esteem as one man in a long line of Prophets and Messengers all
calling the people to worship One God. Islam rejects completely the notion
that Jesus is God or is part of the Trinity.
The Trinity
The Trinity is the core belief of Christianity that says
that there is One God who has three manifestations, the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. God has a son called Jesus who is also God and it is through
Jesus that a person can reach the Father. The Holy Spirit, also God, is the
divine force, that mysterious force responsible for faith. The Trinity is
sometimes depicted as the wings of a dove or tongues of fire. It is a
controversial doctrine that came about as an attempt to reconcile the teaching
of the Bible and the early Christian church. Disputes over the nature of Jesus
lead to the Roman emperor Constantine convening the Council of Nicaea in CE 325.
And it was the doctrine of the Trinity that caused the split between the
eastern and western churches. Even today many people are unable to understand
or explain the doctrine that they profess.
Believing themselves to be monotheistic is something
common to both Islam and Christianity. Monotheism is a word derived from the
Greek words ‘monos’ meaning only and ‘theos’ meaning god. It is used to
define a Supreme Being who is all-powerful, the Creator and Sustainer of the
universe, the One responsible for life and death. Muslims however believe that
they practice pure monotheism unadulterated by concepts such as the Trinity. The
core belief of Islam is that there is no god worthy of worship but God; it is a
simple concept in which worship is directed to God Alone.
The Scriptures
Muslims derive their understanding of the nature of God
from the Quran and the authentic traditions of Prophet Muhammad. The Quran
explains that all the divine books of Christianity, the Old Testament,
including the book of Psalms, and the New Testament containing the Gospels of
Jesus were revealed by God. Therefore, Muslims believe in the Bible when it
does not differ from the Quran. Muslims believe only what has been confirmed
in the Quran and the traditions of Prophet Muhammad because Islam says that
much of the original text of both the Old and New testaments has been lost,
altered, distorted or forgotten.
Muslims believe the Quran to be the last revealed text
and the exact words of God brought down to Prophet Muhammad through the agency
of Angel Gabriel. Christianity however believes that the Bible was inspired by
God and written by a number of different authors.
Footnotes:
[1]
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/27/muslims-and-islam-key-findings-in-the-u-s-and-around-the-world/
[2]
Quran 37:101 – 103
[3]
Genesis 22
[4]
Saheeh Al-Bukhari