Islam and Christianity: A Comparative Analysis of Similarities and Differences

When someone thinks of Islam and Christianity, one thinks of two entirely different worlds. Although that is sort of true, Islam and Christianity are a lot closer than we might think. As a devout Catholic Christian myself, I have really pondered on this question over the past few months. I have always appreciated and enjoyed Islamic culture while glorifying my own. Coming from a very diverse area, I’ve been very eager to find the similarities and differences between the two.

When I traveled to the middle east last year, I experienced a culture shock. Coming from New York, I had no idea what to expect and it was safe to say I was shocked. Everything from the people to the buildings were different. Almost everyone wore the same traditional attire customary to the region. Almost every corner I turned had a mosque (Muslim place of worship) instead of a church. One of the biggest differences I saw was that everyday life revolved around their religion. People stopped everything just to go and do their prayers. This has to be what shocked me the most. In the United States and most countries around the world, people don’t celebrate their religion, more specifically Christianity. If Christian Americans held their faith just as close as almost all Muslims do, we would live in a much better world. Even though Islam and Christianity might seem two worlds apart, they share more common ground than we think.

Religious Texts

Almost all major religions in the world have some sort of religious texts. Islam and Christianity are no exceptions. Islam main religious text is the Quran. The Quran is believed to be the final revelation from Allah to man. It also lays down the foundation of the Islamic law, Sharia. The Quran is made up of 114 chapters called Surahs which are made up of 6236 Ayahs which are verses. Muslim people spend a lot of time memorizing the Quran and many seek to understand the Quran better through Tasfir. Tasfir is the scholarly interpretation of the texts which help understand the texts through historical context. The Quran explains how to live out life and stresses the importance of taking accountability for your actions because of the Day of the Judgement. The Day of the Judgement is the end of time when everybody is resurrected from the dead and judged for their lives. People are judged based on what they have done and depending on if they lived their life accordingly by the way of the Quran, then they will either receive eternal happiness or eternal damnation. This concept encourages people to live out their life how the Quran tells them to. The Quran also talks about prophets. The most important prophet in Islam is Muhammed who is also believed to be the final prophet. His revelation from the Angel Gabriel led him to writing the Quran. The Quran also confirms other prophets such as Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus.

Christianity also has a religious text, the Bible. The Bible is the story of God. The Bible is split into two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Each is composed of many different books, letters, and stories that are part of the Bible. Both parts tell a different story. The Old Testament tells the story of many prophets such as Moses and Isiah who speak of a covenant(promise) made by God to send a son to save humanity from sin. The New Testament is the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus, the son of God. The New Testament goes through the life, teachings and death of Jesus and establishes new rules while reinforcing the new rules. Jesus’ sacrifice at the end of the New Testament ends original sin and his resurrection represents new beginnings in Christianity. The central theme of the Bible is about making it into heaven, the Kingdom of God. In the New Testament, Jesus is shown as the savior and he gives people tools on how to seek God and on how to make it to heaven. The last book of the Bible is the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse of John, describes the end of time. It is widely considered the hardest book to understand due to the amount of symbolism. The book describes the victory of Jesus, the defeat of evil, the destruction of the Earth, and the judgement of humanity.

Both books share many similarities and differences. For example, the prophet Abraham is presented in both books and deemed holy in both religions, but the personality of each Abrahanm don’t necessarily align with each other. The Islamic story of Abraham represents the rejection of false idols, polytheism, and a full submission into God. His most famous act is the sacrifice of his son which is shown in both books. In the end, God recognizes his faith and Abraham sacrifices a Ram instead. Islams celebrates this act with the holiday of Eid al-Adha. In Islam he is also credited with building the Kabba which is the biggest difference between Abraham in the Quran and Abraham in the Bible. The Quran states that Abraham and his son Ismail raised the foundations of the Kabba, which is a holy building in the sacred city of Mecca. Christians reject this teaching as they have their own perception of Abraham. While the stories closely align with each other, Abraham is more closely tied to faith and the covenant with God in Christianity. Another big difference is the Muslims perspective of Jesus versus Christians perspective. While Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet from God, Christians believe that he is the fulfillment of the covenant and the son of God. Muslims reject his crucifixion and resurrection stating that Jesus was not crucified and that someone else was put on the cross made to look like Jesus (Surah 4:157-158). The second coming of Jesus is also seen very differently in both religions. In Christianity the second coming of Christ represents the end of time. In Islam, the second coming of Christ represents the defeat of the Antichrist and leading more people back to Allah. While both texts are similar, they each have some key differences.

Muhammed and Jesus

The central figure in Islam is Muhammed. Muhammed is considered to be the greatest and final prophet of Allah. He was born around the year 570 in the city of Mecca, now located in Saudi Arabia. Growing up he didn’t have his mother or his dad due to their untimely deaths so he grew up with his grandfather and uncle. He was given the nickname “Al Amin” meaning trustworthy due to his character. He became a merchant who was employed by a woman called Kadijah who recognized Muhammed’s prophetic capabilities. She went on to marry Muhammed and they actually had a very good marriage. Around the age of forty, he was meditating on Mount Hira near Mecca when the Archangel Ji’brail (Gabriel in Arabic) was revealed to him. Muhammed was terrified when the Angel told him to read. Muhammed told the Angel that he could not read, but the Angel kept asking him to read. When Muhammed insists that he is illiterate, the Angel The Quran states “Read: In the Name of your Lord who created. Created man from a clot. Read: And your Lord is the Most Generous. He who taught by the pen. Taught man what he never knew. (Surah 96).” This verse is what started Islam. Muhammed, terrified, ran back down the mountain to Kadijah. He told his wife what had happened upon the mountain and Kadijah believed him. Together they became the first followers of Islam. These revelations continued to happen and make up most of the Quran. Muhammed started to amass a following and he became a threat to the polytheistic tribes that dominated the region. Seeing the need to leave, he and his followers fled to Medina. This journey started the Hijra which is a pilgrimage that every Muslim is required to do at least once in their lifetime. The first Hijra also marks the start of the Muslim calendar. After amassing a giant following in Medina, he went back and conquered Mecca. They destroyed the pagan city and replaced them with Allah and Islam. His later life consisted of many revelations and conquests to spread Islam. His most important revelation was the revelation at “The Farthest Mosque" which is believed to be the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. He apparently prayed with other prophets such as Moses, Abraham, and Isa (Arabic name for Jesus). He was then carried into heaven by the Angel Ji’brail. From there he was shown heaven and hell and came face to face with God. To this day Muslims believe that he is the only person to do any of these things. His death in 632 caused a split between Islamic people. Some people believed that only descendants of Muhammed could lead Islam while others believed that people who were elected could lead Islam. The ones who believed that descendants of Muhammed can lead Islam became Shi’a Muslims while the other group who believed in electing leaders became the Sunni Muslims.

In comparison, the story of Jesus begins from before he was born. In the old testament, the prophets Abraham and David were promised a son who would be the savior of the world. This is important because Jesus being a descendant of David indicates that he is of royal lineage while being the son of Abraham indicates that he is a descendant of the Israelites. Now over to the New Testament, the Angel Gabriel descended to Mary and told her that she was going to have a son. Mary doesn’t understand since she is the virgin but the angel tells her that the Holy Spirit’s power allowed her to conceive the son of God. When she told Joseph, he was troubled because even though he was a descendant of David, he was just a humble carpenter and he didn’t believe he was capable of raising the son of God. After many dreams and visions he became convinced that he could raise the son of God. Jesus was born 9 months later in the city of Bethlehem in modern Palestine. He lived a normal childhood although a few events marked what he would become later. For example, once when returning from celebrating the feast of Passover, Jesus was left behind at the temple in Jerusalem. While Mary and Joseph were panicking since they lost Jesus, scholars at the temple were fascinated at the fact that Jesus was teaching all these scholars. When Joseph and Mary found Jesus, she asked why he would do that. Jesus responded by saying that they should have known that he was in his father’s house. From there nothing else in the Gospels (the books that tell the life of Jesus) talks about Jesus’ childhood. Jesus is believed to have begun his public ministry at the age of 30 with his baptism in the River Jordan. When he was baptized a great voice from the heavens stated, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17).” This miracle represents the start of his public ministry and his very first miracle. He went on to do many miracles such as cure the blind, raise the dead, cure lepers, and calming storms. The most important event in his life was his crucifixion. The days leading up to his crucifixion represent the 3 most important days of the Catholic Calendar. Many events such as the last supper, which is the dinner where Jesus was betrayed. His crucifixion consisted of a great suffering that Christians say saved the world from sin. Christian’s say that he died and was buried and three days later he rose from the dead. He stayed on earth for 40 more days and rose to heaven. Christians believe that Jesus was the only person to have ever risen to heaven in the Christianity.

Both of the central figures in each respective religion have their own similar but different stories. For example, while Muhammed is a glorified prophet, Jesus is presented as the son of God. Jesus is presented in both religions, but there are very different stories regarding his death. In Islam, Jesus is said to have been taken up to heaven and Muslims deny his crucifixion. On the contrary, Christianity is centered around Jesus’ crucifixion. Although accounts of his death are very different, the story of his life is very similar. In both stories, he was born in a miraculous birth from the Virgin Mary. In both stories, he performed many miracles and preached about each respective God. Although Jesus in Christianity and Jesus in Islam are different, he is impactful in both and highly revered in both religions.

Conclusion

The two biggest religions in the world are usually viewed as polar opposites. People always seem to look at our world today and see the big rivalry between the two religions. Recent events in Palestine and Israel have greatly influenced the division between Islam and Christianity. Bombings in major cities such as Madrid, London and Istanbul make Muslims look like extremists that will do anything to spread their religion. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I have been fortunate enough to meet and interact with many Muslim people and I have seen just how beautiful their culture is. Before I had the opportunity to travel to the United Arab Emirates and Oman, I was skeptical of how people would react to me being a devout Catholic in a completely different country. Yet I was taken back to just how welcoming and king people were. Those people inspired me to write this article and shed light on two religions that are typically viewed as major rivals and show that we are not as far as we seem. I believe that if we all respect each other and learn to coexist with each other, our world would be free of racial injustice that seems to have our world today in a chokehold. From Mecca to the Vatican, we are one people that share a beautiful earth that is full of different cultures and people that make the world as beautiful as it is today.

1 John 4:7: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God"

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ABOUT DAVID

David Ramirez is a 14 year old freshman at Centner Academy. He shows a great interest in writing and looks to further excel his capabilities. He enjoys informative writing and writing for entertainment. David looks forward to sharing his writing with everyone. Outside of writing, David is a prolific musician and a race car driver.