Judeislamoanity: World’s religions more similar than not

By Saira Khan

It seems that ever since 9/11 the entire world knows about Islam, or at least they think they know about Islam. Generally the only thing people know about it is that some Muslim women cover their hair, that there are many crazy Islamic fundamentalists out there, and finally that they believe in Allah. Beyond that basic knowledge no one seems to know anything else about the religion. ‘Your god is Allah right?’ is a question that has been directed towards me numerous amounts of times. What people fail to realize is that Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. Arabs of all faiths use the word Allah in reference to God. It has been associated to Islam because it is used in the Quran which is in Arabic. However, some people may argue that Allah cannot be translated into English because it is a glorified term and should remain intact.

Before I continue with this article I would like to state that I am merely a student who is still learning. My knowledge comes from what I was taught as a child and what I learned as an adult. The majority of this article will be about Christianity and Islam, my knowledge is limited in reference to Judaism. If anyone has any information that they would like to add to what I have written here or if they feel I have made a comparison that seems false, I encourage you to e-mail me.

I have noticed that people seem to think that Islam is a religion of radical beliefs with no connection to any other religion, this is false. I feel that Christianity, Islam, and Judaism believe in the same god but somewhere along the line the overall beliefs begin to differ. The major variations lie in the fact in Christianity Jesus is believed to be the son of God whereas in Islam he is believed to be a prophet. In Islam, Prophet Mohammad is held with the utmost importance; he is believed to be the final prophet and with him came the final scriptures.

The shared beliefs between Islam and Christianity are that they are monotheistic, they believe that Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary and performed miracles, and angels exist as God’s servants. Both also believe that there is an antichrist. After this point people don’t seem to know much about the differences and similarities between the two religions. I don’t have the time, resources, or space to list ALL of the similarities. So I have decided to list the one’s I feel people should know about. Let’s start with the holy books- The Bible, Quran, and Torah. It is known that there is no trace, as of today, of the scrolls of Abraham and that Moses’ torah and the Psalter were both destroyed several times by the Pagans. We also know that Jesus did not dictate or compile his preaching’s. His disciples and their successors who knew of his preaching’s documented them in a number of texts. There are at least 70 alterations of the Gospel known, out of which roughly 66 are declared by the Church to be fictional or wrong, because of these reasons Islam follows the Quran and not the Gospels or Torah. Nonetheless, it does acknowledge their creation. (Islam and Christianity: Similarities and Differences by James Abdul Rahim Gaudet, Rabia Mills and Syed Mumtaz Ali).

The stories of Cain and Able, David and Goliath, Moses, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, and even of the angels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael (to name a few) are shared by all three religions (some versions may slightly differ). For example, it is a wide known fact that Muslims regard Mecca as the center of Islamic faith but few know why. The main reason is the presence of the Kaaba which relates to the story of Abraham. Muslims believe that he built it along with the help of others, since Abraham is regarded as the first true believer in God/Allah the building is crucial. This goes to show that all three religions have the same overall belief regarding Abraham.

There are some prayers with in the Quran and Bible that are also very similar in meaning. For example The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) and The Fateha (The Quran 1:1-7). Both prayers contain the concept of adoration, submission, and supplication. I encourage you to look up both prayers, see if you find the same similarities; you may also find that the Ten Commandments also seem to be incorporated into this prayer. Both prayers carry the same exact meaning. Not only do these two have the same meaning but there are countless other versus in the Bible and Quran that are very similar. Unfortunately, I do have a word limit.

Both Islam and Christianity believe in the seven deadly sins, that suicide will land you a place in hell and intoxication is forbidden. Both have similar rules regarding marriages and interfaith marriages. Both oppose same-sex marriage and feel that prayer allows man to communicate with God.

I have listed merely a few of the similarities between some very important and prominent religions. It saddens me to see where the world stands today; that so many people have died, and continue to die, in the name of these religions. People fight to prove that their faith supercedes all yet what they don’t realize is that all three are tied together by some common beliefs. I personally am driven by faith and belief. It gives me a sense of comfort in believing that there is a God out there. Many of us believe in Allah/God and this motivates us to do better. So is it that these very beliefs are the ones that are tearing us apart?

A slightly different version appeared in The University of Maryland paper “The Retriever”