Bridging the Gap: Comparing Islam and Christianity

To start with, this is difference between islam and christianity essay in which comparison between Islamic and Christianity is discussed. The phrase Islam means to surrender to the will of God. The islamic religion was founded by Prophet Mohammed. Muslims belive Prophet Mohammed was the most important prophet as he was a direct messenger from Allah. The Koran is the holy book of Islamas it contains the timeless words of God. Research shows that around a billion people in the worldare Muslims. Contrary to Islam, Christianity began with the ministry of Jesus in Judea during the 1st century. The first believers faced a lot of oppression. Despite all this, christianity persisted and was the religion of the state. Christians firmly acknowledge that Jesus is the founder of christian religion along with his 12 disciples.

The Islamic religion is centered around the belief in Allah, their God. Islam has key pillars, which focus on its major beliefs and practices. These pillars are 

• Faith - Muslims belive that Allah is the only god and that Mohammed is His helper, who he sent to spread the teachings of the gospel. 
• Prayer - Muslims pray 5 times in a day while facing the Holy City of Mecca. 
• Alms - Muslims give a portion of their income to community members who are in need.
• Fasting-  During the holy month of Ramadhan, all healthy adult muslims are required to restrain from drinks during daytime hours. Through this period, they hunger and thirst so as to constantly remind them to help the poor in the society. Christians share similar beliefs to Muslims. 

Some of the Christianity beliefs are: Belief in God, who is the Father, Jesus the son and the Holy Spirit. Death is also a part of the christian belief, Christians also believe that christ will have a second coming and there shall be the final day of judgement where the righteous will go to heaven and the sinful to hell where they will face punishment for their sins. Islamic traditions includes festivals to celebrate weddings and the New year. Muslim weddings are kwn as nikah. For an Islamic marriage to occur, consent of the groom, bride and parents of both is required. During the weddings, there are lots of food and dancing to mark a jovial moment. Muslims also celebrate the New Year which is the first day on the muslim calender. Islamic burial rituals include saying a funeral prayer over the bathed and completely covered dead body and burying in a grave. Muslims are not allowed to consume certain foods. Consumption of pork, alchohol and blood is prohibited in the Islam religion. Christians have a variety of practices which have been there since the onstart of christianity. The christian church believes in baptism into the church as an outward sign of inner commitment to the teaching of Jesus. Eucharist is a common practice among Christians. Eucharist means thanksgiving, and it is a word of greek origin. Christians practice it as a celebration to remember the final meal that Jesus took with His disciples before his death. Easter, lent and christmas are the major religious festivals in the christian year.

Overall the attitude of both religions have changed over the years. In document 4, the Christians accepted trade as honest work while in document 7 the Muslims called for fair trade as they realized that people can be cheated easily. Christians, once believing it as sinful, have become tolerant to trade, while Muslims have made strict laws concerning trade because of its deceitfulness and tricks 

Works Cited

• Apostles in Michael J. Svige,l Exploring Christian Theoelogy: The Church, Spiritual Growth and the End times; 2004.
• Bruce Shelly; Church History in plain language, 2012
• John L. Eposito The Oxford History of Islam 3rd Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
• 'Faith' in Saalibihn Ubn Al-Fawaazan, The declaration of Faith
• Samuel M. Zwemer ; Islam, a Challenge to Faith, Muhammad, Islam and Christianity