Islam and Christianity

The basic beliefs of both Christians and Muslims are practically the related. Both the Christian and Islamic religion believes that a God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, and Mary exist ("Basic Beliefs"). In addition, both religions believe and agree on the life of Abraham and the stories of Jesus, David, and Moses.

The religious history of the two mainly revolves around one person, Abraham. Abraham was the first Father or ruler of the Hebrew people. Abraham was also seen as "Abram" in the earliest citations. According to Genesis, "Abram" means the "father of love" or and exaltation of the father. Abraham, if he existed at all, lived sometime between 2100 and 1500 B.C. in Ur, Mesopotamia in present day Iraq. At this time, especially in Ur, people believed in multiple gods, polytheism. "How Abraham's thinking evolved into monotheism--thereby [putting him into the position of becoming the first ruler] of both the people of Israel and the Arabs--is speculative" (Life 17-18). According to the Bible, Abraham's people journeyed all the way to Ramat al-Khilil, Arabic for "Heights of the Friend," Allah's friend was Abraham (Life 17-18). At one point God vowed to Abraham that if his people stayed faithful to him, then they would be granted Canaan, modern day Palestine. It would be their "everlasting possession [Gen. 17:4-9]." Both Genesis and Muhammad's stories are basic accounts of Allah's words in the Qur'an. Both agree on whom Abraham was and what it was that God promised to him. God also tested his faith by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham was about to do so atop Mount Moriah when God extended his hand to give him a ram to sacrifice instead. He wanted Isaac to grow, who with his brother Jacob's help, found the Jewish nation in Palestine. According to Islam, it was actually Ishmael who was almost sacrificed. His many children settled in the future Mecca, spreading across the Arab world as Muslims (Life 21).

The Bible says that Moses was the Hebrew prophet and lawgiver who led the Israelites out of Egypt. To Christians he is the "model of faith" and to Muslims, "Musa was the first prophet to herald the coming of Muhammad".

Christians believe that there is only one God, and that he created the universe. The belief of one God was first taught to followers in the Jewish religion, which is called monotheism. Christians believe that God is actually Persons emerged to become one--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--this is called the doctrine of the Trinity. All three parts of this Trinity are equal to one another, although, to say that God is three, is an insult of the highest order. This Trinity is part of the "mystery" that Christians believe in. The second member of the Triune God is Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus is "fully" God in every respect ("Basic Beliefs"). Most Christians view Jesus as God incarnate or invested with bodily and especially human nature and form. B: made manifest or comprehensible. They believe that he took on the appearance and characteristics of a man (Christianity 524). Even though Muslims rejected him as the Son of God, they would later admire him for sociological theories (Life 38). The Holy Spirit is the third member of Triune God, "fully" God in every respect. Christians also believe that Mary was a godly, virgin human woman that gave birth to Jesus Christ ("Basic Beliefs").

Muslims believe that God is one; He has no parents, children, or anything equal to Him; he is the lord of the universe. People owe worship to God before anything else. God is one, the creator, and the all-knowing; He is the lawgiver, the judge, and the restorer of life after death (Islam 463). The Islamic God has many names such as the most common, "Allah", "the Merciful", "the Gracious", "the All-Powerful", etc. Muslims believe that Jesus was elected; He is a very prestigious messenger of God. The angel Gabriel is what Christians call The Holy Spirit. Muslims call Gabriel the "Trustworthy Spirit". The Islamic religion states, that Mary was chosen, purified, and preferred over all other women to be the one who gives birth to God's chosen messenger, Jesus. All of this is to be done through the command of God, without a father, Immaculate Conception ("Basic Beliefs").

Christians believe that "the Word of God is part of God which was "with" God but also "fully" God and then became Jesus." The Bible is considered 100% of God's honest word to Christians. On the other hand, Christians have different views on the Qur'an, such as it being a copy of the Bible, to it being the work of the prophet Muhammad, to it being the work of Christians and Jews who worked with Muhammad. There are also varying views on Muhammad, some believe him to be a liar, a lunatic, the False Messiah, or claim that he led people to the Devil. Christians also believe that Jesus was sent by God in order to die on the cross to save humanity from Adam's sin. Without this sacrifice, humanity was destined to die in the sin of Adam ("Basic Beliefs").

Muslims believe that the Word was God's command "Be!" which resulted in the conception of Jesus in Mary's womb without a human father. The Islamic religion believes in the books of the previous prophets, such as the "Torah" which is how you get Psalms, the Gospel, and the Qur'an. In addition, Muslims have been told that humans tampered with the previous scriptures and that the Bible should only be accepted, as far as the Qur'an states. The Qur'an was the last book sent by God to humanity. God personally guarded it so that there was no human tampering. It is safe from tampering until the Day of Judgment; the Jewish New Year observed on the first and by Orthodox and Conservative Jews also on the second also known as Rosh Hashanah. The Qur'an is treated with the utmost respect and any statement that opposes it, is disregarded as the work of man. On a literary level, it is nothing like anything anyone has ever seen or written. Muslims believe that the last messenger of God was Muhammad, the Truthful, or the Trustworthy.