While many Christians in the Middle East converted to Islam during and after the seventh century, the Church hierarchy in Rome and Constantinople considered Islam to be both a political and theological threat.
The Crusades were an unsuccessful attempt to reverse the Islamic conquest of the eastern Mediterranean and the holy places of all three monotheistic religions. Islam arose in the early seventh century C. It developed from both the Judeo-Christian tradition and the cultural values of the nomadic Bedouin tribes of Arabia. Islam expanded into areas controlled by the Byzantine Empire largely Greek-speaking and Orthodox Christian, but with a diverse population and the Sassanian Empire officially Zoroastrian and Persian-speaking, but also diverse.
As Islam expanded, the new Islamic societies adapted and synthesized many of the customs they encountered. As a result, Muslims in different areas of the world created for themselves a wide array of cultural traditions. The culture of Islamic Spain, for example, was so cosmopolitan that some Christian and Jewish parents complained that their children were more interested in developing their knowledge of Arabic than in learning Latin or Hebrew, respectively.
Many elements of Islamic society became integral parts of medieval and Renaissance European culture, like the notion of chivalry, and certain forms of music the lute, the arabesque and poetry. On the eastern end of the Islamic world, many Indonesians converted to Islam between the 15th and 17th centuries. Preexisting animist beliefs were often incorporated into the local practice of Islam. Within Islam, there are many different communities.
Adherents of Islam may be more or less observant, conservative or liberal. Sufism is the mystical tradition of Islam, where direct experience of the divine is emphasized. The 13th-century poet Jalaluddin Rumi is a well-known Sufi figure whose work has become popular in the United States today. Whirling dervishes are dancers who are entranced in their experience of Sufism.
Muslims believe that Allah the Arabic word for God sent his revelation, the Quran , to the prophet Muhammad in the seventh century C. The Quran contains verses surahs in Arabic that tell Muslims to worship one god, and explains how they should treat others properly.
Another historical text, the Hadith, written by scholars after the death of Muhammad, describes Muhammad's life as an example of pious behavior, proscribes law for the community based on the Quran and the example of Muhammad, and explains how certain rituals should be performed.
Observant Muslims practice five principles pillars of Islam: orally declaring their faith shahadah ; praying five times a day salat ; fasting in the daylight hours during the month of Ramadan sawm ; giving a share of their income for charity zakat ; and making a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime if they can afford it hajj.
Many Muslims also observe dietary rules, in origin similar to those of Judaism, that forbid certain foods like pork , outlaw alcohol, and dictate how animals should be slaughtered for food. The Muslim calendar is lunar, and shifts in relation to the solar calendar. Just as Christians count years starting with the year of Jesus's birth, Muslims count years beginning with Muhammad's move from Mecca to Medina in C. Muslim years are labeled as A. Major Muslim festivals include Id al-Fitr the Fast-Breaking Festival, celebrated at the end of Ramadan and Id al-Adha the Festival of Sacrifice, the commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Ishmail which takes place during the month of pilgrimage.
Muslims believe in a Day of Judgment, when righteous souls will go to heaven and wrongdoers will go to hell. Islam sees Judaism and Christianity as earlier versions of Islam, revelations given within the same tradition by Allah but misunderstood over time by their followers.
Muslims see Islam as the final, complete, and correct revelation in the monotheistic tradition of the three faiths. The Islamic tradition recognizes many of the Jewish and Christian prophets, including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus although he is not considered to be the son of God. Many non-Muslims mistakenly believe that Muhammad is the equivalent of Jesus in the Islamic tradition; in fact, it is the Quran that stands in the same central position in Islam as Jesus does in Christianity.
Muhammad himself is not divine, but a prophet chosen by God to deliver his message and an example of piety to emulate.
Jews and Christians are specifically protected in the Quran as Peoples of the Book, reinforcing their spiritual connection to Islam by virtue of having been given revelations from God. The Islamic legal tradition has upheld the rights of Jews and Christians to maintain their beliefs and practices within their communities in Islamic lands, and this policy of tolerance has generally been upheld. This story was aired during the military standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity.
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Lesson plans: Who Wears a Veil? Stereotypes: More Than Meets the Eye. Judaism A brief history of Judaism Judaism is the oldest surviving monotheistic religion, arising in the eastern Mediterranean in the second millennium B. An ancient wall relief depicting a religious scene [ enlarge ] While there was always a small community of Jews in historic Palestine , in 73 C.
Jewish cultural groups Homeless Jews arrive in search of a new life, Haifa, Palestine, July 21, Judaism in Israel and America There is great difference of opinion among Israeli Jews over the role Jewish religious law should play in the state. As a result, many people think that they are very different, but there are actually many shared beliefs between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
These shared beliefs, customs, and traditions include the importance of prayer, celebrations, charity and cleanliness, and pilgrimage. Most importantly, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are called the Abrahamic religions because of their origins. This covenant made sure that believers would keep faith in God and worship Him and that this practice of worship would continue for generations.
In return, God would protect the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of Abraham. This covenant became the legacy, or trust, for the children of Abraham to continue. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Both Isaac and Ishmael are important for all the Abrahamic religions.
The book of Genesis, which both Judaism and Christianity use, tells this story. Allahuma labaik! In this story, God tells Abraham in a dream to sacrifice his son. Abraham and his son were ready to obey this divine command. But, instead, God redeemed the sacrifice with a magnificent ram. This miracle meant that God does not require human sacrifice, but only the willingness to obey.
While the story is the same among the monotheistic traditions, the Bible and Quran interpret it slightly differently. The story in the Bible says that the son to be sacrificed was Isaac, while the Quran says it was Ishmael. The lesson of obedience and strength of faith, however, is the same. Each Abrahamic faith observes a few major celebrations throughout the year. Both Judaism and Islam follow a lunar calendar for the timing of these celebrations.
A lunar cycle follows the phases of the moon, which means that the celebrations happen at a different time every year.
Some Christian feast days are also influenced by the lunar calendar. These celebrations recall events in the dramatic history of the Jewish people. These celebrations honor the events in the life of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is an important prophet in both Christianity and Islam, and both religions believe that he is the Messiah. Ramadan is considered a holy month of fasting and is commanded in the Quran. Muslims abstain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset during that month. Each would be presented with a record of his deeds — in the right hand for those to be saved, in the left for those to be damned to the fires of hell. For those who were saved, the delights of paradise awaited. Those who died in the cause of Allah, however, did not need to wait for the Last Judgment.
They would go straight to heaven. Further reading: Paris attacks — why Islam and Christianity are twin religions of war and peace. Like the God of Moses, Allah was a lawmaker.
The Quran provided often varied guidance to the believing community in matters of marriage and family law, women, inheritance, food and drink, worship and purity, warfare, punishments for adultery and false accusations of adultery, alcohol and theft.
In short, it provided the foundation of what was later to be much elaborated in sharia law. Muslims, Christians and Jews do all worship the same complex God. Yet, in spite of this, all believe that their religion contains the full and final revelation of the same God. Here is the origin of their unity. Here also lies the cause of their division. For this belief in the truth of one religion and the falsity of the others leads to inevitable conflict between the believer and the unbeliever, the chosen and the rejected, the saved and the damned.
Here lie the seeds of intolerance and violence. So the God of Muhammad, like the God of Jesus and Moses, divides as much as he unites, a cause of strife both between and within these religions.
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