slamization or Islamification (pejorative Muhammadization) has been used to describe the process of a society’s conversion to the religion of Islam. In contemporary usage, it may refer to the perceived imposition of an Islamist social and political discourse on a society with a tradition of a more varied interpretation of Islam. The English synonyms, muslimization and arabization, in use since before 1940 convey a similar meaning. Due to the trend towards identifying all Muslims with Arab people, common in the Western world, the latter tends to be applied to non-Arab (e.g. Turkish or Iranian) influence as well. Muslimization has recently been used as a term coined to describe the overtly Muslim practices of new converts to the religion who wish to reinforce their newly acquired religious identity. Further information: Islamic conquests, Islamization in Iran, Ilkhanate, and Kafir. Arabization describes a growing cultural influence on a non-Arab area that gradually changes into one that speaks Arabic and/or incorporates Arab culture. It was most prominently achieved during the 7th century Arabian Muslim conquests which spread the Arabic language, culture, and having been carried out by Arabian Muslims as opposed to Arab Christians or Arabic speaking Jews the religion of Islam to the lands they conquered. The result: some elements of Arabian origin combined in various forms and degrees with elements taken from conquered civilizations and ultimately denominated “Arab”, as opposed to “Arabian”.
Historians such as Ira Lapidus have concluded that since the 1970s, the Islamic world has witnessed a phenomenon called “Islamic revival” similar to a Christian revival often associated with Islamic fundamentalism, Islamism and other forms of re-Islamization. Largely this is because scholars such as Sayyid Qutb were instrumental in the development of modern Islamic thought, and this man was a core member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a Islamist organisation that some Muslims see as the vanguard of their faith. Although one can never speak for an entire community or people, a reorientation towards Islamic values, in contrast to the Westernization moves by various Arab and Asian governments in the 1950s and 60s, appears to be taking place. The main effect appears to be a return of the individual to Muslim values, communities, and dress codes, and a strengthened community. Another development is that of transnational Islam, elaborated upon by the French Islam researchers Gilles Kepel and Olivier Roy.
It includes a feeling of a “growing universalistic Islamic identity” as often shared by Muslim immigrants and their children who live in non-Muslim countries: “The increased integration of world societies as a result of enhanced communications, media, travel, and migration makes meaningful the concept of a single Islam practiced everywhere in similar ways, and an Islam which transcends national and ethnic customs.” This does not necessarily imply political or social organizations: “Global Muslim identity does not necessarily or even usually imply organized group action. Even though Muslims recognize a global affiliation, the real heart of Muslim religious life remains outside politics in local associations for worship, discussion, mutual aid, education, charity, and other communal activities.”However, polls have shown that majority of worldwide Muslim wants democracy embedded with Islam and Sharia which is cause of concern for some commentators at the rapid growing Western European Islamic population, the lack of assimilation of said migrants, and that these groups are allegedly potential breeding grounds for terrorists.
A third development is the growth and elaboration of transnational military organizations. The 1980s and 90s, with several major conflicts in the Middle East, including the Arab-Israeli conflict, Afghanistan in the 1980s and 2001, and the three Gulf Wars were catalysts of a growing internationalization of local conflicts. Figures such as Osama Bin Laden and Abdallah Azzam have been crucial in these developments, as much as domestic and world politics. To better underestand the phenomen, let’s see some basic info about Islam here below:
A copy of the Koran (the sacred book of Islam) from Sultanahmet Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. The Koran was revealed to Muhammad in separate revelations during the prophet’s life at Mecca and Medina; the revelations are divided into 114 suras (chapters). Gold phylactery containing Muslim prayer. This example, from Bakhchisarai in the Crimea, dates from the 14th-century Mongol Empire. (Hermitage, St Petersburg). The Muslim holy city of Kairouan, Tunisia. It was founded in AD 670, when the site was occupied by the Arab conqueror Uqba ibn Nafi. Within its walls is the Great Mosque of Kairouan, a marvel of Islamic architecture. The mosque’s minaret, built between 724 and 728, is the oldest standing minaret in the world. Religion founded in the Arabian peninsula in the early AD 600s. It emphasizes the ‘oneness of God’ (Arabic tauhid), his omnipotence, beneficence, and inscrutability. Its sacred book is the Koran, which Muslims believe was divinely revealed to Muhammad, the prophet or messenger of Allah (God). There are two main Muslim sects: Sunni and Shiite. Others include Sufism, a mystical movement that originated in the AD 700s. The word Muslim means ‘one who makes his peace with God and Man’.
The fundamental beliefs of Islam are contained in the shahadah (testimony) – ‘I bear witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah’ – which is a constituent part of the adhan (call to worship). Other beliefs central to Islam are the Creation, the Fall of Adam, angels and jinn, qadr (predestination), the Day of Judgement (Arabic Rawmuddin), akhirah (life after death), and the succession of scriptures revealed to the prophets, who include Moses and Isa (Jesus). The perfect, final form of the scriptures is the Koran or Quran or Qur’an (literally ‘reading’). It contains Muhammad’s teachings, and was written down about 20 years after his death. It is divided into 114 suwar (chapters, singular sura), each of which is divided into a number of ayat (verses). Roughly speaking, all lands where Arabic is spoken, together with Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Africa as far as the Tropic of Cancer, are solidly Muslim. In the Central Asian republics, there are about 20 million in Uzbekistan, probably 8 million in Kazakhstan, and around 5 million altogether in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Other Muslim populations include China (29 million), the Balkan states (4.5 million), Malaysia (10 million), Indonesia (172 million), the Philippines (3.3 million), and sub-Saharan Africa (about 75 million). Islam is the second-largest religion in the UK, with about a million followers.
Islam embodies a secular law (the Shari’a or ‘Main Path’), containing the Sunna (‘practice’) of the prophet as transmitted by his companions. The Shari’a is clarified for Shiites by reference to their own version of the Sunna. The Sunni sect also takes into account ijma’ (expert), universal consent of practices and beliefs among the faithful. For the Sufi, the Shari’a is the starting point of the ‘Sufi Path’ to self-enlightenment. A mufti is a legal expert who guides the courts in their interpretation. (In Turkey, until the establishment of the republic in 1924, the mufti had supreme spiritual authority.) Islam proclaims the unity of God, demands obedience to him, believes in an afterlife of bliss for believers and torment for the wicked, and makes Muhammad the last and final exponent of God’s mind; he is ‘the seal of the prophets’. He did not claim to bring a new religion, but to revive the faith that was taught first to Adam and then to Ibrahim (Abraham), was believed in by Moses, Isa (Jesus), and all other prophets, but which was corrupted by their followers. All prophets according to the Koran were without sin. The concept of inherited or original sin is foreign to the teachings of Islam.
The Shari’a includes the observances known as the Five Pillars of Islam, which are binding on all adult believers. The Five Pillars are: belief in one God (shahadah), prayer, almsgiving (zakat), fasting (sawm), and the pilgrimage (hajj). Salat is worship five times a day facing toward the holy city of Mecca (the call to prayer is given by a muezzin, usually from the minaret or tower of a mosque). Prayer should rather be called worship, for the prescribed forms contain no intercession; it is performed five times a day – before sunrise, after midday, in the late afternoon, at sunset, and when the night is dark. Worship is preceded by wudu (ritual washing) and the worshipper faces toward Mecca. Each act of worship consists of sections, varying in number from two to four with a prologue and epilogue; a section consists of a litany said in various attitudes, sitting, standing, bowing, and with the forehead touching the ground. Worship may be performed anywhere, but preferably in a mosque. After the set ritual a man may offer what petitions he pleases. The midday prayer on Friday is the service of the week, with a sermon, and all men should attend. Other observances include zakat or obligatory almsgiving; alms might be called a religious tax, for the amount that the believer has to pay is fixed according to his wealth. Sawm (fasting) takes place from sunrise to sunset throughout Ramadan (the ninth month of the Muslim year, which varies with the calendar). The sick, travellers, and pregnant women are excused, though they ought to fast the same number of days in another season of the year. In addition many Muslims fast two days in every week. Everyone who can should make the hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca. The faithful should make it at least once in a lifetime.
There is no organized church or priesthood, although Muhammad’s descendants (the Hashim family) and popularly recognized holy men, mullahs, and ayatollahs are accorded respect. As the law is regarded as the voice of God, a renowned lawyer is very near to being a priest. Traditionally, justice was administered by a cadi (judge), the chief of police, and the inspector of the markets, who also kept an eye on schools to see that the boys were not taught from improper books. There were legal experts to whom the cadi could turn for advice in complicated cases. There was also an extraordinary court to hear those who could get justice in no other way; in early days the ruler himself presided. In most countries nowadays, only questions of personal status are heard by the cadi, because modern codes of civil, commercial, and criminal law have been introduced.
Marriage is a civil ceremony. Under special conditions, the Koran permits up to four wives, but if justice cannot be done among them ‘then marry only one’. A foster-mother ranks as a true mother, so the prohibited degrees of marriage include the relatives of the foster-mother. Strict rules are laid down for the division of an inheritance; males take twice as much as females, because women take their share in dowry, and the testator cannot will away more than one third of his estate or will anything to the chief heir. Modern legislation has changed some of this. Law is also modified by local custom; in Malaysia, and among the Berbers of North Africa, in many ways custom is stronger. Other social legislation forbids wine, interest on money, and sculpture of living beings. This last prohibition has had a great effect on art, causing the development of Arabic writing as an ornament in books and on buildings and coins and of arabesque in architecture. At death the body is washed, shrouded in grave clothes, and carried on a bier, generally without a coffin, to the grave, which is so constructed that the earth does not press on the body. A martyr who dies in battle is not washed. As a rule, the prayer over the dead is not said in a mosque.
On Muhammad’s death in AD 632, the question of the immediate succession to the leadership gave rise to political splits that were later formalized as doctrinal differences. Muhammad was followed as leader by a succession of ‘rightly guided caliphs’ – Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali, the last-named being the prophet’s son-in-law. The title caliph means deputy or successor). The powers of the caliphs were absolute under the law, although in theory the law was fixed by scholars, and the caliph was only its executive officer. The early caliphs remained Arab tribal chiefs. Each chief was accustomed to hearing the opinions of the tribe, especially its elders; but the final decision rested with the chief. The Shi’a tradition began as the party within the Islamic community that supported the candidacy of Ali; it later developed a theology based on Ali’s mystical role as Muhammad’s true successor. Members of the Sunni sect recognize all the four caliphs as lawful rulers, whereas the Shiites, who see legitimacy vested in the lineage of the prophet, regard the first three as only rulers, not caliphs.
The idea of a mahdi, or messiah, is central to Islamic thought. Many men have claimed to be the Mahdi, for example, the founder of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt (died 934), the founder of the Almohads (died 1130), and the mahdi in the Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad, 1848–85). Others have striven to restore religion to its original purity, for example, Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, spiritual partner of the founder of the dynasty that now rules Saudi Arabia. Occasionally, the dervish orders have taken to politics, for example the Senussi, who gave a king (Idris I, ruled 1951–69) to Libya.
Islam was founded as a universal and missionary religion. Between 711 and 1492, it spread east into India, west over North Africa, then north across the Strait of Gibraltar into the Iberian peninsula. During the Middle Ages, Islamic scholars preserved and developed ancient Greco-Roman learning, while the Dark Ages prevailed in Christian Europe. Islam was seen as an enemy of Christianity by European countries during the Crusades, and Christian states united against a Muslim nation as late as the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Driven from Europe, Islam remained established in North Africa and the Middle East. In recent years Islamic regimes have been established in Iran, Afghanistan, and Sudan. Elsewhere, militant Islamic neo-fundamentalist groups have sprung up, which base their theological ideas on the textual foundation of Islam as represented by the Koran. Such groups are opposed to secular governments, which they see as promoting Western, and therefore non-Islamic, values.
Modern trends, often referred to as fundamentalism, are considered by many people to be socio-political phenomena inspired by Muhammad Abd al-Wahab (1703–92), who called upon Muslims to return to the fundamentals of Islam. The ideological strands that reflect his views throughout the Muslim world have been shaped by a variety of local factors and influences. The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in 1928, was the chief influence, ideologically and operationally, that spurred the growth of many contemporary movements. By the late 1950s, the industrialized West had exerted enormous and disruptive cultural and economic influences on the traditional Islamic value system of the Muslim world. Their impact gave the Muslim Brotherhood the impetus to develop its ideas, which had a similar impact on Muslims as did the earlier Wahabi movement. Both movements called for a return to puritanism in Islam; both were at the forefront of the opposition to governments that they viewed as corrupt. Although the Muslim Brotherhood did not proclaim total rejection of Western industrial culture, it sought to replace the ‘ethical vacuum’ with Islamic values. The organization came into conflict with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956 and with Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in 1980. In both cases, the confrontation led to government outlawing of the group, since the Brotherhood’s growing popularity was seen as a threat to the political establishment.
The call for Islamic revivalism has also been used by groups seeking power in the Islamic world, often leading to an inaccurate interpretation of Islam. An example is the Afghan Taliban, who deny women’s basic rights, despite the equal relationship between the sexes prescribed by the Koran. Such misrepresentations of Islam result in widening further the gulf between itself and the West. Today, the term fundamentalism is used generically to refer to many Muslim activist groups and parties. The religious extremism often implied by the term is similar to the concept of ghulat. In Islamic history, this term was used for individuals accused of fanaticism. Although the term was more often used to refer to extreme Shiite groups, it serves to illustrate that Islam has suffered the same tendency towards extremism and violence as have other world religions. The solidarity of the Muslim world is amazing. In the 1300s, Ibn Battuta, a geographer and explorer, travelled across the Muslim world to India, where he was employed as a judge. He found himself everywhere at home, even if some local customs shocked him. Things are not very different today, though nationalism has weakened this solidarity. (© Research Machines plc 2009. All rights reserved. Helicon Publishing is a division of Research Machines plc.)
In many countries across Western Europe, Muslim immigrants tend to settle in major cities, with the native population retreating to minor cities or into the countryside. Previously, Europeans or non-Europeans could travel between countries and visit new cities, each with its own, distinctive character and peculiarities. Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), also known as Stop the Islamification of Europe, is a group with the self-declared goal of “preventing Islam becoming a dominant political force in Europe”. It is a political interest group which has been active in Denmark and has conducted anti-Islamic protests in the United Kingdom. The group originated out of the joining of the Danish group Stop Islamiseringen af Danmark with English anti-Islam activists. The group’s proclaimed aim is to oppose Islamic extremism; they have the motto “Racism is the lowest form of human stupidity, but Islamophobia is the height of common sense”.
The group describes itself as an alliance “with the single aim of preventing Islam becoming a dominant political force in Europe.” The organisation calls for the total boycott of Muslim countries.[7] The group advises boycotts of companies including Fisher Price, Asda, Kentucky Fried Chicken and The Radisson Hotel chain due to their marketing of products to Muslims. The group Stop the Islamification of Europe was inspired by a Danish group of the same name which have held protests outside Danish mosques since the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The group has 2,300 supporters on its Facebook page. Social networking sites have been used to plan protests.
The de-Christianization of Europe has troublesome consequences for the future. Perhaps one of the most urgent issues confronting Western Europe today is the fact that it is committing a form of demographic suicide. British historian Niall Ferguson calls the birthrate below the replacement level the greatest “sustained reduction in European population since the Black death of the 14th century?” Most European countries have already passed a demographic tipping point that virtually assures not only a rapid population aging, but also absolute population decline. Statisticians claim that Europe’s retired population will increase by 55 percent in the next twenty-five years, while its working population will shrink by 8 percent. A combination of an extremely high number of abortions, the desire of economic security, a better standard of living and the good life often hinders the formation of large families. For example, in 2005 Germany suffered the steepest declines of births in 15 years, a drop of 4 percent or 30,000 births, from 2004. 100,000 more Germans die than are born every year. Pessimists estimate that the current population of 82 million could fall to 50 million by 2050.
A fertility rate 2.1 births is the minimal replacement level in developed countries. It is estimated that the European Union population will fall by 96 million by 2050, even if it gains 600,000 immigrants a year. The far below replacement-level birthrates are already creating enormous pressures on the European welfare states and a demographic vacuum into which Islamic immigrants are flowing in increasing numbers. But these Muslim immigrants don’t take kindly to a society “liberated” from religious restraints. Their encounter with contemporary, secularized Europe, may eventually produce a Europe increasingly influenced or perhaps even dominated by militant Islamic populations, convinced that their long-delayed triumph in Europe’s heartland is at hand. Between 1989 and 1999, the Muslim population grew by more than 100 percent in Europe, to fourteen million (2 percent of the population). There are 1,500 mosques in Germany, and five million Muslims in France. The number of Muslims in the rest of the European countries is between twelve and fifteen million. These Muslim immigrants have not escaped the resurgence of Islam, which is a worldwide phenomenon.
In The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel P. Huntington refers to the resurgence of Islam as an extremely important historical event affecting one-fifth or more of humanity; it is at least as significant as the American Revolution, French Revolution, or Russian revolution. He calls it an effort to find a “solution” not in Western ideologies but in Islam. This resurgence of Islam embodies the rejection of Western culture, and the rededication to Islam as the guide to life in the modern world. It is absolutely convinced that “Islam is the solution” to the problems of morality, identity, meaning and faith. It involves efforts to reinstitute Islamic law in place of Western law, the increased use of religious language and symbolism, expansion of Islamic education (manifested in the multiplication of Islamic schools and Islamisation of the curricula in regular state schools). For example, in Belgium Muslim teachers may give instruction in Islam in religious classes in public schools as since 1975 Islam has become one of Belgium’s, recognized religions.
Resurgent Islam also seeks to dominate politcally the opposition to secular governments and expand efforts to develop international solidarity among Islamic states and societies. Islamic involvement in the political process is much more advanced in Europe than in Canada and the United States. In England there is now a shadow government that has been created by the Muslims to act on their own issues but also to be prepared if the opportunity ever comes to take over the government. The Islamic resurgence has given Muslims renewed confidence in the distinctive character and worth of their civilization, and values compared to those of the West. Huntington observes: “The underlying problem for the West is not Islamic fundamentalism. It is Islam, a different civilization whose people are convinced of the superiority of their culture and are obsessed with the inferiority of their power.” Despite the anti-Western attitude, European politicians continue to see Islam in a positive light.
For example, in 1991 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe spoke of “the valuable contribution that Islamic values can make on the quality of life through a renewed European approach on an overall basis to the cultural, economic, scientific and social fields.” It also stated that “greater attention should be given to co-operation with the Islamic world.” And “there should be wider provision for the teaching of Arabic as a modern language in European schools.” On the contribution of the Islamic civilization to European culture, it noted that the new Europe is becoming increasingly subject to influences from Islam, not only through the regions of predominantly Islamic culture but also “by immigration from the wider Islamic world.”
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Christianity | Islam |
| Definition: | Follower of Christ. | Islam is an Arabic word which comes from the word ‘Salaam’ which means ‘Peace’. It also means submitting your will to Allah – the Almighty God. In short Islam means peace acquired by submitting your will to Allah. |
| Concept of Deity: | Believe in the Trinity of God. Three persons in one Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit | God (Allah) is one and indivisible. They believe in a strict monotheism. “Allah” means God in Arabic |
| Offshoot religions: | Rastafarianism, Universal Unitarianism, Deism. | Baha’i, Sikhism. |
| Belief of God: | Believe that there is only one God and that he has revealed himself as the trinity. | Muslims believe that God revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, God’s final prophet and follow his principals. Islam is monotheistic. |
| Status of Adam: | Adam was the first man created by God. He fell into temptation and brought sin and death to the human race. | Free from all major sins and faults. Adam (PBUH) is the first prophet and Muhammad (PBUH) is the last prophet in Islam. |
| Human Nature: | Man has inherited “original sin” from Adam, meaning he is in rebellion against God and is an enemy to God. He is enslaved to sin. | Man has equal ability to do good or evil |
| Holy days/Official Holidays: | Sunday(The Lord’s Day), Advent,Christmas and New Years, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost(Whitsun), Saints’ Feast Days. | Ramadan; Eid; Ashura. |
| God’s role in salvation: | Salvation is a completely free gift from the Lord and comes by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ, but one must accept Jesus into their heart and be born again to receive salvation, and partaking in the Sacraments. | Predetermination |
| Death of Jesus: | Death by Crucifixion followed by ascension into heaven on the 3rd day. | He did not die, but ascended into heaven during crucifixion |
| Principle: | Because our first parents sinned, all human beings sin. So Christ Came down from Heaven to Save us from our sins. | God is The Greatest. |
| Goal of religion: | To gain Eternal Salvation. | Submission to God. |
| Place of origin: | Palestine, Rome, and Greece, varies according to Demographics | Saudi Arabia |
| Population: | 1.8 Billion (Wikipedia) | There are around 1.3 billion Muslims in the world |
| Clothes: | Encouraged to dress conservatively; Clergy usually dress in robes. | Women must be covered from head to toe. Men must be covered from waist (belly button) to knee. |
| Clergy: | Varies widely according to denomination. May include: Priests, monks, nuns, ministers, pastors, bishops, Elders, Deacons, Youth Ministers, Sunday School Teachers, prophets. | Imams, Mullahs, Caliphs, Mustiffs, and Dervishes. |
| Promised Holy one.: | The Lord Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah of Old Testament Prophecy; He Will Come again at the end of time, to Fulfill New Testament Prophecy. | The Great Mahdi; the Hidden Imam; Jesus is also expected to return. |
| Marriage: | Monogamistic: . “and two shall become one.” One man and one woman are united under God in the holy sacrament of Matrimony. In Heaven, marriage does not exist, except for Marriage between God and the soul. | Man may marry up to 4 women. |
| Geographical predominance: | Europe, North, Central, and South America, Australia and New Zealand. | Europe, Middle East and Asia |
| Belief of God: | Most self-proclaimed sects of Christianity believe in the Nicaean Creed. | Monotheistic. |
| Scriptures: | Holy Bible, a collection of canonical books in two parts (the Old Testament and the New Testament),nine books of the original Bible are left out of Protestant Bibles, i.e. The book of Tobit. These still remain in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. | The Quran and the Hadith. |
| Use of statues and pictures: | Crosses and pictures are acceptable in Christianity. Some protestants regard statues as idols while Catholics and Orthodox widely use them as depictions of Christ, Mary, and the Saints. Images of the Father are forbidden since He is a Spirit. | Not permitted |
| View of Oriental religions: | Confucianism may be followed as a philosophy. | Only Islam is right. |
| Religious Law: | Christians no longer live under the law but under grace. | Sharia |
| Virtue in which religion is based upon: | Love. | Peace |
| Use of statues: | Common. | Strictly forbidden. |
| Original Language: | Aramaic, Greek, and Latin. | Arabic |
| Original Languages: | Aramaic, Greek, and Latin | Arabic |
| View of other Abrahamic religions: | According to Christian doctrine, Judaism is a true religion, but with incomplete revelation.Islam and Baha’i are false religions, other pagan religions are also false. | Jews and Christians are respected as “People of the Book,” but they have wrong beliefs and only partial revelation |
| Rites: | Sacraments | Pillars |
| Day of worship: | Worship should be a continual process in the lives of Christians. Sunday(The Lord’s Day) is usually set apart for church services and Masses, but varies throughout many individual churches. | 5 obligatory prayer times a day; including the Friday prayer. |
| Second coming of Jesus: | Affirmed | Affirmed |
| Confessing sins: | Confesses to the Trinity through prayer only. No man can save a person from their sins. | To God |
| Prophet: | Moses, Abraham, John the Baptist, many others. | Muhammad,Abraham,Ishmael,Jacob,Moses,Jesus etc etc |
| Geographical distribution and predominance: | Christianity is spread worldwide across all six settled continents. | Concentrated in the Middle East, Central and South East Asia. With immigration has recently spread to most continents, though is present only in tiny communities in the America’s, Western Europe and Australasia. |
| About: | Christianity is an Abrahamic religion,which follows the teachings of Jesus Christ as through the Old & New Testaments, via any Baptized man or woman. | Islam is an Abrahamic religion originating with the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (a decendent of Ishmael), a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. Sunni, Shiite and other factions differ in interpretation. |
| Literal Meaning: | Christian” (Greek Χριστιανός Strong’s G5546), meaning “belonging to Christ” or “partisan of Christ”. Also referred to as “little Christs” | Islam (Arabic: الإسلام; al-‘islām. The word Islam means “submission”, or the total surrender of oneself to God (Arabic: الله, Allāh) |
| Life after death: | Eternal Salvation in Heaven; Eternal Damnation in Hell; some believe in a temporal third state before Heaven, known as Purgatory. | Eternal life in Paradise, or in Hell. |
| Belief: | Believe in Christ Jesus, and receiving Eternal Salvation from Him and His Church. | Islam believes in the unity of one God. |
| Founder: | Jesus Christ | Muhammad PBUH |
| Place and Time of origin: | Palestine approx. 33 A.D. | AD 610 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. |
| View of God: | “3 in 1” Belief in Trinity. God, Son and Holy Ghost. | God is independent of earthly matters, is all-knowing, all-powerful but also the most merciful. |
| View of Animistic religions: | Pagan. | Pagan |
| Practices: | Baptism: New Birth in the New Covenant with God. Holy Communion: Partaking in the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, under the Form of Bread and Wine. Personal prayer and devotion are also entirely a matter of personal preference | Adherents are generally required to observe the Five Pillars of Islam, which are five duties that unite Muslims into a community. |
| Resurrection of Jesus: | Affirmed | Denied, since He did not die but ascended into heaven |
| Birth of Jesus: | Virgin Birth | Virgin Birth |
| Means of salvation: | While differing denominations debate eternal security, they generally agree that salvation is secured through prayer and faith alone. Partaking in the Sacraments are also important as well. | correct belief, good deeds, Five Pillars |
| Status of women: | Variable. Conservatives & liberals differ greatly. Women can become nuns, pastors, and teachers in some congregations and may not hold any positions of authority in others. | Equal to men as stated in the Qu’ran, but men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because “Allah has made one of them to excel the other” 4:34 |
| View of Abrahamic religions: | Judaism is incomplete without the Messiah; Both Islam and Baha’i are wrong to believe in men that are greater than the Messiah. | Views Judaism and Christianity incomplete; Considers Baha’i heresy. |
| Prophets: | Prophets are people Chosen By the Holy Spirit, to reveal His Message to humanity. | Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Abraham, etc. |
| Branches: | Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox. | Sunni, Kharijite, and Shiite. |
| Angels: | Angels are God’s messengers. | Angels are creation of Allah which are normally unseen and has been created from light. They do not have their own free will and always obey the commandments of Almighty Allah. |
| Place of worship: | Church, Chapel, Cathedral, shrine, parish. | Mosque, Masjid |
| Holy days: | Sunday(The Lord’s Day), Christmas, Holy Week andEaster, New Year, Pentecost, Saints’ Feast Days | Lunar month of Ramadan; Eid al-Fitr; Eid al-Adha and sometimes Eid-Milad-un-Nabi |
| Identity of Jesus: | Jesus is the Logos, or eternal word. He is the Son in the Holy Trinity who descended into time to become the man Christ, Jesus. He is both fully God and fully man. | A true prophet of God, whose message has been corrupted |
| Legislation: | Perogative of the individual pastor of the church, or of the particular Church denomination | Prerogative of God |
| Ressurection of Jesus: | Affirmed | |
| View of other Dharmic religions: | Christianity is an Abrahamic religion, not a Dharmic one. Christianity views all non-Abrahamic religions as pagan in worship. | |
| Three Jewels: | Christ, Grace and Virtue. | |
| Time of origin: | While all Christian churches claim the same ultimate heritage, time of origin of each particular church varies depending upon the church. | |
| Concept of God: | One God: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. | |
| Praying to Saints,Mary, and Angel: | Allowed. They can intercede with God on your behalf. | |
| Virtues in which religion is based upon: | Peace. Submission. | |
| War between two churches: | historically between Sunni and Shiites. Conflict with Christianity during the Crusades. Social, territorial and political confict with Judaism. | |
| Status of Brahama: | Scholars believe is was Abraham | |
| Views on other religion: | All religions were sent by God but later corrupted by humans |
