Essay on expansion of Islam and christianity
Answers
Explanation:
Introduction
Christianity is a religious belief which begun as a Jewish belief and is seen as Abrahamic religion. Its followers are referred to as Christians. They believe in Jesus Christ the messiah as the prophet send by God to save mankind and the holy bible as the guide of their faith. They also believe that the messiah who came in the form of mankind suffered, died and resurrected to remiss them of their sins. It is also believed that he would return to reward those who have lived according to the doctrines taught by
Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission and therefore Islam religion is believed to be an Abrahamic religion which believes in submission to the almighty God Allah and Muhammad as the prophet. Quran is the holy book believed to be the guideline of the Muslims who are the of the Islamic religion. It is believed that Allah repeatedly revealed it to Muhammad verbally through angel Jibril and the original Arabic version is the final revelation from God which is verbal.
Historic background
According to Stern(11-15) Christianity originates from the word kristos which is a Greek word meaning the anointed one and it is a monotheistic religion. It guided by the life and teachings of Christ Jesus as shown in the holy bible. It begun as a Jewish sect from the eastern Mediterranean in the first century and by the 4th century was already dominant in the Roman Empire. Most of Europe was Christianized by the Middle Ages but Middle East, North Africa and some regions in India remained with minority Christians. It spread to America, Australasia and all over the world through colonization, discovery work and missionary work hence became a major influence in Western civilization shaping. Thrower argued that It is the words largest religion and represents about a quarter of the entire population, also considered as a state religion in several countries (21-25) It is categorized into three groups: Catholics, Protestants and orthodox.
Islam began developing as from the 7th century with the reconstruction of Prophet Muhammad’s life after his death. It started spreading in Atlantic Ocean to Central Asia after Prophet Muhammad’s first recitation of the Quran. According to Williams (1994) The Great Mosque of Kairouan is considered as origin of the western Islamic world mosques and is preserved up to now. Reference to Abdul-Rahman Islamic dynasties like Ottomans and Mughals collapsed under the European imperial sway during 18th and 19th centuries (141-160). Muhammad started conveying Islam at Mecca and later moved to Medina where the tribes of Arabia were united to a polity of Arab Muslim religion.Umar succeeded him in 634 following his death. The other successors were Uthman ibn al-Affan and Ali ibn Talib; the four are referred to as al-khulafa ar-rashidun. Several conflicts followed over political and religious leadership which led to the rise of schism amongst the Muslims. Basically the origin of Islam is tied to the economic, political and military.
Similarities between Islam and Christianity
According to Strachey (62-69) both Islam and Christianity are Abrahamic religions or in other words believe in the existence of one supreme God. They both share common values and origin which is found in Judaism when the people of Israel were given Torah. Islam was founded by Muhammad referring to the Quran while Christianity was started by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth but they both acknowledge a spiritual tradition related to Abraham. For the two religions, God rules, judges, forgives and he’s the creator of the universe. Jerusalem is also of major importance to both religions. It was the city where Christ was brought up, crucified, buried as well as resurrected. He also healed, preached and cleansed the temple so its considered as a holy place. The Al-Aqsa mosque in Sura Al-Isra also called the ‘furthest mosque’ is located in Jerusalem ‘the holy land. Abdul-Rahman (55-64) the first Muslims also prayed towards Jerusalem not Mecca and it was also the place where Muhammad ascended to heaven. The two religions also affirm that God sends angels and prophets to convey messages to his people and through inspired scriptures reveals his divine will. They also believe in the judgement day when God will intervene in the history of mankind and determine their eternal lives depending on personal beliefs and actions. Both religions believe in the power of prayer and fasting as taught by their earlier prophets.
Answer:
hope it helps u
..........
