Comparisonbetween Islam, Christianity and Budhism
Comparisonbetween Islam, Christianity and Budhism
Islamvs. Buddhism
Bothreligions had different worldviews because of the difference in theirtime of initiation, which was a thousand years apart. Buddhismoriginated from Nepal before Christ in the fifth century. It assertsreincarnation and does not involve itself with any Gods. Islam,conversely, began in Arabia in the seventh century. They believe thatwith only one life given to them, they should focus on God throughouttheir lives. They have few similarities compared to other religionssuch as Christianity and Islam. Siddhartha Gautama founded Buddhismas he tried to investigate the reason for human misery and gave uphis royalty. For several years, he sat under the Bodhi tree and it ishere where he attained insight. The four noble truths sum up histeachings. First, in life, it is not possible to avoid suffering anddesire is its main cause. Finally, it is possible to end it by takingup a particular path of following ethics and standards in thereligion.
Theprophet Muhammad received teachings from Angel Gabriel, and herecorded them in the Quran. They believe in one God who is eternaland in monotheism. Prophets in the Quran include Abraham, Jesus, andMoses and Muhammad was the last prophet. During the judgment day,they believe that human beings will resurrect and will either facepunishment for their sins or reward for their good conduct. Bothreligions share faith in their origins and ancestor as he has theright to guide other believers and teach them about what is importantin their lives. Buddha attained enlightenment and was wise which madehim acquire respect and reverence. Muhammad interpreted and receivedthe Quran making him earn respect as a role model for the Muslims.They also have standards that each believer has to keep included inthe sharia for Muslims and the Eightfold path for Buddhists.
Buddhistsdo not believe in the notion of the existence of a God. Muslims pray,read God’s word and focus their lives on following the written law.They pray to God for guidance and peace, but Buddhists rely onBuddha’s teachings and wisdom. Muslims have a goal to live and inthe end, receive a reward after judgment where they will gain entryinto paradise. Buddhists have entirely different beliefs, as theirgoal is to stop the human lifecycle. The birth cycle in theirreligion never ends as they undergo rebirth known as reincarnation.This only occurs with the attainment of enlightening. Buddhistsworship in temples and shrines while Muslims worship in Mosques.Buddhists have a practice of threefold training, which isconcentration, virtue and wisdom. They rejected beliefs of thecreation of the universe by a God, who is omniscient, omnipresent andomnipotent. On the other hand, Muslims have five pillars included intheir practices. They are the testament of the existence of one Godand His messenger Muhammad. They also pray five times a day, give tothe poor and fast. In Islam, they practice monotheism and believethat their God sees everything but is invisible and will forever bein existence. Both Buddhists and Muslims ban alcohol and drugs fromtheir religion and Buddhists preach vegetarianism.
Islamand Christianity
Bothreligions are known to share a common origin in the Middle East. InIslam, they consider the Holy Trinity in Christianity as sin anddivision as they believe in God as one being. Both the Quran and theBible explain the work of Jesus Christ, sent by God. Both religionshave a different opinion on Jesus for example, in Islam they believethat information in the bible of the gospel is untrue. They havedifferent accounts on Jesus birth by a virgin but have the samebelief on the birth. In most countries, Muslims and Christianscoexist peacefully although there are cases of war and conflict inother countries where people undergo prosecution for being either.
Thetwo religions originated from Abraham making them Abrahamicreligions. The father of Arabs is Ishmael for Muslims while Isaac isthe father of the Hebrews in Christianity. All this is in the Quranand the Bible in the book of Genesis, but there are differences.Isaac was Abraham’s favorite son different from Ishmael, who washis eldest son. Some Christians refer to their relationship with Godas either close or distant.
The Bible comprises of two sections, the old and the New Testament.The occurrences before Christ are in the Old Testament while thosethat took place centuries later after His birth are in the NewTestament. The Gospel books that talk about Jesus and his life areMathew, Mark, Luke, and John. On the other hand, the Quran recordsdifferent narratives, summarizes others, has similarities with theBible, and dates back to the 7th century. They believe that theAbrahamic God gave the Injil to Jesus, and these teachings were lostand biased with time leading to the formation of the New Testament inthe Bible. Both religions have different accounts of Jesus’crucifixion and resurrection. In Christianity, Jesus was the son ofGod. They crucified Him for Christians to acquire forgiveness ofsins. Jesus is a divine being and a part of the Holy Trinity. TheRomans condemned Him to death for reasons including blasphemy as heclaimed he was the son of God. In Islam, Jesus, known as Isa washuman and God’s prophet. He was also paramount in their history.His mission was to lead the Israelites to worship God.
Creation of Jesus in the Quran occurred just the same as that ofAdam in the bible. The difference is that Adam was a sinner, and Godkicked him out of the Garden of Eden while Jesus was sinless. Jesuswas crucified and later resurrected. For Muslims, he did not undergoexecution although his crucifixion was supposed to take place. Godrevealed the Quran to Muhammad through Angel Gabriel verbally innearly 23 years. He died at the age of forty and was a great prophetfor writing the Quran. It was a great miracle. The revelation ofthese messages began from Adam to Muhammad and God protected it fromextortion. Muhammad’s conduct is a model for Muslims as he wasperfect which was evident from his saying and actions. He had noextraordinary qualities and was mortal. They believe that there is norepresentation of Muhammad. Christians have representations of theimage of Jesus and status of other people in the Bible. In the Bible,there exist no mention of Muhammad but he is a false prophet inRevelations.
Inthe Trinity, God is a supreme being and exists in unity with the Sonand the Holy Spirit. For Islam, they believe in monotheism andaccepting such a belief is unacceptable. They believe that God is oneand no other being shares sovereignty with Him. Jesus was not Godsson but only his messenger. Jesus left a helper, the Holy Spirit,after his resurrection to help the believers He left behind. The holyspirits manifestation occurred in the book of John as tongues offire. Angel Gabriel is Islam’s representation of the Holy Spirit.Christianity and Islam are both monotheistic. They both have JesusChrist in their religion. Christians believe in God the Father, Hisson Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who is a helper and they are allthe Holy Trinity. Christians use the Bible while Muslims use theQuran. In Islam, Jesus Christ was a prophet and God’s messenger. Inthe Quran, the last prophet, Muhammad recorded Gods word. Christianspractice charity, Holy Communion, prayer and worship in church.Muslims do not accept any art portraying images of Allah and have noimages as His representation. Orthodox and Catholic churches inChristianity take and use pictures and statues to represent prophets,Jesus and other people in the Bible. Jesus Christ’s followers areas Christians, they believe in heaven, and hell while Muslims believethat Allah taught his followers and Muhammad recorded theseteachings. They both believe in Jesus’ second coming and that anyother religion is deceitful.
References
DemandMedia. (2007). The Similarities & Differences in Buddhism,Christianity & Islam. (n.d.). Retrieved May 03, 2016, fromhttp://people.opposingviews.com/similarities-differences-buddhism-islam- 4760.html