population follows the faith of Islam. Muslims also believe that the only standing miracle was the Koran itself and that no other miracles were performed. They also believe that Jesus and others were prophets and the greatest prophet is Muhammad and that there will be no other prophets besides Muhammad after. Muslims claim the
Bible is errant and the Koran is inerrant where Christians believe the opposite. However, as stated from Smith's book that comes with obstacles for the Koran as it is written from a spiritual way not a
historical way. However, it does it's job and teaches God as omnipotent and omniscient. Muslims claim that Christianity is a polytheistic religion and that it was once a monotheistic religion until they deified Christ. However, Muslims claim Jesus as a prophet and the immaculate birth but no resurrection sequence. They
also don't believe in original sin and believe that you are only guilty of sin because you did it yourself. They believe humans are born good natured and become evil-natured because of forgetfulness.
The five pillars of Islam start with the Islam's creed which is their confession of faith. It is said "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His Prophet." this is known as the shahadah. One must say this at least once in their lifetime perfectly. The Second pillar is canonical prayer which after much arguing between Muhammad
and Moses the set amount of required prayers per day was set at five. Once upon waking up, then when the sun comes up, then mid- day, then supper time, then before sleeping. Third pillar of Islam is charity. During the year Muslims are required to give 2 1/2 percent of their total income to charity. Fourth pillar is the
observance of Ramadan which is the holy month on the Lunar calendar. This is in celebration of Muhammad�s journey from Mecca. During this Muslims that are able to must fast during this time and
can not eat, drink, smoke, or have sex. The Fifth pillar is the pilgrimage to Mecca where it is said that God's final revelation first arrived on Earth. On top of these pillars Muslims cannot gamble, steal, lie, eat pork, or drink alcohol, or be sexually active outside marriage.
Islam changed the economics of the era by removing the caste system due to the flow of charity throughout the society. It also changed the view of women by allowing polygamy and requiring inheritance to
go to the daughter as well as the son. It also prohibited infanticide which was rampant which the female gender prior to Muhammad. Also it allowed her rights to be educated and to file for divorce. Even though the Koran teaches divorce as the final last resort. Islam also allowed the woman to choose her partner.
The issue of racism was practically extinguished due to the allowance of interracial marriage and wanting any race to follow the religion. In today's age it seems there is a level of racism among the radical sector of the religion though. Fourth is the use of force which was taught to only be used as a last resort and to
respect the corpses of military deaths. Muhammad teacher a jihad or holy war as a last resort as well and primarily in defense. It seems lately though that the radical section of this religion has taken this to the extreme due to the high amount of violence in the middle east currently. It is said that if a Christian tries to
impart their religion on a Muslim then the Muslim has a right to kill the Christian because the Christian is threatening their life. In a spiritual way. At least that is what I understand from my friends who are Muslim. This is similar to what the evil Catholics did during the Crusades and forced people to change to their
religion or to face death. I guess both sides haven't recovered from the past in this way. Their is also a separate sect of Muslims called Sufi's which surf means wool. They basically teach that we are all made of God and as such should not have worldly possessions and not become materialistic. They say "Love the pitcher less and
the water more." or minor differences in the teaching of Islam over here as compared
to the middle east.
9. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. The similarities and differences are astounding. I will try to incorporate as many of them as I can find yet I am sure that I can not be all inclusive as there is so much literature in both the Old and New Testaments as well as the Koran as well as the different sects of Christianity and Muslims. I will try my best however to discuss this to the important connotations of each. First I will talk about each religions �Higher Power� which is a similarity and a difference, for Muslims their Higher Power is Allah ruler and creator of the world, for Christians and Jews their Higher Power is God or the God of Abraham. All three have a creator being at the top of the totem pole I guess you can say. Both Christianity and Islam have a secondary figure involved in their history. For Christians it�s Jesus whom they believe is their savior whom was written about in prophecy and that He is God in man form yet also God at the same time. For Muslims they believe in Muhammad as their prophet and believe that Christ even foretold of Muhammad�s prophetic coming in the New Testament. However, they believe that Christ was just a prophet and not a God nor a Savior and that Muhammad was the truly utmost blessed one and had came to save them from political tyranny and give them their land which is present day Palestine.. However, the Jews believe their land which is present day Israel to be the same. There lies a problem which is currently causing problems. Now when it comes to Jews they believe a savoir has YET to come and has not presently come yet. But they do believe God will send one who will deliver them from the bondage of Earth and conquer death and the evil of earth. Jews believe in the Old Testament where Christians believe in the New Testament and the Old Testament, Muslims believer neither yet they believe in their own �Bible� called the Koran written by Muhammad in a cave after experiencing Angelic directions to write it. The law of the Old Testament is said to have come from Moses after receiving the Ten Commandments upon the Mountain and having God transformed into a burning bush. Muslims believe the Bible to be false and that Christians have changed it�s wording to follow their needs and that the Koran is the correct version of it. They believe Jews to be their arch-enemy for the most part and that the Jews believe in the Devil God rather then the true good God. All 3 religions have strict ethical codes. All three prescribe marriage and sexual purity until that time. All three have strict regulations on divorce and adultery. All three require tithing however for Christians it�s 10% of your first income where with Islam it is 2.5 percent of their yearly income to the poor. Christians give the 10% percent to the church yet is also acceptable to other charitable Christian organizations.