"Fostering
understanding and respect between the Children of Ishmael (Arabs) and the
Children of Israel (Hebrews) by educating Muslims about Judaism and educating
Jews about Islam"
The Jewish community is the most similar to the Muslim community in both
theology and devotional practice, as indicated by the sound hadith (saying of Prophet Muhammad(pbuh)), “You are most like the
Children of Israel.” In fact, there are only a few main differences
between the two Abrahamic religions, Islam and Judaism. Almost everything else
they have in common. To many people's surprise,
Islam and Judaism has more in common and fewer differences than Christianity
and Judaism does. For example, the strict belief in the
oneness and unity of God, the strict monotheism. Whereas mainstream
Christianity has the belief in a triune god: God the Father, god the son, and
god the holy spirit. Christians believe that God
the father incarnated into the body of Christ. Both Judaism and Islam view
incarnations of God into a human being as idolatry. Some of the other similarities
between Judaism and Islam are the beliefs in the Prophets, Angels, Day of Judgment
or Resurrection, Heaven (Garden of Eden) and Hell (Gehennim), etc... Another similarity is the belief that
when people sin, all they must do is repent to God (Allah in Arabic or Elohim
in Hebrew) and not commit the sin again, and then God will forgive them. As it says in Hosea 6:6, "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than burnt sacrifice".
Whereas in Christianity, to receive forgiveness for your sins, you
must accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins (and accept the
blood of the Lamb of God) to be saved. That is why in the Christian
church, they do communion, which is eating the body of Jesus (bread) and drinking his blood (wine). Catholic dogma states that the bread and wine literally become Jesus' flesh and blood when they do communion. As the Gospel
of John reports Jesus to have said in John 6:53-57, "Then Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him
up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my
blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me,
and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me."
Also in Matthew 26:26-29, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup (of wine), and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it; For this is my Blood of the New Covenant (Testament), which is shed for many, for the remission of sins."
It should be noted that many of the beliefs and practices of the Church were
carried over from the Pagan beliefs and practices of the
Islam believes that the religion and message of all of the Prophets from Adam
was one and the same. And that whomever followed the
Prophet of their time period were Muslims (those who submit to God's will). So
for example, God chose Abraham and his lineage to preach the message of the One
God to humanity. This continued through Isaac and Jacob and the Children of Israel
until Prophet Jesus came. And then the followers of Jesus (the Nazarenes, who
were mostly Jews) continued on this mission. Finally the Abrahamic tradition
was entrusted to a Prophet from the lineage of Ishmael, Prophet Muhammad, and
he continued on in this same message of teaching humanity about the One God of
Abraham. Prophet Muhammad never claimed to bring a new religion, but rather he
said that he brought the same religion that all the other Prophets brought such
as Prophets
Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus. Islam is purely just an extension of the Hebrew Prophetic Tradition.
As it says in the
Qur’an 42:13, "The same religion has He established for you as that
which He enjoined on Noah - the which We have sent by inspiration to thee - and
that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that ye should
remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein: to those who
worship other things than Allah, hard is the (way) to which thou callest them.
Allah chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Himself those who
turn (to Him)." Qur'an 22.78: "And strive in His cause
as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen
you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the religion of
your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in
this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer, give
regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah! He is your Protector - the Best to
protect and the Best to help!"
And also in the Qur'an 6:84-87, "We gave him (Abraham) Isaac, and
Jacob: all We guided and before him, We guided Noah, and among his progeny
David, Solomon, Ayub, Joseph, Moses, and Aaron :Thus do We reward those who do good. And Zakariya and
Yahya, and Jesus and Elias: all in the ranks of righteous. And
Isma'il and Elisha and Jonah (Yunus) and Lut. And to all we gave favor
above the nations. (To them) and to their fathers, and progeny and brethren
(the Bani Israel): We chose them, and we guided them to a straight way."
We also find in the Qur'an 29:27, "And We
gave (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob, and ordained among his progeny Prophethood and
Revelation, and We granted him his reward in this life; and he was in the
Hereafter (of the company) of the Righteous." And also in Qur'an
45:16, "And verily we gave the Children of Israel the Scripture and
the Command and the Prophethood, and provided them with good things and favored
them above (all) peoples;"
The reason Prophet Muhammad came was that; first he taught that the previous
revelations (the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel) and the majority of the Prophets
had been only directed at the Children of Israel, while his message was a
universal one. As it says in Sahih Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number
661: Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "The Israelis (Bani
Israel) used to be ruled and guided by Prophets: Whenever a Prophet died,
another would take over his place." Also in Bukhari Volume
1, Book 7, Number 331: Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah: The Prophet said,
"I have been given five things which were not given to any one else before
me.
1. Allah made me victorious by awe, (by His frightening my enemies) for a
distance of one month's journey.
2. The earth has been made for me (and for my followers) a place for praying
and a thing to perform Tayammum (washing with sand or earth if water is not
available), therefore anyone of my followers can pray wherever the time of a
prayer is due.
3. The booty has been made Halal (lawful) for me yet it was not lawful for
anyone else before me.
4. I have been given the right of intercession (on the Day of Resurrection).
5. Every Prophet used to be sent to his nation only but I have been sent to
all mankind.
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal in his Musnad has mentioned a Hadith (no. 21257) that
Allah sent 124, 000 Prophets (Anbiyah') and from among them 315 were the
Messengers (rasul). Abu Tharr (radhiyallaahu 'anhu) asked the Messenger
of Allah (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa salaam) about the number of prophets. He
said: "124,000 and from them is a group of 315 messengers."
The other reason was that he said that certain portions of the Jewish and
Christian teachings or interpretations of their scriptures had become corrupt
and that he had come to restore the faith to the pristine purity of the Faith
of Abraham. With that being said, Muslims are to believe in whatever is
said in the earlier revelations (Torah and Hebrew Prophets) provided they don't
contradict with what is in the Qur'an or the authentic Hadith (the sayings and
actions of the Prophet). According to Islam, the only reason for the
contradiction would be that that portion of the earlier scripture had been
corrupted. But besides those discrepancies, ALL else is to be believed.
It says numerous times in the Qur'an, that the Qur'an came to CONFIRM the
previous scripture, NOT to REPLACE the previous scripture. Muslims don't believe
that Islam started with Prophet Muhammad, in fact, the Qur'an says that Prophet
Ibrahim is the father of the Muslims, thusly Islam believes in successive
revelations, the Book of Abraham, the Torah of Moses, the Zabur (Pslams) of David, and
the Injil (Evangel) of Jesus. The Qur'an came to confirm the previous revelations and
make the message Universal. According to Islam, previously, Allah had focused his covenant on the
Children of Israel, now He was making his covenant universal.
MY OTHER PAGES:
What are the 3 main religions
all about?
Similarities between the
two religions
Differences between the two
religions
Prophets of Judaism and
Islam
Holidays of Judaism and Islam
The
Pillars of Faith
History of the Israelites
(Hebrews)
What does it mean to be the
"Chosen People"?
Why the Jews rejected Prophets
Jesus and Muhammad (saws)
Articles of Faith (Aqeedah
or Akeidah)
What is an Arab/Jew?
Abraham in Islam
Class Subjects for my Course
My name is:
Jeremiah bin Salaam (ben Shalom)
My email address is: