CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

Introduction

The history of Christian-Muslim or alternatively Muslim-Christian relations began at the inception of Islam in the first half of the sixth century of the Common Era. There practices and styles were quite different from each other and followed a different perspective of worship. As Islam began to spread beyond the Arabian Peninsula soon after the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 C.E., the encounter between Muslims and Christians entered a new phase of military, political, and social interactions. Like its close relatives, Judaism and Christianity, Islam has historically been a patriarchal religion. But it has approached common patriarchal values in two distinctive ways. They reflected the weight of different theological and political contexts on daily social life, leading to a variety of mostly polemical and apologetic stances that Christians and Muslims developed regarding each other.

 Discussion

Central Doctrines in Christianity

Christians share common beliefs with other Christian traditions, particularly the doctrines of the Trinity and the person of Jesus Christ. They recognize God as triune (the unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and sovereign over all. The centrality of Jesus Christ is crucial, with the Reformed confessing him as "God with us" (the Incarnation) and "truly God and truly human"—the eternal Son of God who lived and died and was raised again to provide salvation, which is the restoration of the loving relationship between God and humans that has been broken by sin.

Central Doctrines in Islam

Like Jews and Christians, Muslims are monotheists. They believe in one God, Allah, who is the creator, sustainer, ruler, and judge of the universe. The word "Allah" appears in the Koran more than 2,500 times.

The word "Islam" means "submission" to the will of God and "peace," the interior peace that results from following God's will and creating a just society. Muslims must strive or struggle (jihad) in the path (Shariah) of God in order to implement his will on earth by working to establish a just society or to expand or defend the Muslim community (Al Faruqi, pp.243-256).

What Is Sacred in Islam?

Islam emphasizes the oneness, or unity, of God and rejects the substitution of anything for God that could be considered idolatrous. Thus, while animals and plants are regarded as part of creation, they are not sacred, a category reserved only for God. Special rituals and celebrations were held to commemorate the dates of the master's birth and death. For many Muslims, though certainly not all, objects reportedly associated with the Prophet Muhammad—a tooth or strand of hair, for example—have come to be regarded as relics. Similarly, a mosque in Cairo to which Hussein's head was transferred in the twelfth century has been a popular shrine for Sunni and Shiite alike.

What Is Sacred in Christianity?

Christians do not recognize any human elements as sacred. That which is sacred is God—known in the Trinity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven, there are no sacred objects, persons, or places on earth to be worshiped. To worship thus, is to practice ...