Christianity and Islam are among the most common beliefs on earth. Everyone is free to follow the faith of their ancestors, and what is holy to one cannot be trampled upon by another. Christianity is the belief in God based on the doctrine of the unity of the Holy Trinity, the Redemption, and Jesus Christ as Savior of the world. Islam is the religion of a large part of the world’s population, mainly those in the East. The founder of this religion is the prophet Mohammed, and its main principles are contained in the Koran. Although there are some similarities between Christianity and Islam, these religions are almost polar and have many differences.
To begin with, it is worth mentioning the main basis of all existing religions in the world – belief in God. Both Christians and Muslims believe in a single God. However, in Christianity, God is the Almighty and the Unlimited, and His nature is non-creational. In Islam, the concept of spirituality does not apply to Allah, which is merely an attribute of a created human soul (Wehbe-Alamah et al., 1). God possesses the creaturely qualities of hearing and sight; Allah’s sight and corporeality doctrine is attested to in the official documents of the Muslim faith. In Christianity, God possesses absolute holiness, while in Islam, He does not – Allah is the source of good and evil. Hence, Allah does not possess holiness, by which is meant the perfect non-sacrifice to evil (Weddle, 3).
The time of religion’s creation and its origins are also different. In Christianity, for example, it is believed that God exists eternally, as man became incarnate and became the Founder and Beginning of our system of chronology. Sequentially, religion originated with him at the beginning of the creation of the world. There is a precise date of God’s birth in Islam – the end of the 6th century AD and a clear legend of the origin of religion (Johnson & Johnson, 2). The regions where Christianity and Islam are practiced are also markedly different. The Islamic Ummah covers countries in West, Central, South, South-East Asia, and North Africa. Christianity is mainly practiced in Australia, North and South America, and Europe. It is also important to note the differences in the celebrations of the two religions – Islam has a limited number of holidays, such as Kurban Bairam and Ramadan. In Christianity, on the other hand, there are holidays almost every day.
The final difference between these two religions is their influence. Islam has many rituals that significantly affect believers’ daily lives – such as the obligation to wear a hijab for women. In Christianity, there are no strict rules regarding the dress and appearance of the believers, except that a woman is obliged to cover her head while in the church. In addition, Muslims must pray five times a day, while Christians have no such rules and may pray whenever they wish. Because of these strict rituals, Islam tends to be more influential in the countries where it is practiced. In the United Arab Emirates, for example, failure to observe Islamic rituals is punishable by law; in Christian countries, however, following traditions is voluntary. To sum up, Islam and Christianity are entirely different and practically incomparable religions with their customs, beliefs, and laws.
References
- Hiba Wehbe-Alamah, Linda Sue Hammonds, David Stanley. 2021. Culturally Congruent Care from the Perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. p. 23. Web.
- Donald Johnson, Jean Johnson. 2021. Universal Religions in World History: Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Web.
- David L. Weddle. 2017. Sacrifice in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Web.