So, what is the real difference between these religions? They are both solidly monotheistic. They even share the same god, the God of Abraham. Obviously they have different holy books, but even there, there's major overlap: the Muslims include the old testament (and the new) of the bible into their religion, though they place more importance on their new revelations from Mohammed. I guess my question is, what is there in Islam that the Jews don't believe, and vice versa? Or is it mainly history, not theology, that divides them? Because theologically I don't see a difference.
The theological difference is mainly with who's a profit and who's not. But the conflict is pretty much summed up by thedope's post. Politics.
Judaism generated christianism and that later brought on Islam. Different book, same story. People have been killing each other for the last 2000 years over that shit.
there are a lot of similarities, as mohammed incorporated many jewish customs based in the old testament- circumcision, fasting, not eating pork etc also, unlike christians, they are strict monotheists (not believing in a trinity). but there are some theological inconsistencies: Muslims believe the qu'ran to be the final revalation given to mankind by Allah Muslims don't believe that jesus was KILLED by the crucifiction (he was "raised to heaven" by Allah) therefore he was not risen from the dead, as he was never dead, they also don't believe that he was divine (same as the jews) but that he had a divine mission (in judaism, his mission is irrelevant since he was not the messiah) as well as their holy books, they also both have distinct supplemental literature to govern day-to-day life and worship- The Hadith for muslims and sections of the Talmud (Mishnah) for Jews. rituals specific to Islam: Five important rituals (known as the pillars of Islam): 1. Shahadah - A profession of faith. 2. Salat - Prayer five times daily. 3. Zakat - alms giving. 4. Sawm - Fasting during the Holy month of Ramadan. 5. Hajj - Pilgrimage to the Holy city of Mecca. rituals specific to Judaism: Circumcision of newly born Jewish males, Barmitzvah - a ceremony marking the 'coming of age' of Jewish Boys and observation of the Sabbath (Shabat). As in the other faiths, prayer is important. The Jewish prayer book is called the siddur. Yom Kippur- a period of atonement for sins committed throughout the year by fasting and apologizing for misdeeds to friends and family. Islam doesn't have anything like YK because: for Muslims, salvation is achieved through good works- the good you do must outweigh your sin. For Jews salvation is achieved through good works, prayer and grace. Both doctrines reject the christian idea of original sin, they believe people are born sinless. Judaism includes angels and demons, Islam also includes jinn HELL: in Islam, hell is a place of eternal fire, with several layers depending on the seriousness of your sin. the duration of your stay is not necessarily eternal. this place is called jahanam. in judaism: "Tradtionally, there is the concept of Gehinnom or Gehenna - those who die in sin may suffer temporary punishment, but certain sins merit eternal punishment. However, Judaism's ideas of the afterlife have varied widely among different groups and in different time periods. For the most part, Judaism does not emphasize the afterlife." ORIGINS: The Talmud says that Jews are descended from Abraham's son Isaac. The Talmud also says that Muslims were descended from Abraham's other son, Ishmael. Judaism is (supposedly) based on the unique historical event of a divine revelation experienced by an entire nation simultaneously. Islam is based on the prophetic claims of a single individual who had a direct relationship with God. as a result of this, Jews believe that they are all equally God's children, Whereas in Islam the prophets, although mortal, are seen as morally and spiritually superior to normal men (although there is some debate as to whether they NEVER sinned or if they just repented, or were "washed clean" on being touched by God. Furthermore, in Judaism, there is no need for intermediaries like mohhammed, everyone speaks directly to God and is equal in his eyes. Judaism has no Devil, "satan" is an angel under Gods control. In Islam, the devil was a jinn born of fire, who became jealous of the attention that man was getting when man was born of earth and his conception was immaculate. he is often called Eblis in arabic folklore. Jews believe that the messiah will come in the futeure as a normal mortal man who will fulfill all of the prophecies in a normal lifetime. Muslims believe that Mohhammed was the last prophet. Judaism places no emphasis on conversion of others, Islam does. However, despite its reputation for intolerance, Islam is the only one of the three abrahamic faiths which makes provision for the other two, i.e.: recognising them as valid and not just misled or heretical.for Muslims, the ko'ran is the completion of God's message to humanity, the holy books of Christianity and Judaism (not just the bible) may well also be part of that message, but the Qu 'ran is the pure word of god whereas other texts have had a lot of human interference over the years, with ammendments, censorship and mistranslations. Therefore Christians and Jews are not heathens, they are a part of God's plan to spread and export his message around the world. I believe all this to be accurate, but obviously both religions have scholarly debates over doctrine all the time and many incorporate different beliefs etc. there are certainly a huge amount of theological similarities between them as well, although they are both very distinct from christianity, which often seems to be the "odd one out" in this theological threesome. hope that helped
judaism, christianity, islam, and baha'i, along with all the precursors to judaism, aproximately a thousand years apart, are all the same religion. each addressed to the cultures and the times in which they were revealed. but in every aspect of their inner essence, not merely identical, but an uninterupted continuation. is that religion infallible? is it even right? it may be that many aspects of it are completely misunderstood and misrepresented. to me this seems even likely. even extremely likely, when it presumes, or is interpreted as presuming, to name and describe unseen things.
in islam, there is no concept of intermediaries - everyone speaks directly to God ..not sure what your source is
ah, no,you're quite right, i was getting confused between sources for this one, i was reading about the veneration of the 12 Imams by the Shi'a of Iran and wrongly took it to be representative of the whole, my apologies.
