What are some differences and some similarities between Christianity and Islam?

Question

Also, how does dating and marriage work in Islam?

Answer 1

Salaam.

Both Muslims and Christians (as well as Jews) worship Allah. To Christians, God is known as the "father", the Muslims and Jews, he is the only one God.

All three religions refer to God as "Allah." The original scriptures in the Talmud (Torah) as well as the NT Bible (Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew scriptures) name God through his name "Allah." The old Hebrew pronunciation also mentions "Allah," but is spelt "Ellah," due to there having been non vowels present, so it really looked like "Llh," which is still pronounced "Allah." The other names all three religions also call God by "Elahhim" (Ahlah-heim).

Despite what many ignorant people on here are posting, Islam is not a religion of war, nor do we worship the devil. If the people commenting with these types messages were telling the truth, then they would also condemn their religion as well, because Islam teaches that Christians and Jews are also our brethren in religion, and that all three faiths will make it to heaven. If Islam were a religion "taught by Satan" then wouldn't you hear the opposite - where no religion that teaches peace and unity and worship of one God will go to heaven?

I will list primary examples of similarities and differences first:

1. We both believe Jesus is a prophet of God and that he will one day return to defeat the anti-Christ. Islam confirms and believes in all the prophets of the Jewish and Christian faith, with Muhammad being the last of God's prophets sent to Earth. We also believe that Adam and Eve were the first humans, but we do not place the blame on only Eve. We view both Adam and Eve shared the same even responsibilities.

2. We Muslims believe that Jesus was only a prophet and not God, just as the original Christians who were Unitarian thought. It's only after the council of Nicea that the "Trinitarian" thought was voted on being the main thought in Christianity. Basically, prior to the council voting, there were two groups of Christians - one who believed in One God and worship him only and believed Jesus to only be a prophet and not his son (these were known as the Unitarians). The second group had been the Trinitarians who believed Jesus, God, the Holy Ghost and its seven-fold spirts are all one being and should all be worship as one being, through the concept of the Trinity (which I may add, the word "trinity" was never in the original scriptures).

- Christians believe Jesus was crucified on the cross, and then resurrected 3 days later to go to heaven. We Muslims believe that when Jesus prayed and asked God to save him, God did just that and saved him before Jesus had been crucified, by letting him ascend into heaven. In place of Jesus, God had put Jesus’ likeliness (his appearance and exact look) onto Judas (the one who betrayed Jesus) and it was Judas who was put on the cross rather than Jesus. After Judas had been killed, Jesus returned from Heaven to tell his followers that there will be another prophet sent by God after him named "Ahmad" (which is also what is written in the original Bible scriptures; also to note, "Ahmad" is Muhammad’s name). This is what Christians refer to as his resurrection. Jesus then ascends back to heaven.

- Muslims refer to Jesus as "Isa," after his true name. Isa's name was changed to "Jesus Christ" by the Greeks, in order to give his name a sign of being a deity. The original Greek name for Jesus given to him was "Ze Zues" ("Zeh-Zoo-oos" meaning "the God"), and named after the Greek god Zues. Through time, as the Christian faith started spreading to people who spoke different languages, his name started transforming to "Zezues," then "Jezues" and then finally "Jesus." "Chris" was also added to his name. The original title was "Christo" meaning "the anointed one." So his full greek name was "Zezues Christo" (meaning "The God the anointed"). Proof of this can be found through the Aramaic and Hebrew language. In both Aramaic and Hebrew, there is no letter that sounds or looks like "J," even in today's aramaic and hebrew alphabet. In the original Aramaic language (the language Jesus spoke in), his name had been pronounced "Isa" as well.

3. All three religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) promote peace and love for the fellow man and woman, as one of God's ultimate teachings to mankind.

4. Differences on who's going to heaven - Jews believe only Jews will go to heaven, for they are God's only chosen people; Christians believe that only Christians are going to heaven and the Jews who accept Jesus as their Christ will go to heaven; Islam believes all three faiths are going to heaven, and that one day even those who have an ounce of goodness or kindness in their hearts will also make it to heaven, even if they're not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish. In Islam hell is not eternal, because God will have mercy on all mankind who is in hell, and one day end their torment in hell and allow all who have even the tiniest amount of love and kindness in their hearts into heaven. In Christianity, hell is eternal. Once you go there, you're there for eternity, if you're not a Christian.


Surah - 9:11 "But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor due, then they are your brethren in religion. We detail Our revelations for a people who have knowledge."

Surah - "Al Baqarah" 2:62 "Those who believe, Jews, Nazarenes and Sabaeans - whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds - shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear nor are they saddened."


5. We all follow the 10 commandments as well as the teachings of all prophets of all three religions.

6. All three religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are referred to as "People of the Book" and "Abrahimic faiths" by Islam, because all three faith's prophets came from the descendants of Abraham. Abraham had two sons, one was Ismael (through his servant Hagar) and the other was Isaac (through his wife Sarah). From Ismael's lineage came Muhamad. From Isaac's lineage came Moses and the Jesus.

7. Unlike Christianity, Islam states that "there is no compulsion in religion," meaning you cannot be forced into a religion against your will. Forcing someone into a belief is not something God would want, because it's not true faith, but rather forced blind faith. You should only enter religion when it's your choice, and not someone else's.

8. In Islam, you should teach knowledge, spread peace and love, and be good to all of humanity, because God chooses to favor love over violence in our actions.

Pertaining to dating and marriage in Islam:
Dating is allowed, but fortification (sex) before marriage is not allowed. Marriage can occur in two ways - if a man or woman does not want to have to choose for themselves, they can ask their parents to find a spouse for them, or they themselves can find a spouse for themselves if they choose not to ask for their parent's help. Many ignorant people will tell you Islam "forces" marriage, and yet that is not true, because pre-arranged marriages is forbidden by Islam.

Divorce is also allowed in Islam, by both sexes. I saw someone posted that a man can divorce his wife, but a wife cannot divorce her husband, which is a contradiction. Both sexes can divorce when and if they like to, but it does not occur often in the Islam faith, because we choose to work the problems out with our partners rather than leave them at the first problem.

Men are also allowed to marry up to 4 wives, only with the permission of his wife. The man must treat all wives equally (same love, some protection, same property). Christians won't allow this even though many prophets in the Bible have had more than one wife and God has allowed it (such as King David, King Solomon, and even disciples of Jesus). This is allowed, but not required to do in Islam. I can go further into this, if you like.

There are a lot more I would love to share with you, if you would like to know more. There's many comparisons between faiths. I have been a theologian for many years, and have been studying religion since a very early age.

Answer 2

Hmm, there are a lot of people just spouting their own views and not answering the question tonight. Odd...

Hmm, now that I've said that, I feel the need to actually say what I know (not much). For one thing, Christians believe that Jesus is the son of God whereas Muslims believe he is jucst another prophet. Islam also accepts the Bible as truth as well as the Koran, bu Christians don't accept the Koran. They both worship the same God (Allah is the word they use for God: Muslims who are as uninformed as a lot of the people here tonight probably say "They don't worship Allah! They worship something called God!") But any seventh-grade social studies textbook could have told you that.

Answer 3

Islam is a face-lift of christianity which is a face-lift of judaism. So they are all related and improved copies of each other I guess. As for the marriage, dating for muslims is like loterry since you can't know if the woman behind that black canvass she's wearing weights 120 pounds or 475 pounds. Actually you don't know if it's a she hahahaha. All right, I'll shut up before the ayatollah orders my execution.

Answer 4

Main difference is that Muslims believe in absolute One God no Partners. God does not have a son. God is not born. God is not like any of his creations. Christianity believes in God by going with the God, Son of God, Holy spirit.

Also the concept of sin. Muslims believe Adam & Eve sinned, then repented and were forgiven, with no continuing effects on their children. So that is what we do ask God alone for forgiveness. No one died for our sins. Christians believe Adam and Eve sinned and thus brought sin into the world and their sins passed on to their children. (Genesis 3:1-7). Jesus died for their sins. A righteous Prophet of God died for the sins of Man?

As for dating. It is forbidden in Islam. Islam blocks all the ways of fornication and adultry for your own good. Many problems and immorality arise from dating. This includes STD's, teen pregnacy, emotional distress, abuse, date rape.

In order to get married, it is better to know the person or at least know as much about them as possible to help you make an informed decision. Wanting more information about a future spouse is acceptable but it is almost impossible to argue that you should love a person before you get married to them. Why? There is sufficient proof in the case of the non-Muslim population in America that dating and falling in love before marriage has not guaranteed a solid marital relationship and on the contrary results in far greater number of divorces.

Answer 5

A few key ones:

Similarities: one all-powerful God that controls and made the Universe. The concept of salvation through discipline and sacrifice.

Differences: Muhammed was never seen as divine or part God, Jesus is. We know Muhammed existed, not sure about Jesus. Muhammed was/is seen as the prophet of God, not a means of salvation in Himself, Jesus is/was.

They are actually more similar than they are different. The main differences lie in the political motives that religious leaders sought out as the faiths were developing.

Answer 6

Similarities: Both believe that God had a special relationship with Israel as revealed in the Old Testament.

Differences: Christianity believes that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No human efforts could ever be enough to repair the damage that was done to the relationship between God and man. Consequently, God himself is the only one who can forgive us and make us fit to be with him once more. That in order to do so, we must have faith in Jesus Christ and devote our lives to a complete selfless love of God and every human being on this planet.

Islam, on the other hand, believes that human efforts can get you a ticket into heaven. It also encourages violence, segregation, selfishness, and misogyny.

Answer 7

COMPARISON CHART

ISLAM

1. Allah
2. Koran
3. other books

1. Yahveh
2. Jesus
3. Bible

Both are People of the Book

Both are desert religions

Both have prophets

Both think war and killing children is fine

Both get really threatened when they are challenged in their beliefs

Answer 8

in islam there is absoulutly NO dating. marrrige on the other hand ask for the girl, says yes or no. if yes have an engagement, shower, wedding. and thats that. if u say no, then u say no. easy as that! similarities: alot..im going to sleep so cant help u right now! sorry!!

Answer 9

Both worship the same God,
They have the same christian Communities
Believe Jesus was a messenger
Believe in judgment day
believe in Prophets
also they have many of the same Books

Answer 10

There are NO similarities:
Muslims refuse to believe Jesus was the Son of God; they refuse to believe he died on the cross or rose from the dead, etc, etc.

Don't be deceived... the Muslims worship a totally different God named 'Allah'..

Allah is NOT even mentioned in the entire Bible.

Answer 11

for one, islam and christianity embraces monoteism (belief in one god). there is a wrong notion that muslim's god is Allah while in fact that term is the arabic counterpart of the english word "God", so they may be worshipping the same god.

differences:
islam is founded by mohammed, a prophet, while christianity is founded by jesus. (muslims consider jesus as a prophet of allah)

even if their god is the same their belief structures differ.