Jesus_&_Muhammad

The prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ of Nazareth lived around 600 years apart from each other, yet their lives the teachings and principals they held, and even there deaths has affected millions if not billions of people through out the ages and their legacy continues to live on to this day. There influence has been so great that it has conflict between their followers and these conflicts can been in many of the world’s political discussions today. This conflict being the result of several difference in the teachings of these two men. Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca in 570 BC, at this point Mecca was already a very important city considering it was the location of the Ka’bah and was also a large trade center. Members of the surrounding tribes were already making annual pilgrimages to the city. Muhammad was born in to the tribe of Quraysh, he became an orphan at a very young age and was raised by his relatives. As he did not have the sufficient funds to become a trader in the market, he found employment with a wealthy widow whom he then married. (Phipps, 1996). Muhammad became a successful trader and merchant and still managed to spend one month each year meditating and reflecting in a cave outside of Mecca. It was during these periods of reflection in the year 610 BC that he began to have several religious experiences and began to view himself as a messenger for Allah. At first he would only tell close friends and family of his experiences, as the messages he was receiving were controversial and would not have been accepted by the public (Smart, 1998). After a period of three years he decide to go public with his messages sent to him by Allah. His first message attacked the ideas and principals of polytheism. He stated that in the end, everyone would be judged by God, no matter how much money they left at the multitude of shrines around the holy city. Later, he gave revelations that shaped legal aspects of the society including marriage. Muhammad’s revelations were so unpopular that he and his followers were basically driven from the city of Mecca to Medina. He would eventually unify the warring factions in the area of Medina and take over the political affairs there. In 624, Muhammad set his sites back to Mecca. Battles waged for years finally ended with Muhammad entering the city of Mecca and becoming its leader. Eventually, Muhammad became master of a large portion of Arabia. He had contemplated moving on Syria and Iraq when he died in June 632 (Smart, 1998). Following his death, Muhammad’s followers were at odds with each other as to who should be the next leader of Islam. Which lead to conflict in both the ranks and with the Christians of the region who deemed Muslims as heretics. Eventually, the Muslims used force to spread into many parts of the region much as Muhammad had done with Medina and Mecca. Muhammad’s followers celebrate the birthday of their Prophet with great revelry, similar in form to the Christian celebration of Christmas on Jesus’ supposed birthday. The story of the life of Jesus as told by the Gospels of the New Testament begins with a miraculous birth, an escape from the wrath of a jealous king, and a visit by the magi from the East. Jesus’ birth is recorded as either 6 BC or 4 BC. Not much is known about Jesus until he was approximately 30 years old. Jesus was the son of a carpenter which more than likely meant that he to was a carpenter. According to tradition Jesus was never married, Jesus began preaching to small groups, gathering followers and disciples, both men and women (Smart, 1998). Jesus is revered by those of Christian faith as the son of God or God incarnated. Muslims believe Jesus to be a prophet and a healer but not divine in nature. Jesus preached a message of service and humility, faith, and forgiveness. He also preached that at the end of the world, he would return to conduct a final judgment. Those who had not repented and been baptized would be condemned to hell and those who did follow his path would be rewarded the gift of eternal in heaven. Christianity started as many religions do, as a sort of cult, as his message began to spread he gained more followers. Jesus had such an influence and was impacting the people in such a way that the political factions of the day began to be concerned. Jesus was arrested for sedition and the Roman Pontius Pilate asked Jesus if he was king of the Jews and the son of God. Jesus replied “It is as you say”. Not wanting any part in the condemnation of an innocent man, Pontius hand him over to the Jews. Who then condemned him to be crucified on a cross. According to the Gospels, Jesus raised from the dead three days later following his death on the cross. After his death, Jesus’ disciples set out across the known world of the time and began to preach the message Jesus. Christians believe that Jesus died so that the sins of his followers could be forgiven. Also, his resurrection serves as a promise of his return. The Muslim interpretation of Jesus’ death is interesting. Muslims see Jesus as a prophet and in the Quran, true prophets are not bested by their enemies because God protects them. Therefore, they do not believe that Jesus died a humiliating death by crucifixion and was then resurrected. They believe that God whisked Jesus away to heaven before he could be killed (Phipps, 1996). As the Muslims spread their message throughout their territories, they turned their sites to Europe. This conflict shaped the Europe that emerged from the Middle Ages. The Christian counter-attack was the First Crusades and established the Christian states in Palestine and Syria. Those lasted approximately two hundred years before being destroyed by Muslims. One of the main sources of conflict remains a contradiction in teachings in which Christians believe that all men are created equal in God and Muslims believe that only they are the chosen ones and all others are infidels. Today, followers of Jesus and Muhammad continue to worship these men in their own ways. Muslims pray five times each day, facing toward the Ka’bah. They attend their mosques or places of worship each week. They fast during Ramadan and try to perform a pilgrimage to the Ka’bah at least once in their lives. In an effort to spread the word of Muhammad, the idea of jihad or a religious war becomes important as Muslims fight to expand their territories. Those who die while spreading the message are considered martyrs and will receive rewards from Allah for their service (Smart, 1998). Christians attend churches and are not dictated by certain times that they should pray. Followers of Jesus believe that have to be baptized to receive salvation. Ministries carry the message to places across the world with a peaceful message (though the Christian past was not always peaceful – such as the Crusades). Sunday is regarded as the holy day of the week. In addition to the work of ministers and preachers, Christian churches carry their message to the masses via television and print. Several cable stations are dedicated to Christian teachings and many programs can be found broadcasting sermons on Sunday mornings. Christians believe that their reward is in how they live their lives and that at the day of judgment, Jesus will grant them their reward. Though times have changed greatly in the past 2000 years, the message of these two men has carried forward. Nations and republics have been built and destroyed based on their teachings and what evolves in our world in the future cannot ignore their influence. References Phipps, William E., 1996. Muhammad and Jesus. Continuum International Publishing Group, New York. Smart, Ninian. 1998. The World’s Religions, Second Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Yamauchi, Edwin. 1971. Jesus, Zoraster, Buddha, Socrates & Muhammad: The Life, Death and Teaching of Jesus Compared with Other Great Religious Figures. Retrieved August 12, 2008, from http://www.irr.org/yamauchi.html