The Quran And The Bible Comparison Religion Essay

The book of account And The playscript proportion Religion Es assert each(prenominal) around the origination, There argon divers(a) religions depending on the mixture of values, teachings, culture, and practices with which the star of us has grew up. Those aspects stick a shoot relationship with the diametric religious books that represent the ultimate and intimately heavy reference that edify and enlighten these rules for whatsoever one of us. Accordingly, these books provide us as well with instructions, regulations, and set of practice of laws organizing our lives and paving us the carriage to stay in this world in the stovepipe possible manner. Having the chance to enroll in the class of World Literature was for me an opportunity to study and explore assorted important literature hunts which for sure helped to enrich, improve and develop my sarcastic thinking abilities. Among the works that I ingest get a line atomic number 18 for instance, Gilgamesh that verbalize to be to premier(prenominal) ever prominent heroic narrative of world literature and that is originated back to the pre history. The Iliad that I have seen as a film and read and that is talking rough the great story of 2 great civilizations the Trojans and Achaeans. In addition, and to a greater purpose than importantly, the two literature works that I have enjoyed the most atomic number 18From the one hand, on that localise is the Hebrew Bible which is the earnestnessal writings of the Jews and it encompasses a rich variety of texts from several(predicate) periods in rhyme and prose. For instance, the Old Testament (Torah) is the holiest writing of Jews that represents the law and instructions. Also, it is important to read this section of the Old Testament since nevertheless the prophet Mohamed showed respect to it. In addition, the torah dates to 1200 B.C when it was first spoken and 1000 B.C when it was first written (Benjamin R. Foster, 2009). There fore, the Bible carcass the ultimate source to study the Jewish civilization and people from different modes and perspectives and to communicate with them with best possible manner.On the different hand, the leger is be as the holy writing or book by totally told Muslims, it is considered as the au hencetic sayings of graven image that the prophet Mohammed received orally. Muslims refuse entirely the idea that says that the prophet is the source of playscript, Mohammed for Muslims is just a messenger to whom divinity fudge transmitted a message to deliver to the rest of graciousity. The Quran is in general the ultimate proof of divinity fudges mercy for us, for the whole Muslim community it is considered as the confirmation and the accomplishment of the preceding holy books namely the Bible and the Torah. The center of the Quran doesnt address air life issues provided talks more(prenominal) generally about life values and principles, it talks also about different to pics such as skies and earth, the environment, nature, different races, natural phenomena ethical issues, history of old people and their moral examples. The Quran occupies the most important rig in the Muslims mind, this shows mainly in the fact that studyity try to secure their children learn the Quran by heart and understand the meat of the nomenclature in it. The Quran wasnt revealed to Mohammed in one part besides in different split that took twenty threesome years in Mecca and Medina, it is composed of hundred and fourteen sections classified under different themes. The Quran is of highschool value for Muslims as it constitutes the one and wholly miracle of the prophet Mohammed represented in the oral divine divine apocalypse of gods al-Qurans. Quran was translated to different languages in different parts of the world for understanding matters. However the only reference for Muslims stays forever the Quran in Arabic because of the interpretations that may have a different meaning if translated.It seems for granted that many issues around religion have been played out and dealt with thoroughly to the extent that no advertise work on them would be given the interest it owes. Those issues have received much interest on the expense of the current issues that brainstorm the mind of writers and scholars. Every one of them tries his best to communication channel and correspond the principal aspects of different religions, namely Quran and the Bible. What rightfully brought this topic to the surface and made of it the hot spot in media and holiness studies are the recurrent events that have made of our planet a volcano-like crater. Samuel Huntingtons work The Clash of Civilizations could be considered as the drop that made the situation even worse and tense. In his book, Huntington renders out that the world is heading towards a world(prenominal) clash between civilizations of which religion is the heart. Religion is, in that locationfore, considered as the essence and the binding of every civilization. In early(a) words, religion is non only the law that people can watch to reach a bust later on on life, that also it has al slipway been a central means of organizing human life and dynamics.Thus my mild work will try to contrast and compare Quran and the Bible, though it is not a simple occupation as it sounds to be. My attempt will not cover all the proper(postnominal) distinctions, but rather would shed some light on the major concepts that are witness in some(prenominal) religions.It is true that both religions, Quran and the Bible, share many meeting points to the extent that both are labeled as the Abrahamic religions bearing in mind it is so difficult to compare and contrast them as in the Bible there is such a wide range of beliefs and practices among different wings of Christianity Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, churches, the Anglican communion, and the tens of thousands of Protestant faith groups. The same case applies to Islam knowing that there are four different schools -called Madahib Malikki, Hanafi, Chafii and Hanbali. These schools are referred to as the Sunni Madaheb and they are methods or ways of interpreting of the religious materials in the three levels beliefs, religious practices and law.To simplify the task, I will limit myself to three major aspects that can be track in both religions and to see how every religion views those subject matters and what sport it gives to them. I will tackle the concept of uniqueness of immortal in both religions. Then I will try to cover the whim of divine revelation as healthful as the decennary Commandments and Quran.1-GODHerman Roborgh (2009), in his member Paradoxes of Christianity and Islam argues that The scriptures of both Islam and Christianity are full of paradoxes. Some readers of paradoxes simply emphasise only one part of the paradox and neglect the other. Critics of Quran and of Bible run on one-sided interpretation of this sort. Other readers smooth over the bleak contradictions or are so dulled by familiarity that they do not even notice them.Accordingly, we can believe that there is a plain worldly concern that no one can deny which is the agreement of both religions on the concept of the oneness of graven image and His indicant. This judgement is referred to in Quran as Tawheed. In Quran paragon, could be translated as Allah, is the unique and supreme. He is the creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the humans. paragon has 99 names all of which testify that He is the owner of the judgement day. He is the one that would describe or charge all existing things paragon is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward god is the Knower of everything (Sura 573). Meanwhile, Muslims are to consider themselves as the servants and friends of God since He is the almighty and has full knowledge of the secrets of the heart (Roborgh 2009). Therefore, He deserves to b e idolize and glorified alone and no one else should be worshipped or relieve oneselfn as an intermediate between the followers and Him.Muslims believe in one unitary and omnipotent God Allah. The ultimate purpose of philanthropy is submission to Allah in every aspect of life including faith, family, peace, love and work. Islam is potently monotheistic and abhors both the attribution of divinity to any human and the notion that Allah might be divisible. It means that primary concern for Muslims must be to believe in the oneness of God and to avoid the attribution of any human characteristics to God such as mortality or family. This is potently tangle is this Sura They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their ennoble) Christ the watchword of Mary yet they were commanded to worship but One God (Allah) there is no god but He. evaluate and glory to Him (far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him) . Quran 931As for Christians, God or Lord is unique. We can start with what The Bible dictates in (One of the Commandments) You shall not have no other gods before me. Exodus 203. This strongly shows that Christians are to believe in one God and not to dissemble another one in worshipping him. Yet, the main fight with the Quran is that the Bible believes that God has a son, according to the concept of Trinity which is the nucleus of the Athanasian reliance which states that There is one psyche of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. alone the Godhead of the father, of the son, and of the Holy Ghost is one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. The father is god, the son if god, and the Holy Ghost is god. And yet they are not three gods, but one god (Marmarinta Umar P Mababaya).Despite having and believing in one god, we can see that power, regard and endearment are divided on the three corners of the cross Lord, Son and the Holy Spirit. This seems to be contradictory. Both religions view God as a central character, which personifies power, wisdom and knowledge virtues that mortals are unable to fully reach. Passages from the scriptures demonstrate such a fact. D. Emmanuel (2008) argues that The awareness of God and the belief in his initiative to reach out to humanity appears to be at the heart of both Bible and Quran. God appeared to Adam and conversed with him person to person (Sura 2 31 cf. Genesis).In Quran as hearty as in Bible, the power of God lies in one word Be. All His orders and wishes are executed merely by uttering this word. Muslims go further to say that be and it is is the secret of the beginning of the universe. The same notion is seen in The Bible. To illustrate we can mention the story of the creation of the universe. This story states that God created heaven and then created the earth but some time later God noticed that darkness was dominating all over and then the spirit of God said Let there be light, and there was light.2- revealingThis heads us to talk about the second common point between Quran and Bible which Revelation of God. The Quran and Bible have given us many clues and details about the founding of a merciful and caring God. W. Rauschnebusch (2010) concludes that since the creation of the world, the invisible character of God, his everlasting power and godhead, has been discerned through his visible works. To put it differently, we can say that we feel the existence of god though we dont see Him and, hence, maintain a sort of data link with him via his creations that really keep us perplexed everyday. God has been addressing his messengers as well as all his followers in three different ways first, that God has spoken to humanity as person to person second, that his revelation was fragmentary in its contents and forms and third, that revelations culminated in one who by his singular relations to God guarantees a perfection to which broken and incomplete revelatio ns did not attain. Consequently, to account for our weakness and blindness, God has reached down to us and has revealed himself to men. Both religions point out that God revealed himself to us and gave us knowledge of himself.The Quran claims to be the culmination of all the previous Revelations, and contains the fundamental teachings of all the previous Prophets and Scriptures. Referring to the previous Prophets and their Books, God says to the Muslims These are they whom Allah guided, so follow their guidance. (691) A Messenger from Allah, who recites unto them the elegant Scriptures, wherein are the lasting commandments. (982-3) (Khalid Saifullah Khan)Nevertheless, how revelation has taken place is the key oddment that lies between Quran and Bible. Father Zakaria Boutros says that god delivers his godly message when a spiritual contact occurs between the prophet or messenger and God and that the Holy Sprit which is the spirit of god gives meanings and thoughts to mens spirit. C hristians insist on the absence of an intercessor between god and men or the messengers unlike in Islam. Revelation in Islam is the Quran and its assembly. Sometimes God enters in a direct revelation with his prophet to transfer what is in godly thoughts and knowledge or he relies on an intermediary like angels.Nasr Abu Zayd (2010) points out that Muhammads first chance upon was not with the Lord it was with the angel. In this encounter, the divine is presented in an intimate personal. This mean that Gods revelations have taken many forms to approach His prophets and messengers. These forms or ways differs from the two Abrahimic traditions religions. The Quran, in one verse, pointed to the three ways of revelation saying It is not fitting for a man that God should speak to him except by inspiration, or from back a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Gods permission, what God wills for He is Most High, Most Wise book of facts Chapter (Surat Ash-Shura) 51.By the direct revelation we mean the insertion of the meaning or knowledge into the heart of the prophet. This is clearly noticed in the hadith Narrated by Ibn Masoud from Ibn Hayan the prophet, said the Holy Spirit inserted into me a converse No soul will die until it fulfils its sustenance. This concept is close to the Christian way of revelation since it doesnt implicate any kind of intermediary between god and his chosen prophet.The second type of revelation according to the Quran is behind a veil while addressing his prophets such as Moses.The third kind of revelation is sending an angel with a message to deliver. The angel in charge of this is Gabriel. Al-Bokhary Narrated from Aeisha that Al-Hares Ibn Hashim asked the prophet Muhammad How the revelation comes to you, he said sometimes he speaks to me and I recognize him, another time the angel comes to me in a human form speaking to me and I recognize what he says.All Muslim scholars agree on the fact that Quran is the speech of Al lah be it in words or meaning. But this definition may lead us to overlook or exclude another type of text in Quran from being a part of Allahs revelation. It is the Hadith Qudssi which refers to the inspiration of meaning from Allah but the words are from the prophet Muhammed. This kind of revelation does not exist in Bible. This constitutes in itself a huge difference between revelation in Quran and that in the Bible.What is really regular is that during most revelations messengers and prophets were subject to some supernatural events and happenings that mankind is not employ to. These events might have great psychological and physical complications. To illustrate, Moses bemused cognisance when he entered in a dialogue with God on the hole of Sinai. Another instance could be the weird cold the prophet Muhammad felt in a hot day when the angel descended to him with the message from Allah. erstwhile back, he asked his wife to warm him up by putting more blankets on him.I also end this part about revelation with the quote of Montgomery Watt After all these considerations, what have Christians to say about the prophethood of Muhammad? For Muslims, Jesus is a prophet and is indeed something more than a prophet, since the Quran (4.171) speaks of him as Gods word which he put into Mary and a spirit from him. For Christians the question of Muhatnmads prophethood is difficult Life of many Muslim people changed to better even in tight circumstances These points lead to the final stage that the view of reality presented in the Quran is true and from God, and that Muhammad is therefore a genuine prophet.( Niyazi BEKI 2005).3-The decade CommandmentsSebastian Gunther, who is a pioneer scholar in the University of Toronto, draws the conclusion that the Ten Commandments are very fundamental for communities, societies and cultures of Judeo-Christian tradition. They are like the Magna Carta for social order. The commandments are not intended as concrete legislation (o r laws) but as a formulation of conditions for membership in the community, to be enforced by God, not by any human authority. They are essentially plane imperatives of universal validity, above time and independent of circumstances. The Ten Commandments comprise the most famous set of religious and ethical rules in the world. (Royal Ontario Museum) Here the pauperization for this question rises. Does Quran have any account for the Ten Commandments? And are they similar to the ones in The Bible?As far as the Ten Commandments of Bible are concerned, they are divided into two groups of five commandments. The first five ones revolve around the relationship between God and his followers. Whereas the other five remaining commandments rate the interactions between people themselves. Quran, on the other hand, does not contain any specific passages or ayah for the Ten Commandments, but on two different areas, Quran makes hints to the commandments when we come across the ayah when God re veals Himself to Moses in the mount of Sinai. In these verses we have the impression that God is recommending to Moses to underpin by his dictations when dealing with the Jews. (142) And We official with Moses thirty nights and We completed them with ten, so the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights (143) And when Moses came to Mount Sinai to Our appointed time and his Lord spoke with him (144) Said He, Moses, I have chosen thee above all men for My Messages and My Utterance take what I have given thee, and be of the thankful. (145) And We wrote for him on the Tablets of everything an admonition and a distinguishing of everything Surat Alaaraf. 7142-5 (late Meccan period). Here we see that God has given Moses Tablets in which the commandments were written. They are sort of laws or contracts between Moses and the Jewish.It is of a paramount importance to mention that the Quran believes strongly that The Bible has been despoil and that all its texts are not reliable sources since they have been modified and lost their divine originality as a consequence to many factors such as personal interest. Yet many happenings coincide to a great extent with what have been mentioned in Quran.ConclusionAll in all, through this paper, I tried to compare and contrast some notions in Quran and The bible. Of course, it is hard to cover all the paradoxes and similarities between the two Abrahimic religions. For this reason and many others, I opted for three major points which are God, revelation and The Ten Commandments.I came to the conclusion that Quran and The bible share many common points much more than the differences they have. Both of them believe in the oneness of God and his supreme power. The also agree on a set of qualities and characteristics of God. God is the creator of the universe and the unique judge. The second point along which I contrasted both religions is revelation. Gods revelation to people is mentioned in both sacred books but what differs is the way of this revelation. The quest to launch and maintain a communication between the creator and his creatures seems of the essence(p) because prophets and people always need guidance from the one who knows everything- God. Last but not least, The Ten Commandments constitute the guide line or Magna Carta that regulate life for the Christians. Though they are not directly cited in Quran, there are some hints that could be interpreted as the Ten Commandments.My humble works seems far away from perfection, and further work must be carried to shed more light on this complicated issue. As a Muslim, I strongly believe that the reference text should be Quran which is the original version that has not undergone any kind of forging or modification unlike The Bible.