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Abrahamic religions
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Abrahamic religions are monotheistic faiths which recognize a spiritual tradition identified with Abraham. The term is mostly used to refer collectively to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are other religions included in the term, such as the Samaritans, the Druze, the Rastafarians and the Bahá'í.
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Abrahamic religions are monotheistic faiths which recognize a spiritual tradition identified with Abraham. The term is mostly used to refer collectively to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are other religions included in the term, such as the Samaritans, the Druze, the Rastafarians and the Bahá'í. Abrahamic religions account for more than half of the world's total population. Today, there are around 3.8 billion followers of various Abrahamic religions.
The major non-Abrahamic world religions are grouped as "Eastern religions", encompassing the "Dharmic" religions of India and the "Taoic" East Asian religions. Use of the term "Abrahamic" is far from universal and has been found to be problematic for many reasons.
Origin of the expression
The term "Abrahamic religion" is derived from a term of Islamic origin, Millat Ibrahim, although in Muslim use only Islam is seen as truly reflecting the "Faith of Abraham". It thus refers to the traditional claim of relationship by the Arab Muslims to Abraham through his son Ishmael, which is extended to include Muhammad, thus making Abraham a common ancestor to all later prophets, since all (except Muhammad) were descended from Israelites. Christians refer to Abraham as a "father in faith" (see ); the phrase may also be meant to suggest that all three religions come from one spiritual source.
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (as well as the Baha'i Faith) comprise a family of religions. A number of terms recognize their historico-theological links: the popular label "Peoples of the Book" underlines the central role scripture plays among their adherents, while scholars of religion sometimes categorize them as the "three major monotheistic faiths." The term "Abrahamic" has advantages over both usages; it focuses on a more specific affinity than does the first and avoids the categorical and interpretive controversies that may arise over the second while emphasizing the paramount place that Abraham holds in all three traditions.
Abraham is recorded in the Torah as the ancestor of the Israelites through his son Isaac, born to Sarah through a promise made in Genesis .
Common aspects
Judaism, Christianity and Islam share the following similarities:
- Monotheism: all three religions claim to be monotheistic, although Jews and Muslims sometimes argue that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity (adopted by the majority of Christians) constitutes polytheism; see also Shituf and Shirk.
- A prophetic tradition: all three religions recognize figures called "prophets", although their lists differ, as do their interpretations of the prophetic role.
- Semitic origins: Judaism and Jewish Christianity originate in the Jewish populations, while Islam originated among Arabs respectively.
- A basis in divine revelation rather than (for example) philosophical speculation or custom.
- An ethical orientation: all three religions speak of a choice between good and evil, which is associated with obedience or disobedience to a single God and to Divine Law.
- A linear concept of history, sometimes coined as eschatology, beginning with the creation and the concept that God works through history, and ending with a Resurrection of the dead and final judgment.
- Association with the desert, which some commentators believe has imbued these religions with a particular ethos.
- Acceptance of some of Judaism's religious obligations found in the Bible as a spiritual devotion to the traditions of Abraham (rather than of Moses) by Christianity (see also Biblical law in Christianity and Judeo-Christian); and by Islam, including those which have parallel accounts in the Qur'an, such as the stories of Adam, Noah, Abraham and Moses.
Overview
The Abrahamic religions are related to (or even derived from) Judaism as practiced in ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah, prior to the Babylonian Exile at the end of the first half of the 1st millennium BC.
- Many believe that Judaism in Biblical Israel was renovated and reformed to some extent in the 6th century BC, by Ezra and other priests returning to Jerusalem from the exile.
- According to The Oxford Companion to World Mythology (David Leeming, Oxford University Press, 2005, page 118): "It seems almost certain that the God of the Jews evolved gradually from the Canaanite El, who was in all likelihood the 'God of Abraham'...If El was the high god of Abraham - Elohim, the prototype of Yahveh - Asherah was his wife, and there are archeological indications that she was perceived as such before she was in effect 'divorced' in the context of emerging Judaism of the seventh century B.C.E. (See )".
- Samaritanism separated from Judaism over the next few centuries.
- The Noachide faith (see also Noahide Law) is also based upon the faith of Abraham as revealed in the Torah and Bible, yet Noachides are not necessarily descendants of Abraham. A Noachide might be of Abrahamic lineage through any of the children of Abraham, but because there is no accurate way of tracing this, the Noachides are determined by their ancestral connection to Noah (who was Abraham's ancestor and believed to be the only human male to survive the great Flood). It is taught that Noah and his son Shem, who was Abraham's grandfather and also taught Abraham's son Yitzhak (Isaac), was also monotheistic, but there is no evidence to show that they attempted to influence anyone (other than family members) regarding the elements of their faith.
- Some Christian traditions (for example, Mormonism) teach that Christianity began with Adam, but that its teachings were rejected and were temporarily replaced with what we now call Judaism, to be restored at the coming of the Messiah. Others believe that Christianity actually originated in Judea in the 1st century A.D., then Iudaea province as a radically reformed branch of Judaism (see Early Christianity). Regardless, the Christianity of the common era spread to ancient Greece and Rome, and from there to most of Europe, Asia, the Americas and many other parts of the world. Over the centuries, Christianity split into many separate churches and denominations. A major split in the 5th century separated various Oriental Churches from the Catholic church centered in Rome. Other major splits were the East-West Schism in the 11th century, separating the Roman Catholic Church from the Eastern Orthodox Churches; and the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century onwards, which gave birth to hundreds of independent Protestant denominations.
- Islam originated in the 7th century, in the Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina. Although not a dissident branch of either Judaism or Christianity, Muslims believe it to be a continuation of and replacement for them. The Qur'an (the holy book of Islam) held itself to be the final word of God, and its message was that of all the prophets, which means that Islam did not start with Muhammad but was completed during his time. As an example of the similarities between the faiths, Muslims believe in a version of the story of Genesis and in the lineal descent of the Arabs from Abraham through Ishmael, who was conceived through Abraham's servant Hagar.
- The Druze of northern Israel, southern Lebanon and south-western Syria hold to an Abrahamic faith of the Noachide covenant through their ancestor Yitro (Jethro), the father-in-law of Moshe (Moses, Judaism's greatest prophet). However, its origins are Islamic, developing out of the belief of some Ismaili Shi`a Arab tribes that the Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah was an incarnation of God.
- Mormonism, also called the Latter Day Saint movement, developed in the United States in the early 19th century. The movement centers on the teachings of Joseph Smith, Jr., especially the Book of Mormon (after which the movement is named). Mormonism comes from an indisputably Abrahamic religious lineage — beginning with a divine revelation to Smith, which initiated a separation from the various Protestant Christian denominations of the time. Its position in the tradition is disputed by some: some Christians argue that Mormonism has departed from true Abrahamic roots, while others argue that Mormonism is merely an unusually radical sect of Christianity. However, it meets the above definition of being a religion whose practitioners consider Abraham an important and guiding figure.
- The Bahá'í Faith is a religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual oneness of humanity and the underlying unity of the major world religions. Religious history is seen to have unfolded through the influence of a series of divinely-sent messengers, each of whom established a religion which suited the needs of its time. These messengers have included Abraham, Jesus and Muhammad among others.
- The Rastafari movement formed out of a syncretism of traditional elements of Abrahamic religion with new thought developed from the experience of African peoples in the African diaspora of the twentieth century. Developing in the Anglophone Caribbean (especially on the island of Jamaica), it accepts the former Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie (originally Ras Tafari Makkonen) as an incarnation of God, known as Jah in Rastafari theology, on the grounds that as part of the Solomonic dynasty, he is the descendant of Menelik, son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Followers of Rastafari accept the authority of the Bible as scripture, and regard Ethiopia (a Semitic-speaking country) as the Holy Land.
The significance of Abraham
For Jews, Abraham is primarily a revered ancestor or patriarch (referred to as "Our Father Abraham") to whom God made several promises: chiefly, that he would have numberless descendants, who would receive the land of Canaan (the "Promised Land.") Somewhat less divisively, according to Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first post-Flood prophet to reject idolatry through rational analysis, although Shem and Eber carried on the tradition from Noah. Abraham not only symbolically appears as a fundamental figure for Judaism, but is recognised to have observed the tenets of the Torah before it was given to Moses. Modern scholars do not accept that the K'tav Ivri is named after Abraham (who was known as the "Ivri", which occurs in Genesis with the phrase Avram ha-Ivri, and is the origin of the English word Hebrew). The early Midrashic sources explicitly state that the laws of Torah (Passover) were observed by the Patriarchs long before Sinai, and in one case with a simultaneous explicit example for chronological calculations referring to .
For Christians, Abraham is a spiritual forebear rather than a direct ancestor, as defined by Paul the Apostle in , with the Abrahamic Covenant "reinterpreted so as to be defined by faith in Christ rather than biological descent", see also New Covenant. In Christian belief, Abraham is a role model of faith , and his obedience to God by offering Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of God's offering of his son Jesus. The tendency of Christian commentators to interpret God's promises to Abraham as applying to Christianity rather than Judaism, whose adherents rejected Jesus, is derived from Paul's interpretation of all descendants who believe in God as being spiritual descendants of Abraham in , and . However, in both cases he refers to these spiritual descendants as the "sons of God" rather than "children of Abraham".
For Muslims, Ibrahim is considered one in a line of prophets beginning with Adam . This ancestry is a genealogy for Muhammad, as well as the "first Muslim" (Surah 3), i.e. the first monotheist in a world where monotheism was lost. He is also referred to in Islam as ????? ?????? or "Our Father Abraham", as well as Ibrahim al-Hanif or Abraham the Monotheist. Islam holds that it was Ishmael (Isma'il, Muhammad's ancestor) rather than Isaac, whom Ibrahim was instructed to sacrifice. In addition to this spiritual lineage, the northern Adnani Arab tribes trace their lineage to Isma'il, and thus to Abraham.
The Bahá'í Faith views him as a Manifestation of God, one of several persons in history who gives the most accurate prophecy regarding God's plans for humanity at that time. Abraham is held to be fundamental for teaching monotheism in a polytheistic and animistic society.
Origins
Judaism's origins are stated in the Torah. The source generally agreed to be canonical that bears on that question is the Genesis book of the Hebrew Bible, which according to itself was written by God and received by Moses after the Exodus from Egypt, some time during the second millennium BCE. Other, newer movements (such as Reform Judaism and Secular Humanism) believe that perhaps Moses and others wrote the Bible over a period of time themselves. According to Genesis, the principles of Judaism were revealed gradually to a line of patriarchs from Adam to Jacob (also called Israel). However, although Abraham (in the Jewish interpretation) also observed the yet-to-be-received written laws, it later developed when Moses received the Commandments on Mount Sinai, and with the organization of its priesthood and institution of its temple services.
The oldest copy of a Torah dates from the 7th century BC; it was found at Ketef Hinnom. Archaeology has shown that peoples speaking various Semitic languages and with polytheistic religions were living in Canaan and surrounding areas by the third millennium BC. Some of their gods (such as Baal) are mentioned in the Bible, and the supreme god of the Semitic pantheon, El, is believed by some scholars to be the God of the Biblical patriarchs. For example, El is a common segment in Hebrew names, such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Elijah etc. There exist a number of inscriptions which some scholars believe to confirm the Biblical record, such as the Tel Dan Stele. It should be noted that El in Hebrew means simply a deity, not necessarily a specific deity; in comparison, for example, the Arabic word ilah (which is of related origin) simply means a deity, not necessarily God.
Boyce credits the religion known as Zoroastrianism for its influence of Abrahamic religions in the concepts of individual judgement (free will), Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgement, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. It should be noted that some scholars believe that Judaism in fact influenced Zoroastrianism.
Patriarchs
There are seven notable figures in the Bible prior to Abraham: Adam and Eve, their two sons Cain and Abel, Enoch and his great-grandson Noah, and Terah, the father of Abraham. It is uncertain whether or not any of them left any recorded moral code. The Genesis mentions the Noahide Laws given by God to the family of Noah. For the most part, these 'patriarchs' serve as good (or bad, in the case of Cain) role models of behaviour, without a more specific indication of how one interprets their actions in any religion.
Some Christian churches maintain faith in ancient books, such as the Book of Enoch.
In Genesis, Abraham is specifically instructed to leave Ur of the Chaldees, so that God will "make of you a great nation". Burton Visotzky (an ethicist) wrote Genesis of Ethics to explore the detailed implications of these adventures for a modern ethics.
Abraham had eight sons by three wives: Ishmael by his wife's servant Hagar, Isaac by his wife Sarah and six by his wife Keturah. The genealogy of Moses' relationship to Isaac is recorded in the Torah, which also provides the record for the genealogy of the the Twelve Tribes and later Judah as one of Abraham's descendants, the people of Israel, the name Abraham, and his son Isaac and grandson Jacob were also called. Judaism does not count Adam and Noah among its prophets.
Jesus, Muhammad, Bahá'u'lláh and other prominent figures are also claimed to be descendants of Abraham through one of these sons.
Christians view Abraham as an important exemplar of faith, and a spiritual, as well as physical, ancestor of Jesus — a Jew considered the Son of God through whom God promised to bless all the families of the earth. In addition, Muslims refer to Sabians, Jews and Christians as People of the Book, and see a common religious and prophetic tradition amongst them. They see Abraham as one of the most important of the many prophets sent by God. Thus he represents, for some, a common focal point whom they seek to emphasize by means of this terminology.
Rather than being the sole "founding figure", Abraham is described as the first figure in Genesis who is:
- Clearly not of direct divine origin, such as Adam and Eve are claimed to be.
- Accepted by three major monotheistic faiths as playing some major role in the founding of their common beliefs.
- Not claimed as the male genetic forebear of all humans on the Earth (as Noah is, in more literal interpretations).
Islam considers Adam and Noah as prophets, and recognizes that there were possibly many thousands other prophets who are unknown today, which God sent, with at least one for every nation.
The Supreme Deity
Islam and Judaism worship a Supreme Deity which they conceive strictly monotheistically as One Being; Christianity agrees, but the Christian God is at the same time (according to most of mainstream Christianity) an indivisible Trinity, a view not shared by the other religions. A sizeable minority of Christians and Christian denominations do not support the belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, and sometimes suggest that the Trinity idea was founded in Roman religious culture, specifically that it was formulated due to Rome's absorption of elements of Zoroastrian and pagan ideology as part of their homogenized culture, and was not part of the original primitive Christianity.
God in Christianity
Christians believe that the God worshipped by the faithful Hebrew people of the pre-Christian era has always revealed himself as he did through Jesus; but that this was never obvious until the Word of the Lord, the revelation of God, became flesh and dwelt among us (see John 1). Also, despite the fact that the Angel of the Lord spoke to the Patriarchs, revealing God to them, it has always been only through the Spirit of God granting them understanding, that men have been able to later perceive that they had been visited by God himself. After Jesus was raised from the dead — according to Christian scriptures — this ancient Hebrew witness of how God reveals himself as Messiah came to be seen in a very different light. It was then that Jesus' followers began to speak widely of him as God himself (see ), although this had already been revealed to certain individuals during his Ministry; for example, the Samaritan woman in Shechem and his closest apostles. See Raymond E. Brown's "Does the New Testament call Jesus God?" in Theological Studies #26, 1965, pages 545-573 for the technical discussion.
This belief was gradually developed into the modern formulation of the Trinity, which is the doctrine that God is a single entity (YHWH), but that there is a real "threeness" in God's single being which has always been evident albeit not understood. This mysterious "threeness" has been described as, for want of better terms, hypostases in the Greek language (subsistences in Latin), and "persons" in English. In the traditional Christian conception, God the Father has only ever been revealed through his eternal Word (who was born as Jesus, of the Virgin Mary, God the Son) and his Spirit (who after the Resurrection was given to men, establishing the Christian church).
God in Islam
Allah is the standard Arabic translation for the word "God". Islamic tradition also describes the 99 names of God. These 99 names describe attributes of God, including Most Merciful, Most Just, The Peace and Blessing, and the Guardian. Islamic belief in God is distinct in that it accepts no partners or progeny of God. This belief is summed up in the Qur'anic chapter of Al-Ikhlas, which states "God is One, He is the Eternal, the Absolute. He does not beget nor was he begotten. And there is none like Him".
See also: Islamic concept of God
Muslims believe that the Jewish God is the same as their God, and that Jesus was a divinely inspired prophet, albeit not God. Thus, both the Torah and the Gospels are believed to be based upon divine revelation, but Muslims believe them to have been corrupted (both accidentally through errors in transmission, and intentionally by certain Jews and Christians over the centuries). Muslims revere the Qur'an as the final uncorrupted word of God or the last testament brought through the last prophet, Muhammad. Muhammad is regarded as the "Seal of the Prophets", and Islam is seen as the final monotheist faith for all of humanity.
God in Judaism
Jewish theology is based on the Hebrew Bible, where the nature and commandments of God are revealed through the writings of Moses, the Torah, the writings of the prophets, psalmists and other ancient canonized scriptures, together with the Torah known as the Tanakh. Additionally, it usually has a basis in its Oral Law, as recorded in the Mishnah and Gemora which form the Talmud.
This Supreme Being is referred to in the Hebrew Bible in several ways, such as Elohim, Adonai or by the four Hebrew letters "Y-H-V (or W) -H" (the tetragrammaton), which observant Jews do not pronounce as a word. The Hebrew words Eloheynu (Our God) and HaShem (The Name), as well as the English names "Lord" and "God", are also used in modern-day Judaism. The latter is sometimes written "G-d" in reference to the taboo against pronouncing the tetragrammaton.
The word "Elohim" has the Hebrew plural ending "-im", which some Biblical scholars have taken as support for the general notion that the ancient Hebrews were polytheists in the time of the patriarchs; however, as the word itself is used with singular verbs, this hypothesis is not accepted by most Jews. Jews point out other words in Hebrew which are used in the same manner according to the rule of Hebrew Grammar, denoting respect, majesty and deliberation, similar to the royal plural in English and ancient Egyptian, and the use of the plural form "vous" for individuals of higher standing in modern French. Jewish Biblical scholars and historical commentary on the passage also suggest that Elohim in the plural form indicates God in conjunction with the heavenly court, i.e. the angels. The pre-Christian era, early CE-period Kabbalistic and later in the European Chasidic movements after the Baal Shem Tov, such as Breslov and Chabad, all indicate the use of Elokim as denoting the multidimensional existence of God on, in, and through every possible dimension of the created existence. See Likutei Moharan and the Tanya, as well as the Zohar, Bahir, and the Kabbalistic texts of Sefer Yitzirah, Sefer Refayim, and Sefer Malachim, to name a few. Including the writings of the Ramchal (R. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto), Drech HaShem and others such as the Rashbi (R. Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar) all explain the use of the Elokim as a pluralistic singularity, one essence sustaining all levels of creation from the mundane physical to the sublime and Holy spiritual.
God in the Bahá'í Faith
The belief in the Oneness of God is central to the Bahá'í Faith. According to Bahá'í doctrine, God is one being, and has created all the creatures and forces in the universe. He is also imagined by Bahá'ís as omnipotent and omniscient. Bahá'ís believe that God sends his messengers to educate humanity. These messengers are known in Bahá'í literature as "Manifestations of God", the most recent of whom Bahá'ís believe was Bahá'u'lláh. According to Bahá'í doctrine, these Manifestations reveal the nature and will of God in their teachings and through sacred texts, which (for Bahá'ís) include the Torah, the Bible, the Qur'án, the Bayan, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the Book of Certitude, Hindu, Zoroastrian and Buddhist scriptures. Bahá'ís maintain that the older texts contain allegories which should be interpreted in view of the most recent revelations. However, Bahá'í doctrine also teaches that God is too great to be fully understood by humans.
Religious scriptures
All these religions rely on a body of scriptures, some of which are considered to be the word of God — hence sacred and unquestionable — and some the work of religious men, revered mainly by tradition and to the extent that they are considered to have been divinely inspired, if not dictated, by the divine being.
Christian
The sacred scriptures of most Christian groups are the Old Testament, which is largely the same as the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament, which comprises four accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus (the Four Gospels, traditionally attributed to his apostles Matthew, John, Mark and Luke), as well as several other writings by the apostles (such as Paul). They are usually considered to be divinely inspired in some sense, and together comprise the Christian Bible. Thus, Christians consider the fundamental teachings of the Old Testament, in particular the Ten Commandments, as valid (see Biblical law in Christianity for details). However, they believe that the coming of Jesus as the Messiah and saviour of mankind as predicted in the Old Testament would shed light on the true relationship between God and mankind by restoring the emphasis of universal love and compassion (as mentioned in the Shema) above the other commandments, also de-emphasising the more "legalistic" and material precepts of Mosaic Law (such as the dietary constraints and temple rites). Some Christians believe that the link between Old and New Testaments in the Bible means that Judaism has been superseded by Christianity as the "new Israel", and that Jesus' teachings described Israel as not a geographic place, but rather an association with God and promise of salvation in heaven.
The vast majority of Christian faiths (generally including Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, Anglicanism and most forms of Protestantism but not Restorationism) derive their beliefs from the conclusions reached by the First Council of Nicaea in 325, in a document known as the Nicene Creed. This describes the belief that God (as a Trinity of distinct persons with one substance) became human on earth, born as Jesus pursuant to the Old Testament scriptures, was crucified by humanity, died and was buried, then was resurrected on the third day to rise and enter the Kingdom of Heaven and "sit at the right hand of" God. Christians generally believe that faith in Jesus is the way to achieve salvation and to enter into heaven, and that salvation is a gift given by the grace of God.
Christians recognize that the Gospels were passed on by oral tradition, and were not set to paper until decades after the death of Jesus, and that the extant versions are copies of those originals. Indeed, the version of the Bible considered to be most valid (in the sense of best conveying the true meaning of the word of God) has varied considerably: the Greek Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, the English King James Version and the Russian Synodal Bible have been authoritative to different communities at different times. In particular, Christians usually consult the Hebrew version of the Old Testament when preparing new translations, although some believe that the Septuagint should be preferred, as it was the Bible of the Early Christian Church, and because they believe its translators used a different Hebrew Bible to the ones which make up the current Masoretic Hebrew text, as there are some variant readings of the Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed by the Septuagint. In the same sense that the Jewish mystics viewed the Torah as something living and existing prior to any written text, so too do Christians view the Bible and Jesus himself as God's "Word" (or logos in Greek), transcending written documents.
The sacred scriptures of the Christian Bible are complemented by a large body of writings by individual Christians and councils of Christian leaders (see canon law). Some Christian churches and denominations consider certain additional writings to be binding; other Christian groups consider only the Bible to be binding (sola scriptura).
Islamic
Islam's holiest book is the Qur'an, comprising 114 suras ("chapters of the Qur'an"). However, Muslims also believe in the religious texts of Judaism and Christianity in their original forms, albeit not the current versions (which they believe to be corrupted). According to the Qur'an (and mainstream Muslim belief), the verses of the Qur'an were revealed from God through the Archangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad on separate occasions. These revelations were written down during Muhammad's lifetime, and collected into one official copy in 633 AD, one year after his death. Finally, the Qur'an was given its present order in 653 AD by the third Caliph.
The Qur'an mentions and reveres several of the Israelite prophets, including Jesus, among others (see also: Prophets of Islam). The stories of these prophets are very similar to those in the Bible. However, the detailed precepts of the Tanakh and the New Testament are not adopted outright; they are replaced by the new commandments revealed directly by God (through Gabriel) to Muhammad and codified in the Qur'an.
Like the Jews with the Torah, Muslims consider the original Arabic text of the Qur'an as uncorrupted and holy to the last letter, and any translations are considered to be interpretations of the meaning of the Qur'an, as only the original Arabic text is considered to be the divine scripture.
Like the Rabbinic Oral Law to the Hebrew Bible, the Qur'an is complemented by the Hadith, a set of books by later authors recording the sayings of the prophet Muhammad. The Hadith interpret and elaborate Qur'anic precepts. There is no consensus within Islam on the authority of the Hadith collections, but Islamic scholars have categorized each Hadith at one of the following levels of authenticity or isnad: genuine (sahih), fair (hasan) or weak (da'if). Amongst Shia Muslims, no hadith is regarded as Sahih, and hadith in general are only accepted if there is no disagreement with the Qur'an.
By the ninth century, six collections of Hadiths were accepted as reliable to Sunni Muslims. Shia Muslims, however, refer to an alternative tradition of authenticated Hadiths.
The Sunni Collections:
The Hadith and the life story of Muhammad (sira) form the Sunnah, a scriptural supplement to the Qur'an. The legal opinions of Islamic jurists (fiqh) provide another source for the daily practice and interpretation of Islamic tradition.
The Qur'an contains repeated references to the "religion of Abraham" (see Suras 2:130,135; 3:95; 6:123,161; 12:38; 16:123; 22:78). In the Qur'an, this expression refers specifically to Islam; sometimes in contrast to Christianity and Judaism, as in Sura 2:135, for example: They say: "Become Jews or Christians if ye would be guided (To salvation)". Say thou: "Nay! (I would rather) the Religion of Abraham the True, and he joined not gods with God". In the Qur'an, Abraham is declared to have been a Muslim (a hanif), not a Jew nor a Christian (Sura 3:67).
Jewish
The sacred scriptures of Judaism are the Tanakh, a Hebrew acronym standing for Torah (Law or Teachings), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). These are complemented by and supplemented with various (originally oral) traditions: Midrash, the Mishnah, the Talmud and collected rabbinical writings. The Hebrew text of the Tanakh, and the Torah in particular, is considered holy, down to the last letter: transcribing is done with painstaking care. An error in a single letter, ornamentation or symbol of the 300,000+ stylized letters which make up the Hebrew Torah text renders a Torah scroll unfit for use; hence the skills of a Torah scribe are specialist skills, and a scroll takes considerable time to write and check.
Bahá'í
There are several volumes of sacred writing for Bahá'ís. Unlike the other traditions, Bahá'u'lláh lived in the modern era, and his voluminous writings have been preserved, along with authoritative commentary. In addition, he is the author of their religious literature, unlike the textual histories of the Bible and Qur'an.
Rastafari movement
Some Rastafarians use the King James Version of the Bible as their main scripture, while many others disdain it. A great many nowadays make special efforts to study the Orthodox Amharic version. Rastas often claim that the Bible only has half of God's Word, and that the other half is written in the heart of mankind. The teachings of Marcus Garvey and the Holy Piby are among other important documents, as are the writings and speeches of Emperor Haile Selassie I.
End times and afterlife
In the major Abrahamic religions, there exists the expectation of an individual who will herald the time of the end and/or bring about the Kingdom of God on Earth; in other words, the Messianic prophecy. Judaism awaits the coming of the Jewish Messiah; the Jewish concept of Messiah differs from the Christian concept in several significant ways, despite the same term being applied to both. The Jewish Messiah is not a "god", but a mortal man who by his holiness is worthy of that description. He will make his appearance only during an era of peace and holiness and his coming may not end history. Christianity awaits the Second Coming of Christ. Islam awaits both the second coming of Jesus (in order to complete his life and die, since he is said to have arisen alive and not crucified) and the coming of Mahdi (Sunnis in his first incarnation, Shi'a as the return of Muhammad al-Mahdi). The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes that both Mahdi and the Second Coming of Christ were fulfilled in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Conversely, members of the Bahá'í Faith believe that these were fulfilled in the persons of Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. Rastafari awaits the return of Haile Selassie.
Most Abrahamic religions agree that a human being comprises the body, which dies, and the soul, which is capable of remaining alive beyond human death and carries the person's essence, and that God will judge each person's life accordingly after death. The importance of this and the focus on it, as well as the precise criteria and end result, differs between religions.
Reincarnation and transmigration tend not to feature prominently in Abrahamic religions. Although as a rule, they all look to some form of afterlife, Christianity and Islam support a continuation of life (usually viewed as eternal), rather than reincarnation and transmigration - which are a return (or repeated returns) to this Earth, or some other plane, to live a complete new life-cycle over again. Kabbalic Judaism, however, accepts the concept of returning in new births through a process called gilgul neshamot, but this is not Torah-derived and is usually studied only among scholars and mystics within the faith. It is a mainstream belief of Hassidic Jews and many Orthodox Jews.
Judaism
Judaism's views on the afterlife ("the World to Come") are quite diverse, and its discussion is not encouraged. This can be attributed to the fact that although there clearly are traditions in the Hebrew Bible of an afterlife (see Naboth and the Witch of Endor), Judaism focuses on this life and how to lead a holy life to please God, rather than future reward, and its attitude can be mostly summed up by the rabbinical observation that at the start of Genesis, God clothed the naked (Adam and Eve); at the end of Deuteronomy, he buried the dead (Moses) and the Children of Israel mourned for 40 days before getting on with their lives.
Many feel that there is some sort of afterlife, maybe a return of the soul to God, some say that there is some sort of reward for the righteous in Gan 'Edhen (the Garden of Eden) and (less agreed upon) punishment in Ge-Hinnom. Popularly, it is claimed that the maximum time of punishment for all but the most evil is one year. The mystically-inclined also claim that souls (or sparks of souls) may be reincarnated through Gilgul. If there is an afterlife, all agree in Judaism that the good of all the nations will get to heaven, and this is one of the reasons Judaism does not normally proselytize.
Soul sleep is a possible idea of the afterlife among early Jews, as interpreted from the story of the Witch of Endor, in which she calls the prophet Samuel "from his slumber" and a spirit "comes out of the ground". It can be agreed upon, however, that there would be a Resurrection of every person on the Last Day.
Christianity
Christians have more diverse and definite teachings on the end times and what constitutes afterlife. Most Christian approaches either include different abodes for the dead (heaven, hell, limbo, purgatory) or universal reconciliation in which all souls are made in the image of God. A small minority teach annihilationism, the doctrine that those persons who are not reconciled to God simply cease to exist.
Islam
In Islam, God is said to be "Most Compassionate and Most Merciful" (Quran 1:1, as well as the start of most suras). However, God is also "Most Just"; Islam prescribes a literal Hell for those who disobey God and commit gross sin. Those who obey God and submit to God will be rewarded with their own place in Paradise. While sinners are punished with fire, there are also many other forms of punishment described, depending on the sin committed; Hell is divided into numerous levels, an idea which found its way into Christian literature through Dante's borrowing of Muslim themes and tropes for his Inferno.
Those who worship and remember God are promised eternal abode in a physical and spiritual Paradise. In Islam, Heaven is divided into numerous levels, with the higher levels of Paradise being the reward of those who have been more virtuous. For example, the highest levels might contain the prophets, those killed for believing (martyrs), those who helped orphans and those who never told a lie (among numerous other categories cited in the Qur'an and Hadith).
Upon repentance to God, many sins can be forgiven as God is said to be supremely merciful. Additionally, those who ultimately believe in God, but have led sinful lives, may be punished for a time, and then ultimately released into Paradise. If anyone dies in a state of Shirk (i.e. in associating God in any way, such as claiming that He is equal with anything or worshipping other than Him), then it is possible he will stay forever in Hell; however, it is said that anyone with "one atom of faith" will eventually reach Heaven, and Muslim literature also records reference to even the greatly sinful, Muslim or otherwise, eventually being pardoned and released into Paradise.
Once a person is admitted to Paradise, this person will abide there for eternity.
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith regards as symbolic the conventional description of the afterlife (heaven and hell) as a specific place. Instead, the Bahá'í writings describe heaven as a "spiritual condition" where closeness to God is defined as heaven; conversely, hell is seen as a state of remoteness from God. Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, has stated that the nature of the life of the soul in the afterlife is beyond comprehension in the physical plane, but has stated that the soul will retain its consciousness and individuality and remember its physical life; the soul will be able to recognize other souls and communicate with them.
For Bahá'ís, entry into the next life has the potential to bring great joy. Bahá'u'lláh likened death to the process of birth. He explains: "The world beyond is as different from this world as this world is different from that of the child while still in the womb of its mother". The analogy to the womb in many ways summarizes the Bahá'í view of earthly existence: just as the womb constitutes an important place for a person's initial physical development, the physical world provides for the development of the individual soul. Accordingly, Bahá'ís view life as a preparatory stage, where one can develop and perfect those qualities which will be needed in the next life. The key to spiritual progress is to follow the path outlined by the current Manifestations of God, which Bahá'ís believe is currently Bahá'u'lláh.
The Bahá'í teachings state that there exists a hierarchy of souls in the afterlife, where the merits of each soul determines their place in the hierarchy, and that souls lower in the hierarchy cannot completely understand the station of those above. Each soul can continue to progress in the afterlife; however, the soul's development is not dependent on its own conscious efforts, but instead on the grace of God, the prayers of others and good deeds performed by others on Earth in the name of the person.
Worship and religious rites
Worship, ceremonies and religion-related customs differ substantially between the various Abrahamic religions. Among the few similarities are a seven-day cycle in which one day is nominally reserved for worship, prayer or other religious activities; this custom is related to the biblical story of Genesis, where God created the universe in six days, and rested in the seventh. Islam, which has Friday as a day for special congregational prayers, does not subscribe to the 'resting day' concept.
Orthodox Judaism practice is guided by the interpretation of the Torah and the Talmud. Before the destruction of the Temple, Jewish priests offered sacrifices there three times daily; afterwards, the practice was replaced by Jewish men being required to pray three times daily, including the chanting of the Torah, facing in the direction of Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Jewish women's prayer obligations vary by denomination; in contemporary orthodox practice, women do not read from the Torah and are only required to say certain parts of these daily services. Other practices include circumcision, dietary laws, Shabbat, Passover, Torah study, Tefillin, purity and others. Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism and the Reconstructionist movement have different views.
Christianity does not base its worship on the Old Testament texts, so do not have any sacrificial rites as such; however, its entire theology is based upon the concept of the sacrifice by God of his son Jesus, so that his blood might atone for mankind's sins. Offerings to Christian Churches and charity to poor are highly encouraged, and take the place of sacrifice. Additionally, self-sacrifice in the form of Lent, penitence and humbleness, in the name of Christ and according to his commandments (cf. Sermon on the Mount), is considered a form of sacrifice which pleases God.
The followers of Islam (Muslims), are to observe the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar is the belief in the oneness of God, and in Muhammad as his final prophet. The second is to pray five times daily (salat) towards the direction (qibla) of the Kaaba in Mecca. The third pillar is Zakah, a portion of one's wealth which must be given to the poor or to other specified causes, which means the giving of a specific share of one's wealth and savings to persons or causes which God mentions in the Qur'an. The normal share to be paid is two and a half percent of one's saved earnings. Fasting during the Muslim month of Ramadan is the fourth pillar of Islam, to which only able-bodied Muslims are required to fast. Finally, Muslims are also urged to undertake a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one's life. Only individuals whose financial position and health are insufficient are exempt from making Hajj. During this pilgrimage, the Muslims spend several days in worship, repenting and most notably circumambulating the Kaaba among millions of other Muslims. At the end of the Hajj, sheep and other permissible animals are slaughtered to commemorate the moment when God replaced Abraham's son Ishmael with a sheep, thereby preventing his sacrifice. The meat from these animals is then distributed around the world to needy Muslims, neighbours and relatives.
Although Bahá'ís do not have a strict worship regimen, they do follow guidelines for prayer passed on by Bahá'u'lláh and `Abdu'l-Bahá. Baha'is are to perform ablutions before prayer, and recite at least one of three obligatory prayers (written by Bahá'u'lláh) daily. Bahá'í prayer often takes the form of a private activity, during which Baha'is may choose to face the Qiblih (the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh). Many Baha'is also host devotional meetings in their homes, where prayers and holy writings are read, sung, chanted or recited. Baha'i devotional meetings are commonly open to people of any faith. A Bahá'í pilgrimage was laid out by Bahá'u'lláh, but political conditions in Iraq and Iran prevent most Baha'is from visiting these locations. Originally, Baha'is were to visit either the House of Bahá'u'lláh in Baghdad or the House of the Bab in Shiraz, Iran. Currently, Baha'i references to "pilgrimage" generally apply to a nine-day journey visiting Baha'i holy places in Haifa, Bahji, and Akka, Israel. It should also be noted that aside from prayer and pilgrimage, Baha'is put emphasis on grounding worship in daily life. Work is considered a form of honouring God, as is scriptural study.
Circumcision
Orthodox Judaism practices circumcision for males as a matter of religious obligation, as does Islam as a symbol of dedication to the religion. Islam also recommends this practice as a form of cleanliness. Western Christianity replaced that custom with a baptism ceremony varying according to the denomination, but generally including immersion, aspersion or anointment with water. Because of the decision of the Early Church (Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem) that circumcision is not mandatory, it continues to be optional, though the Council of Florence prohibited it and paragraph #2297 of the Catholic Catechism calls non-medical amputation or mutilation immoral. Many countries with majorities of Christian adherents have low circumcision rates (with the notable exceptions of the United States and the Philippines). Coptic Christianity and Ethiopian Orthodoxy still observe circumcision. See also Aposthia.
Food restrictions
Judaism and Islam have strict dietary laws, with permitted food known as kosher in Judaism and halaal in Islam. Both religions prohibit the consumption of pork; Islam also prohibits the consumption of alcoholic beverages of any kind. Halaal restrictions can be seen as a modification of the kashrut dietary laws, so many kosher foods are considered halaal; especially in the case of meat, which Islam prescribes must be slaughtered in the name of God, hence in Morocco Muslims used to consume kosher food. Similarly, some foods not considered kosher are considered halaal in Islam. Protestants have no set food laws. Catholics developed ritual prohibitions against the consumption of meat (but not fish) on Fridays, and the Christian calendars prescribe abstinence from some foods at various times of the year - but these customs vary from place to place, and have changed over time, and some sects have nothing comparable.
Some approaches to practice have developed in certain Protestant denominations, such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which strongly advise against certain foods and, in some cases, encourage vegetarianism or veganism. Adherents to the Bahá'í Faith are prohibited from drinking alcohol. They are also prohibited from using opiates and other recreational drugs, unless prescribed by a competent physician. Mormonism also has a dietary code, though more related to various drugs than foods; it is known as the Word of Wisdom.
In the Christian Bible, the consumption of strangled animals and of blood were forbidden by the Apostolic Decree and are still forbidden in the Greek Orthodox denomination.
Proselytism
Judaism accepts converts, but has no explicit missionaries as such since the destruction of the Temple Era. Judaism states that non-Jews can achieve righteousness by following Noahide Laws, a set of seven universal commandments which non-Jews are expected to follow. In this context, the Rambam (Rabbi Moses Maimonides, one of the major Jewish teachers) commented: "Quoting from our sages, the righteous people from other nations have a place in the world to come, if they have acquired what they should learn about the Creator". Because the commandments applicable to the Jews are much more detailed and onerous than Noahide laws, Jewish scholars have traditionally maintained that it is better to be a good non-Jew than a bad Jew, thus discouraging conversion. Most often, converts to Judaism are those who marry Jews; in the United States, the number of such converts is estimated at 10,000-15,000 per year. See also Conversion to Judaism.
Christianity encourages evangelism, as Jesus did — convincing others to convert to the religion; many Christian organizations, especially Protestant churches, send missionaries to non-Christian communities throughout the world. See also Great Commission.
Forced conversions to Catholicism have been documented at various points throughout history. The most prominently cited allegations are the conversions of the pagans after Constantine; of Muslims, Jews and Eastern Orthodox during the Crusades; of Jews and Muslims during the time of the Spanish Inquisition, where they were offered the choice of exile, conversion or death; and of the Aztecs by Hernan Cortes. Many Hindutva organizations in India allege that some Christian missionaries in India are converting the illiterate Dalits (the so-called low castes) by fraudulent means. Forced conversions are condemned as sinful by major denominations such as the Roman Catholic Church, which officially states that forced conversions pollute the Christian religion and offend human dignity, so that past or present offenses are regarded as a scandal (a cause of unbelief).
W. Heffening states that in Qur'an, "the apostate is threatened with punishment in the next world only"; however, "in traditions, there is little echo of these punishments in the next world ... and instead, we have in many traditions a new element, the death penalty". It is important to note the difference between the influence of religion and the influence of tradition. Heffening states that Shafi'is interpret verse as adducing the main evidence for the death penalty in the Qur'an. The Qur'an has a chapter (Sura) dealing with non believers (called "Al-Kafiroon") (). In this chapter there is also an often-quoted verse (ayat) which reads: "'There is no compulsion in religion, the path of guidance stands out clear from error'" [2:256] and [60:8]. This means that no one is to be compelled into Islam, and that the righteous path is distinct from the rest. According to this verse, converts to Islam are ones who see this path. The Muslim expansion during the Ummayad dynasty held true to this teaching, imposing Jizya (defense tax) on People of the Book instead of forced conversion. In the present day, Islam does not have missionaries comparable to Christianity, though it does encourage its followers to learn about other religions, and to teach others about Islam.
The Bahá'í Faith puts special emphasis against proselytizing; it is prohibited. Bahá'ís do accept converts from all religious and ethnic backgrounds, and actively support personal investigation into faith. Bahá'ís have special "pioneers" and "travelling teachers" who will move to areas where Bahá'í communities are small, to help strengthen and expand them. Believers of other faiths are held in high regard and seen in many ways as spiritual equals. While Bahá'ís view the Bahá'í laws and revelation as unique, they do not discourage believers of other faiths in their spiritual endeavors, and are leaders of interfaith efforts.
See also
Further reading
- . Introduction. Acts of Religion. By Derrida, Jacques. New York & London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-92400-6.
- .
- Boyce, Mary, Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1979
- Barnett, Paul, Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament, InterVarsity Press, 2002
- Bickerman, Elias Joseph, Studies in Jewish and Christian History, in Christiansen, Ellen Juhl, The Covenant in Judaism & Paul: A study of ritual boundaries as identity markers, E.J.Brill, 1976
- Blasi, Anthony J., Turcotte Paul-André, Duhaime Jean, Handbook of Early Christianity: Social Science Approaches, Rowman Altamira, 2002
- Caussin de Perceval, A.P., Essai sur L'Historire des Arabes avant L'Islaminisme, Pendant L'Epoque de Mahomet, et jusqu'a la reduction de toutes les tribus sous la loi Musulmane, College Royal de France, Calcutta Review vol.21, University of Calcutta Dept. of English, University of Calcutta, 1853
- Firestone, Reuven, Children of Abraham: an introduction to Judaism for Muslims, KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 2001
- Freedman H. (trans.), and Simon, Maurice (ed.), Genesis Rabbah, Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis, Volume II, London: The Soncino Press, 1983. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
- Guggenheimer, Heinrich W., Seder Olam: The rabbinic view of Biblical chronology, (trans., & ed.), Jason Aronson, Northvale NJ, 1998
- Kritzeck, James, Sons of Abraham: Jews, Christians, and Moslems, Helicon, 1965.
- Greenstreet, Wendy, Integrating Spirituality in Health And Social Care: Perspectives And Social Care, Radcliffe Publishing, Oxford, 2006*Massignon, Louis, Les trois pričres d'Abraham, pčre di tuos les croyants, Dieu Vivant, 13, (1949) 20-23*Reid, Barbara E., Choosing the Better Part?: Women in the Gospel of Luke, Liturgical Press, 1996
- Scherman, Nosson, (ed.), Tanakh, Vol.I, The Torah, (Stone edition), Mesorah Publications, Ltd., New York, 2001
- .
External links
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- A side-by-side comparison of different religion's views from Beliefnet.
- How do Judaism, Christianity, and Islam differ? More from Beliefnet
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