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   The Fundamentals of Christianity and Islam   
      
      
   After reading many postings on Christian newsgroups and Muslim   
   newsgroups I have noticed there are many posts which are aimed at   
   converting people from one faith to their own faith but very little   
   effort being made to understand the differences between the   
   Monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Above all   
   there is a mass of postings made by Christians attempting to teach   
   Muslims the message of Jesus and Christianity. I myself am a Muslim   
   (Islam) and find it very disturbing that so many Christians seem to   
   have little to no understanding of just what it is that Muslims   
   believe.   
      
   Perhaps as a Christian you have no wish to understand either since you   
   have found a set of teachings that you believe are the truth and have   
   therefore dismissed all other religions as being false religions. As a   
   Muslim my religion is Islam and the scripture that I try to live my   
   life by is the Qur'an. In the Qur'an it is written that humans should   
   question all things and that God expects and encourages this as the   
   way to find truth. Like Christians we also believe that when you here   
   the truth (be it gods will) you will know it and recognize it if you   
   use reason. I am sure that as Christians you will believe the same   
   thing since to encourage blind belief in something is simply to   
   encourage mental suicide. The aim of writing this post is not to   
   attempt to convert Christians to Islam but to point out a difference   
   in beliefs that will hopefully bring about greater understanding and   
   harmony between the two faiths…As a Christian you can only benefit by   
   knowing the mindset of someone of a different faith…who knows you may   
   even end up converting someone with this information.   
      
      I know that I have benefited by reading Bible text to understand   
   where Christian beliefs and mentality is coming from. I am about to   
   attempt to give a crash course on the central Muslim belief without   
   boring you with pages and pages of detail…I am going to try to explain   
   why I choose Islam over Christianity as my religion. Before I put my   
   case I would like to repeat that both Christians and Muslims believe   
   that when you here truth you know it and cannot find fault in it nor   
   deny it. As a Muslim I believe that gods people do not live in one   
   grouping of people on the planet…ie…..come judgment day it is not   
   going to be all those who called themselves Muslims, or Christians, or   
   Jews that are going to ascend to heaven but it will be a very mixed   
   composition of people that does not take into account such superficial   
   things as religious label be it Jew Christian or Muslim, country of   
   residence, or color of skin, Everyone's fate will be decided by their   
   actions and the words that flow from their hands and lips. I believe   
   this is what the prophets were teaching in scripture…one such example   
   being Jesus when he implied: not all who come with my message are of   
   Gods people (or something to that effect). Everyone's fate will be   
   determined by Gods judgment and not human judgment since God is the   
   knower of all things both seen and unseen in the heart. To suggest   
   such a theory as come judgment day all the Muslims/Christians/Jews   
   living in such and such a country will be "the righteous" and all the   
   rest will face the punishment of God for their sins is a very   
   simplistic black and white view and is far away from a rational mind   
   and the teachings of any religious texts. It is also a very dangerous   
   fanatical way of thinking. Life would be a lot easier if everyone's   
   labels matched the way they behaved and what was in their hearts but   
   sadly this is far from reality. I think the following quote sums up   
   this belief:   
      
   "Religion is not a club you can join. Your religion is something you   
   will drift in and out of throughout your life dependant on your   
   behavior. Your fate salvation and guidance in this life and the next   
   are not decided by the label you go by. be it agnostic Christian, Jew,   
   or Muslim, but by your actions, the words that flow from your lips,   
   and what you truly believe in your heart. This is my religion, your   
   religion, and everybody's religion......the name of this religion and   
   teaching is XXXXX"   
      
   Of course this viewpoint is not unique to Islam, which is why I put   
   XXXXX instead of Islam, I'm sure many Christians reading this can   
   relate to this wisdom when they read it, and I'm sure many would tell   
   me this is Christianity too.   
      
   Many Christians would be surprised at reading the Qur'an…….the   
   scripture is very much the same as the bible and tells the same   
   stories of the profits and has the same moral messages…sometimes with   
   slight variation in historic events but mostly the same. Muslims Claim   
   that Mohamed was the last profit and was given the message of God so   
   that he can correct the human Corruption of the original message of   
   the prophets before him, much the same as Christians believe Jesus was   
   given the message of God to confirm what the Jews had already   
   received………The question begs to be asked What was this message that   
   god wants us to understand? you can only look at the scripture of the   
   Jews, Christians, and Muslims to decide….what were the prophets   
   teaching? What is the common theme found in all the prophets'   
   teachings?   
      
   Here is the Muslim Version and the crash course in Qur'an!   
      
   Muslims believe that gods message was that humans should not make   
   partners with God. And that there is only one God and all praise   
   belongs to Him alone. As Christians I am sure this is not a new   
   concept to you either and that you have read this many times in your   
   own scripture. But what exactly is meant by "do not make partners with   
   God"?. Muslims believe that by making "intercession" between a human   
   and God is the one thing that defines being a believer or someone who   
   is astray. In other words by assigning authority/power to anything   
   other than God is in direct contradiction of Gods will and message of   
   unity. When humans assign symbols, statues, create hierarchies in   
   society with saints and kings, and create semi gods like the golden   
   calf the Jews created when Moses went up the mountain or are tempted   
   by other values such as Abraham was we are at the same time creating   
   division among people and causing people to see others as different   
   due to the limitations of our senses. If you take away Christian   
   crucifixes, saints (holy men), statues of Jesus,  (holy buildings and   
   shrines), semi gods,  pictures of idol worship and all forms of   
   "Partners with God" what differences are remaining between those that   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)