Major Belief Systems Comparison- Christianity and Islam

Christianity and Islam both have roots in Judaism and share many principals and characteristics such as monotheism, prophets, and ‘codes of conduct’ to live by. However, they differed in many ways, like what their prophets taught/claimed, the specific rules and customs they live by, and the major events that mark each religions. Both are widely popular today and practiced all around the world, each with it’s own unique beliefs and customs, along with distinct similarities. As both Islam and Christianity stemmed from Judaism, they share many basic principals. The first and foremost of which being monotheism, both believed exclusively in one God and forbade idol worship. In fact, both had this instruction in their law codes, (the 10 Commandments for Christianity and the Five Pillars and Shari ‘a for Islam), the fact that both had law codes being another similarity. These moral codes were what followers of each religion were required to live by. Also, both came into being at the hands of a prophet who taught that God had sent them as their savior. (Jesus in Christianity and Muhammad in Islam) Both of these prophets had followers who, after their death, continued to preach the lessons they had (such as repentance). Even with these core things in common, there were many differences as well. For instance, Muhammad and Jesus didn’t teach or claim all the same things. Unlike Jesus, Muhammad never claimed to preform miracles. Muhammad also didn’t claim to be the Son of God, but his final messenger. There were also differences in the law codes. The 10 Commandments demanded respect for parents, rest on the Sabbath, and prohibited murder, theft, adultery, lying, envy and idol worship; these being the sole basic rules to live by as a Christian. In Islam, however it got a little more complicated. The Shari ‘a was the book of Islamic law which addresses how one should act and make decisions as a Muslim. The Shari ‘a also deals with many topics addressed by secular laws