by Alan Fernald

Created on: April 02, 2007   Last Updated: April 06, 2007

The tenets upon which the religion of Islam is founded, are very similar to those principles upon which Christianity itself was founded. The principles of a single supreme being, hospitality to strangers, a dependence on ritual worship, and a history of very bloody 'forced' conversions to their faith. However, there are also many key differences in the principles of Islam when compared to Christianity.

1. The Christian faith generally believes in a trinity composed of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whereas Islam recognizes a single deity named Allah.

Though the Islamic faith professes faith in Allah as their supreme being, Muhammad, the last acknowledged prophet, is generally considered as Allah's 'comforter' to his people, similar to the attributes assigned to the Holy Spirit in the Christian Trinity.

2. The Christian faith recognizes Jesus as the perfect son of God, and as part of the Holy Trinity, whereas Islam recognizes Jesus as the highly esteemed second-last prophet from Allah.

Both the Christian and Islamic faiths believe that Jesus (Yeshua) ascended alive into Heaven, however, the Christian faith professes that Jesus was executed on a cross, died, and was resurrected three days later to atone for the sins of the world, whereas the Islamic faith does not recognize that Jesus ever suffered death.

3. The Christian faith relies on the Christian Bible, which varies between major sects, whereas Islam recognizes a single Holy book called the Koran.

Depending upon the Christian sect, there are various versions of the Christian Bible in use. Also, though many sects share the same version, their interpretation varies based upon whether the sect believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible as God's Holy Word, or interpreted figuratively. Additionally, some sects proclaim the Bible as the Divinely inspired words of God, while others believe it to be documentation of the history of the church.

The Islamic faith professes that the Holy Koran is composed of the Allah's Words and Final Revelations passed on to man by the Angel Gabriel. It is generally interpreted literally.

4. The Christian faith provides mankind with free will regarding their beliefs, whereas Islamic teachings provide a chance to convert to Islam willingly, but if you choose not to, forced conversion is acceptable.

The Koran promotes the forced conversion of "Kafur"* (non-believers) people if the believers have sufficient strength to force the conversion. If insufficient strength is available,

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>