Jesus and Mohammad paper
Africans imported to the United States through the triangle trade of Africa, Europe, and the America has, found themselves in most southern states. The middle passage as it was known was one of the worst if not the worst atrocity perpetrated on any race of people. Sold into slavery by our fellow man for worn firearms, rusted metals, seasonings, and alcohol, was a small price to pay for what our futures would hold.
Fast-forwarding beyond the indentured servitude and the slavery, I find myself right in the middle of Jim Crow and segregation. Why is school so different for me than it is for the white kids? Perhaps it has something to do with the great disparity of the allocations of funds to the white schools to ensure that they receive a superior education than I do.
In 1930, South Carolina spent ten times as much on education for whites as it did for blacks; Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama devoted five times more for white children as they did for black children, (Eyes on the Prize p2) faith and Jesus of Nazareth for the Christian faith, because these two men/ prophets or in Christianity’s case, God, has left a tremendous impact on all of their followers; both while living, and increasingly so when they were dead. Some believers think that the death of these men brought them to greater providence.
In this essay, I will be attempting to identify the early childhoods of both men, their impact on their followers; and the ways in which the followers have worshipped them. This essay will also cover the impact of those messages in today’s society. The core biographical fact for Christianity assigns to Jesus’ life is the immaculate conception or his birth through the virgin Mary. His death and resurrection, which has become the foundation core beliefs of the Christian faith. While doing my research I found that the life of Jesus is being told through the Four Gospels; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (King James Bible). In Matthew, it deals with the Magi and their travels to see witness the birth of the new King of The Jews. It also makes mention of Christ as a child sitting in the temple debating with the Scribes and Rabbis. Early in his life, he showed a great passion for doing God’s will, which allowed him to become the great teacher that he was.
Nothing else is spoken upon in the four gospels of Jesus’ early life until we get to the point of his baptism. Here we learn Jesus is by John the Baptist, who has to decrease in order for Jesus to increase. This has to be done because John was known as a prophet, and the Sadducees and Pharisees feared him as a man of God. after the baptism, Jesus would have to take his position, go off to fast for forty days to get the spiritual strength he would need to complete his mission for God, which was to die on the cross for the remissions of sins for all humanity. God needed Jesus to be a sacrificial lamb to give all humanity a chance to come and present himself or herself holy and unblemished before Him. The ultimate sacrifice is revealed in (John 3:16), For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that who so ever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
During his time on earth, he would preach the gospel of good news, and heaven on earth. When Jesus preached amongst the masses, they all marveled at the authority in which he spoke, and the Sadducees, and Pharisees considered his teachings to be blasphemy, and wanted to put him to death. After sentencing by Pontius Pilate, Jesus was put to death on the cross, and after three days, he rose from the grave. He appeared before his disciples, and sanctioned them to go out and preach the gospel. This short rendition of the life of Christ is the core of the Christian faith, and what separates it from the beliefs of Islam.
In Islam, they believe in the prophets, and the holy books, but what they do not accept is one man dying for another man’s sins, which is the core of Christianity. The prophet Mohammad was born son of Muhammad, son of Abdullah, son of Abdul Muttalib, of the tribe of Quraysh. He was born in Makkah, fifty -three years before the Hijrah. Mohammad’s father died before he was born, and his grandfather became his first caregiver, Abdul Muttalib, and after his grandfather died, he went to live with his uncle, Abu Talib. As a young boy, he traveled with his uncle to Syria in a merchant’s caravan, which he would do later on in life for a rich widow named Khadijah, who would become his wife. There was a group of Hunafa’s, who desired to know the original teachings of Abraham, and not the idol worshipping of the intercessors, or daughters of Allah in the house of Allah. Mohammad found himself as one of these, and started going out in the month of Ramadan to meditate in a cave in Hira’, known as the Mountain of Light. It here that Mohammad received his first revelation from the Angel Jibril, (Gabriel); he was forty years old then. As a man who was not learned, when he heard the voice of the angel telling him to read, he was afraid because he could not, and after the third time he replied to the angel what shall I read. It then that he started to receive what is now known as the Quran.
Remember as a part of the Hunafa’s, he was in search of the real earthly religion and teachings of Abraham, so to report what was happening to him they would think that he has gone somewhat mad. Therefore, Mohammad’s earliest converts were his wife Khadijah, his first cousin Ali, his servant Zayd, a former slave, and his friend Abu Bakr.
In Islam, the Prophet Mohammad is not worshipped like Jesus Christ in Christianity. Instead, his life, his love, his loyalty, and his servitude are used as an example of what Allah requires for all Muslims. What is a Muslim One who submits to the will of Allah? As a Muslim, it is your duty to perform the Five Pillars by exercising your faith in Allah, praying five times daily, giving alms, fasting, and making your pilgrimage to Mecca. In Christianity your submission and belief in the immaculate birth, death and resurrection
of Christ is your way to the Father who is in heaven. In Islam there is no mediator, each man or woman is responsible for there own relationship with Allah, and always giving thanks to Mohammad as the last messenger of God. In Islam, they accept the prophets and the holy books; in Christianity, they accept only the old and new testaments as official doctrine of Christ.
The similarities are evident; both prophets were persecuted for their message. Jesus, throughout scripture performed many miracles, the turning of water into wine, the healing of the sick, and the raising of the dead. Whereas with the Prophet Mohammad, his only miracle was the receiving of the holy Quran as an uneducated man. Their teachings of old are still relevant for today. Although a group of radical, Muslims continue to misinterpret the meaning of Jihad, and take there frustrations out on the world; and a group of what I call store front preachers, and mega church leaders, are still leading uneducated about Christ, Christians into poverty and despair. Learning the true word of God is going to take a dedication, and desire for truth before you can get a complete understanding.
The two men of God spoken of in this essay had a job to do, and fulfilled it with their very lives. Let the example of Jesus Christ, and his willingness to please the Father, and Mohammad and his desire to be a slave for Allah serve us all with the motivation we need to develop our relationship with the One and True God.
References
Fisher, M.P. (2005). Living religions (6th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
King James Bible, The Quran Jesus And Mohammed. Anti Essays. Retrieved April 18, 2009, from the World Wide