Culture Comparison for Islam

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Culture Comparison Western Europe to Islam Christianity and Islam share much common ground. Both trace their roots to Abraham. Both believe in prophecy, God's messengers (apostles), revelation, scripture, the resurrection of dead, and the centrality of religious community. This last element is especially important. Both Christianity and Islam have a communitarian dimension: what the church is to Christianity the "umma" is to Islam. Muslims and Christians believe there is only one God / Allah. The basic testimony of Islam is called the 'shahada', the first clause of which states that "la ilaha illa Allah" -- "There is no god but God." This is certainly a statement that Christians would affirm. Many of the Muslim beliefs come from the Bible. Much of the historical foundation for the Qur'an comes from the Old Testament. Yet even though there has been influence and there are similarities, the differences in the beliefs of the two faiths are striking. Islam teaches that God is a unit and this explicitly excludes the trinity. However, it is important to realize that what Islam is rejecting concerning the Trinity is not (may we emphasize, IS NOT) the biblical view of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, but rather they are rejecting the heretical concept of the trinity being God the Father, Mary the Mother and Jesus the Son, This is blasphemy to them and, may we say, to the Christian as well. One reason for this distorted view of the trinity is that the Arabs had no Arabic New Testament and thus had been influenced by a false Christian view.This emphasis on the unity of God comes across in other ways. Islam teaches that God is divorced from His creation. He is so unified to Himself that He cannot be associated with creation. His transcendence is so great that He acts impersonally, even to the point of choosing those He wants for
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