Christianity and Islam are two of the largest religions in the world. They both had origins around the same location, near present day Middle East. Although they are very different in practices and rituals, the two religions share many similarities. The religions both worship the Judeo-Christian-Islamic (JCI) concept of God. They can trace their origins to Abraham and his descendants. Christianity was founded on the beliefs of Jesus’s teachings as told by The Bible. Islam was formed by Muhammad, who is recognized as God’s prophet.
Roughly two thousand years ago, Christianity began and set itself apart from Judaism by claiming that the religion is the final development of the religion prevalent in Hebrew communities. Christianity revealed that the New Testament was God’s new covenant with him. The man who lead this new religion was Jesus. Claiming to be the Son of God, his teachings were the basis for Christianity. Many scholars agree that Jesus was born a few years before the beginning of the time period known as Common Era. Jesus was born in Bethlehem where Old Testament Scholars believed that the new Messiah would be born. Bethlehem was the home of David. The gospel of Luke describes the ancestry of Jesus all the way back to Abraham. According to the Gospels in the New Testament, Jesus was born to Mary and was said to be immaculately conceived, as Mary was a virgin. Joseph was Mary’s husband but was not Jesus’s father. Very little is known of Jesus’s child and young adulthood. He was observed at a Jewish temple at the age of 12 speaking to rabbis, impressing them with his knowledge of the scriptures. After that Jesus doesn’t really appear in the bible until he has meets John the Baptist. After being baptized Jesus took a 40 day retreat where he was fasting and was tempted by the devil. Jesus eventually had a group of followers who accepted him as the their Messiah. Jesus and his disciples would then travel all over the area known as present day Israel performing miracles. Later in his life Jesus was accused of blasphemy and under pressure from the crowds Pilate sentenced him to death by crucifixion.
Almost 600 years after Jesus’s death, Europe was in the midst of the dark ages. Then there was a man who many people looked up to and listened when he talked. Muhammad was Allah’s prophet. Muhammad was born into a poor clan in Mecca. When he was a young boy both of his parents died and he was later adopted by his uncle, with whom he worked as a shepherd. He worked in the caravan trade where he met his wife Khadija and married her when he was twenty-five years old. It was at this point that Muhammad’s life would change. He spent more and more time in isolation contemplating away from life’s distractions. When Muhammad was forty years old, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and forced him to recite the first words of the Qur’an. He was initially distraught about becoming the new prophet but his wife and family were very supportive of him. Three years later he was instructed to spread the word of Allah and was subject to ridicule by the Qurayshites. After gaining a small following, Muhammad and his followers were banished and forced to fend for themselves. He came back a few years later and had eventually lost his wife and uncle. At this point he rose to the heavens and saw all of the prophets from Adam to Jesus. After this he went to Yathrib which was called the City of the Prophet. There he silently built a following. The citizens of Mecca were intimidated by all of the events and he led a negotiation between the two cities. He eventually died in 632 A.D from illness.
The lives of Muhammad and Jesus Christ had incredible impact in the world. Jesus had started a new chapter of Gods testament towards his people and Muhammad had spoken the word of God. Their deaths may have had a larger impact on their religions than the short time the spent alive. Jesus had died by crucifixion and a disciple had asked to take his body