Malcolm X (4)

 Over the weekend while I was reading chapter seventeen, something interesting caught my eye. On page 325, Malcolm talks about Dr Mahmoud Youssef Shawarbi, a professor, who is later introduced to him. As they talked, Dr. Shawarbi told Malcolm "No man has believed perfectly until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself (Haley 326)." At first, I thought, wow, that is a very true and remarkable statement. But, then as I began to think deeper about it, I realized it sounded very familiar to something that has been taught to me for the past 15 years. 

In the Bible, there is a quote that says "you shall love your neighbor as yourself." Although they are not written out the same, the two quotes basically mean the same thing. Both are saying that you should only do to people what you wish to be done to yourself. Don't do something mean to somebody else because you would not want it to happen to you.

I knew that Judiasm and Christianity share many similarities because the bible and Torah consist partly of the old testament. However, I had no idea that Islam and Christianity are similar. 

I decided to do some research on the similarities between Christianity and Islam, and found many cool things. 

Here is a list of similarities that I found : 

There is only One True God

We are not to worship any other gods

Many Old Testament prophets were from God

Jesus was from God

It appeared to all that Jesus died on the cross

God gave the Torah, the prophets, and Gospel

We are to obey God’s words

We should surrender/sacrifice ourselves to God

Jesus will return

God will resurrect all for judgment.

Believers who die will go to heaven and live forever

Disbelievers will go to hell to be punished forever

It is important to pray to God

We should help the poor (at least the Muslim poor)

Christians, Jews, and Muslims should not be killed for their faith.

I thought that all of these were very interesting. The one that stood out to me the most was Christians, Jews, and Muslims should not be killed for their faith because it brings all three religions together. It shows unity, and that just because not everybody prays to the same God, nobody wants to be penalized for their faith. 

Source for list here.

A more in-depth description of the similarities and differences here.