Jesus & Mohammad

Most historians believe Jesus Christ was born a few years prior to the Common Era, sometime around seven to two BC. Jesus mother Mary, also known as the "Virgin Mary" for the belief that she was a virgin at the time of conception, was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. Mary's husband Joseph, a carpenter by trade was informed that his wife was going to have a baby in a mystical way. From this point, Joseph and Mary decided to take a journey to Bethlehem for the birth. Upon arrival, there was no room in the Inn, so Mary was forced to give birth in a stable surrounded by animals. Some historians believe Jesus was born in or near Nazareth, his home town of Galilee not Bethlehem. After given birth, Mary named her son Jesus, which means "God saves".

At the age of 12, Jesus traveled to Jerusalem with his parents on their yearly trip where he was accidently left behind but discovered by some doctors. Shortly after Jesus disappearance, he was found by his parents in a temple reading from the Torah with rabbis. Not much has been documented about Jesus over the years until the New Testament except that he studied the Torah and had a few encounters with God who he called Abba. At the age of 30, Jesus met John the Baptist who was performing Baptisms on individuals in the Jordan River. John refused to baptize Jesus for his credence that Jesus was too holy and sinless but Jesus insisted and the baptism was conducted. After the baptism, Jesus fasted for 40 days in the dessert where he had his first encounter with Satin.

After the 40 day journey, Jesus started a ministry where he gathered his first disciples, Simon, Andrew, James and John wherein all traveled together while Jesus performed many miracles, such as producing food and exorcisms. One day Jesus decided to hold a last supper to inform his followers and disciples the end was near. After the Last Supper, Jesus was put on trial where he spoke with elders and high priests where it was decided Jesus needed to pay for his political involvement and was therefore sentenced to a crucifixion. Jesus carried a large wooden cross wearing a crown of thorns on his head up a hill called Golgotha where he was eventually hung for hours with two others until his death. Right after Jesus death, he was laid to rest in a tomb that was covered with a large boulder and a guard. On Sunday, the cave was open and it was empty.

Many sightings of Jesus were discovered after this event and some say Jesus continued to perform miracles as he once did. Muhammad also known as "the praised one" was a man who was born sometime around 570 CE and is considered to be the last prophet to walk on earth. Muhammad's primary purpose was to restore the true religion and word of Allah. After the death of Muhammad's mother and grandfather, Muhammad went to live with his uncle where he worked as a shepherd. During Muhammad's teenage years, his uncle and he took a trip to Syria where a Christian Monk noticed some special markings on Muhammad's body that indicated he was a prophet. As Muhammad got a little older, he worked for a very wealthy woman named Khadijah taking care of her caravans.

By the time Muhammad was 25 year old, Khadijah being 40, she had asked him to marry her, which he did. Over the years throughout Muhammad and Khadijahs' marriage, Muhammad began to retreat more into his religious studies and at the age of 40 during the month of Ramadan, Muhammad had really retreated into his studies. During this time the angel Gabriel came to him in human form asking Muhammad to recite certain words in which is now known to be the first words in the Qur'an. Three years later, Muhammad was asked to preach publicly and became hated by much of society for doing so. At the age of 50, the worst year of all, also known as the "year of sorrows", his wife and uncle passed away. It is believed that during a time when Muhammad was at his peak, he experienced the Night of Ascension, where it is said he traveled to the seven heavens where he met other prophets such as Adam and Jesus and saw a paradise and hell.

Muhammad directing the first raid against the Meccan caravans where many wars took place. During the 11^th year of the Muslim era, Muhammad made his final pilgrimage to Ka'bah preach the rites that must be followed by all. After the preaching of the rites, Muhammad returned to Medina where he became very sick and stated he felt the end was near. Muhammad gave his final instructions to all, and told everyone that he would meet them at "the Fountain" in paradise. Muhammad died in 632 CE and left no instructions to who was to succeed him.

The death of Jesus has given the religion of Christianity a hope to all individuals, that anyone who accepts the Lord will have the opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven due to Jesus crucifixion on the cross. Because Jesus Christ died, he was able to be resurrected as a messiah, and without this occurrence, Jesus would not have been able to preach the word of God therefore Christianity would have never been created and would be nonexistent. Without the spread of Christianity, there would be many religions that would be nonexistent as well and individual follows of these faiths would look elsewhere.

The death of Jesus has also showed that God is a loving and caring being who would do anything for the human race including sacrificing his or her son Jesus. The death of Muhammad has helped the Islamic religion a great deal and has opened the eyes to many of its followers. Though Muhammad was a man, he did not consider himself anything more than an individual who was spreading the word of God. Before Muhammad died, it was known that society worshiped many Gods, and it was not until Muhammad's death did individuals start to realize this was wrong and the monotheistic religion came back into play. Because of Muhammad, only God is prayed to and no other.

Jesus was looked upon as a prophet, a messiah, and a man who was and still is prayed to and through in order to speak to God. Jesus is believed to be our savior, and without the love for Jesus, men, women and children may not have the chance to enter heaven. By praying and repenting to Jesus, many believe one will be saved. It is also believed by some that God incarnated him or herself as Jesus to walk the earth and as a result of this, praying to Jesus means praying to God. In certain scriptures, it shows that Jesus was worshipped on earth and therefore those who worshipped him received help due to it. Scriptures such as Matthew 8:2, John 9:38, Matthew 14:33 and so forth.

Muslims do not worship Muhammad as Christians worship Jesus and other prophets because all prophets were humans. It is known that the prophet Muhammad use to say that he was "the messenger of God and his slave". Muslims do in fact love him for he is considered to be the main reason for bringing out the truth of God's word and making Islam a monotheistic religion as it once was. Muslims do in fact ask for peace to bestow upon him, respect and love all of God's messengers but never pray or worship any other but God.

Jesus and Muhammad's messages are being carried out in the modern world due to Islam and Christianity teaching and preaching the word of God. By growing larger and stronger as a religion, more people are turning to God for help rather than seeking it outside of religion. Islam and Christianity have constructed organizations such as schools to educate individuals, anti terrorism groups, news, radio stations, TV broadcasting and even the use of the internet to spread the word of God (Yahoo Directory, 2008).

References

Yahoo Directory. (2008). Islamic Organizations. Retrieved August 17, 2008, from http://d2.dir.ac2.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Religion_and_Spirituality/Faiths_and_Practices/Islam/Organizations/