Question

For this discussion post, please consider the following:

1. Discuss ways in which Muslims and Christians can co exist.
2. In what ways are faith based people similar and have a commonality?

Answer 1

Violence has no religion, ethnicity or morality: if anything it reflects a betrayal of our basic humanity, for in violence we forget who we are. What surrounds us is beyond comprehension and puts all of us to shame. For people of faith and principles, this is a time for introspection and deep reflection.We must never forget that life has not always been like this, and have faith that we can stop the tide. To do this, we need to stand firm and form an alliance of virtue that will combat and deal justly with the root causes of the problems, not their symptoms. We must be convinced that the issue is not too much religion, but too little good religion. And the criminals out there need to be perceived and treated just like other criminals. task is awesome, but we should not be afraid of our duty to be bridge-builders and peacemakers. To do this effectively, we should dig deep in the teachings of our faiths on justice, compassion, courage, patience and respect.Our interdependent existence must be at the back of our minds, at all time. Soon, two out of every three members of the church will have a Muslim neighbour. The need to educate our flocks on the proprieties of co-existence and the embracing of difference is a top priority. perhaps the biggest challenge for all of us Christians and Muslims is to change basic attitudes so that they reflect the complex world in which we live.Both Christianity and Islam need to be detribalised in the global village. Our efforts should focus on finding areas of convergence, not conversion. centuries the two faith communities have managed to co-exist peacefully in almost all countries in the Middle East and elsewhere. Islam has recognised Christianity as a sister Abrahamic faith. Places of worship have been respected, freedom of worship accorded and lives and property protected. The oldest known Christian community that speaks the language Jesus allegedly spoke has co-existed with Muslim neighbours until the recent troubles.

Case study-There is a phrase that you hear all the time in Nigeria: Nigerians are the world’s happiest people and the most religious. Gentlemen, how would you assess the role of religion in Nigeria and particularly in comparison with the role of religion in the U.S. or in West .

Islam praised the divine religions, their divine books, and prophets. Allah said, “Children of Israel. It also praised the Christians, “Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, “We are Christians”: because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.Peaceful Coexistence between Muslims and Christians under Israeli Occupation Sincethe major Palestinian Nakba in 1948, Muslims and Christians lived in Palestine in a spe- cial atmosphere of harmony and brotherhood, which has not been repeated in history. The followers of both religions joined in their struggle against the occupation of the Palestinian territories. They participated in the Palestinian suffering, and shared the same concerns and anguish and pain. The unique phenomenon ofMuslim-Christian coexistence in Palestine was not a normal coexis- tence.It was mixed with the blood of the martyrs, the suffering of prisoners, and the sacrifices of freedom fighters who were in the frontlines of the Palestinian struggle. Muslims and Christians remained united against all forms of ethnic cleansing and attempts to circumvent the national rights of the Palestinian people. During its occupation, Israel has attempted to sow discord between Muslims and Christians in Palestine. They attempted to circulate false rumours in an attempt to weaken this national and social fabric.However, the national will and the heroic attitudes of the followers of both religions were victorious; forging a partnership in blood and determination.The battle of Kansiyyah al- Mahd is good testimony to the great sacrifice made by members of the Christian community in their plight against the Israeli blockade. The following are some instances that testify to the highest degree of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance between Muslims and Christians.“O mankind, We created you all from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another.”1 This verse clearly indicates that there should not be any discrimination based on clan, creed, race or religion. The word Islam itself refers to peace. Islamic teachings contain many injunctions for settling disputes between people and nations with the aim of establishing peace. Islamic history shows that Muslims and non-Muslims co-existed in peace in Medina (first Islamic State) and the successive Muslim states. The Charter of Medina, declared by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in 622 A.D., is the best example to establish communal coexistence of different beliefs. This policy was also exercised by successive rulers of different Muslim territories in the history of Islamic world. Unfortunately, establishing peaceful coexistence has now become a challenge in the world. Several Muslim countries have been suffering from internal conflict and resistance even among the different Muslim groups. Hence, the review of Islamic attitude towards coexistence is deemed significant. Within this context, the paper aims at exploring the view of Islam towards the peaceful coexistence of various religious groups with some examples from the history of Muslim societies particularly during the early time period of Islam. The methodology used in this conceptual study is the critical analysis of literature surveyed on the concept of Islam regarding the peaceful coexistence of religions and its practice in the history of Muslim societies.

b- Islam shares a number of beliefs with Christianity. They share similar views on judgment, heaven, hell, spirits, angels, and a future resurrection. Jesus is acknowledged as a great prophet and respected by Muslims.While religion and spirituality are similar in foundation, they are very different in practice. Religion is an organized, community-based system of beliefs, while spirituality resides within the individual and what they personally believe. Both religion and spirituality can have a positive impact on mental health.Christians believe that Jesus Christ is incarnate God and to know him is to know God. Thus, Christology supersedes formal theological knowledge. Theology ceases to be speculative and becomes a matter of faith and trust.Faith is a mystery that cannot be mediated and an experience that cannot be dissected.Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all started with Abraham. The old testament in the Christian bible is the same as the Torah. Hinduism believes in many Gods, but Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have only one god, while Buddhism has no God.Something that the five major world religions (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam) have in common is a sense of community. A sense of community provides group cohesion and identity, as well as a way for rituals and traditions to be passed down from generation to generation.Traditionally, both Judaism and Christianity believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for Jews the God of the Tanakh, for Christians the God of the Old Testament, the creator of the universe.We must stress the basic values that are common to all religions: compassion; solidarity; respect for the human person; the Golden Rule of “do as you would be done by”...thank you.