Jesus and Muhammad
Anthony Ebron
3/1/2009
Trace the lives of Jesus and Muhammad historically. Compare what impact the death of each person had on his respective religion. Describe the ways each individual was/is worshipped. Explain how their messages are being carried out in the world today.
Jesus and Muhammad Paper
Life of Jesus:
There is very little historical proof of the life of Jesus outside of the Bible. What Christians believe about Jesus’ life and teachings is based largely on biblical texts, particularly the first four books of the New Testament, which are called the gospels. These books seem to have been written around forty to sixty years after Jesus’ death. They are based on the oral transmission of the stories and discourses, which may have been influenced by the growing split between Christians and Jews. The gospels were first written down in Greek and perhaps Aramaic, the everyday language that Jesus spoke, and then copied and translated in many different ways over the centuries.
Jesus was probably born a few years before the first year of what is now called the Common Era. Traditionally, Christians have believed that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus’ mother was Mary, who was a virgin when she conceived him by Holy Spirit; her husband was Joseph, a carpenter from Bethlehem. No other stories are told about Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth until he was twelve years old. He accompanied his parents on their yearly trip to Jerusalem for Passover. Left behind by mistake, he was said to have been discovered by his parents in the Temple discussing the Torah with the Rabbis. When scolded, he reportedly replied, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house”. This demonstrated his sense of mission even as a boy, his knowledge of Jewish tradition, and the close personal connection between Jesus and God. The New Testament is silent about the years of Jesus’ young manhood.
Jesus had many friends, including John the Baptist and the twelve disciples. Although Jesus never sinned, he was baptized by John. When Jesus came up from the water, the Holy Spirit descended, and God spoke from heaven, saying” This is my beloved son”. The disciples were men Jesus selected as companions. He chose fishermen, a tax collector, a twin, and others. They traveled with Jesus as he preached. Jesus taught people how to live Godly lives. As he traveled around Israel, Jesus taught with sermons and parables. Jesus delivered his most famous sermon on a mountain. In it Jesus taught his listeners to: love your enemies, do not judge others, trust God, do not be anxious about tomorrow, and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Jesus often taught with parables. A parable is a short story with spiritual meaning.
Jesus did many miracles to show others that he was God’s son. God gave Jesus power over nature, power over disease, and even power over death. Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus. They accused him of blasphemy, and had him arrested. A Roman Governor named Pilate tried Jesus. He wanted to release Jesus, but when the Jews threatened to riot, Pilate condemned Jesus to death on a cross. He was beaten by Roman soldiers, scourged, stripped, and nailed to a cross. He was crucified between two robbers, and died. His body was placed in the new tomb of a rich man named Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus had promised the disciples he would come back after he died. His enemies knew this and to prevent anyone from stealing the body, they had soldiers’ guard the tomb of Jesus.
On the third day after Jesus died, an angel descended, and the soldiers fled. The disciples came and found an empty tomb. Jesus had risen from the dead. Later he appeared to many believers, commanding them to teach and baptize others. Jesus eventually ascended to heaven.
The impact of Jesus’ death gave his followers renewed faith that almost died with him. His followers became increasingly more faithful and determined to spread the word of God. His followers firmly believe he was the son of God.
Jesus was worshipped in various methods throughout history and in modern day. People are still commemorating Jesus’ birthday, his death, and his resurrection. The also celebrate his enlightenment on Pentecost, the Transfiguration, and Jesus’ mother on Assumption. Christians still participate in baptisms, sacraments and days of worship.
Today throughout the entire world there are numerous sects of Christianity which are founded on the teachings of Jesus. Each sect of Christianity is diverse in the teachings and understanding of Jesus’ words. There are numerous places of worship that differ in the teachings and comprehension of Jesus’ words. Jesus’ message is being spread through the churches, bible tracts, and door to door. The Bible is the main way Jesus’ message is being spread.
Life of Muhammad:
Muhammad was born in the year 570 in the town of Mecca, a mountain in the in the high desert plateau of western Arabia. His name derives from the Arabic verb Hamada, meaning “ to praise, to glorify”. He was the first and only son of Abd Allah bin Al- Amina and Amina bint Wahb. Abd Allah died before Muhammad’s birth and Muhammad was raised by his mother Amina, who in keeping with Meccan tradition entrusted her son at an early age to a wet nurse named Halima from the nomadic tribe of the Sa’d ibn Bakr. When Muhammad was five or six his mother took him to Yatrib, an oasis town a few hundred miles north of Mecca, to stay with relatives and visit his father’s grave there. On the return journey, Amina took ill and died. Halima, his nurse, returned to Mecca with the orphaned boy and placed him in the protection of his paternal grandfather, Abdul Al-Muttalib.
Upon his grandfather’s death in 578, Muhammad, aged about eight, passed into the care of a paternal uncle, Abu Talib. Muhammad grew up in the older man’s home and remained under Abu Talib’s protection for many years. Muhammad worked as a shepherd to help pay his keep. In his teens he sometimes traveled with Abu Talib, who was a merchant. In his early twenties, Muhammad entered the service of a wealthy Meccan merchant, a widow named Khadija bint
Khawalayd. The two were distant cousins; he carried her goods to the north and returned with a profit. Impressed by his honesty and character, she eventually proposed marriage. They were wed in about 595. He was twenty-five she was nearly forty. Six children were born to them, two sons who both died in infancy, and four daughters.
Muhammad began making long retreats to a mountain cave outside town. It is now the year 610, there he fasted and meditated. After a number of indistinct visionary experiences, Muhammad was visited by an overpowering presence and instructed to recite words of such beauty and force that he and others gradually attributed them to God. It was several years before he dared to talk about it outside his family. After several experiences, he finally began to reveal the messages he was receiving to his tribe. These were gathered verse by verse and later would become the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred scripture. Muhammad and his followers were first belittled and ridiculed, then persecuted and physically attacked for departing from traditional Mecca’s tribal ways. Muhammad’s wife and uncle both died and the leaders of Mecca attempted to assassinate him.
In 622, Muhammad and his followers left Mecca and travelled to Yathrib, where his father was buried.Yathrib soon became known as Medina, the city of the Prophet. He remained there for the next six years, building the first Muslim community and gradually gathering more and more people to his side. The Meccans did not take Muhammad’s new success lightly. Early skirmishes led to three major battles in the next three years. Of these the Muslims won the first (the Battle of Badr, March, 624), lost the second (the Battle of Uhud, March, 625), and outlasted the third, (The Battle of the Trench and the Siege of Medina, April627). In March, 628, a treaty was signed between the two sides, which recognized the Muslims as a new force in Arabia and gave them freedom to move unmolested throughout Arabia. Meccan allies breached the treaty a year later.
The balance of power had shifted radically away from once- powerful Mecca, toward Muhammad and the Muslims. In January, 630, they marched on Mecca and were joined by tribe after tribe along the way. They entered Mecca without bloodshed and the Meccans, seeing the tide had turned, joined them. Muhammad returned to live in Medina. In the next three years, he consolidated most of the Arabian Peninsula under Islam. In March, 632, he returned to Mecca one last time to perform a pilgrimage, and tens of thousands of Muslims joined him. After the pilgrimage, he returned to Medina. Three months later on June 8, 632 he died there, after a brief illness. He is buried in the mosque in Medina.
The impact that his death had on his religion was, that his teachings and way of life had spread from the remote corners of Arabia as far east as Indo- China and as far west as Morocco, France and Spain. Jesus and Muhammad are both the greatest influential people known to humankind. Their lives vary tremendously, but both have built a foundation in which all humankind can strive to become.
Although they love him more dearly than their own selves, in Islam the only being that is worshipped is God. Today Muhammad message is being carried out by 54 Muslim states. Indonesia and Bangladesh, with populations of 200 and 125 million respectively, 120 million in India, 20 million in China, and Maldives or Brunei with populations of 230,000 and 260,000. The religion brought by the Prophet Muhammad, has become the second largest religion in most European countries, as also in America and Canada.
References:
Bible. Net (1996-2001). The Life of Christ- A Timeline. Retrieved July 21, 2007 from HTTP://www.biblenet.net/library/study/timeline.html
Fisher, M. (2005). Living Religions, Sixth Edition. Prentice Hall: Pearson Education, Inc.
PBS Program. (2002). Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet. Retrieved July 21, 2007 from HTTP://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_html.shtml HTTP://www.Lifeofchrist.com HTTP://www.jamaat.org/islam/muhammadtoday.html