Monday, January 29, 2007
Islam
While reading Smith's "The Straight Path of Islam," I became very interested in his discussion of this religion I knew very little about. The way he described the surah as "the heartbeat of the Muslim's response to God" really intrigued me. This statement really shows that this one simple prayer, in a way, is the foundation to everything they do in life, it is what keeps their religion alive. Overall I was shocked to see how similar but yet how different the Islamic faith is from my own faith. Smith goes on to discuss the "Five Pillars" of the Islamic faith. I'm not Catholic but I do know a little and I was wondering if the "Pillars" are in a way equivalent to the sacraments of the Catholic faith. If someone who knows more about it could answer this question I would greatly appreciate it.
3 comments:
Thanks for the post, Amanda. Good question, too. There are certainly some interesting parallels one might draw between a couple of the Sacraments & the Five Pillars, but there are a number of differences as well. (I'll leave it to someone more knowledgeable to explain.)
The pillars are five requirements expected of all Muslims. Except for the Hajj, those who are sick and elderly are not required. The sacraments are different because they are not a way of life. A sacrament by definition is an outward, visible sign that convey an inward, spiritual grace, including baptism, eucharist, confirmation, marriage and a few others.
However, even though they don't exactly parallel the Sacraments they do parallel other Christian laws. Such as, the first pillar and the first commandment.
Kalima-"there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger"
1st commandment-I am your God You shall have no other gods before Me
Also with the Zakat or Almsgiving. Muslims are required to give between 2 and 10 percent of their shared income and Christians 10%.
Both religions also have a time for fasting (sawm). However, during the month of Ramadan they tell you what to fast from: no food,medicine, drink(including water), smoking, or sex. Ramadan is also close to the period of Lent in which many christians give up their vices.
Robert Ellwood has said Islam is a cross-cultural faiths-Christianity and Buddhism.
If you have any more questions I'll try to answer them...
Thanks Amanda, that helped out alot!
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