Unlike a lot of religions the Jewish relgion involves its whole community, also by the use of 'ours' rather than 'mine' or 'I' showing their encluding of other people. Also Jews have a different view when it comes to reassurance of their religion, rather than claiming they know everything about their history they understand and resepct that they do not know everything. They know that they haven't pesonaly seen g-d face to face . Moses even tried!, but g-d replied "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me alive".
Jews also find it imporant to respect their religon as they agreed to the covenant made between their people and g-d.
God's promise to Jews- To give the Jews land of their own
- God would take care of the Jews
- God would make the Jews his chosen people
Jew's promise to God- Jews promise to obey God
- To circumcise males of 8 days old
To get a better understanding of the laws in which Jews must obey, I have typed
them out-
-Don’t worship any other G-d
-Don’t worship idols
-Don’t use the word g-d without reason
-Keep the Sabbath day
-Respect your father (and mother)
-Do not murder
-Do not commit adultury
-Do not steal
-Do not tell lies
-Do not envy other peoples property
As you can tell Jewish people believe quite a lot of things but the most important law is to obey G-ds word, this in turn will show g-d that you truly value your religion. Now below are a list of believes that may have/ have not been mentioned.
Final Review
The second religion I chose to look at was the Islamic religion, Islam is a religion that focuses quite a bit on the loyalty to Allah (god) and Allah's prophet Mohammad* (*PBUH). Muslims follow their holy book the Qu'ran, this book full of holy scriptures, rules exandind on and update on the New and Old Testiments, this contains 144 chapters. It also discusses laws (Sharia), generosity, fairness, daily prayer, alms giving and abstinence (moderation) during celebrations such as Ramadan and journeys to Mecca. As said before Muslims believe that there is only one God Allah, and that he is the source of all creation. To sum it all up there is no God but Allah and Muhammad* is his messanger.
Muslims believe that people should become something called a single Ommah (community) and that they will be judged on their actions and eventualy sent to heaven or hell. Although Muslims tend to be divided into two 'groups' one being Sunni (90% of Muslims) and Shia (10%), they have different focuses although they share most of the same customs.
In the Muslim religion there are 5 pillars of Islam these are Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Hajj and Swam.
Shahada- Faith in the uniqueness of Allah
Salat- Formal worship and prayer
Zakat- Giving alms (helping/giving something freely) to people
Hajj- Pilgrimage to Mecca
Swam- Fasting during Ramadan
Muslims have a strong belife in angels, heaven, hell and Judgement day they also wait for the return of the prophet. Muslims are taught that their relgion is the final brick in the house of God. Muslims are free and believe that their religon is important and not to be 'messed' with, with prayers having to be carried out once your over the age of 10, prayers 5 times daily, don’t worry these only last about 10 minutes, these prayers are known as the Salah this helps them to remember Allah. Muslims also pray at other times whenever they feel the need these are called Du'a. Men and women are quite equal when it comes to prayers but men are encourage to pray in mosques whilst women pray in the home.
Although a lot of things in the Islamic things have changed and over time many muslims have forgotten the true meaning, the pilgimage to Mecca is as important as eve, Muslims believe they must visit Mecca at least once in their lives.
As I mentioned before many Muslims tend to read the relgion wrong and don’t fully understand what the Muslim relgion wants from them. The bombings and killings (07/07/05 Train Bomb) are an example of that, if you really looked into the religion you would see clearly that Muslims do not like or promote violence. Also this religon like most believe that god is 'just' and people that don’t do right will eventualy be punished. Although there are similarities with other religions one difference that I found out was that Muslims feel that the idea that God had a rest on the 7th day is blasphemous!
Final Review
- There is only one God (Allah), 'There is no God but Allah, and his messanger Muhammad*)
- His angels- Muslims believe that there are angels that carry out Allahs orders
- His books- Muslims believe that god gives all humans guidance via the Qu'ran
- His prophets- The Qu'ran mentions 25 prophets which are also in the bible
- Day of Judgement- When judgement comes all people that ever walked the earth will be judged
- Will of God- God created, controlled and will continue to control what happens
- Life after death- All that obey good shall enter paradise
The final religon that I chose to study was Rastafarianism, it is funny that I should use Rastafarianism as Rastafarians have a strong dislike of isms and skisms, this is as they feel that this restricts their whole meaning, rather using the strong title The Rastafarian Movement. Rastafarians believe many things one of which being that there is only one god which they refer to as Jah and that Hale Salasie was Gods incarnate. Rastafarians believe that they are the decendants of the Isralites. Rastafarians also believe that they have to be strong like the Lion that represents them. Following the word of Jah 'ever loving, every fearful ever sure as Selassie.
Unlike some religions rastafarianism does not belive in focusing all of your time on material objects and that all they really need are carvings, scriptures and being able to set time aside to contemplate on their relgion and other topics. As the aim of Rastafarians was to eliminate the oppression that black people received, they believe on staying as far away as they can from the 'white mans world'.
Rastafarians follow the bible or Rasta Holy Scriptures, and believe in using hermenutics to help them take scriptures and apply them properly to their lives. Rastafarians also believe the importance of growing their hair naturaly, later forming dreadlocks, for them this shows Jah that they cherish everything they have been given. Rastafarians believe that the smoking of Marajuana is important for meditation and reflection. Rastafarian men and women are quite equal although women do not need to smoke marajuana or take part in certain situations, Rastafarian women are taught to respect them selves and don’t believe in show casing their bodies to people as that is inviting people to in a way abuse their self respect.
A good example of a 'faithful' rastafarian was Bob Marley, through his music he managed to make the rasta religon well known and helped people take notice. Rastafarians hold the subject respect very high by doing things such as calling women daughters or sisters, rather than the anoying chick, babe or other references.
Final Review
Although I did not manage to find as much about Rastafarianism, I found out enough to see certain similarities. From studying Rastafarianism, Judaism and the Islamic relgion, I have seen that Judaism and Rastafarianism both use the bible and Islam, the Qu'ran which are both holy books that are instructing you on how you should live life. Also in some way or another the bible is used in each book! They all believe in there being one God, they may be referred to by different names they all want the same things from their followers, to be obeyed and never doubted. They all seem to have some kind of prophet or are waiting for that prophet to visit us soon! Also as explained before by obeying their lord they are doing whats required of them and will benefit greatly! THREE POWERFUL RELIGIONS
