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President Bush once said it is un-American to “pit one religion against another.” Perhaps. However, to honestly compare and contrast faith systems is part of our heritage of religious freedom. What is un-American is to inhibit anyone’s free expression of faith or to show disrespect.
The ambitious title above lies beyond the scope of this short essay. I can only sketch a few general contrasting images and admit a Christian bias. I hope to leave you inspired to study further on your own.
Christianity and Islam share some historical claims and practices but their worldviews are quite different. Both religions revere Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Both practice prayer, fasting and build buildings for worship. But, as 17th century French philosopher Blaise Pascal put it:
“Mahomet established a religion by putting his enemies to death, Jesus Christ by commanding his followers to lay down their lives.” (Penses).
As a 7th century warlord, Muhammad was, perhaps, better than most. He opposed the then popular practice of infanticide for infant girls. He acted and wrote to unite his tribes around a common moral code and purpose.
But he was a man of the sword, a fact that commands the pride of his followers. The extent of assassinations and raids surrounding his rise to power was staggering. Some of his eleven wives were in his tent on the night their defeated ex-husbands were slaughtered.
Beginning with Muhammad, Islam’s founder and warrior leader, it took only a few generations for Muslims to create an empire from India to Spain. Their sword incurred great fear and they accumulated great wealth and power in the process. The entire Byzantine empire was decimated. To my
knowledge, few Muslims today criticize the brutal conquests of their early 'jihad' warriors who continued for 400 years until the Crusades temporarily
reversed their ruthless advances. Rather, many Muslims are proud of this history of perceived courage, strength and resolve at the expense of many
innocent peoples.
By contrast, Jesus and his followers did not take up the sword for their cause. When Peter tried, he was rebuked. Eleven of the original twelve apostles were killed as martyrs. After a few centuries, brutal religious wars certainly did occur in the name of Christianity, but such activity does not
go back to the beginnings. That is a crucial difference. And few Christians today would justify the violent excesses in Constantine's campaigns or the
Crusades.
It must be added that Islam’s advances were also intellectual and progressive in places. Muslim scholars have passed many valuable cultural legacies to the world. So have Christian scholars. In this regard, both histories are a mixed bag.
Upon Jesus' word, Christians tend to separate the things of Caesar and the things of God. Most Muslims, however, do not distinguish between military/political and religious objectives in a comparable way as do Christians. Further, Muhammad was not known for such a distinction. This is a
relevant point considering the current global conflict.
Muslim purists who still stone people to death can look to the Prophet Muhammad as an example. According to one tradition, Muhammad personally
took part in the stoning of Ghamdiyah, a confessed adulterer. He ordered a waist-deep hole in which she was buried to preserve “decency.” Then Muhammad threw the first stone at her and she was soon dead. (Source, Paul Fregosi, Jihad. Prometheus Books, 1998, page 58).
Jesus had a similar opportunity to rule on an adulterous woman (John 8). His forgiving response (“Go and sin no more“) sums up the difference
between these two incredibly influential founders.
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