Jesus and Muhammad, How they lived their lives

Jesus and Mohammed are the central icons of the largest religions in the world. These are Christianity and Islam. These two icons have influenced the live of more people in the last two thousand years than any other icons to follow. Both of these icons are highly regarded and have influenced many lives. In this paper I plan to show the difference between these two icons and the similarities, and show how they have influenced the lives they have touched. This paper will also trace the historic lives and compare each of their death and the impact this had on each of there religions. This paper will also show how their lives have been applied to today’s world.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem sometime between 8 BC and 29 AD. Many Christians believe that Jesus was conceived divinely by the Virgin Mary, although she was married to Joseph the carpenter at the time of Jesus’ birth. There is not much known about his early life, except that he may have been trained to be a carpenter as well.

Mohammed is believed to have been born almost 600 years later in the town of Mecca. This is where the Prophet Muhammad was born. Both of these events are believed to have changed the course of history for every human mankind.

Much of the early life of Jesus Christ is a mystery to many people. The enormous amount of information on or about Jesus’ life is found in the four gospels of the New Testament in the bible. At the age of 12 Jesus was seen in the temple talking with, listening and teaching many men. It was then that Jesus declared that he was the son of God with a divine purpose here on earth. Jesus at this point in his life lived a traditional Jewish life as a carpenter. (Jesus-Institute, 2006). At the age of 30, Jesus was baptized and recognized by John the Baptist; it was not that he began his earthly ministry (Fisher, 2005). The main points of Jesus’ teaching were that God loves everyone and is always with you. He also wanted everyone to know to love one another, to learn the value of each other that the kingdom of God had come to earth, the reality of judgment to heaven or hell and that God forgives those who speak to him. (Jesus-Institue, 2006). One aspect of Jesus’ teachings, that brought some attention to him, was that he was the son of God sent to Earth to redeem human mankind. This was in direct violation of the Jewish law. For this he was condemned to die. Jesus was put to executed by Pontius Pilate, the governor of ludaea province between CE 26 and 26, some have attempted to date his crucifixion from a possible Crucifixion eclipse, most calculate possible years that the spring full mono could have fallen on a Friday. Jesus is believed to have been risen from the dead by God on the third day. Many of the specific dates of Jesus’ life involve guesswork. When comparing Christianity and Islam, the historical details of Jesus’ life are essential.

The earliest records of Jesus are the four Gospel narratives, which were written by Jesus’ followers within the few decades of his death. In the Gospels Jesus repeatedly suggest to his disciples that his end is near, asking them to share bread and wine in his remembrance. On this evening Jesus also predicts that one of his followers would betray him, which is met with astonishment and denial. Jesus was betrayed by Judas, one of is disciples and possibly the group treasurer. Judas led Roman soldiers to Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus was arrested, and Peter defended his master with a sword slicing off the ear of a centurion. He was reprimanded by Jesus and told to put back your sword and for all who draw the sword would die by the sword. Jesus was brutally beaten, clothed in a mock-royal purple robe and crown of thorns. He then was crucified. This method of execution, entailed nailing or tying the victim’s hands and feet to a wooden cross, and was a slow painful death of asphyxiation.

Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea, and placed in a tomb carved into rock. Jesus’ mother and one or two other women were the only ones present during this. The same women came to the tomb every Sunday morning to anoint his body with spices. One day they arrived and the tomb had been emptied and rolled away. Later it is believed that Jesus arose from the dead. This belief that Jesus had resurrected makes it possible for people to have peace with God in his life and meet with a favorable end. Many followers believe when they pass on they move to be with God.

Today worship of Jesus’ is very similar as it was back when he was still on earth. Many people believe they can go to church and talk to God and Jesus. And many believe that they can be forgiven of their sins by simply talking to them. Today the word of God and Jesus’ is spoken through many ways. By reading the bible, by going to church and listening to a Priest, or by just believing in the words he has given us in the bible and repenting.

Muhammad is believed to have been born in the year 570 in the town of Mecca, a mountain town in the desert plateau of western Arabia. His name was given from the Arabic verb Hamada, meaning “to praise”. He was the first son of Abd Allah bin Al-muttalib and Amina bint Wahb. Abd Allah died before Muhammad’s birth and Muhammad was raised by only his mother. His mother kept up with the Meccan tradition and entrusted her son at an early age to a wet nurse named Halima from the Nomadic tribe of the Sa’d Ibn Bakr. Muhammad grew up in the hill country, and learned their pure Arabic traditions.

Muhammad was five or six when his mother took him to Yathrib, and oasis town a few hundred miles north of Mecca, to stay with her relatives. On the journey back to Mecca his mother fell ill and died. She was buried in the village of Abwa on the Mecca-median Road. Halima, his nurse, returned to Mecca with the orphaned Muhammad and placed him in the protection of his paternal grandfather, Abdul Al-Muttalib. Inthis man’s care, Muhammad learned the rudiments of the statecraft. Mecca swas Arabia’s most important pilgrimage center and Abdul was its most respected leader.

Muhammad’s grandfather passed away in 578 when Muhammad was about the age of eight. Muhammad was then passed to his paternal uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad grew up in the older man’s home and remained under his protection for many years. When Muhammad grew up he worked as a shepherd to help pay his keep. His uncle lived by modest means, and needed the help on there farm. In his early twenties, Muhammad entered the service of a wealthy Meccan merchant, a widow named Khadija bing Khawalayd. The two were distant cousins. Muhammad worked by carrying her good to the north and returned with her profit.

Muhammad was proposed marriage by Khadija. They were wed in about 595, when she was nearly forty. Muhammad continued the managing of the business affairs, and their next years were happy and pleasant.

In the next couple of years Muhammad began to make long retreats to a mountain cave outside of town. There he fasted and meditated. On one occasion, after a number of indistinct visionary experiences, Muhammad was visited by an overpowering presence and instructed to recite the words of such beauty and force that he and others gradually attributed them to God. This experience shook Muhammad to the core. Several years passed and he decided to talk to his family about this experience. After, several of these experiences, Muhammad 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. In the next decade, Muhammad and his followers were first belittled and ridiculed, then persecuted and physically attacked for departing from the traditional Mecca way. Muhammad’s message was resolutely monotheistic. For several years, the Quaraysh, Mecca’s dominate tribe, levied a ban on trade with Muhammad’s people. Finally the leaders of Mecca attempted to assassinate Muhammad.

In 622, Muhammad and his few hundred followers left Mecca and traveled to Yathrib, the oasis town were his father was laid to rest. The leaders were suffering through a vicious war, and they had invited Muhammad for his wisdom, to become their mediator. Yahtrib soon became known as Medina, the city of the Prophet. Muhammad stayed here for the next six years. He built the first Muslim community and gradually gathered more and more people to follow his preaching. In 630, Muhammad and his followers marched on Mecca and were joined by tribe after tribe along the way. They entered Mecca without any bloodshed, and the Meccans, joined them.

Muhammad returned to live in Medina. In the next three years, he consolidated most of the Arabian Peninsula under Islam. In 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 Muhammad passed away. His word lived on and spread as far as Morocco, France and Spain.

Muhammad and Jesus had the same visions. They believed in their teaching, beliefs and values. The both mad pilgrimages to other parts of there land and tried to make people see what they believed in. In most of their teaching the beliefs were the same. Muhammad died of natural causes, Jesus died for us to be free of sins. They both traveled and tried to make there words known throughout many lands.

REFERENCES

Peter Schäfer. (MARCH 2008). WWW.RELIGIONFACTS.COM. In LIFE OF JESUS.

http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_html.shtml