Comparing Judaism and Islam

Judaism and Islam are two of the world's oldest, and largest monotheistic religions. These religions share a variety of customs, beliefs, and even practices. But at the same time, there are enough differences to make the two religions and cultures oppose each other greatly. Even some similarities between the two have been the source of conflict for thousands of years.

Both the Jewish and Muslim faith believe in one God. Being monotheistic means just that, the belief in one God. This is the most obvious similarity between the two religions. In fact a Muslim is defined as anyone who says "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the messenger of God." and the basic creed of Judaism says "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one."

Judaism and Islam both have Holy Books from which religious teachings are taken. The Muslim Holy Book is called the Quran, it is spelled in English in many different ways Koran, Kuran, this is because Arabic is hard to translate. The Quran is the word of God as reveled by the prophet Mohammed. The Jewish Holy Book is referred to as the Hebrew Bible. The first five books of the Hebrew Bible is called the Torah. This is the part of the bible lays out a system of moral and religious conduct. The Hebrew Bible was put together in the 1st century A.D. by rabbis and teachers of the Jewish text.

The Hebrew Bible and the Quran both set up a system of law for the followers of the Jewish and Muslim faiths. The Hebrew Bible, the book of the Jewish faith sets up more of a code of conduct, a system of moral and religious conduct that is called the halavhah. This addresses how families should be run, personal ethics and manners, social responsibilities, and what people of the Jewish faith should and should not eat. Dietary guidelines are very important in the Jewish religion, everything that is eaten must be Kosher, meaning it is prepared a certain way. The Quran goes one step farther in setting boundaries for it's believers. This book of