Similarities Between Judaism And Islam

This paper seeks to show the similarities of two religions- Judaism and Islam. Religion can be defined as a system of beliefs, practices, and philosophical values shared by a group of people; it defines the sacred, help explains life, and offers salvation from the problems of human existence (Tischler, 2007, pg 337). As such the paper will be looking at the religions through DARTS which is Doctrines, Artefacts, Rituals, Traditions and Sacred Texts in order to develop a proper compare and contrast.
Religion has over time been a very controversial topic and viewed differently by many, for instance, some faiths may be monotheistic; this is where they believe in the existence of only one God, whereas some are polytheistic, this is where they believe in a number of Gods (Tischler, 2007). The differences in views are very evident from three major sociologists. Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist and philosopher, believed religion divided the universe into the profane and the sacred. The profane consists of all things empirically observable and believed there must be distinction between the social and non-social aspects of religion
Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions and was founded over 3500 years ago in the Middle East. Jews believe that God appointed them to be his chosen people in order to set an example of holiness and ethical behaviour to the world. For the Jews these include the belief that there is only one God who not only created the universe but with whom every Jew can have an individual relationship with. Muslims who practice the religion of Islam also believe in a monotheistic God which is Allah, who created the universe, and that the universe will one day end. Both religions have a clear similarity here as followers subscribe to the belief in one Supreme