Similarities Between Judaism And Islam

All three Abrahamic religions are connected through the figure Abraham, who fathered the two sons Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac went on to father children which became the leader of the Twelve Tribes of Israel which birthed Judaism and Christianity. Ishmael was casted out of their community and became the Arabian tribes who are the roots of Islam. Due to Christianity’s and Judaism’s shared beginning, the two religions hold very similar ideas about creation and their relationship to God. On the other hand, Islam developed much later than Christianity and Judaism causing their ideas over creation and their relationship with Allah to differ. Through reading the creation stories in Genesis and the Qur’an, one is able to pinpoint the similarities and
In both creation stories God granted some sort of role for humanity when they are created. On the fifth day of creation in Genesis, God “let [humanity] them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the tame animals, all the wild animals, and all the creatures that crawl on the earth” (New American Bible, Gen. 1.0-26). This means that humanity has the permission from God to use the land and its resources as they see fit. In the Qur’an, Allah explains to the angels that he has “[placed] a trustee on the earth”, which holds a different connotation (The Qur'an, Surah. Al-Baqarah 2.29). In her essay titled Being Human in Islam, Mona Siddiqui argues that Qur’an tells Adam and his songs that they are entrusted to look after the earth and its riches (Siddiqui, 15). The purpose of humanity in Islam can be seen more as a deal or a transaction with Allah. While in Judaism, the earth can be seen as a gift that came with the creation of
In Judaism the relationship between God and humanity is very personal, much like one a father and a child. In the second chapter of Genesis, God interacts directly with Adam asking him to name all the animals God has created. In the third chapter of Genesis, God attempts to protect Adam and Eve from pain that would come from the tree of knowledge like a father protecting his children from. When Adam and Eve eat of the tree they attempt to rationalize their actions, even attempting to move the blame from themselves much like children do when caught in trouble (New American Bible, Gen. 3.0). God expects humanity to commit sins, it expected with the freedom of human choice, however God will continue to forgive those even if they work against his teachings (Siddiqui, 21). In Islam the relationship is quite different, Allah acts as a master and humanity a servant. Humanity is not a slave but rather a partner, they work under Allah by following his ideals and teachings. In Surah 2 of the Qur’an Allah gives the names of the animals to Adam who then tells the angels, Allah uses humanity as messenger for his word. Unlike in Genesis, Allah was very clear to Adam and his wife of what would come from eating of the tree of knowledge. He clear explained the rules to his servants, and when they failed to follow them they attempted to beg for forgiveness,