A speech about Muslim beliefs

A speech about Muslim Beliefs
Good morning, I’m here to talk to you today about Muslim beliefs. I will explain to you what Muslims believe in and describe how different and similar it is to Christianity.
Firstly, our beliefs. We Muslims believe that there is one God (Allah). Islam teaches that there is only one God. He has no family or partners. He is the only one who people should worship. Several times a day I say “There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger) this is known as the Shahdah (confession of faith). If someone was to convert to Islam, they have to say the Shahdah in front of Muslim witnesses. Allah is “Tawhid” because he is the absolute oneness with God. Allah also has 99 names. This is similar to Christianity because you also believe in one God, however God has 102 names in the Bible and Allah has 99. They both believe that they should only worship him and no other gods. Instead of saying the Shahdah they say part of the bible. They both pray every day. They are different because Allah isn’t God he is oneness with God.
Muslims also believe that Islam teaches that angels are God’s servants who carry out his orders. They brought God’s message to the prophets, including Muhammad himself. Other angels spend their time keeping records of human actions. Nevertheless they can’t be seen by us. Islam and Christianity are the same in the sense that they both believe that there are angels. They also both believe that there is an angel called Jibra’il (Gabriel). Another belief is books. Muslims believe that God has given all humans guidance through his prophets. There have been a number of holy books, including the original versions of the Law of Moses, The psalms of David and the Gospel of Jesus. But only the Qur’an has not been changed by human beings. So only the Qur’an is perfect and will never change. The Qur’an is therefore the final word of God. This is similar to Christianity because there are many different versions of the Bible however only one can be the true word of God.
Prophets or Disciples are another belief of Islam. The Qur’an mentions 25 prophets by name. Most of them also appear in the Bible. The first was Adam and the last was Muhammad. Muslims believe they were all sent by God to show people how he wanted them to live. Risalah is belief in Allah’s communication with humans via his prophets. This is different to Christianity because they believe that the disciples or prophets followed Jesus because they believed what he was preaching. It is also different because there were only 12 disciples in the Bible and there are 25 in Islam. More importantly, Christians believe that they have a direct access to God through the Holy Spirit when they pray.
Another belief is the day of Judgement. When this day comes, Muslims believe that all dead people will come to life and be questioned about their lives. It will not be the effect of their actions that matters; it will be what people intended their actions should do. When this happens, God will judge us. Only God can judge and only God can forgive through prayers and actions. “Actions shall be judged only by intention. A man shall get what he intend” Sahih Al-Bukhari. This is similar to Christianity because Christians also believe that one day God will return and judge them, He will decide whether they go to heaven or hell. However we are different because in Christianity you get judged on what you’ve done already.
The will of God is another belief. Muslims believe that God has created the world and, at all times, remains in control of the world. He has complete knowledge of what will happen in the world. However, people face many choices each day. They can do badly or they can do well. God expects people to make choices. So we are still responsible for our actions. This is similar to Christianity because God created the world in both faiths and has control over it. God expects us to make choices however in Christianity he knows what you have chosen and why.
The last belief is Life after Death. Islam teaches that those who obey God will go onto Paradise. There, they will live forever a life of peace and happiness. Many who disobey God will go to Hell, where life will be miserable. No one can say how God will judge anyone –some transgressors will be forgiven. Only God knows exactly what it is like in Paradise and Hell. Muhammad said there were things in Paradise which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard and no one can imagine. “If anyone has got an atom of pride in his heart, he will not enter Paradise” Sahih Al-Bukhari. I understand this is very similar to Christianity because there is Paradise (heaven) and a hell. The Christians believe that it is not their actions that will determine whether they go to heaven or not but the grace of God and their acceptance of Him.
To conclude, from what I’ve said we can see that both faiths believe in one God and that they both believe in a heaven and hell. I have grown up to believe these things and have studied them in the mosque. However when speaking to my Christian friends I have found many things we have in common such as prophets, and books i.e. Qur’an and Bible. On the other hand we do have differences like more prophets or that Allah isn’t God he is oneness with God.