The world is home to various religions. Three of the main religions are Islam, Judaism and Christianity. These three religions share a common denominator in that they are monotheistic, believing in the existence of one God who is creator of the universe. There are other similarities within these religions, but there are stark differences as well. Thus, this essay will discuss these similarities and differences, as well as consider the role of women in the religion of Islam.
1A. Elements of Islam that are shared with Judaism
Prayers
Mosque services in Islam and Synagogue services in Judaism are both informal, with regular visits from the devotees. It’s not mandatory for women to go to the services and if they have to go, they have a separate section from men in both religions. Their prayers are filled with mention of God and blessings. They oblige ritual purity such as sleeping, urination, after sexual relations, among others and they pour water on different parts of their bodies before prayers (Wolfson & Fackenheim, 1947).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Traditional education
The two religions have resemblances in the traditional education system. Children from both religions start to memorize their holy book from approximately the age of five. Their classrooms have voice projections as the children memorize with their teachers watching and listening attentively.
Modern life
Few Jews and Muslims are still living strictly to the Halakha and Sharia traditional way of life respectively. More Jews and Muslims are neglecting their religious laws leading to the increased stress of faith over action.
The Intermingling Of the Sexes
The daily lives of both Jews and Muslims are arranged in a way to avoid unnecessary intermingling of sexes as they hold the notion that unnecessary intermingling of the sexes will abolish the social order that exists in their society (Wolfson & Fackenheim, 1947).
B. Elements of Islam that are shared with Christianity
God the father- both Muslims and Christians believe in and worship only one God and believe that all are the children of God. The Bible- Christians use the Bible as their holy book and Muslims also believe the Bible, which they consider to be the Holy Scripture as far as it’s translations are correct and there are no contradictions with their holy book, Quran. Commandments- followers of both religions believe in similar commandments given by God to be obeyed by all people and which keeps human beings in the appropriate relationship with their maker. Messiah’s miracles- Both Muslims and Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the promised Messiah and who performed various miracles (Qôǧman-Appel, 2004).
2A. Roles of women in Islam
Many Muslim women are today actively asserting the rights and responsibilities that they consider the Quran affords them. Just like their sisters in other religions, their role is to raise children and be a good wife and they are encouraged to carry out these responsibilities with devotion and enthusiasm. Islam allows the women to voyage on the Hajj pilgrimage, engage in politics, exercise their right to vote, have a job and even own and run a business. This is contrary to the long-held social stigmas and stereotypes of Muslim women (Siapno, 2013).
B. Variations of the Role of Muslim Women in Different Countries
Muslim women may not enjoy all the mentioned roles depending on the social-political set up of their country. Marginalization of Muslim women is still prevalent in some countries. For instance, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait still only allow only men to vote. Though the Muslim women are allowed to participate in politics, there is no consistency among Muslim countries. Arab countries show the lowest regional number of women parliamentarians in the world. Despite there being the provision for women to engage in the mentioned roles their responsiveness is distinct across different countries social-economic set up. In third world countries, politics, leadership, and business is a preserve of the men and the role of Muslim women thus remains to be taking care of the children and being a wife. In contrast, Muslim women in developed countries venture into business and politics because not only the Muslim culture allows them, but also the established laws of these developed countries allows them (Siapno, 2013).
C. New Development Expected
As a result to the many activists for women's rights, both secular and religious, and the development of intercontinental networks of women pushing for women's advancement, the lives of Muslim women will improve and they will become more conspicuous in politics, leadership, and business. It will also lead to modernizing reforms of Islamic interpretation and practice of women roles (Siapno, 2013).
References
Qôǧman-Appel, Q. (2004). Jewish book art between Islam and Christianity: the decoration of Hebrew bibles in medieval Spain (Vol. 19). Brill. Siapno, J. A. (2013). Gender, Islam, nationalism and the state in Aceh: The paradox of power, co-optation, and resistance. Routledge. Wolfson, H. A., & Fackenheim, E. L. (1947). Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Review of Metaphysics, 1, 89.
