What all Muslims, Jews and Christians should be doing

HARMONIOUS HOME
It is very important to find ways to co-exist in harmony with others so that we can have a better world.

RELIGIOUS REACH
Jesus is a revered prophet to millions and believed to be the Messiah by millions. We should respect those who say Jesus is a revered prophet and those who say he is the Messiah. God is great and on Judgment Day God will reconcile all. Thus it is important to know the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions because all talk about the Judgment Day, heaven and how to live a good life. Let us look at the main points of each religion and how we can respect the main points.

The 10 commandments of the Jewish religion.
If all people follow these commandments what a wonderful world it would be. They are also known and the Ten Sayings and the Ten Utterances. These Ten Commandments are the source for all the other commandments in the Bible.

COMPREHENSIVE CODE
The Ten Commandments are a moral code of conduct. They are:

1. I am the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.
2. You shall have no other gods but me.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
4. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day holy.
5. Honor your father and mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.
Source of the 10 Commandments: http://judaism.about.com/cs/judaismbasics/f/tencommands.htm

The commandments deal with our relationship with God and our relationship with our fellow human beings. In essence our relationship with God is as important as our relationship with man and we should perform good deeds for another person.

The Christian religion
Jesus said all the commandments (the commandments of the Jewish religion) could be reduced to one, namely – love your neighbor. While this is simple and works for most situations – most human beings need more specific instruction for certain areas. Both the Jewish and the Muslim religions provide this.

The Five Pillars of Islam
There are a lot of hadiths (Islamic law/the way to conduct yourself) and commandments in the Quran. The structure of the religion centers around the five pillars. These are:

1. There is no God except Allah and Muhammad his messenger. Jews and Christians accept there is one God too. Not all Jews and Christians accept Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) but respect is as good as accepting and as Christians we should respect – that is a cardinal principle and aspect of love.

2. Prayer.
In the Muslim religion prayer is mandated five times a day: dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, evening (sunset) and nightfall. There does not seem to be an equivalent in the Jewish and Christian religions but prayer is an important part of worship in these religions too.

Prayer is important to Muslims, Christians and Jews
3. The Zakat (charity).
All religions mention charity.

4. The Fast.
Known in the Muslim world as Ramadan – again all religions see a role for fasting.

5. The annual pilgrimage known as the hajj
This an obligation only for those who are physically and financially able to perform it.

RELIGIOUS RESPECT
Whatever religion we follow, if we are following it we should respect the religious practices of our fellows. That is consistent with doing charity which is a religious edict among all these three religions. Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) said that not doing evil is a charity too. Thus if you can’t love, at least don’t do evil. The Jewish religion emphasises doing good deeds for fellow human beings and Jesus emphasized love for your neighbour. Thus when we look at religion from this perspective we can see that there is the opportunity to embrace all. Let us do good and then the world will be such a better place.