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Islam and Judaism
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Islam and Judaism
Matt Schettino
CIS 110 Dr. Gaffney
University of Kentucky
Islam and Judaism
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Religion has been around for thousands of years. A large portion of the Earth’s
population makes religion the center of their lives. In many cases religion can cause turmoil
because of the passion these people feel about their chosen religion and belief system. Jews and
Muslims have often fought because of religion, but the two religions are actually closely related.
They have similar beliefs, similar beginning regions, lifestyles, cultures, and similar languages
with different ways of practice.
Judaism is a religion based on strict monotheistic beliefs. This means they believe there is
only one true God. They also believe there are other spiritual beings such as angels and demons
(Comparison). These beliefs stem from the holy book of Judaism, the Hebrew Bible also called
Tanakh or the Torah, which was filled with the words of prophets sent by or inspired by God
(Hebrew Bible). Most Jews, followers of Judaism, believe in an eternal salvation in which one
gains entrance by believing in God and performing good deeds. Again, most Jews believe in
eternal damnation as well called Gehenna, which is a cursed land for the wicked (Comparison).
Jewish views vary, as there are two prominent sects of Judaism, the orthodox and the reformed
Jews. Their beliefs are similar with minor discrepancies between the two (Keleman).
The Hebrew Bible as mentioned above (Olive Tree)
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Comparatively, Muslims also believe there is only one God, the same as the Jewish God.
Muslims practice the religion of Islam and their religion teaches about angels and demons
similarly to the beliefs of Judaism. Islam has a holy book as well. Their holy book is called the
Quran. Muslims believe in a paradise or hell as an eternal destination for those that do good in
life or those that are evil. Islam also has different denominations, two in fact, the Sunni and Shia.
These are the two major denominations of Islam and just as the Jewish sects were only
minimally different the same goes for the Islamic sects (Comparison).
The two religions obviously have differences as well. The Jewish religion acknowledges
Jesus as just another Jewish man that was a scholar, while Islam speaks of Jesus as a prophet.
The Jews, not acknowledging Jesus as a prophet or divine being also doesn’t acknowledge his
mother Mary as anything special either. Muslims however regard Mary with respect as
Muhammad said she was an honored woman (Comparison).
More things Jews and Muslims have in common are they both pray multiple times a day.
Jews are required to pray three times a day, four times of specific holidays. Followers of Islam
are required to pray five times a day every day. Both religions also require male circumcision as
a religious custom. Jews and Muslims also both have dietary limitations and regulations. Jews
may only eat kosher foods while Muslims can only eat halal foods. The guidelines for kosher and
halal are spelled out in the religion’s respective holy books. Certain sects of Judaism and Islam
segregate men and women during worship. This is segregation common for Orthodox Jews.
(Hall)
With all the above similarities one begins to wonder if the two religions were started in a
similar area around the same time. Judaism is said to have started in Palestine, yet the time of its
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founding is often debated. May Jews say Judaism was founded about four thousand years ago.
Islam started in Saudi Arabia thousands of years after Judaism was founded. You can see they
weren’t started at similar times however; they both began in the Middle East and spread
outwards from there. Both religions believe their holy land is in the Middle East. Mecca for the
Muslims is located in their founding country of Saudi Arabia, while the holy city of Judaism is
Jerusalem, which is located in modern day Israel. Islam claims Jerusalem as a holy city as well
(Hall). The two religions do have some differences in their beginnings though. The Jews believe
that, “Judaism is based on the unique historical event of a divine revelation experienced by the
entire nation. Whereas Islam is based on the prophetic claims of a single individual who
subsequently convinced others to follow his ways” (Difference). Those these religions differ in
how they were began you can see these religions have a lot in common in regards to their
geographic centers, which is why they have very similar lifestyles.
The Jewish lifestyle is centered on good deeds or good actions while strictly following
the laws that God passed down through Moses. Orthodox Jews are stricter with the permitted
clothing and hairstyles followers can wear, but Reformed Jews often wear everyday clothing
with a “skullcap-like head coverings — yarmulkes (the Yiddish term) or kippahs (the Hebrew
term) for Jewish men” (Hall). Kosher food was mentioned earlier and that is a huge portion of
the Jewish lifestyle. “According to Jewish law, the three basic elements of keeping kosher are:
Avoiding any non-kosher animals (fish that don't have fins and scales, land animals that do not
both chew their cud and have cleft hooves, most birds); avoiding eating meat and dairy together;
and only eating meat that was slaughtered in a certain way, and drained of blood” (Fox).
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Islamic dress code for men during worship (Dress Code)
The Islamic lifestyle is similar in the way the religion is focused more on good deeds that
“good faith” per se. Many Muslims are strict with their clothing choices as well, but somewhat
different from the Jewish style. In Islam they wear similar headgear during worship, “the kufi or
taqiyah “prayer cap” for Muslim men”. Muslims also practice a dietary law, but again it has its
differences from the Jewish kosher. The items banned for Muslims according to halal include,
“blood, alcohol, meat or any products from a forbidden animal, including pigs and any
carnivorous animals or birds of prey, meat or any products of an animal which has not been
slaughtered in the correct manner in the name of Allah” (What is Halal).
Jews and Muslims historically lived in close proximity to one another. Daniel Pipes states
in his forum about their living circumstances, “Simple dietary regulations have vast social
ramifications. Jews and Muslims are required to maintain stringent codes about eating meat and
other foods. In order to supply themselves with proper food, they must band together and live in
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organized communities.” Sadly, there has been recent conflicts between the two religious .
However, having lived in close proximity for such a long time Jews and Muslims have
developed similar forms or communication. The language of the Jewish people is Hebrew while
the language of the Quran and therefore most Muslims is Arabic. The two languages are Semitic
languages. The similarities in the languages are there because both are said to have come from
the same genealogical timeline. “Talmudic literature presents a number of Arabic glosses, viz.,
statements about the names of various objects in Arabic” (Islam). Talmudic literature is Jewish
literature about laws and by using Arabic it shows the similarities of the language in usage and in
importance.
While the Arabic and Hebrew languages are similar their conversational styles are not.
Jewish conversational style is said to be, “a faster rate of speech, faster turn-taking among
speakers, abrupt shifts of topics, persistence in reintroducing a topic if others do not immediately
notice it, unhesitating introduction of new topics, and a preference for personal topics” according
to Bonita E Taylor & David J. Zucker. Islam followers are taught not to have senseless
conversations; silence is often the safest form of communication, to be humble when speaking,
and to try to avoid arguments. The Islamic way of conservation is slower in the sense that the
topics don’t change very rapidly as well as silence at some points (Al-Ghazali).
In conclusion, Muslims and Jews have many similarities in their beliefs, such as
monotheism. However they also have significant differences that separate the two in order for
them to not be the same religion. For example, the discrepancy between Islam and Judaism about
Jesus and his significance is one of the main differences between the two religions. Another
similarity is they were both founded in the same region in the Middle East and have maintained
those areas as the strongholds for their religion. Islam and Judaism followers have similar
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lifestyles with their clothing, dietary restrictions, and treatment of men and women. Lastly
Hebrew and Arabic, the languages of the Jews and Muslims respectively, are extremely similar
in the formation of their alphabet and words, but the practices of the languages are almost the
opposites of each other. Jews and Muslims practice very similar religions, which leads me to
question why they fight so often. Psalms 34:15 of the Hebrew Bible says, “Seek peace and
pursue it.” The Quran preaches the same message just as often as the Hebrew Bible. It’s time the
two religions practice what they preach.
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Works Cited
Al-Ghazali, Muhammad. "Chapter 11: Etiquette of Conversation." Muslim's Character. N.p.:
n.p. Print.
"Comparison of Islam, Judaism and Christianity." Comparison Chart: Islam, Judaism and
Christianity. Religion Facts, 17 Mar. 2004. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.
"Difference Between Judaism and Islam." Judaism and Islam. Judaism Online, n.d. Web. 25
Mar. 2015.
Dress Code for Men in Islam. N.d. The Islamic News RSS. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Fox, Tamar. "What Does It Mean to Keep Kosher? - My Jewish Learning." What Does It Mean
to Keep Kosher? - My Jewish Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Hall, Reed. "Ten Surprising Similarities Between Judaism & Islam (Part 1)." Beliefnet. N.p., n.d.
Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
"Hebrew Bible." Ed. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Brittanica, 7 Jan.
2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
"Islam: Arabic Language." Arabic Language. The Gale Group, n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Kelemen, Rabbi Lawrence. "Different Sects of Judaism." Sects of Judaism. N.p., n.d. Web. 24
Mar. 2015.
Olive Tree. N.d. Hebrew Bible: Westminster Leningrad Codex for the Bible Study App, Bible
Study App, IPad, IPhone, Android, Mac, PC, and Windows Desktop. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Pipes, Daniel. "The Jewish-Muslim Connection: Traditional Ways of Life." Daniel Pipes. N.p.,
28 June 2005. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Taylor, Bonita E., and David J. Zucker. "NEWW." NEWW. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
"What Is Halal?" Halal Choices. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.