While many Islamic scriptures convey highly commendable moral and ethical guidelines, as other religions do, it must be pointed out that Islam also contains many theological beliefs about God, Jesus Christ, the early prophets and even Creation which do not agree at all with the teachings of the Judeo/Christian faiths. And, if it is true that there is only One God, it would be of great importance to know that the one you believe in is the True God that created mankind - not the God that mankind "created."

 

Muslims attend their weekly gathering of worship on Friday - as this is the day on which the Qur'an is said to have been revealed to Muhammad. They are to cleanse themselves in a purification process (wudu) prior to reciting prayers or reading the Qur'an. By comparison, the Jewish day of worship is Saturday; as being the day that God rested and designated for the Jews to observe; and, Christians worship on Sunday in commemoration of the day of the week on which Jesus is said to have resurrected from the tomb after being put to death by crucifixion.

 

Theologians have pointed out that Islam incorporated a select mixture of traditions and rituals originally taught by other pre-Islamic religions, ie: Jewish, Christian and Sabean. Members of these religions are mentioned in the Qur'an as, "People of the book" and were originally exempt from having to convert to Islam. They were, however, obligated to pay a tax (jizyah) for being non-Muslim. Meanwhile, the people of pagan tribes in the region were forced to convert to Islam or be killed.

At this point in world history, it is evident that the barbaric acts of terrorism are a reflection of the seventh-century ideology that was used by Muhammad and his armies to spread the religion of Islam. As the saying goes, history has a way of repeating itself, so it should be of no surprise that fundamental Islamic clerics seek to emulate Muhammad's commands to "strike terror into the hearts of the enemy." - Qur'an 008.060