Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 8
8 foundation of the Mosaic Law. Although Judaism contains teachings going as far back as Noah and Abraham, Moses essentially established its present form and structure. After Moses’ death, the Jews wandered in the desert for nearly forty years as a Divine punishment for their disobedience of the Law of Moses. The Israelites finally settled down in the Canaan area and around the year 1043 BC, the first Israelite kingdom was established by King Saul. The two great prophet-kings of the Israelites, David and his son Solomon followed Saul. After Solomon’s death, the united kingdom of Israel broke up into two separate kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The Northern Kingdom of Israel lasted until 722 BC when the Assyrians conquered its capital, Samaria. The Southern Kingdom of Judah lasted till 586 BC when the Babylonians captured its capital, Jerusalem. The Babylonians exiled the Jews from Jerusalem and destroyed their holy city. It was only when Cyrus of Persia defeated the Babylonians in 539 BC that the exiled Israelites were allowed to return to their homeland and rebuild the city of Jerusalem. The six hundred year period, from the start of the United Kingdom to year 400 BC, is one of the most glorious periods in the Israelite history. It was during this period that most of the known prophets appeared such as Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Ezekiel, Jo, Ezra and Malachi. It was also during this period that the founders of four other great religions, Mahavira, Buddha, Confucius and Lao-Tze, appeared in India and China. With the death of Malachi, the last of the Israelite prophets, the Old Testament comes to a close around 400 BC. The Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible as the Jews prefer to call it, is the sacred book of Judaism. It contains not only the five books of Torah revealed to Moses, but many other books attributed to later prophets such as Joshua, Samuel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Job, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Zechariah and Malachi. Besides the Hebrew Bible, there are two other texts considered sacred by the Jews: the Mishnah and the Talmud. The Mishnah is a collection of religious laws arranged in six orders, which cover agricultural levies (tithes), festivals, marriage, civil laws, sacrifices and ritual purity. The Mishnah was codified around 200 A. D. under Rabbi Judah the Prince. The Talmuds are commentaries on the Mishnah and were written by the middle of the sixth century A. D. in Aramaic, the everyday language of the Jewish people of the time. THE ESSENTIAL BELIEFS OF JUDAISM Although there are many beliefs in Judaism, the following 13 articles of faith are considered essential: 1. God 2. There is only one God