Islam - The Summit of Religious Evolution — Page 7
7 CHAPTER TWO BASIC BELIEFS The fundamental beliefs of the three Semitic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam are described below. It is appreciated that variations exist among certain sub-groups within each religious group. However, these variations will not alter their basic beliefs. JUDAISM Judaism is one of the oldest Semitic religions in the world and has a significant influence on the development of two other Semitic religions Christianity and Islam. The central doctrine of Judaism is the Unity of God and the belief that Jews are God's chosen people. The Jews believe that God wants them to be an example for all mankind. Judaism, therefore, is an ethnic religion and its history is the history of the Hebrew people. These people trace their ancestry to the great patriarch, Abraham, who lived in Chaldaea around 2,000 BC. Chaldaea is in the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent, which extends from the areas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The Chaldaeans used to worship idols and images, and Abraham revolted against this practice. Abraham received revelations from God and during one of these revelations God made a Covenant with his people. In this Covenant, God promised Abraham's descendents all the land of Canaan and God's protection in exchange for their homage and allegiance. The followers of Judaism still call themselves the sons of the Covenant or B'nai B'rith in Hebrew. Abraham spoke the Hebrew language and his descendents, therefore, are called Hebrew people. According the Old Testament Abraham's grandson, Jacob, was named Israel by God. Hence his descendents were known as the Israelites. Jacob had twelve sons from whom descended the Biblical Twelve Tribes of Israel. One of Jacob's sons, Joseph, was appointed a governor of an Egyptian province by a benevolent king due to Divine intervention. 1,2 During his time many Israelites migrated from their homeland in the Canaan-Babylonia area to Egypt. The later Egyptian kings, however, treated the Israelites badly who spent the next three hundred years in bondage and servitude under their Egyptian masters. 3 4 Some five hundred years after Abraham, the great prophet Moses arose from among the Israelites living in Egypt and unified them. Moses eventually led them out of Egypt towards the land of Canaan. 5 On the way to Canaan, Moses experienced a vision on Mount Sinai 6 and received the famous Ten Commandments from God. 7 These Ten Commandments later became the