ISLAM AND OTHER RELIGIONS
(COMPARTIVE STUDY OF WORLD FAMOUS RELIGIONS)

The significant objective that lies behind all the religions of the world is the formation of the unity,a unity which provides the right perspective on ultimate truth.However all the religions are not the pieces of the same puzzle or we can say that they are not the alternative paths to the same destination.

For the proper development of human life man needs two kinds of things , resources to maintain life and knowledge of the principles of individual and social behaviour to enable man to have self fullfillment and to maintain justice and tranquility in human life.To provide for the spiritual ,social and cultural needs the Lord of the universe raised His prophets among men and revealed to them the code of life which can guide man's steps to the right path.There is a presence of many religions in the world whith their own beliefs and dogmas.Each religion is the continuation of same truth delivered to the mankind by the prophets especially assigned for this task of teaching the Truth regarding the existence of the universe and the mankind.
The various forms of religions and there central objectives have been discussed in the following lines.

BUDDHAISM:
Buddhism revolves around the central figure of the Buddha.The nature of Buddha himself is regarded in different ways by different people, and there are a great number of legends that surround his existence. To some he was simply a very wise man with great things to teach. Buddhism is essentially focussed upon the recognition that the ego is illusory, thus allowing freedom of the self in the emptiness that is Nirvana. Essentially, it is about trancending material needs and wants to enlarge upon spiritual growth, which is seen as an essential movement towards the ending of personal and human suffering.

HINDUISM:

Hinduism is the European name for the Sanatama Dharma, ‘the Eternal Law’. The name hindu comes from the Sanskrit word sindhu, meaning ‘river’. In time the land beyond the river became known as the Hind, and the people who lived there known as Hindus.Hinduism is best regarded not a single dogmatised set of principles, as much as a cacophony of diverse interpretations of reality, heavily based on a unique pantheism-polytheism. Divine identities remain very much a local phenomena, and even the main Hindu deities sourced from the Rig Veda can have differing attributes according to different areas. On top of that every tribal geography included its own local divinities into the Hindu pantheon, resulting in an extraordinary range of divine figures and images, many of which may share similar features.However, despite the remarkable range of differences, and the superficial lack of homogeniety in Hindu worship, there remains an established and highly regarded core of beliefs and principles enshrined in the main Hindu texts.

Hinduism is an exploration of reality itself, and seeks to recognise a relationship between the nature of Divnity and the nature of the soul. Ultimately that which is Divine is gender-neutral, Hinduism acknowledging at its heart that its plethora of anthropomorphised figures are nothing more than metaphors for an altogether more mysterious reality. It is the nature of the Hindu not simply to recognise this, but to ascertain what the Ultimate Truth of this mystery is, through meditation and contemplation.

JUDAISM:

Belief founded by Abraham, a Hebrew chieftain originally from the Babylonian city of Ur. Tradition. He taught his people to worship one God, YHWH (Yahweh, or Jehovah). It's chief writings are contained in the Torah, which reveals the will of god as stated in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament), as well as the Talmud, which contains the Rabbinical religious and civil laws.

CHRISTIANITY:

The central figure of Christianity is Jesus Christ,a jew who came into this world by the immaculate conception to the virgin Mary.His birth is celebrated at christmas with hymns and gife givings.Christians believe that jesus Christ is the son of God and lived his life without sin.During his lifetime, Jesus performed many miracles and spoke to many people about his father in heaven. He was arrested for claiming to be God's son and was hung on the cross by the Romans at age 33. Christians believe that the suffering and death upon the cross which this sinless man endured paid for the sins of all mankind, and because of Jesus' actions, salvation can be achieved by anyone who believes in him.

Following his death, Christians believe that he rose from the grave (celebrated at Easter) and returned to the earth, appearing to his followers and telling them of the kingdom of God to which he was going. He also promised his disciples that he would return one day to bring all believers with him to that kingdom, to enjoy eternal life in the presence of God.

ISLAM:

Islam is an arabic word which denotes submission,surrender and obedience.As a religion islam stands for complete submission and obedience to one God,Allah .He is Omnipotent,Omnipresent and the Sustainer of the world and mankind.

The basic Islamic concept is that the entire universe is created by God whom Islam calls Allah and who is the Lord and Soveriegn of the world.It is the firm belief that He created man and appointed each human being a fixed period of life which he is to spend upon the earth.Allah has prescirbed a certain code of life for him but at the same time conferred on man freedom of choice whether or not he adopts code as the actual basis of his life.One who chooses to follow the code revealed by God becomes a Muslim (believer) and one who refuses to follow it becomes a kafir non believer).
A man joins the fold of Islam by honestly beleiving in and professing faith in the unity of God and Prophet of Muhammad (PBUH).
thus teh basic articles of Islamic faith are the belief in the Unity of God,belief in the Prophethood of Muhammad(PBUH) and the belief in the life after death as well as man's accountability before God on the day of judgement.

ISLAM AND OTHER RELIGIONS:

Islam does not deny Truth to other religions but says that later followers adultered that Truth by their own inventions and that was why God sent Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) to purify God's religion.Each religion manifests the some aspect of the same truth but the emphasis may difffer according to the need of man of that period or age or race.Islam is the religion for all and that is the most comprehensive manifestation of that Truth and it provides a complete way and a perfect equilibrium.

The second fact about Islam's relationship with other religions is the chronology stated in teh Quran.Islam is the line of all religions whose prophets belonged to the family of Abraham.The Juduac tradition that started with Abraham's son Issac came to an end with Jesus who was the last prophet in family tree.Muhammad (PBUH) was the descendent of the other son of Abraham ,Ismail.Prophets in other lines among the descendents of adam have been hinted at but not reffered to except Noah as examples in Quran.But as the quran clearly states that tehre is not a single human habitation on the face of this earth where a Prophet has not emerged and where God has not sent His messenger to guide people,a Muslim cannot deny truth to religions belonging to this tradition.all that he can point out is the adulteration of that Truth,the mixing up of the word of God and the word of man,its non preservation in its original form.
The world has also suffered at the hands of the one sidedness of many religion and ideology.Some has laid stress on the material side of life and has ignored the material and mundane aspects.They have looked upon the world as an illusion ,a deception and a trap.

Islam ,however has different view reagrding this ideology..It does not any seperation between "material" and "moral","mundane" and "spiritual life" and enjoins man to devote all his energies to the reconstruction of life on the healthy and moral foundations.It teaches that moral and material powers must be welded together and spiritual salvation can be acheievd by using material resources for the good of man in the service of just ends and not by living a life of ascetisim or by running away from the challenges of life.

Thus the unique features of Islam establishes itself as a religion of man,a religion of today and a religion of tommorow.These aspects have appelead to the hundreds of thousands of people in the past and the present and have made them affirm that Islam is the religion of Truth and the right path for mankind and will continue to appeal them in near future.