Goodwin,+Natikwa

=__** Research Question:What common beliefs do different religions share through rituals? **__=

What common beliefs do different religions share through rituals?

Introduction
In religion different practices and rituals represent their beliefs, overall the beliefs of religions are the same but presented in different ways. The principal of The Five Pillars of Islam can be compared to that of the 10 Commandments in Christianity. In the paper you will see my information is organized by quotes and different information I obtained, following that will be my analysis of the information.

Five Pillars Of Islam
The five pillars of Islam (Arabic: أركان الإسلام ) are the five duties of being a Muslim and believing in Islam. These duties are expected of every Muslim. These duties are Shahada (Profession of Faith), Salah (prayers), Zakah (Giving of Alms), Saum (Fasting during Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). These five practices are crucial to Sunni Islam.

Shahada is one of the Pilars of Islam. //La ilaha illa Allah wa-Muhammad rasul Allah.// Shadaha is the acceptance of Islam. The words above are what must be recited. These words mean, “There is no god except God, Muhammad peace be upon Him is the messenger of God,” They also express two beliefs of Islam, “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the prophet of God.” These words must be recited in front of two Muslims to join the Islamic community. These words represent the acceptance of Islam.

This practice of Islam is very similar to baptism, which leads me to my next point …
“It its most basic, it involves application of or immersion in water, a blessing, and the pronouncement, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” In Christianity they perform practices such as baptism. Baptism is done to say that you are cleansed of your sins. Baptism represents you being born again. While being baptized the person who is performing it says, “in the name of the father, son, and the holy spirit.” That is said to mean, you have been cleansed in god, Jesus, and their spirit. This overall symbolizes the rebirth of you and making you a sinful clean person. Titus 3:5: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." This is a verse from the bible. This verse means according to the mercy of God he saved us. He saved us by washing the regeneration and cleaning us with the Holy Ghost. These two practices, baptism and Shahada both represent the acceptance of their leader. In Christians sake, the acceptance of Jesus and for Muslims, the acceptance of Muhammad the profit. Although, they are two different religions there is still a common form of acceptance that must be preformed. The idea of reciting pre-written religious messages is common between these two religions.

In Judaism...
On the first Sabbath after a baby is born, the infant's father is called to come to the front of the synagogue to recite the //aliyah// and he asks for blessings for the health of mother and child. If the child is a girl, she is named at this time. Boys are named on the eighth day after birth, as part of the rite of circumcision.

Although jewish people don't have a formal way of getting into their religion they have ways of showing that your apart of them. To become jewish you have to be born into it, unlike Christianity and Islam.

Salat ...
Salat is one of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims must pray 5 times a day, at dawn (// al-fajr //), midday (// al-zuhr //), afternoon (// al-'asr //), sunset (// al-maghrib //) and evening (// al-'isha //). These prayers are always directed to the Ka'ba shrine Mecca. A prayer mat, sajjada, is commonly used during salat. The salat can be done by yourself, but it carries special merit when done with other Muslims. // Salat //must always be preceded by ablutions (// wudu' //) which is washing the face, hands, and feet, which is done with water. (Qur'an 5:6; also 2:222, 4:43)

Ashadu anna la ilaha illa Allah Ashadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah Haiya 'ala al-salat Haiya 'ala al-falah Al-salat khayrun min al-nawm Allahu Akbar La ilaha illa Allah || God is most great I bear witness there is no god but God I bear witness Muhammad is the prophet of God Come to prayer Come to wellbeing Prayer is better than sleep God is most great There is no God but God ||
 * Allahu Akbar

These are the words that are recited during the 5 prayers of the day, for Salat. This prayer is similar to the prayer of Christians which is …

Our Father, who art in heaven hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Here is another similarity between Christianity and Islam. They both have a common prayer that is known amongst most if not all of the people who accept the religion. Although they believe in different things the prayers have many similarities. In the prayers they are basically saying, their God is the nly god and he is great. The prayer is saying you should put no one before him. It is also saying how prayer is good for them, and how they are under god and recognize the power he has.

Conclusion...
Through this project I learned that although religions can have big differences they can still have small similarities. Those small similarities can be can still be among the basic things that make you apart of each different religion. As a Christian I made connections to the religion of Islam. I made connection between the way I was accepted into Christ through baptism and the way your accepted into Islam. This is important to the world because this information can help someone determine the path of religion they would like to choose. It can also help a person weigh the differences between different religions and the similarities.