Demonstrate how Christianity and Islam guide the individual in achieving inner peace.
Peace is more than just a state of tranquility or quiet. Peace is a difficult part of life to achieve and it is every adherent of Christianity and Islam to achieve. To find inner peace there must be peace of heart and peace in the mind. Adherents of both faith must understand the fundamental and core elements of their sacred texts, to firmly understand what is meant of peace to live the life of peace.
Christianity is a faith based upon the fundamental teachings of Christ. The New Testament provides the adherent with a guide to peace with people and God, people with others, and inner peace. The New Testament informs Christians how to act and interact with people, thus resulting in a start of inner peace. The New Testament uses the word ‘peace’ over 90 times highlighting the need and importance for peace on earth. “
Blessed are the peacemakers.”1 This Beatitude is a strong guide to peace in saying that all adherents who make peace with others in their lives, those who go out of their way and strive for peace will be blessed by God and thus, living a life of peace. However there would be no Beatitudes if there was not a leader for the adherents and disciples to follow. Peace would never occur without Jesus Christ leading the way. Jesus Christ, son of God is the prime example of peace to have ever walked on earth. Jesus would use the greeting “Shalom” that extends to his Jewish heritage however this word “Shalom” literally means ‘peace’.
To follow in the footsteps of Jesus, would be to successfully live a life of peace and humility. Jesus asks for peace of heart and exposes immorality of murderous anger and hatred. Jesus asks for peace of heart in Exodus and Matthew (Beatitudes). The Old Testament ways are linked and mirrored to that of the New Testament such as the 5th commandment of “Though shall not kill”(Old Testament) is linked to the peaceful ways of Jesus Christ and the Commandment of Love and “Do un to others, as you want done to you”. These examples purely bring about the understanding of peace and that killing is wrong, immoral and unpeaceful.
Mark brings about short instructions on peace in 5:34. This Gospel tells us that faith will bring about peace. This Gospel tells us that inner peace will be brought upon adherents by their faith. In saying this, to result in a life of inner peace, the Christian adherents must first follow the teachings of their God, bring about all of Paul’s teachings on peace to lead them to the ways of peace and Jesus, and to embody the ways of the Sacred Gospels into their everyday lives. The way adherents interact with community and involve themselves in relationships is another key element of peace and also noted in the Gospel of Mark 9:50. This Gospel instructs the need for friendship and trust and faith of the community to draw upon inner peace. Without companionship and a communal faith, there would be no peace for the Christian adherent.
“Paul is the second most prominent figure in the New Testament.”2 Paul was a pastoral theologian who lived the life of peace, drawing peace to communities that he travelled to. Paul as a Christian missionary was a result of a conversion on the road to Damascus. This ‘revelation’ of sorts, brought about Paul’s new found ways of life and new found faith. This led Paul to become the great missionary he was. Touching of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we see that Paul focusses this letter on the issue of love and community. Paul writes to the Corinthians and talks all of the spiritual gift of love. This relates back to the need for relationships and community to invoke the notion of inner peace in all adherents. Paul’s clever rhetoric writing skills and knowledge of faith, allowed him to communicate to many many communities and pass on the word of God and gain peace for himself, and others.
To be come like God, one must promote peace and become a child of God. Making peace with others is making peace with God. All about peace for contribution as Paul urges the Ephesians to be kind to one another.
In saying that Christian adherents must follow the sacred texts for the core beliefs and understanding of peace, Muslim adherents of Islam must also do the same. It is understood that both faiths, involve sacred texts providing a guide and a way of life to ultimately live the life of peace.
Peace is mentioned approximately 67 times in the Islamic sacred text of the Qur’an. Peace is recognised as a desire of Allah in Qur'an 10:5 This here shows Allah inviting peace. There are many sacred texts to find peace and many intelligent scholars such as Fethullah Gulen. Fethullah Gulen workd extensively as a pioneer of dialogue to contribute to world peace. Gulen believed in dialogue, education and social justice to provide peace for the world. Gulen works with a group of people and his Hizmet to strive for the peace that is dictated in the Qur’an and demonstrated by the fundamental beliefs of the 5 pillars of Islam. Through Hizmet, Fetuleh Gulen has called upon the issues of isolation, poverty, hunger, despair and backwardness.
To bring about peace we need education, dialogue, social networking and a way to bring people towards progressive development. This can remove the radical aspect of any faith. United Nations Children’s Fund is one organisation that does this and so does Red Cross, Red Crescent. All 5 pillars provide a chance for adherents to answer the call of Allah.
The five pillars of Islam demonstrate inner peace and peace with Allah as it is a demonstration of submission to Allah which is what the world ‘Islam’ essentially means. Each step of the five pillars leads a Muslim one step closer to the essential path to Allah.
The 5 pillars provide the adherent with a practical framework to understand peace. The first pillar is Shahada, which is a declaration of faith that is made five times throughout each day of the adherent. This declaration of faith eliminates any aspect of another faith in their life and worships the prominent figure of Allah and Muhammad as his prophet, providing belief of Allah and inner peace and peace of mind.
The second pillar of Salat is a heavy influence of faith leading to inner peace and peace with God. Praying 5 times a day, worshippers can stand before their God and communicate forgiveness and messages throughout their daily life.
The third pillar of Zakat comes in the form of almsgiving (charity). To give a small percentage to the poor is said to purify the heart of a Muslim, thus providing the steps towards peace of heart and inner peace. To give to the community brings about outer peace and great relationships in the community as Islam is a faith built upon relationships with community. This selfless act of compassion provides peace among many because it will steer clear adherents who are just after wealth, cleansing their heart. This charitable aspect of Islam draws closer adherents to Allah and others thus resulting in another peaceful aspect to complete the will of their God - to live a life close to Allah and ascend to heaven.
The fourth pillar of Sawm involves the fasting in the month of Ramadan. Eating, drinking and sexual activity are not allowed between dawn and sunset. For adherents to take this action and abstain from certain actions such as sex, will draw out the evil and focus on the peaceful aspects of all Muslims.
The final pillar is Hajj. Hajj is a demonstration of submission to Allah and peace as it embodies the teachings of the Qur’an and other pillars. With the pilgrimage to Mekkah being undertaken, individual adherents become closer to God throughout the processes of Salat the circling of the Kabah 7 times. Hajj involves so many processes such as dress, rules of shaving and abstinence, that the whole movement is a focus of peace and the love of Allah. Every notion and participation of the Muslim adherents at Hajj, leads them to the will of God and gives peace to the heart of all Muslims. The physical demanding ways of Hajj is that of a challenging nature and to complete the tasks set out, is a great accomplishment resulting in peace of mind and inner peace. Outer peace with the community is also achieved as many hundreds of thousands of Muslims gather similarly dressed and in appearance to finish this task for the greater will of Allah.
Both faiths understand peace from their sacred texts and disciples/prophets. Without prayer to the higher power, there would be no peace or communication between God/Allah and the adherent. Prayer is essential for both adherents of Christianity and Islam to live an understanding peaceful life that God or Allah would want.
Peace is more than just a state of tranquility or quiet. Peace is a difficult part of life to achieve and it is every adherent of Christianity and Islam to achieve. To find inner peace there must be peace of heart and peace in the mind. Adherents of both faith must understand the fundamental and core elements of their sacred texts, to firmly understand what is meant of peace to live the life of peace.
Christianity is a faith based upon the fundamental teachings of Christ. The New Testament provides the adherent with a guide to peace with people and God, people with others, and inner peace. The New Testament informs Christians how to act and interact with people, thus resulting in a start of inner peace. The New Testament uses the word ‘peace’ over 90 times highlighting the need and importance for peace on earth. “
Blessed are the peacemakers.”1 This Beatitude is a strong guide to peace in saying that all adherents who make peace with others in their lives, those who go out of their way and strive for peace will be blessed by God and thus, living a life of peace. However there would be no Beatitudes if there was not a leader for the adherents and disciples to follow. Peace would never occur without Jesus Christ leading the way. Jesus Christ, son of God is the prime example of peace to have ever walked on earth. Jesus would use the greeting “Shalom” that extends to his Jewish heritage however this word “Shalom” literally means ‘peace’.
To follow in the footsteps of Jesus, would be to successfully live a life of peace and humility. Jesus asks for peace of heart and exposes immorality of murderous anger and hatred. Jesus asks for peace of heart in Exodus and Matthew (Beatitudes). The Old Testament ways are linked and mirrored to that of the New Testament such as the 5th commandment of “Though shall not kill”(Old Testament) is linked to the peaceful ways of Jesus Christ and the Commandment of Love and “Do un to others, as you want done to you”. These examples purely bring about the understanding of peace and that killing is wrong, immoral and unpeaceful.
Mark brings about short instructions on peace in 5:34. This Gospel tells us that faith will bring about peace. This Gospel tells us that inner peace will be brought upon adherents by their faith. In saying this, to result in a life of inner peace, the Christian adherents must first follow the teachings of their God, bring about all of Paul’s teachings on peace to lead them to the ways of peace and Jesus, and to embody the ways of the Sacred Gospels into their everyday lives. The way adherents interact with community and involve themselves in relationships is another key element of peace and also noted in the Gospel of Mark 9:50. This Gospel instructs the need for friendship and trust and faith of the community to draw upon inner peace. Without companionship and a communal faith, there would be no peace for the Christian adherent.
“Paul is the second most prominent figure in the New Testament.”2 Paul was a pastoral theologian who lived the life of peace, drawing peace to communities that he travelled to. Paul as a Christian missionary was a result of a conversion on the road to Damascus. This ‘revelation’ of sorts, brought about Paul’s new found ways of life and new found faith. This led Paul to become the great missionary he was. Touching of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we see that Paul focusses this letter on the issue of love and community. Paul writes to the Corinthians and talks all of the spiritual gift of love. This relates back to the need for relationships and community to invoke the notion of inner peace in all adherents. Paul’s clever rhetoric writing skills and knowledge of faith, allowed him to communicate to many many communities and pass on the word of God and gain peace for himself, and others.
To be come like God, one must promote peace and become a child of God. Making peace with others is making peace with God. All about peace for contribution as Paul urges the Ephesians to be kind to one another.
In saying that Christian adherents must follow the sacred texts for the core beliefs and understanding of peace, Muslim adherents of Islam must also do the same. It is understood that both faiths, involve sacred texts providing a guide and a way of life to ultimately live the life of peace.
Peace is mentioned approximately 67 times in the Islamic sacred text of the Qur’an. Peace is recognised as a desire of Allah in Qur'an 10:5 This here shows Allah inviting peace. There are many sacred texts to find peace and many intelligent scholars such as Fethullah Gulen. Fethullah Gulen workd extensively as a pioneer of dialogue to contribute to world peace. Gulen believed in dialogue, education and social justice to provide peace for the world. Gulen works with a group of people and his Hizmet to strive for the peace that is dictated in the Qur’an and demonstrated by the fundamental beliefs of the 5 pillars of Islam. Through Hizmet, Fetuleh Gulen has called upon the issues of isolation, poverty, hunger, despair and backwardness.
To bring about peace we need education, dialogue, social networking and a way to bring people towards progressive development. This can remove the radical aspect of any faith. United Nations Children’s Fund is one organisation that does this and so does Red Cross, Red Crescent. All 5 pillars provide a chance for adherents to answer the call of Allah.
The five pillars of Islam demonstrate inner peace and peace with Allah as it is a demonstration of submission to Allah which is what the world ‘Islam’ essentially means. Each step of the five pillars leads a Muslim one step closer to the essential path to Allah.
The 5 pillars provide the adherent with a practical framework to understand peace. The first pillar is Shahada, which is a declaration of faith that is made five times throughout each day of the adherent. This declaration of faith eliminates any aspect of another faith in their life and worships the prominent figure of Allah and Muhammad as his prophet, providing belief of Allah and inner peace and peace of mind.
The second pillar of Salat is a heavy influence of faith leading to inner peace and peace with God. Praying 5 times a day, worshippers can stand before their God and communicate forgiveness and messages throughout their daily life.
The third pillar of Zakat comes in the form of almsgiving (charity). To give a small percentage to the poor is said to purify the heart of a Muslim, thus providing the steps towards peace of heart and inner peace. To give to the community brings about outer peace and great relationships in the community as Islam is a faith built upon relationships with community. This selfless act of compassion provides peace among many because it will steer clear adherents who are just after wealth, cleansing their heart. This charitable aspect of Islam draws closer adherents to Allah and others thus resulting in another peaceful aspect to complete the will of their God - to live a life close to Allah and ascend to heaven.
The fourth pillar of Sawm involves the fasting in the month of Ramadan. Eating, drinking and sexual activity are not allowed between dawn and sunset. For adherents to take this action and abstain from certain actions such as sex, will draw out the evil and focus on the peaceful aspects of all Muslims.
The final pillar is Hajj. Hajj is a demonstration of submission to Allah and peace as it embodies the teachings of the Qur’an and other pillars. With the pilgrimage to Mekkah being undertaken, individual adherents become closer to God throughout the processes of Salat the circling of the Kabah 7 times. Hajj involves so many processes such as dress, rules of shaving and abstinence, that the whole movement is a focus of peace and the love of Allah. Every notion and participation of the Muslim adherents at Hajj, leads them to the will of God and gives peace to the heart of all Muslims. The physical demanding ways of Hajj is that of a challenging nature and to complete the tasks set out, is a great accomplishment resulting in peace of mind and inner peace. Outer peace with the community is also achieved as many hundreds of thousands of Muslims gather similarly dressed and in appearance to finish this task for the greater will of Allah.
Both faiths understand peace from their sacred texts and disciples/prophets. Without prayer to the higher power, there would be no peace or communication between God/Allah and the adherent. Prayer is essential for both adherents of Christianity and Islam to live an understanding peaceful life that God or Allah would want.
By Chris Camilleri