Before discussing whether Islam and Christianity can coexist, it is essential to understand that the two religions have the same foundation. Both undoubtedly come from the same source, but some changes made by humans have led to a great deal of conflicts and misunderstandings during the course of history.  In order to understand the commonalities of the world’s two largest belief systems, you should realize that God sent His messengers at different times, to different places to guide mankind to believe in the Unity and Oneness of God.

Different Messengers and Prophets came, and among them, we have Prophet Jesus and Prophet Moses and many more. However, the line of prophets continued till Prophet Muhammad, who Muslims believe to be the last of all prophets, or the Seal of Prophets. He also guided humanity towards the right path, that is the path of God, and brought the same message of unity that was taught by his predecessors. The purpose of sending different prophets after intervals, with the same message, was that people used to forget the teachings of God and they would deviate from the right path.

Muslims believe the line of prophets ended with Prophet Mohammad. He brought with him the ultimate religion, and it was compulsory for Christians ( followers of Prophet Jesus) and Jews (followers of Prophet Moses) to believe in Prophet Mohammad as the last messenger and follow his teachings. This means that there is no place for Christianity after teh advent of Islam because Islam is the ultimate religion, and it is compulsory for every Christian and Jew to follow the last prophet as they were guided in their respective Holy Books. Therefore, if we look at it from a religious point of view, there is no chance for the existence of Christianity after Islam.

However, the true message of Prophet Jesus was known to be altered by the followers and the beliefs of Christians today is different from the beliefs taught to them by their Prophet. Therefore, now if we look at the two communities being able to live together, there exists a possibility to live together in peace, if both communities forget the differences of religious beliefs and sign agreements to live together harmoniously. One should always think positively. Looking back into history, we can witness Islam and Christianity surviving together in peace under the Ottoman rule.

Although some would say that religious differences between Christians and Muslims can never allow them to live together in peace, others would argue that they can coexist peacefully if they follow particular terms and conditions. Looking back into Islamic history, we can see that during the reigns of the Rightly Guided Caliphs and many Muslim rulers after them, Christians were given complete rights of their lives, properties and religious beliefs, which encouraged them to live in peace with Muslims.

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I love to write creative articles. I have been writing on different social and religious topics for 2 years now. Give me a creative topic and I will write it for you.

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Local Muslim organizations have started a media campaign stressing the commonality of Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The billboards proclaiming "Same family, Same message" sprouting throughout the Orlando and Daytona Beach areas are sponsored by the Longwood-based American Muslim Community Centers, the Islamic Center of Orlando and the United Muslim Foundation in Lake Mary.

"In the holiday season, people are more spiritual," said AMCC Chairman Atif Fareed. "The idea is this would be an ideal time to spread the message that we are really from the same source: one family, one message."

The billboards, which have several different slogans, refer motorists to the whyislam.org website of the New York-based Islamic Circle of North America. The organization's "Why Islam" campaign is intended to raise awareness and correct misconceptions about a religion many Americans associate with terrorism.

"Our goal is to reach out and start a dialogue with our fellow Americans," said ICNA President Zahid Bukhari.

Orlando Sentinel, 1 January 2013

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Unlike other faiths, Islam is not intolerant to other religions. It preaches its followers to give common respect to, to be tolerant of, and to have conversation with people of other religions.

This can be clearly seen from the following example of the Prophet. When the Prophet came to Medina, it was also populated by some idolaters and Jews. The Prophet decided that some form of law should be established so that there would be no misinterpretation or aggression of any sort due to the religious outlook between them and the Muslims. To solve this trouble, the Prophet of Islam issued a contract, commonly known as the Covenant of Medina. Since the Muslims were in the majority, the Prophet’s position became that of a person in charge, or a head of state. He confirmed in this contract that all the populace of Medina would enjoy equivalent human rights. Everyone would be liberated to follow the religion and culture of his or her choice: the affairs of the followers of each religion would be determined according to their belief.

This confirmed that Islam preaches familiar respect. Considering that religious dissimilarities have always existed between people, Islam also preaches us to have open conversation with people in spite of their religion. Fourteen-hundred years ago, the Prophet Mohammad (sallala o alaiehe wasslam) held the first inter-religious conversation in Medina. It was a three-faith conference to swap views on matters related to religion that take place between the followers of different religions like Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

The Quran says: God forbids you not, with regards to those who fight you not for [your] faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them; for God loved those who are just. (Quran, 60:8)

Such attempts have frequently been made in history. The state of affairs that spread following the Second World War led the Christian Church, in particular, to pay great attention to this subject. Dialogues of this nature are frequently being held in a variety of countries, between Muslims and Christians in particular. I too have had the opportunity to contribute in several of these dialogues. The hard work is often worth it. For instance, a mosque was built in Rome for the first time in history.

Although, some contrasts do still exist. For example, the living conditions of non-Muslim societies living in Muslim countries far exceed the conditions of Muslim minorities living in non-Muslim countries. Whether it is the present or the past, we still see a massive dissimilarity regarding this. More dialogue between all cultures will hopefully one day result in peace for all religions.

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America is not a Christian nation. It never was. It is a country founded on principles. Not least of these is religious freedom. This is a country where people are free to worship as they please. Or to not worship anything. In this context, the holiday of Christmas deserves further explanation, because, in the U.S., it’s not just a Christian holiday. It’s an American holiday, for all.

Christmas is celebrated on December 25. For some Christians, this date is treated as the birthday of Jesus Christ. This date actually has religious ties to Zoroastrianism that pre-date the existence of the Abrahamic faiths, but the birthday correlation is the reason behind the Christian connection.

And Santa Claus? The history is extensive. But, basically the name is a bastardization of Saint Nicholas of Myra, a Christian figure who lived in Turkey and gave gifts to the poor. The conceptualization of Santa Claus stems from several sources. None of them Christian. The gift giving aspects of Santa Claus, in addition to St. Nicholas’ altruism, come from Germanic pagan traditions. (Paganism is a catch-all phrase that denotes people with an animalistic, naturalistic, or polytheistic spiritual orientation.) Further, the modern imagery of Santa Claus emerged with the American Civil War in the mid-19th century. It wasn’t until Coca-Cola picked up similar images in the 1930s for an advertising campaign, though, that Santa Claus hit it big as an American icon.

What is the purpose of a holiday? Well, it’s a holy day. But, it’s also not. Holidays have a purpose in human civilization. They began soon after we started practicing agriculture 10,000 years ago. They were connected with the lunar cycle, like the Islamic calendar, and used to celebrate harvests or rainy seasons or any significant episode in an important crop’s growing season. Only later did these really have “religious” significance as we define it.

But, America is a capitalist society. Most of the world has many holidays. We have only a few, staggered evenly throughout the year, and always heavily marketed. St. Patrick’s Day. Valentine’s Day. Easter. Sure, these all have some basis in Christian tradition. But, Christian tradition has a basis in earlier pagan traditions tied to agriculture. As do Judaism and Islam. So, the religious heritage of these holidays isn’t why they are significant today. They are brief buying-and-selling seasons. Every holiday in the U.S. with a religious basis is now secularized and associated with a few select commodities.

Christmas is no exception. It is known here in the U.S. as the season for giving. Giving what? Gifts! Presents! Objects of every conceivable sort, from cars, to toys, to skateboards and guitars, right down to the least desirable . . . clothes. But, there’s little altruism here. These presents aren’t for the anonymous poor, like Saint Nicholas used to do in Turkey. They’re for us. To have and hold and enjoy. Sure, some people do charity for anonymous people. Sure, some people attend religious functions. But, that doesn’t preclude them from discovering an iPad under their own tree.

Yes, the traditionalists out there cut down a living tree, place it in their living room, bedeck it with lights and other ornaments, place gifts beneath it, open those gifts on Christmas morning, and then throw that tree away. My own parents did it every year when I was a kid, and they continue to do it now. My family is not Christian, yet Christmas still comes.

This year, I will be celebrating Christmas with my wife. She’s not from the U.S., and hasn’t celebrated Christmas before. So, we’re making our own version. Because traditions also evolve. In America today, Christmas is still a special time of the year. But, the reason why is entirely yours to decide.

About the author

Ethan Lazuk

Born in Montana in 1989, I attended high school in Phoenix, Arizona, and college at The University of Montana, from which I recently earned a Bachelor's degree in Central and Southwest Asian Studies. I currently live in Washington D.C.
Although American English is my first language, I also have an intermediate/advanced knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic, with some Lebanese and Gulf vocabulary, as well as a basic knowledge of Farsi-Persian. My academic areas of interest include Cultural Anthropology, Islamic Studies, and Environmental and Human Geography. In 2010, I was a summer intern with the Department of Defense, working on Ft. McNair Army Base in the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies. Additionally, I have traveled in Istanbul, Turkey, and lived in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.


I am a third-generation American of Polish descent. My great-grandparents fled Eastern Europe during the Bolshevik Revolution and entered the United States through Ellis Island. Today, my parents and sister live in Colorado, where they are surrounded by the beautiful Rocky Mountains. I am also happily married to the love of my life named Dania. Originally from al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia, she came to the United States two years ago as an exchange student. She is a practicing Muslim. But I am a searcher who finds beauty in all religions, and therefore I do not belong to any one religion in particular. But her and I having different religious beliefs has not negatively affected our marriage. In fact, it has brought us closer together. We respectfully embrace our differences, while cherishing our infinite similarities. If being in an inter-faith marriage has taught me one thing, it is that religious differences are not a cause for division, but for collaboration.

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La France est entre autre l’un des pays ou l’on puisse parler de pluralité religieuse ou l’on peut sainement parler de la liberté de religion ou de la conviction de son choix. L’émergence progressive de l’islam en France et son affirmation dans l’environnement quotidien  ont fait de celle-ci ; la deuxième religion en France.la laïcité étant le propre de la France permet a des personnes de différents milieux culturels et religieux de cohabiter et d’échanger ensemble. Aujourd’hui, la religion en France est un grand sujet dans la culture contemporaine. Les attitudes des Français à propos de l’intégrisme, l’église organisée, et la laïcité sont très complexes, et la relation entre la religion et l’État est exceptionnelle. Aujourd’hui, on trouve une diversité énorme en France, avec les minorités les plus grandes des juifs, musulmans, et bouddhistes de toute l’Europe. Ce fait donne une richesse culturelle importante à la société moderne. Mais en même temps, cette diversité crée de nouveaux problèmes pour l’intégration des cultes divers dans un état laïc qui promet « liberté, égalité, et fraternité » à tous les citoyens. Cependant, la plupart des Français ne se considèrent pas religieux. La France est considérée un des pays les moins religieux dans le monde. Par contre, pour les Français croyants, la religion est à la vie et à la culture. En ce qui concerne l’islam, les maitres mots sont : altérité et réalité. Maintenant, c’est estimé qu’il y a 5 millions musulmans en France.  Ces musulmans sont très importants à la culture et à la société française.  Cependant, il existe un air d’altérité de l’islam ; les Français non musulmans regardent l’islam d’une distance.  L’islam est perçue comme ce qui est autre, comme étrange, principalement à cause de trois problèmes : de la nature de formation des imams, du manque de lieux de prière, et de voiles islamiques.  En réalité, pourtant, bien que l’islam soit assez opposé à la francité traditionnelle catholique, il est une réalité forte qui devient enraciné dans le tissu social français. L’islam à toujours prôné la coexistence pacifique des religions.  L’Islam appelle à l’unité des croyants notamment des Gens du Livre et ceci malgré tous les écrits visant à diaboliser l’Islam, le tiers exclu de la Révolution abrahamique. Afin de comprendre et d’apprécier cette tolérance, on doit la remettre dans son contexte, à l’époque où l’islam était un État officiel, avec des lois spécifiques établies par le Prophète et conformes aux principes de la religion. Il existe de nombreux exemples, au cours des treize années de sa mission qu’il a passées à la Mecque, où le Prophète a fait preuve de tolérance. Comme certains pourraient croire qu’il cherchait par là à améliorer l’image des musulmans et le statut social de l’islam en général,

La laïcité est indispensable en France puisqu’elle assure une paix sociale qui, autrement, ne serait pas possible dans la vie publique. En même temps, la laïcité promet que tout le monde peut pratiquer leurs propres croyances religieuses en privée. De cette manière, les citoyens français évitent les tensions entre leurs communautés en public et protègent leurs intérêts privés chez eux.

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Everyone is aware of the word religion, but can anyone explain the exact definition of it? Religion is an extremely motivating force that motivates its followers. Religion is not limited to rituals and festivals. It is a mechanism that shows it followers the right way to live. Religion means laws, both moral and social that encourage the right way of living.

Humans are the only creation that have the power of transforming ideas, information and knowledge from one generation to another. That is how history is developed and civilizations are evolved. Today, when everyone is busy in a rat race of exceeding each other, and the world is at the verge of atomic destruction, religious harmony is the only solution. Religious harmony is the only way in which people around the world will be at peace and harmony with each other.  Every person has deep emotional roots with their religion. No matter what your religion is, you love and respect it and want it to be respected by others.

Human beings have been created equal and should not be discriminated against on any basis. In order to keep peace in the world, we all should make an effort to look into each others’ religion and find what is common between them. When this happens, we will be able to understand the basics of each belief and gain a sense of respect and dignity. When each religious group receives respect, they will ultimately agree to compromise, and a sense of universal brotherhood can be developed.

Prophets, saints and sages have appeared in different corners of the world in different ages. All of them have spread the message of love and peace. The government of every country should put their efforts toward bringing the people of different religions closer to each other. Peace and harmony acts have been passed, and many conferences have been held in many countries with the intention of promoting harmony and peace among different religions. If we can keep up with these, and the governments of every country take steps to protect every religion and its people, peace and harmony can be granted to everyone.

 

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