I'm taking a comparative religion class which requires me to visit religious services from different faith backgrounds than my own.  For my first visit, I went to a Jewish service.  For my second visit, I went to an Islamic ceremony.  I figured I'd post my experience here for all to see:

            With all the media attention focused on Islam since 2001, I started to feel like I should learn more about it.  A few months ago I finished reading the Qur’an, but I still did not understand how Islam was much different from Judaism.  Both claim the same deity and the same biblical history laid out in the Christian “Old Testament”.  The only textual basis I could find for a potential theological conflict was the prophet Muhammad claimed by Islam.  The Qur’an states that Muhammad passed on the word of God.  While Jews might disagree with the source of Muhammad’s inspiration, I could never find anything he said that would conflict with Jewish teachings.  I was left wondering why there is so much conflict between Judaism and Islam when this passage from the Qur’an even claims the Torah and the Gospel as moral guides sent down by God:

“Step by step, He has sent the Scripture down to you [Prophet] with the Truth, confirming what went before: He sent down the Torah and the Gospel earlier as a guide for people…” (Qur’an, book of “The Family of ‘Imran” verse 3)

It became my hope that I would understand the differences between Judaism and Islam more by visiting each of their services.

            The first thing I noticed when I entered the room dedicated for Islamic services was that I was asked to remove my shoes.  This was just to show respect for the sacred space of the chapel area.  Throughout the day, your shoes get dragged through the dirt and mud so removing them before you enter the chapel is a way of not defiling it.  Islam is built around a very deep respect for God.  Taking your shoes off before entering a place devoted to his worship is just one of the many ways Muslims show that respect.

            The word “Islam” literally means devotion to God.  I felt that the name accurately describes the religion.  Muslims are required by Sharia (Islamic law) to face Mecca and pray five times daily.  Sharia law also requires Muslims to attend a formal service for the noon prayer on Fridays.  By comparison, Islam seems to mandate a closer relationship with God than the other Abrahamic religions.  Before the prayer, there was a formal call to worship sung by one of the attendants.  During this call to worship everybody would stand, bow, and sit in unison while only one person sang.  Afterward, everybody knelt with their forehead on the ground for a few minutes to pray.

            I asked about some of the motions during the call to worship.  I was told it is just a way to consecrate the prayer time and open up a direct channel to God.  At one point, everybody made a waving motion behind their head.  It was explained to me that this was to represent pushing everything else out of your mind so the prayer would be completely undistracted.  The kneeling stance taken during prayer also symbolizes submission to God.

            After the prayer came a few readings from the Qur’an and a brief sermon on Sharia law vs. Muslim law.  All of the readings were in Arabic, and most were also in English.  I don’t know why the readings were in Arabic, but I assume it was because Arabic is the original language of the Qur’an.  Presumably, maintaining the use of the original language assures that congregants will always have access to the original message passed down by Muhammad.  The part I found really interesting though was the sermon.  One thing that really struck me is that it was formatted like a persuasive essay, and constructed around the thesis that Muslim law is a dilution of Sharia law. 

He argued that the guidance passed down in the Qur’an is unambiguous and clearly explains that Muslims should not do things such as drink alcohol or have extra-marital sex.   He said that Muslim law would also prohibit these things if it maintained the true spirit of Islam; however, he argued that Muslim law did not maintain the spirit of Islam and was obviously an inferior version of Sharia law.  This argument also made it clear that Islam does not distinguish between religious law and state law.

As the name suggests, Islam is intensive on devotion and submission to God.  It is most important to follow the laws laid out by God through Muhammad.  Understanding the law is important, but even if you don’t understand, it is vital to follow the law.  Like many other religions, the importance of tradition is emphasized over its meaning.  The meaning of the traditions and laws offered to me when I asked was generally something to the effect of “because God said so.” 

I find it surprising that Judaism and Islam can claim the same God and even many of the same books, but still evolve as such diverse methods of practice.  Both religions orient themselves around devotion and obedience to God.  Both religions even contain strict dietary restrictions and mandate circumcision without a clear explanation for why God mandates it.  Islam seems to be more focused on prayer while Judaism is heavily focused on reciting biblical readings.  Based solely on observing the practices of Muslims as compared to Jews, conflict would seem reasonable because the ways they devote themselves to God look very different.  After visiting a service from each tradition though, I feel like understanding the persistent Islam-Judaism conflict is farther out of my reach.  It seems to me that the real conflict might lie in the obvious cultural differences instead of the theological ones.