All Religions Under God

A belief that Islam brought with it is that Judaism as well as Christianity are all under the monotheistic God. In this way, they are considered sects of the Abrahamic religion of God, but nonetheless, they are valid in their beliefs and are on the same “team”. Armstrong expresses the relationship between Jews, Christians, and Muslims clearly. At first, integration and unity is at the forefront of Islam ideology. As the centuries go by, these religions will clash, mainly a control for Jerusalem between Christians and Muslims. This post explores how Islam unifies and makes holiness accessible to all. First, mosques were not just used for religious activities but also social and political activities. Unity is seen as ‘holiness’ which is described as everything under God. For Muslims, holiness is inclusive rather than exclusive (Armstrong 225-226). There is an attempt of integration of all things human-related. This is the idea that God is in all things and that everything is holy. For Jews and Christians, the sacred space is seen as the absence of the profane world. This is not true for Muslims. Once the Muslims occupied Jerusalem, they practiced integration opposed to assimilation. They allowed Christians and Jews to continue their practice and traditions without having to convert to Islam. They were labeled as ‘protected minorities’ (231). Islam as a religious empire had a mission statement of their own: sacralize the world and spread the holy place outwards from the center (235). To me, this connects back to the idea that everything is holy, and so it makes sense to incorporate the rest of the world under God. An interesting group is the Sufi mystics who believed in extreme universalism of the Qur’an. They believed themselves not to be Jew, Christian, or Muslim. Their spiritual home was not restricted to a church or synagogue. They believed to have transcended man-made distinctions of experiencing God (247). But their beliefs were not shared by the main sects of the Abrahamic religions. The crusades left a legacy which would split Muslims and Christians apart. But even the Crusaders recognized the unity of the religions. While they banished Jews and Muslims from Jerusalem, they also expelled the Christians living in Jerusalem in fear that they were in unity with Muslims (276). After the fighting, there was an attempt at reconciliation despite the blood shed for hundreds of years. During the 14th century, the Bistamiyya settled in the north of the city promoted sulh-e kull (universal conciliation) which enabled different religious traditions to understand one another (312-313). Although there were attempts to rekindling the relationships between Muslims and Christians, there still existed tension in Jerusalem. But good came from this. Other holy cities began to pop up. Cities like Galilee and Zohar were filled with opportunity and peace, which were popular among immigrants (314).