This paper reviews the discordant ideas about salvation presented by Islam and Christianity religions. Dating to the first century CE, Christianity emphasizes that the fallen human race is saved by faith in Jesus Christ’s redeeming sacrifice. The proclamation of this fact has been strengthened by theology and the Bible scriptures. However, although Islam, which started in the seventh century CE, gave importance to the submission to the will of Allah and the desire to keep the faith, these are exemplified by the five commandments, called Pillar. While saving is the common goal for both religions, they carry a different scope and theological perspective, which conforms to their particular religious traditions. Christianity stresses faith in Jesus Christ, unlike in Islam, where Allah has priority as an object of submission, and the primary duties are decreed. There will be a comparative investigation of different viewpoints in this paper to explain theological intricacies that help understand salvation perceptions in Christianity and Islam, besides drawing attention to how people in their religious contexts opt to find spiritual bliss.
For Christian people, the “Son of God- Jesus, the Divine man and redeemer” is the one who can bring salvation using their faith. The fundamental aspect of Christianity is acknowledging that Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are crucial moments that tackle the sinful human problem and provide humanity salvation (Griffith, 2021). The Apostle Paul, a key figure in early Christian theology, emphasized the centrality of faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, underscoring that it is a divine gift bestowed by God rather than something earned through individual efforts alone. The basic Christian teachings rest on believing that when they confess that Jesus is their Messiah, they believe their past sins are forgiven and will live forever. From the very outset, the strict sense of the doctrine of salvation serves as a lighting beacon for believers in their efforts to be spiritually healed and reconciled with God.
On the other hand, the followers of Islam believe that salvation is only achieved through the act of submission (Islam) to God’s will and doing good things. This may include philanthropy, acts of kindness, helping the poor and weak, and doing good in the community. The doctrine of Tawhid – the oneness of Allah and the finality of Islam as the Prophet Muhammad’s faith – is the fundamental theological Pillar of Islamic belief. In Islamic thought, salvation is obtained by committing to the Five Pillars of Islam, which are the roots of the rites of worship and devotion for the Muslims (Levine, 2019). These pillars, enumerated as Shahada, Salat, Zakat, Sawm and Hajj, respectively, all provide the true essence of Islam, which can be summed up as, “Submit to God, and do good works”. Islamic scripture mentions that submission to Allah’s will by embracing sincerity and faithfulness, including actual acts of goodness, is critical to obtaining Allah’s blessings and, therefore, a reward of eternal life in paradise. The Five Pillars work as the foundations of Islamic belief; they provide believers with moral and spiritual benchmarks, striving after spiritual significance and divine acceptance amongst Islamic tradition; it unites acceptable faith with appropriate deeds for salvation.
Viewing these two doctrines regarding salvation helps to demonstrate the main gaps between Christianity and Islam. Subsequently, more than anyone, Christ serves the people’s belief in Jesus Christ as the primary way of salvation, conniving his sacrificial death as the most efficient way of redemption. Unlike Islam, which views submitting to Allah and the doing of good deeds as the only elements that ensure salvation, Christianity includes the aspect of having faith in Jesus Christ as a requisite to such. These unique conceptions of God reflect the different philosophical backgrounds of both religions, which are a source of belief systems for those who worship the Supreme creator and their relationship with him (Nassè, 2020). In contrast, Christians believe in Jesus as a redeemer and Jesus as a means of salvation through love and obedience. Conversely, Muslims believe in submission to Allah’s will and ethical behaviours as the paths to salvation. Such differing views on the psychographics within Christianity and Islam reveal their multifaceted theologies and give a glimpse of the societies’ inner thinking and values that guide people on their spiritual journeys.
Additionally, Christians and Muslims have differentiable concepts of the form of salvation and the place of the individual. According to Christianity, salvation is perceived and known as God’s gift for those who accept Jesus as their saviour, highlighting the role of faith and divine gratuity in the progress of salvation (Nirenberg, 2019). According to this theological perspective, it is wrong for people to think they can achieve salvation through their merit because it is an act of human pride and unbelief, so salvation is an unconditional gift of God’s love and grace. On the other hand, deeds and actions are genuinely good and contribute to the extent of a person’s being rewarded or not (later) in the afterlife. The Islamic perspective outlines that caring for the five principles is the basis of this and considering pious behaviour in general. It is faithfully believed that reverence of Allah gives way to paradise. It shows, however, that there is a divide between Christian and Muslim perspectives on the issue of how secular education can help students reach spiritual enlightenment and which aspects of their religions are the key ones.
To clarify, unlike Christianity, which invariably weighs the fact that salvation springs up through personal endeavours, Islam offers a more substantial thought here that any member of the community matters (White et al., 2021). The Gospel to humans has proclaimed by Christianity that salvation is the conference of an individual with Jesus Christ, whom he has accepted as his saviour and initiated a transformative change. Nevertheless, while, in Islam, personal salvation and moral conduct are core values, the correlation of the community is just as imperative for salvation. Traditions such as congregational prayers, fasting (Ramadan) and Oct 27 they seal their partnership with an agreement, the foundation of their family model. They are instructed to lead a virtuous life, protected from misfortunes, and guaranteed peace of mind. Consariseness of the negl were observed in this regard, effectively strengthening the bond among the Muslims and highlighting the inclusive relationship of the believers in their spiritual achievement. Hence, they are dissimilar in an even more profound sense than doctrine since the ways of community life that shape religion and its followers are implied, too.
It becomes clear that salvation is viewed from two perspectives in Christianity and Islam at the end of this paper: two theologies. Although the feelings of both religions describe a future in which somebody will attain salvation, the methods of attaining it are different. The foundation of Christian doctrine lies in the suggestion that the way to salvation is through the birth of Jesus Christ as the only Messiah, with a possibility of getting this sacred spirit by actual participation. On the contrary, Islam also stresses the belief in Allah’s will and the doing of good practices as if they are the critical components of being saved by him, denoting ideas of judgment by God and accountability of a human being. These modes of understanding impart theological outlooks and perspectives into cultural environments and show how varied religious belief systems are. Besides the historical sites, investigating the cultural practices of Christianity and Islam is a helpful way for a researcher to see how these theologies are reflected in different rituals, cultural directions and ethics.
References
Griffith, S. H. (2021). Comparative religion in the apologetics of the first Christian Arabic theologians. In Muslims and Others in Early Islamic Society (pp. 175–199). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315248486-8/
Levine, D. H. (2019). Religion and Politics in Comparative and Historical Perspective. In Religion and Politics (pp. 3–30). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315193588-1
Nassè, T. B. (2020). Religious beliefs, consumption and inter-religious differences and similarities: Is syncretism in consumption a new religious dynamic? International Journal of Management & Entrepreneurship Research, 2(2), 59–73. https://doi.org/10.51594/ijmer.v2i2.125
Nirenberg, D. (2019). Neighbouring faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism in the Middle Ages and today. University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226169095
White, C. J., Muthukrishna, M., & Norenzayan, A. (2021). Cultural similarity among coreligionists within and between countries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(37), e2109650118. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109650118
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