Hey guys, welcome to FTD Facts. And in this episode, I'm looking at 10 similarities between Islam and
Judaism. The religious practices, and the core beliefs of Jews and Muslims are sometimes very
identical. I mean, like, exactly the same at times. And hopefully, this episode will inspire viewers
to amplify the things that unite each of us, rather than the negative division. Starting off at number
10, the first similarity is Abraham. Abraham is an important figure in Islam and Judaism. And these
religions are both known as Abrahamic religions. Muslims descended from the Prophet Abraham and
his son Ismael, and Abraham and his son Isaac, are where the Jewish nation descended from. Islam as
an organized religion, was founded by the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century AD. And Islam was born
in Arabia. Both Jews and Arabs are classified as Semitic people, and traditionally viewed
as descendants from "Shem," who was the son of Noah. These religions are also monotheistic. They share
the common belief in the oneness of God, which is monotheism. And Muslims refer to God by the
name "Allah." The root of the word Allah, "El," is found throughout the Jewish Torah as the name of God as
well. And, they believe in the existence of one God, and only one God, period. So you won't be finding
any beliefs like the Trinity, or depictions of God in the form of avatars, or anything like
that in both of these religions. The next thing that they share in common, is that they reject
the Christian view of Jesus. The Christian faith claims that Jesus Christ is God. But, both Jews and
Muslims fully reject this claim about Jesus. Other Christian beliefs about Jesus that they reject are
also the resurrection of Jesus, Jesus being the literal son of God, and also, him being the savior
of the world. Christianity maintains that Jesus is, in some sense, a divine incarnation of God who
is the second person of the Trinity - consisting of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and hence, equal
with God. But in Judaism and Islam, each of them sees this as a very radical and nonsensical claim
because, you simply can't be incarnated into a human being if you're God. God just doesn't operate like
that. So, from the perspective of both Judaism and Islam, such beliefs about Jesus are seen as anti-monotheistic.
Islam and Judaism also share common belief in the resurrection and the judgment day.
So, most Jews and Muslims believe in some version of this. The general accepted idea is that there
will come a day when God will collectively raise from the dead, every single person who has ever
lived, and then, individually pronounce judgment. All who are deemed righteous in God's eyes,
they're given a reward. And for those who aren't, they're given a punishment. Now, of course, there
are different variations in the understanding and the specific sequence of the Resurrection,
and the judgment, but the core idea is shared in some form between these two religions, and,
it plays a very important role in the two faiths. Jews and Muslims also believe in angels. Judaism
and Islam each teach of heavenly beings, generally referred to as angels. And angels, are supernatural
beings created by God to serve as his messengers, and to act out all instructions given to them by
God. Both the "Tanakh," which is the full Hebrew Bible, and the "Talmud," which is the supporting
literature, have numerous accounts of stories about angels. Likewise, in the Quran, it talks about angels
being God's messengers as well. And the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the angel
Gabriel. And, both Judaism and Islam also warned against worshipping any angels. The next similarity
is prophets and divine intervention. So, Judaism and Islam teach that God communicates directly
to humans through prophets or human beings, chosen by God through dreams and visions. In Judaism, Moses
is often seen as the main prophet, since it was through him that God revealed the Torah. The first
five books of the Bible are collectively referred to as a Torah, if you didn't know. And the second
or the middle section of the Hebrew Bible, is known as the "Nevi-im," meaning, "the prophets," and it contains
accounts of subsequent prophets after Moses. For Islam, Muhammad is the Prophet through which God
revealed the Quran, and the Prophet Muhammad is regarded by Muslims as the last prophet through
whom God will speak to humanity. Just like the Jewish Scriptures, the Quran recognizes Adam, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King Solomon, King David, Elijah, as well as many other prophets.
There's also quite a lot of similarities with their diet rules. So, most people have heard the
term "kosher" in reference to Jews, and that Jews only eat kosher foods. Pork for example, is not eaten
because it's not kosher. Similarly, Muslims are also required to eat only certain kinds of food
known as "halal" foods, and to avoid certain other kinds of foods called "Haram" foods. The term kosher
means, ritually correct. And this is derived from the Torah. Of course, not all Jews strictly follow
these dietary laws. Most Orthodox Jews do, however, eat kosher. Whereas, many Reform Jews may be a little
bit more lenient in the degree to which they stick to these rules. In Islam, the Quran forbids
eating pork, eating foods with blood in it, improperly slaughtered animals, and a number of other types of
food would be considered Haram in Islam. There are some variations in which foods and drinks
are allowed in either of these faiths though. So, we're coming down to the final 3 similarities
between these two religions and the 3rd one is prayer. So, anyone may pray as often and at any
time that they want. But, in both Judaism and Islam, they share the similarity of a fixed number of set
prayers per day. Generally, Muslims have five formal prayers a day, as part of the five pillars of
Islam, and Muslims worldwide, are required to face the direction of Mecca, in Saudi Arabia when conducting
these prayers. In Judaism, usually, prayers are done three times a day. One in the morning, then,
in the afternoon, and finally, in the evening. And sometimes, more prayers are added for holy days.
Certain branches of Judaism consider daily prayers optional, though. They also both see Jerusalem as
a holy city. According to the Bible, the capital of Israel today, and one of the world's oldest cities,
Jerusalem, was originally established by King David about 3,000 years ago. David's son, King
Solomon, established the first temple there. And even though the temple was never rebuilt after the
destruction in 70 AD, Jerusalem is still held in high regard in Judaism. The "Temple Mount" with the
"Wailing Wall," sees thousands of visitors, who come there and visit for prayer. For Muslims, Jerusalem
is also a holy place. It's Islam's third holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. And, Islam recognizes
the previous prophets throughout history, and their connection to Jerusalem as well. Jerusalem
also plays a role in the Prophet Muhammad's "Night Journey" and "Ascension," where the angel Gabriel
transported the Prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Jerusalem for prayer, and then from Jerusalem to
heaven, where he met some of the previous prophets who ascended. Jerusalem was also the direction that
Muslims were instructed to face during their prayers. And, of course, this was changed to Mecca,
once the Muslims were divinely instructed to do so. And the final similarity I want to look at is
peace. Peace is a very central concept in both of these religions. They both have a similar greeting
meaning, peace be upon you. There's, "Shalom Aleichem," and that's the Hebrew greeting used in Judaism. And
the appropriate response would be, "Aleichem Shalom,"and this literally translates to "unto you, peace."
"Salaam Alaikum," is the Arabic greeting, and that's used in Islam. And the appropriate response would
be, "Wa Alaikum Salaam," meaning the same thing as the Hebrew response, "unto you, peace." So, these were
just 10 similarities between Islam and Judaism that I found. So what are some other similarities
that you know about? Sound off below in the comment section. Join in on the conversation.
That's how we do it here on FTD Facts. We love to learn, we love to read each other's comments,
and have a great discussion so that we can expand our knowledge, and, hopefully, move forward in unity,
and make the world a better place. So, here is another video for you. So, you can go ahead. You can
tap the annotation right on your screen right here and give that subscribe button a little love.
And also, ring that bell notification so you can be notified of future episodes. Okay guys, so I'm
out of here. My name is Leroy Kenton. Until next time, stay awesome! Stay educated! I'll see you soon.