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Christianity and Islam are the biggest religions in the world. Thirty-three percent of the world's population is Christian, twenty-one percent Muslim. Islam is the second biggest religion in the world after Christianity. As a monotheistic faith that originated in the Middle East, Islam admits many beliefs and practices in common with Judaism and Christianity. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are collectively known as "Abrahamic religions" because they trace their history to the covenant God made with Abraham in the Hebrew Bible. The Prophet Muhammad met both individuals and Christians during his lifetime, and Islam has come into common contact with both of its fellow monotheistic faiths during most of its history. As a brief guide of the similarities and differences of Christianity and Islam, the following chart compares the statistics, origins, history and religious beliefs of these three great monotheistic faiths. Please note that, as with all plans of this kind, the information is oversimplified and should not be used as a sole resource. Jesus is regarded by Christians as the founder of their religion, in that the events of his life comprise the foundation story of Christianity; but as the great interpreter of Jesus' mission, who justified, in a way that Jesus himself never did, how Jesus' life and death fitted into a cosmic strategy of salvation, stretching from the creation of Adam to the end of time. Christianity and Islam Judaism are famous as Abrahamic religions because of their common origin through Abraham. Muslims conceive Ishmael (Isma'il), the first born son of Abraham, to be the "Father of the Arabs" and Abraham's second son, Isaac (Is?aq), is known as "Father of the Hebrews". The story of Abraham and his sons is told in the Book of Genesis and the Quran but with certain differences. Muslims normally refer to Christianity and Islam as "People of the Book", people who follow the same usual teachings in relation to the worship of the One God (Tawhid) as accepted by Abraham. The roots of Christian charity lie in the ethics recommended by the Hebrew prophets. But the Jews also destroyed the enemies of God. In the book of Deuteronomy, God gave the Hebrews license to destroy their enemies and destroy their cities. "Those shalt hit them, and absolutely destroy them; those shalt make no agreement with them, nor show concern for them.” We know more about Mohammed than Jesus because the latter was knew during his lifetime as the father of Islam. Thus, there were modern biographies and written records. In contrast, no one knew Jesus as an important person in his own lifetime. Even as late as since fifty years after his death, Jesus remained nearly a complete unknown to the Mediterranean world. Our primary origins for the life and teachings of Jesus are the Gospels. And the Gospels were never conveyed to be objective historical documents.
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