TOPIC:

“DIFFERENT RELIGION AND

SUPERIORITY OF ISLAM OVER
OTHER RELIGIONS”

GROUP MEMBERS:
ABDUL QADEER AWAN (17-EE-35)
ABDUL MAJID SHAH (17-EE-131)
M. FAISAL GILL (17-EE-23)
M.BILAL SARWAR (17-EE-71)
SECTION: B
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL
ENGINEERING, UET TAXILA
 “RELIGION”
Religion is the set of beliefs, feelings, dogmas and
practices that define the relations between human
being and sacred or divinity. A given religion is
defined by specific elements of a community of
believers: dogmas, sacred books, rites, worship,
sacrament, moral prescription, interdicts,
organization. The majority of religions have
developed starting from a revelation based on the
exemplary history of a nation, of a prophet or a
wise man who taught an ideal of life.
A religion may be defined with its three great
characteristics:

 Believes and religious practices

 The religious feeling i.e. faith
 Unity in a community of those who share the
same faith: the Church. It is what differentiates
religion from magic.
The belief in and worship of a superhuman
controlling power, especially a personal God or
gods.
"Ideas about the relationship between
science and religion".
Religion is a fundamental set of beliefs and practices
generally agreed upon by a group of people. These
set of beliefs concern the cause, nature, and purpose
of the universe, and involve devotional and ritual
observances. They also often contain a moral code
governing the conduct of human affairs.

Ever since the world began, man has demonstrated

a natural inclination towards faith and worship of
anything he considered superior/difficult to
understand. His religion consisted of trying to
appease and get favors from the supreme being he
feared. This resulted in performing rituals (some of
them barbaric) and keeping traditions or laws to earn
goodness and/or everlasting life.
On the topic of what goodness is and how man can
be happy, every person gets a result according to his
own belief and world view.
Finally, religion is a divine law. Consequently, if the
rules and beliefs we adopt as religion are not based
on divine revelation, they are not acceptable to
Allah. According to this part of the definition, every
kind of belief and claim to sacredness produced by
man is false. Only the system sent by Allah via
prophets is the true religion. In this way, man
bowing down to man has been prevented and it has
been established that all people are one and equal
before Allah. "Superiority lies only in piety."

 Religion is a word which refers to

approaches to human spirituality which usually
encompass a set of narratives, symbols, beliefs
and practices, often with a supernatural or
transcendent quality, which give meaning to the
practitioner's experiences of life through
reference to a higher power or truth.
"Religion maybe linked to social inequality
if the religion being practiced is not the dominant
religion in a particular culture or society"
RELIGION BY ISLAMIC SCHOLORS:

. Syed Muhammad al Naquib bin Ali al-Attas

“The concept couched in the term

din, which is generally understood to mean religion,
is not the same as the concept religion as
interpreted and understood throughout Western
religious history. When we speak of Islam and refer
to it in English as a ‘religion’, we mean and
understand by it the din40, in which all the basic
connotations inherent in the term din are conceived
as gathered into a single unity of coherent meaning
as reflected in the Holy Qur’an and in the Arabic
language to which it belongs.
.
The word din derived from the Arabic root DYN has
many primary significations which although
seemingly contrary to one another are yet all
conceptually interconnected, so that the ultimate
meaning derived from them all presents itself as a
clarified unity of the whole.
DR. ZAKIR NAIK:
Naik says that Islam is the "best" religion because
"the Quran says it. No other religious
text or scripture claims this fact."He added that,
"Islam is also labelled as intolerant, and it is indeed,
but towards corruption, discrimination, injustice,
adultery, alcoholism, and all evils. Islam is the most
'tolerant' religion as far as promoting the human
values is concerned."
Naik believes that Muslims who convert from
Islam should not necessarily receive death
sentences, but that under Islamic law those who
leave Islam and then "propagate the non-Islamic
faith and speak against Islam" should be put to
death. Another source states that according to Naik,
"There is no death penalty for apostates in Islam ...
until, the apostate starts to preach his new religion:
then he can be put to death."
 DIFERRENT RELIGION:
Religion has had obscure
origins, and there are a lot of debates on how the
religious practices and beliefs may have evolved
over the ages. However, studies in cultural
anthropology give us an idea about the possible
origins of religious worship and practices. Three
possible origins have been put forth viz.
 the worship of superhuman powers of the natural
forces such as thunder, lightning, flowing of water,
growing of trees, and so on;
 the veneration of ancestral spirits, and;
 the propitiation and invocation of a singular,
ultimate reality, which cannot be defined.
Bearing one of these probable origins, religion has
come a long way today. Classifying religions into
different categories is a difficult task, as every
religion bears its own unique characteristic that one
would not find in any other faith. There are no exact
statistics regarding the number of religions existing
in the world, but recent estimates suggest that
 there may be about 4,200 different religions
currently in practice.

» Major World Religions

 Islam
 Christianity
 Hinduism
 Buddhism
 Sikhism
 Judaism
“CHRISTIANITY’’
Christianity, the monotheistic (belief in one God)
and Abrahamic (tracing its origins to Abraham, a
biblical patriarch found in Christianity, Judaism as
well as Islam) religion, is one of the largest of the
world religions, with followers spread across all the
continents. When it originated in the middle of the
first century, it was but a marginal sect of Judaism,
limited to a small province called Levant, on the
eastern boundary of the Roman Empire. However,
by the fourth century, Christianity became the
official religion of Roman Empire, replacing all the
other faiths practiced before.

Christianity is based on the life, experiences, and

teachings of Jesus Christ. It considers Jesus to be the
Son of God. He is thus, a divine being born into the
mortal world, and has both, divine as well as mortal
affiliations. Owing to Jesus' hypostatic character, he
is both, the 'prophet' of the Almighty, and the
'messiah', who will save humanity. Added to this,
there is a concept of Godhead in Christian faith,
which says that within the personality of God, the
Ultimate One, there are always three eternally co-
existing characters viz., the Father (creator and
controller of universe), the Son (Jesus Christ, the
messiah), and the Holy Spirit (the transcendent
reality that permeates the cosmos). The sacred
book of the Christians is the Holy Bible, which
features various canonical gospels, and other New
Testament writings.

Today, owing to its vast geographical extent, the

religion is characterized by internal divisions into
various sects and denominations. These differences
lie in fundamental issues such as origins, belief
systems, theological matters, liturgy, etc. The
largest sects of Christianity in the world include
the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox
Church, and the various Protestant churches.
Worship, in many Christian traditions, comprises
regular mass worship, sometimes complemented by
individual prayer and meditation. There are also
formal ceremonies held in the Church, on special
occasions such as baptisms, weddings, and
funerals.

Today, one in every three persons in the world is a

Christian; that makes almost one-third of the world
population. While Christianity is the official state
religion of numerous nations such as Vatican City,
Greece, England, and Denmark, Christians are also
found in substantial numbers in other countries
such as Turkey, Russia, India, France, and Iran.

“HINDUISM”
Hinduism is a predominant henotheistic (belief in
one God but not refusing the existence of the
others, who may also be worshiped) religion of the
Indian sub-continent, and is considered to be the
oldest surviving religious tradition in the world. The
religion developed step by step throughout the
ages, and has no designated founder. Adherents of
Hinduism are known as Hindus. On the contrary,
diverse ethnic and cultural traditions went on
assimilating into each other, as they spread through
various religious movements in the entire Indian
sub-continent. The end result was an independent
religious tradition devoid of heresy, blasphemy, and
apostasy. Similarly, religious Hindus do go on
pilgrimages, though this is not mandatory in the
religion. Moreover, Hindu festivals are regarded as
symbolic rituals taking individuals on the path
of dharma. Hindus also have a number of
denominations, owing to the various religious
movements that have taken place over a period of
time. Some of the significant denominations in
Hinduism include Vaishnavaites(worshipers
of Vishnu as a supreme
deity), Shaivaites (worshipers of Shiva as a supreme
deity), Shaktas (worshipers of the divine mother),
the Ganapatyas (the cult of Ganesha), and
the Sauras (worshipers of Sun as a supreme entity).
According to the CIA World
Factbook and International Religious Freedom
Report, 2006, about 81% of the total population of
Nepal is Hindu, followed by 80.5% in India, and
about 50% in Mauritius.
 “Buddhism”
Buddhism originated as a heterodox religious
ideology, sometime between 600 B.C. and 400
B.C., in the Indian subcontinent. When the
Brahmanism became very stringent and
exploitative, especially towards the lower classes,
Siddhartha Gautama, commonly called
the Buddha (the enlightened one), came up with
new philosophical doctrines, and established a sect
of yellow-robed followers belonging to all strata of
the society.

The entire Buddhist faith rests on the Four Noble

Truths, which are the core of all Buddhist teachings.
They are as under:
 Life is full of suffering.
 Desire is the root of all suffering.
 Suffering can be overcome by eliminating all
desires.
 Elimination of desires can be attained by following
the noble Eightfold Path
An important principle in Buddhist doctrine is the
Middle Way, which states that in order to attain
salvation an individual need not be too extreme or
too moderate in his behavior/practices. He only
needs to achieve a control over his senses.

“Sikhism”
Sikhism, a monotheistic religion founded by Guru
Nanak in the 15th century, is one of the world's
youngest religions. This religious faith, established
in the Punjab region of northwestern India with a
limited number of followers in the beginning, is
today, the fifth-largest organized religion in the
world. Even today, though Sikh diaspora is quite
visibly present in numerous parts of the world,
Punjab remains the only region, where majority of
the population is Sikh. A devoted Sikh is expected to
be an amalgam of a saint and a soldier. That is to
say, he must be both compassionate as well as
aggressive, and should be able to distinguish
between good and evil, and apply his traits
accordingly. Sikhism, a monotheistic religion
founded by Guru Nanak in the 15th century, is one
of the world's youngest religions. This religious
faith, established in the Punjab region of
northwestern India with a limited number of
followers in the beginning, is today, the fifth-largest
organized religion in the world. Even today, though
Sikh diaspora is quite visibly present in numerous
parts of the world, Punjab remains the only region,
where majority of the population is Sikh. A devoted
Sikh is expected to be an amalgam of a saint and a
soldier. That is to say, he must be both
compassionate as well as aggressive, and should be
able to distinguish between good and evil, and
apply his traits accordingly.
The God of the Sikhs is called Waheguru. He is
omnipresent and possesses infinite power to
create, sustain, and destroy.
It is believed that the entire universe was created
by God, and will be destroyed by Him, and that
everything that happens around, is according to His
will. The main tenet of Sikhism is achievement of
salvation through communion with God.
 “Judaism”
Judaism is the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, which
also include Christianity and Islam. It is also one of
the oldest monotheistic religions of the world. It
was founded in the Middle East, around 3,500 years
ago, by a prophet called Moses, to whom, it is
believed that God revealed his laws and
commandments. The Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible is
the Jewish canonical text through which most of the
religion has been studied and understood. In
Judaism, the concept of God, and His relationship
with humankind has been brought out in a very
interesting manner. The Jews believe that there is
only one God, and that they have a set agreement,
a covenant with Him. In return for all the good
things which the God endows people with, they
have to abide by His laws, and live a sacred life
spreading peace and harmony in the world.
The places of worship of the Jews are
the Synagogues, and their spiritual leaders are
known as Rabbis. Traditionally, the Jews are
supposed to pray three times a day. However, a
fourth prayer is added to the routine on the day of
the Sabbath, and on Jewish holidays.
During the Holocaust, about 600 million Jews were
killed, as attempts were being made to completely
eradicate the community from the face of the earth.
However, Judaism still remains one of the major
religious traditions in the world. Most of the Jewish
population of the world resides in Israel (42%), and
the United States

‘’Islam’’
Islam is the second most popular religion in the
world. There were about 1.6 billion Muslims in the
world in 2010, according to Pew Research. Muslims
constituted about 23% of all people on Earth. The
religion is currently in a period of rapid growth,
and is expected to reach 2.8 billion by 2050, when
the number of Muslims will probably approximately
equal the number of Christians in the world
Islam (Arabic: , Al-Islam (Submission)) is
a religion that believes in one God (Allah). All of its
teachings and beliefs are written out in
the Quran (also spelled Qur'an or Koran), the holy
scripture of Islam. Believers of Islam are called
Muslims. They believe that the Quran was spoken
to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel, and that it is the
word of Allah. They view Muhammad as a prophet.
Other beliefs and rules about what Muslims should
do come from reports of what Muhammad taught,
or hadith.
Muslims believe that there were many other
prophets before Muhammad since dawn of
humanity, beginning with the Prophet Adam and
including the Prophet Noah (Nuh), the
Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), the
Prophet Moses (Musa), and the Prophet Jesus (Isa).
They believe that all these prophets were given
messages by God of the oneness of God to their
communities at different times in history of mankind,
but Satan made the past communities deviate from
the message of oneness and other social codes.
Muslims believe that the content of the Quran
(written in Arabic) is protected by Allah as mentioned
in the Quran and is the final message of God for all
of mankind until the day of judgment.
Most Muslims belong to one of two groups. The
most common is Sunni Islam (71–80% of all Muslims
are Sunni Muslims). The second is Shia Islam (10–
20% of all Muslims are Shias – also called Shiites).
But there are many more groups like the Alevis in
Turkey.
The Five Pillars of Islam
According to Islamic Tradition, there are five basic
things that Muslims should do. They are called "The
Five Pillars of Islam":
1. Tawheed: The Testimony (faith in English) is
the core of the Muslim belief that there is no god
but Allah himself, and that Muhammad is his last
messenger.
2. Salaat: Muslims pray five times per day, at
special times of the day. When they pray, they
face Kaaba, a large cubic structure located at
the holy city
of Mecca. Salat is namaz in Persian, Turkish an
d Urdu. Shia Muslims can pray the afternoon
and evening prayers right after each other.[2]
3. Zakaat: Muslims who have money must
give 1/40th of their money (charity in English) to
help people who do not have money or need
help.
 4. Sawm or Siyam: Fasting during Ramadan, the
ninth month of the Islamic year. Muslims do not
eat or drink from dawn till sunset for one lunar
month. After Ramadan, there is a holiday
called Eid al-Fitr (which means "festival of end-
fast" in English). On Eid al-Fitr, Muslims usually
go to the mosque in the morning for a special
religious service, and then have a party with
families and friends.
Hajj (Pilgrimage in English): During the month of
Zulkaedah, the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar
is the pilgrimageseason where many Muslims go
to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam. However, should
a Muslim is financially unable to perform the Hajj, he
or she is unnecessary to do so, as those who
possess great financial capacity were the most
obligated to perform the Hajj.
Qur'an
The Al-Qur'an is the holy book of Islam and
contained to words of Allah and is conveyed to the
Prophet Muhammad by the archangel Jibraeel, who
had been tasked since Adam as the conveyor of the
words of God as guidance to mankind. The Holy
Quran is the central point of reference and is a link
which connects humanity with God.
The Qur'an contains many passages and chapters
which covers the entire aspect of humanity, down to
the most minute detail. From the creation and
conception of human child to the details of the Earth
and beyond. In the aspect of human life it contains
stories and tales of old civilizations and past
prophets and their life chronicles. The Quran also
contains the Syaria' law or hudud, and emphasizes
the equal rights man and women alike with mothers
given special status where it is sinful to even glare to
them.
The Qur'an has a total of 30 juzuks. In each juzuk,
contains many surahs or verses, with 114 surahs
which begins with Surah al-Fatehah(The Beginning)
and ended with Surah an-Naas(Humanity). It is
considered a compulsory for every man and women
who identify themselves as Muslims to memorize
and understand each of the contents of the Quran. A
Hafeez is a Muslim who have commit the Quran to
memory and can accurately recite every word in the
Quran without flipping a single page an apply them
to daily life.
Other important teachings in Islam are
the Sunnah (which tell about Mohammad's life) and
the Hadith (which are collections of dialogs of
conversation that Muslims believe Muhammad said).
The Qur'an is considered in Islam as a manual to all
of humanity and its teachings are to be implemented
and shared by its readers.
Place of worship

Muslims pray in a mosque, such as this located

at Jerusalem.
Muslims pray in a place of worship called the
mosque. A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic. Most
mosques were mostly recognized having at least a
single dome, and some have one or more towers.
However many mosques were built without either
domes or towers.
Muslims take their shoes off before entering the
masjid to pray. Prayer is one of the most important
things that a Muslim does.
A Sunni version of the call to prayer
The Muslim is called to prayer or solah five times a
day. This call to prayer is called Adhan. The
muezzin, a man chosen to make the call to prayer,
uses a loudspeaker, which carries his voice to the
people nearby. The call to prayer is often done out
loud, in public, in Muslim countries. Being called to
solah is a normal part of daily life for most people in
Muslim countries.
A prayer mat

Muslims pray on a “mat”, which is called a prayer

mat or prayer rug in English. Common Arabic names
for the prayer mat include sajjada and namazlık.
When it is time to pray,
Muslims face the direction of “Qibla” - the direction
they are supposed to pray in, towards Mecca. They
then roll out their prayer mat, and perform their
prayers to God.
Similarities of Islam With Other
Religions
With more than a billion followers worldwide, Islam
is the second largest religion in the world. Muslims
believe that Muhammad and other divine prophets
handed down the truth of their religion and
explained truths that followers still study. Despite
being a distinct religion, Islam shares many
similarities with other world religions. These
similarities are a result of shared origins and the
spread of cultures around the world .

Origins
Both Judaism and Islam share a belief that
Abraham or Ibrahim in Islam is the father of their
people. In the Muslim faith, Ibrahim struggled to
understand God, and through his studies came to
befriend him. Both Jews and Muslims believe that
Ibrahim is the progenitor of their people, and
according to the Islamic faith, all the prophets of
their religion, including Muhammad come from
him. Although some of the stories about Ibrahim in
the Quran differ from those of the Bible, Muslims,
like Jews and Christians, learn the story of God
testing Ibrahim's faith by asking him to sacrifice
his son only to stop him at the last moment.
Morality
Much of Islamic morality is similar to that of other
religions. Islam, like most major religions including
Buddhism and Hinduism, teaches compassion and
charity toward people in need as a virtue. Similar
to Judaism, Muslims believe in the moral
imperative of humbling themselves before God in
order to worship him and receive his blessings.
Muslims also believe that Jesus was one of the
God's prophets, though not the messiah, and
respect his moral teachings such as following a
path of peace.
Monotheism and Creation
Like many religions, including Christianity and
Judaism, Islam is a monotheistic religion where
followers worship one supreme omnipotent God.
In Islam, Allah created the Earth and all life on it.
Like Christianity and Judaism, the Muslim God is a
kind and merciful one who wants humanity to live
moral lives and help each other. Islam also shares
a similar creation story where God created Adam.
However, the Quran does not mention some other
details such as the name of Eve.
Prayer
A number of religious rites and methods of
worship are common to Islam and other religions.
Muslims pray to God for help and as a sign of
religious devotion, just as Jews, Christians and
other religious followers do. However, unlike other
religions, Muslims believe that individuals should
pray five times a day. Muslims can pray anywhere,
but like churches in Christianity and synagogues
in Judaism, special religious sites called mosques
serve as the center of communal worship

HOW ISLAM DIFFER FROM OTHER

RELIGIONS:
Islam is a religion without any mythology. Its
teachings are simple and intelligible. It is free from
superstitions and irrational beliefs. The oneness of
God, the prophethood of Muhammad, and the
concept of life after death are the basic articles of its
faith. They are based on reason and sound
logic. All of the teachings of Islam flow from those
basic beliefs and are simple and
straightforward. There is no hierarchy of priests, no
farfetched abstractions, no complicated rites or
rituals.
Everybody may approach the Quran directly and
translate its dictates into practice. Islam awakens in
man the faculty of reason and exhorts him to use his
intellect. It enjoins him to see things in the light of
reality. The Quran advises him to seek knowledge
and invoke God to expand his awareness:
Say ‘O, my Lord! Advance me in
knowledge. (Quran 20: 114)
God also says:
“Are those who know equal with those who
know not? But only men of understanding will
pay heed.” (Quran 39: 9)
It is reported that the Prophet, may the mercy and
blessings of God be upon him, said that:
“He who leaves his home in search of knowledge
(walks) in the path of God.” (At-Tirmidhi)
and that,
“Seeking knowledge is obligatory upon every
Muslim.” (Ibn Majah and al-Bayhaqi)
This is how Islam brings man out of the world of
superstition and darkness and initiates him into the
world of knowledge and light.
Again, Islam is a practical religion and does not
allow indulgence in empty and futile theorizing. It
says that faith is not a mere profession of beliefs, but
rather that it is the very mainspring of life. Righteous
conduct must follow belief in God. Religion is
something to be practiced and not an object of mere
lip service. The Quran says:
“Those who believe and act righteously, joy is
for them, and a blissful home to return to.”
(Quran 13: 29)
The Prophet is also reported to have said:
“God does not accept belief if it is not expressed
in deeds, and does not accept deeds if they do
not conform to belief.” (At-Tabarani)

Thus Islam’s simplicity, rationality and practicality

are what characterize Islam as a unique and true
religion.
All religions basically exhort mankind to be righteous
and eschew evil. But Islam goes beyond that. It
guides us towards practical ways of achieving
righteousness and eliminating evil from our
individual and collective lives. Islam takes into
account human nature and the complexities of
human society. Islam is guidance from the Creator
Himself. Therefore, Islam is also called the Deen-ul-
Fitrah (the natural religion of Man).
a. Islam prescribes method of eliminating robbery
All major religions teach that theft is an evil act.
Islam teaches the same. So what is the difference
between Islam and the other religions? The
difference lies in the fact that Islam, besides
teaching that robbing is evil, shows a practical way
of creating a social structure in which people will
not rob.
b. Islam prescribes Zakaat
Islam prescribes a system of Zakaat (obligatory
annual charity). Islamic law prescribes that every
person who has a saving that exceeds
the nisaab level i.e. more than 85 grams of gold,
should give 2.5% of that saving every lunar year in
charity. If every rich person in the world
gave Zakaat sincerely, poverty will be eradicated
from this world. Not a single human being would
die of hunger.
c. Chopping off the hands as punishment for
robbery
Islam prescribes chopping off the hands of the
convicted robber. The Glorious Qur’an says in
Surah Maidah:
“As to the thief, male or female, cut off his or her
hands:a punishment by way
of example, from Allah, for their crime: and Allah is
Exalted in power, full of wisdom.”
[ Al-Qur’an 5:38]
The non-Muslim may say, “Chopping off the hands
in this 20th century. Islam is a barbaric and
ruthless religion!”
d. Results achieved when
Islamic Shariah Implemented
America is supposed to be one of the most
advanced countries in the world. Unfortunately it
also has one of the highest rates of crime, theft,
and robbery. Suppose the Islamic shariah is
implemented in America i.e. every rich person
gives Zakaat ( 2.5% of his savings in charity above
85 grams of gold every lunar year), and every
convicted robber has his or her hands chopped off
as a punishment. Will the rate of theft and robbery
in America increase, remain same or decrease?
Naturally it will decrease. Moreover the existence
of such a stringent law would discourage many a
potential robber.
Islam has Practical Solutions for the Problems of
Mankind
Islam is the best way of life because its teachings
are not doctrinaire rhetoric but practical solutions for
the problems of mankind. Islam achieves results
both at the individual and collective levels. Islam is
the best way of life because it is a practical,
universal religion not confined to any ethnic group or
nationality.
CONCUSION:
The preceding presentation has demonstrated
that the name of the religion of Islam expresses
Islam’s most central principle, submission to God,
and that the name “Islam” was chosen not by man,
but by God, according to the holy scriptures of
Islam. It has also been shown that Islam alone
teaches the uniqueness of God and His attributes
and enjoins the worship of God alone without
intermediaries. Finally, due to the divinely instilled
inclination of man to worship God and the signs
revealed by God throughout the ages to each
individual, Islam may be achieved by all men at all
times.
In short, the significance of the name Islam
(submission to God), Islam’s fundamental
acknowledgment of the uniqueness of God, and
Islam’s accessibility to all mankind at all times,
convincingly support Islam’s claim that, from the
beginning of time, in whatever language it was
expressed, Islam alone has been, and will be, the
true religion of God.
In conclusion, we ask God, the exalted, to keep us
on the right path to which He has guided us, and to
bestow on us His Blessings and Mercy, for He is
indeed the Most Merciful. Praise be to God, the
Lord of the worlds, and Peace and Blessings be on
Prophet Muhammad and on all the prophets of God
and their righteous followers.
THE
END……….