Do we (Muslims, Christians and Jews) believe in the same God or not?

[Ahanu]

King James Bible : "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." This does not sound like a future state of affairs to me. Nor does it sounds like a state where justice prevails. Actually, I don't think justice and evil are issues in the afterlife. They are concerns for us in this life.

Just figured I'd add my thoughts on the Kingdom of God . . .

I think that the kingdom of God, or kingdom of heaven, is the world of Images (alam al-mithal). Jesus is a Messenger to this world. Muhammad is too. So is Moses.

"Blessed be he who caused the Koran to descend upon his servant, so that he may be a prophet for the Worlds" (Koran 25:1).

Notice this plural word: worlds. It implies the physical world, which is here and there, or all around us, is not all that there is to reality. Even the first verse of the Koran reads as follows: "Glory be to God, the Lord of the Worlds" (Koran 1:1). With the world of Images in mind, its imaginative Forms are found somewhere besides this physical world. Since it is invisible to this world, where could it be? Within you!

The physical world is but a shadow or mirror of the soul. If the mirror breaks, meaning that all sensory perception is gone, then only that which was reflected continues to subsist. To be a prophet of this unseen world, Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses must of had an "eye of the world beyond," or deep spiritual perception, in order that Their message may be delivered. This world is immaterially composed of inner states projected in visible forms. No wonder the Kingdom of God is so near. Yikes! The axe is at the very root of the trees!

One gains the eye to see the entrance into the kingdom of God by being born with new eyes. To me, "born again" means nourishing my consciousness to grow and expand in understanding, the source of love. It is to realize the Buddha's noble truth that "there is a way to attain release from suffering." Didn't Paul teach the soon-to-be resurrection as the end of suffering for those in Christ? It is to awaken my spiritual eyes in the world of Images with the sense that my own being is paradise or hell. Lessening my consciousness is nearing hells gates. The fire itself is my own act. Likewise, the refreshing water of paradise is my own act.

"Whether you hide your word or publish it abroad, God has full knowledge of the secrets of all hearts. How should he who created not know that which he created" (Koran 67: 13-14).

 

[Jean freeman]

Eventhough we (Muslims, Christians and jews) have many different beliefs by addressing our All-Mighty God differently , by debating on whether, or whether not Christ is son of God, etc... Is it not so, that he (our God) revealed to us his message by all three holy books (Qur'an, Gospel and Torah), Is it not so that God is 'Most mercifull', 'All-wise', 'All-knowing', 'All-mighty', etc, Is it not so that there is a last day (the day of judgement), Is it not so that there will be a torment (Hell-Fire) for the wrong doers and there will be a reward (Paradise) for the riteous.

As a Muslim my belief is that Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (P.B.U.Them) were all Prophets and messangers of God. They were all serving there and our Creator, and they were all given a message by God to reveal to mankind. My belief (as a muslim) is that, that message was simply to worship God and him alone, for he is the only one worthy of that worship, and to obey him and his messages.

You are correct when we divide into Doctrines thats when the trouble starts

 

[Friend2men]

Yes, and I would add that divisiveness about doctrines is inevitable and unavoidable. This is due to inherent ambiguities of words, and the varying maturity of hearers, and the ambitions of rival clerics.

Division is inevitable within sects and amongst them.

The real tragedy comes when a sectarian insists that others adhere to a doctrine, on pain of torture or death. Virtually every day or week now, certain Muslims are killing each other as kuffars, not to mention killing others at random. This wanton killing is, I think, the only real problem

 

[Netti-Netti]

Division is inevitable within sects and amongst them.

The real tragedy comes when a sectarian insists that others adhere to a doctrine, on pain of torture or death. Virtually every day or week now, certain Muslims are killing each other as kuffars, not to mention killing others at random. This wanton killing is, I think, the only real problem

Some of these conflicts are historically longstanding, but the ways they are now being expressed and the dynamics are fairly contemporary developments that don't necessarily tell us much about religious differences.

For example, the "sectarian" conflicts of Iraq are politically motivated and reflect political divisions that have been greatly influenced by new historical circumstance - i.e., invasion by the US-led Coalition. The chaos created by the invasion turned parts of Iraq into a battleground relating to territorial disputes that were exacerbated by issues of trust (suspected complicity with the US-led Coalition).

Some crimes are economic in nature. People are paid contractually and by the piece for every car bomb they get to go off. This is basically economic opportunism in a country that has undergone massive economic upheaval and unemployment. Iraq is far from being a diversified economy. It is largely dependent on income from oil (90% of its revenues).

The religious dimension in all this may be very hard to pinpoint.

You might be interested in this piece from the Brookings Institute:
http://www.brookings.edu/fp/projects/idp/20061018_DisplacementinIraq_Khalidi-Tanner.pdf

 

[Jean freeman]

Think we all have to celebrate the core values that Muslims Christians and Jews have. How great God is to give us free will to worship him. We all believe in God that should unite us all

 

[The Undecided]

Eventhough we (Muslims, Christians and jews) have many different beliefs by addressing our All-Mighty God differently , by debating on whether, or whether not Christ is son of God, etc... Is it not so, that he (our God) revealed to us his message by all three holy books (Qur'an, Gospel and Torah), Is it not so that God is 'Most mercifull', 'All-wise', 'All-knowing', 'All-mighty', etc, Is it not so that there is a last day (the day of judgement), Is it not so that there will be a torment (Hell-Fire) for the wrong doers and there will be a reward (Paradise) for the riteous.

As a Muslim my belief is that Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (P.B.U.Them) were all Prophets and messangers of God. They were all serving there and our Creator, and they were all given a message by God to reveal to mankind. My belief (as a muslim) is that, that message was simply to worship God and him alone, for he is the only one worthy of that worship, and to obey him and his messages.

I follow more Buddhist and Taoist teachings but I agree that most religious teachings agree, for the most part, with each other. So much so that some Islamic scholars refer to the Buddha as a prophet, because some of his teachings are so similar to those of the Qur'an. So in a way it doesn't matter which religion we follow, because the core principles are the same. With this in mind I think it is better to follow the scriptures of all religions rather than deciding which religion is right and which are wrong. Even the source of these scriptures isn't necessarily important, unless you want it to be. In Buddhism, everything is a perception because everything only consists of possibilities, and is empty of having any essence from its own side. In other words things only have characteristics, etc because we perceive them that way. My point is that all the religions of the world are based on universal truths, this is where the religions agree. The differences come from different peoples perceptions of those universal truths. Add time and tradition to the equation and we have many seemingly different religions. When religion divides people it is not religion, it is sectarionism. Religion should bring people together, and incourage us to be good to each other.