Abrahamic Religion - Contrasts and Similarities

Historically, Mysticism has been an important part of the three great Western monotheistic religions. However, for the future discussion to make sense, it is important to reiterate some basic characteristics of these three religions.
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are often called western religions. However, the term Western is partly problematic geographically since Judaism and Christianity and Islam derives from the Middle East. Indeed, Indian nationalist figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, noted that Jesus of Nazareth was an Asian. Secondly, these religions have worldwide adherents and although Judaism claims a genetic heritage through the prophet Abraham son Isaac, and Islam claims its heritage through Abrahams son Ishmael, whilst Christianity claims that the Messiah was Jewish, Christianity and Islam especially transcend ethnicity. In some ways, Judaism, Christianity and Islam could perhaps be better called Abrahamic traditions. However, culturally Judaism Christianity and Islam have influenced the western societies of Europe and the Americas. It is impossible to understand mediaeval Europe without slithering the philosophical challenges Islam may to European Christianity.
There are obvious common elements shared in the three monotheistic traditions. Yet, within each tradition there is variation. Obviously, Judaism and Christianity and Islam share a belief in a single ultimate power that is both in the world and the source and goal of all things. This contrasts with the preceding polytheistic religions of the Middle East from which monotheism developed. In monotheism, divinity is concentrated in one all-powerful God, whereas in polytheism, divinity is diffused within a divine family of deities.
God is the creator of the world which is seen as real and distinct from God but also dependent on Him. In a sense creation is in constant contact with the divine and is constantly being recreated dependence on God for its continued existence. True the concept of omnipresence is also found within some groups within the Abrahamic traditions. However, matter, body, time and history are seen as both real but they are not the ultimate, but relative and dependent on God. The struggle between the ultimate eternal perfection of the divine with the impermanent transitory yet real nature of creation would be an area of conflict with later mystical traditions, such as Gnosticism, which see matter as inherently evil. Another characteristic of the Abrahamic concept of the divine is that God has a character. He is intelligent and has a will which he seeks to communicate to mankind through divine revelations.
Because humans tend to focus on creation all three of these religions rely on sacred texts and prophecy. God reveals himself through prophets such as Moses Jesus and Muhammad of whom the Quran claims 27 prophets preceded. It is often incorrectly thought that prophets predict the future, whereas this is but one possible function of a prophet. For example, the Greek word from which the English word prophecy derives profhteu,w generally refers to speaking with the help of divine inspiration proclaim what God wants to make known, preach, expound which may include speaking out divinely imparted knowledge of future events. A prophet may have second sight taught second hearing, bringing to light what was concealed and outside the possibility of naturally acquired knowledge. In all three traditions sacred texts claim to reveal the divine will humanity. The TaNak, an acronym for the Torah (or books of Moses), N'vi-im (or prophets) and K'tuvim (writings) is authoritative to the Jews. Christianity accepts the TaNaK, although some groups add other apocryphal writings to the TaNaK as well as the Greek Christian scriptures. However, Christianity accepts the TANAK as prophetic of the Christian Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and interprets the TaNaK through the lens of Christian theology. Islam also recognises these texts of Judaism and Christianity however the Quran, believed to be direct words of Allah as transmitted through the prophet Muhammad, claims that Jews and Christians corrupted their holy books and that only those parts of the Jewish and Christian Bible as interpreted in the Koran are seen as a authoritative. Prophets may preach outside of the sacred writings but never in contradiction to it. This is particularly challenging to Christianity sees itself fulfilled not in a written text but in the very person be Christian Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, or Christ. For Christ, is the word or Logos, the Grecian divine reason or intelligence throughout creation, he is the word and fulfillment of Torah. He is said to be’ the word became flesh’ and the world saw his glory, or shekinah, an allusion to the divine light signifying God's presence within the Jewish temple (John 1:14) However, in Judaism “God revealed himself in words and lives in stories and, no, you cannot touch or even see Him. The Word, in Judaism, was never made flesh. The closest God came to embodiment was in the temple in Jerusalem… but the temple was destroyed. In Judaism, the flesh became words” ("The Talmud the Internet - a journey Between Worlds", Jonathan Rosen, 2000, Continuum New York ), to be worn in phylacteries and eaten by mediaeval boys inscribed as texts on little cakes.
All three traditions recognize that the sacred texts need interpretation. The ancient scriptures are complicated with the use of poetic language metaphor allusion anthropomorphism and simile. On occasion they appear to contradict themselves and the ancient historical framework of the original writings must be reinterpreted and applied according to the changing needs of developing society. Therefore other sources developed to explain Scripture. Judaism calls on the authority of oral Torah, Christianity calls on the authority of the holy spirit and Islam the Hadith of the prophet. Each of these traditions recognizes the need of human intelligence in understanding the divine will as revealed in Scripture. These religious interpretations are elaborates it into systems of community law. The Talmud of Judaism developed over many centuries, a system of Canon Law and theology developed and Christianity and in Islam there is the Shari’ah.
Another characteristic of Abrahamic monotheism, is that humans are free to respond to God. This places a tension between God as all-powerful and all knowing and be limited experience of humanity. A positive response is obedience faith or submission to God's will and love of God is a secondary added quality that develops in relationship with the divine following the acts obedience and faith. Whereas, idolatry disobedience apostasy, sin or in Islam, shirking, that is, neglecting the will of God use a negative response. In all three traditions, humans express their obedience to God through the justice and love they expressed toward fellow humans. That is to say, piety depends on love for one's neighbor.
All three Abrahamic traditions share a sense of individual and communal life. The world has both the future and an end, an eschatology. The world, variously understood as the earth or society dependent on once religion, is teleological to the will of God. God judges humans on the basis of their deeds, assigning a future of bliss or destruction, even possible eternal torment, dependent on God's judgment. On a community level God is seen to positively work of the faithful.
Religious piety shares a number of common features in the Abrahamic faiths. Each tradition has set times and seasons of prayer as well as forms of prayer that share common features. Judaism as a series of holy days, Christianity has lent, Easter and Christmas whilst a Muslim celebrates Ramadan. The seriousness of one's commitment to God may be expressed through fasting. It has been said that Christianity has these days of the good and fast days of the tragedies in life. A Catholic may practice moderation in the period of Lent and Islam practices the month long daylight fast of Ramadan. The sharing of goods, especially almsgiving to the poor is seen as an expression of one's obedience to God through acts of love to fellow humans. Pilgrimage is also practiced by all three religions. Although pilgrimage is not required in Judaism and Christianity, pilgrimage is required of all Islamic men who financially and physically are able.
Of course there are differences between the Judaism and Christianity and Islam between the differing traditions and sometimes within their own religious framework. Clearly they disagree on who is the ultimate prophet. And they have different understandings of the revelation of the divine will in sacred texts. Judaism and Christianity recognizes human ridership that is Moses wrote the Pentateuch of Genesis to Deuteronomy, and Paul wrote some Christian epistles, however they are seen as inspired by God and in some cases records of God's direct communication through the prophets. It is the message that is seen as divine and remains sacred even in translation. However Islam denies human authorship, claiming the Quran is Allah’s word directly spoken too and repeated by Muhammad. The text remains only sacred in Arabic and translations are not seen as sacred.
As previously stated, the three different traditions view the sacred texts differently. Judaism accepts the TaNaK but rejects the new Testaments and the Quran. Christianity accepts the Old Testament that only as understood through new Testament theology and rejects the Quran. Islam recognizes the old and new Testaments but believes that they are corrupted and accepts only those parts that were rewritten in the Quran.
The belief in an expected Messiah is distinct in each religion. In Judaism Messianism has been sporadic and not necessarily dominant feature at certain times in history such as the first and second, and 17th centuries CE, messianic claims developed, but it is incorrect to say that waiting for a future Messiah is a dominant thought in Judaism. Christians claim the Messiah is fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, and in Islam Messianism is only significant within Shi’ism, who await the Mahdi to appear in the future as a very important figure for not both Islam and the world.
Law pilgrimage and ritual are common to all three traditions but emphasized differently. Law is central to both Judaism and Islam but less so in Christianity. Pilgrimage is a fundamental responsibility to a Muslim, whereas to a question and to it is the chosen privilege . Traditions, or sacraments, are more elaborate in Christianity than Islam and Judaism. In Christianity the sacrament of the Eucharist is seen as the presence of the blood is and body of Christ. Although the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, that is that the wine and arm leavened bread used in the Eucharist literally changes into the body and blood of Christ, is denied by the later Protestant religions, the theological significance of the blood and body of Christ was taken up by Christian mystics.
The political history and vision of the three Abrahamic traditions are distinct. Classical Judaism has been a religion of a diasporic minority, often within a hostile Gentile majority, since the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and 70 CE. However it should be added that traditionally Islam has been far more hospitable to the Jewish people and Christianity. The continued existence of Judaism was threatened following the emancipation people in the 19th century and the other costs of the 20th century. Since 1948, the existence of the Jewish State there has been debate as to whether Israel should be a secular or religious society. Christianity originally had no political vision. The New Testament was written to a small scattered group of communities. However in the fourth centuries CE Christianity was transformed from a persecuted minority religion to become the authorized imperial religion of Rome. The establishment of Christendom, the collective domain of Christian rulers saw the battle against Islamic ‘infidels’, and the persecution of Jews and heretics. From the 18th century onward Christianity was disestablished politically, resulting in divisions among Christians as to whether Christianity should remain in its present diasporic form or re-establish a Christian culture in this post-Constantinian era. Islam had a definite political vision from its inception but has been consistent in being able to enact it. Islam is first great expansion involved military conquest and political negotiation, and after a long period of ascendancy Islamic civilization declined. It should be noted, that the Shari’ah is seen not as a religious law but rather a way of structuring all life according to the will of Allah. Today, many reform movements promote a return to this earlier vision where individuals and nations must be Islama, or submissive to the will of Allah.