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Opinion Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu
There is currently a great deal of tension between Moslems in general terms and the Christian world in particular. The intensity of the tension differs from one country to another, with Nigeria being without any doubt whatsoever, the worst affected. Other areas range from Egypt where that country’s 10 million-odd Coptic Christians come under unprovoked attacks by Moslem militants as they worship especially in the capital city of Cairo.

Kenya seems to be yet another nation where such bloody attacks of innocent people will sooner than later become regular occurrences.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have been on the Moslem world’s calendar of unpredictable attacks for quite a long time.

In the Far East, Moslem military operations are quite common. Their objectives include the wish to establish Islamic states to be administered strictly according to the Sharia law. In Nigeria the local militants call themselves Boko Haram and are against Western education.

It is not easy to pinpoint what is important about the type of education offered by Nigerian institutions. We can declare, however, that if by education we are referring to knowledge systematically acquired under various headings called “subjects” there is nothing “western” about it in Nigeria or in Lebanon or Malaysia or Syria. An elementary study of the history of so called western education shows a very heavy content of Arabic, Greek and Roman background. We need not enter into that because it is obvious and is well               known.

What appears to be the bone of contention in Nigeria is Boko Haram’s wish to establish the Islamic state in a part or parts of that country. Presently the Nigerian population is divided 50/50 between Moslems and Christians.

A comparative look at the two religions is of much interest to every Zimbabwean who wishes to understand the basic causes of that tragic situation where Nigerians are at one another’s throat.  Are there any radical variances?

Islam was founded in AD 622 in Mecca in what we now call Saudi Arabia. Its founder was Muhammad who was born in about 570 AD and died in 632 AD, a decade after founding Islam.  The word “Islam” literally means “submission to God” whose name in Arabic (Muhammad’s language) is Allah.

Islam’s sacred book is the Koran (al Qur’an) a translation of which is “the Word of God.”  A collection of what the prophet Mohammad was told by Allah is all in the Koran.

A text describing what Mohammad said or did is called Suma, made up of a collection of what are known as hudith.
Muhammad was originally based in the city of Medina. To defeat his rivals in Mecca, he organised a military contingent which routed them. He took over Mecca, and thus the prophet also became a statesman. That is why the Moslem leadership combined both the moral and civic functions of various Islamic states.

An Islamic community or state is held together by a common religious law called the Sharia. Generally, it is enforced uniformly in religious matters only.  Islam by and large emphasises egalitarianism and is opposed to authoritarianism. However, it tends to be highly influenced by its deeply conservative beliefs of its religious establishment referred to as ulema.

Islam members practise or stand by what they term the “five pillars of Islam”.
• Profession of faith, this means oneness within Allah, and prophethood of Muhammad.
• Prayer, five times a day,
• Alms (known as zakat in Arabic) from one’s savings and estate.
• Dawn to dusk fasting in the month of Ramadan,
• The last is to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in one’s lifetime, if possible.

There are two major groups among the Moslems – the Sunni who are the majority and the Shi’ites. The Sunnis believe in God’s overwhelming power over their affairs. They believe, to a certain extent in predestination, almost the same as the Calvinist. Shi’ites believe in free will and human reasoning in their daily lives.

They believe in what they are known as 12 Imams or perfect teachers after the Prophet Muhammad.  They say that the last Imam has lived an invisible existence since AD 874 and continues to guide his community.
Both Sunnis and Shi’ites believe in a mystical aspect or dimension of Islam.

That is referred to as Sufism, and it emphasises personal relations with God, and obedience informed by God’s love. Moslems believed that those who repent and sincerely submit to Allah (Islam) are forgiven and enter paradise, and the wicked burn in hell.  This belief is also found in Christian faith.

A look at Christianity is much more involving because of the large number of doctrinal differences that led to many denominations. We should begin of course, with the Roman Catholic Church.

Founded in Rome by St Peter appointed earlier by Jesus, the Roman Catholic Church was at one time the state church of the Roman Empire. As a matter of fact, the word “catholic” means “of use or of interest to all.”   It also means “universal” or “all embracing” or “of wide sympathies or interests.”

The actual year when he established church in Rome is not known.  We know, however, that he was succeeded as Pope by St Linus in AD 67.  That early church adopted some rather primitive aspect of worship, as it replaced the then prevailing plural gods of the Romans and Greeks with the Hebraic strictly monotheistic Christian religion.

Led by the pope, followed by cardinals then archbishops, bishops and then by the priest, that church has seven sacraments – baptism, reconciliation Eucharist (Holy Communion) confirmation, marriage, ordination and anointment of the extremely sick (extreme unction).
It believes just like the Shi’ites that Christ lives and guides all life of those who believe in his resurrection and in God. There is no variance between this and the Shi’ites position.

The pope is the undisputed head of that church. Cardinals elect him and bishops meet in councils and advices on policy and doctrinal matters. The Roman Empire was at some period called the Holy Roman Empire not because it was ruled by the pope as such but because the emperor himself was a very prominent and influential member of that church.

It did, of course, exert much influence on national politics in many countries particularly in parts of South America, at some stage very much so at the height of Cold War. It is important to point out that genuine communist parties had no room for religion. All that was taken care through the process of dialectical materialism.

The Roman Catholic doctrine holds that salvation is by merit gained through grace. There is, however, veneration of Mary the mother of Jesus.