Conservative Branches of Islam and Christianity
By: Sidney Ford
How similar are the conservative branches of Islam and Christianity?
Sidney Ford
Sidney Ford
I decided to research this question because I have always wondered about the different branches of these religions. I knew that both sides had a conservative branch and it interested me. So I decided to compare both of the conservative sides of Islam and Christianity.
I found that throughout my research the conservative sides of Islam and Christianity have their differences in similarities. Such as they are both Anti-Modern and they originate from the Abrahamic religions. Although the differences are small they have a large impact. Such as the fact that conservative Christians seek forgiveness no matter how serious the offense is. Most conservative Muslims seek revenge or to get even with someone. To conclude the religions have similar and different beliefs.
Anti-Modern-To refer back to ancient times not modern times
Hijab- Head covering that is worn publicly by most Muslim women
Shariah- Muslim Law
Mennonite-Person belonging to the evangelical protestants
While researching my question I was able to find a lot of other useful information about conservative branches of Islam and Christianity. Such as who follows these rules, what are the rules, when were the rules established, and which country has the strictest rules for the conservative branches. I also have found some other in depth answers about more complex questions.
One of the main conservative groups of conservative Christianity is the Amish. For Islam, there is no specific name for the conservative branch so they are just called the followers of the Shariah. There are a lot of laws in the Shariah such as women can't drive cars and women can't speak alone with men who is not a relative or family member. The Amish rules are a bit different. Some Amish choose to have a payphone nearby in case of emergencies and they may use a small battery powered lantern for light. Other Amish choose to use no modern-day devices at all. There are different levels of strictness when it comes to conservative branches. The Islam culture is a bit more strict than the Amish but both still have some rules that shouldn't be broken.
The place that has the most strict Sharia is Saudi Arabia. A lot of Saudi Arabia is Muslim and they do have a lot of more strict rules than some other Muslim countries. For Christianity, there is not really a country that has more strict rules since Amish is most common in America. It has the largest population of Amish in the entire world. The Amish culture is not very common in other countries other than America.
There are also other conservative branches of Christianity. But the main rules that I have found are the Amish rules. First of all Amish followers can't use electricity. Which may be surprising to most people since we use electricity all of the time. This rule includes no use of modern transportation they must walk, use bicycles, or use a horse carriage. They must not wear clothes that attract attention. They must wear very modest clothing. Also, they must do their farm work without the use of machinery. Finally, men must grow out their beards. It is considered an offense if they cut it off.
There are a lot of different rules for the different branches but there are some of the main ones that are the rules of Shariah. Such as women must dress modestly and they must wear a Hijab. Also, Women can't drive cars and they can only have one husband while he can have up to 4 wives. This shows that men have more power in the Islam culture. One last rule I have that applies to both men and women is that all meat must come from an animal that has been sacrificed to Allah (God).
The Sharia began during the second and third centuries during the Muslim era. The laws in the Shariah are based on the words and actions of the prophet Muhammed. Then they became established during the Muslim era. The Amish began in 1693 and they were followers of the Swiss bishop Jacob Amman. After causing divisions in the Mennonite church and being excommunicated by the Mennonites he founded the Amish faith and became a spiritual leader. These rules for both Amish and Shariah have evolved some over time but they have relatively stayed the same.
They believe that both men and women should treat each other with total respect. They don't want either gender to have a right or reason to disrespect the opposite gender. This prompted the women's dress code. Women should be dressed in modest clothing covering the majority of their skin. They do this because they do not want to get any wishful glances from other men. Another fact about conservative Muslims is that most of them don't like dogs. They don't like it when dogs are near them because they believe that their prayer space and space around them needs to be pure. They believe that dogs are impure and that they will contaminate the space around them. A big factor in the Muslim culture is respect. Most of the Shariah is based on respect. There is also a modest dress code for men but it is not used as often as women's dress code.
This image shows the dress code for Women. Most women who follow Islam dress like this. Especially conservative Muslims
Amish are allowed to use some forms of electricity like public telephone booths, battery-powered headlights for their buggies or tractors without rubber wheels. Some very conservative Amish choose to use none at all. Different Amish people are more conservative than others. Meaning you could walk into one Amish neighborhood to find buggies and telephone booths but another may just have horse carriages and donkeys doing farm work. The reason that most Amish don't use modern day devices is that they believe that electronics will break their bond with the community and it may affect the church family. Some people say that Amish are some of the happiest people because they don't use most modern day devices.
This is a picture of an Amish farmer doing farm work with the help of his horses.
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