Abraham's Descendants

  Abraham is the first person to be monotheist for all three monotheistic religions and one of the things in common. However each religion has a different opinion on his importance. Jews believe that Abraham is important because he is their actual father and they're his descendants through birth. According to this idea Judaism evolved with Abraham and he was the first one to be a Jew. God tested his faith many ways but he never gave up on him and was a good example for his people. Moreover the first covenant, agreement was between God and Abraham. God gave Hebrews-modern Jews- the promised land,security,and offspring whereas they pledged unwavering faith and devotion. Around 1800 b.c., Abraham, his family, and their herds made their way to Canaan which was the promised land. Later on the descendants of Abraham moved to Egypt and begin their journey as Jews.

MOSES.MOSES.MOSES!

  Without any doubt Moses is the most significant person for Jews and the one that they follow. He is the final prophet for them, which is someone who speaks for God. He led Hebrews which is the modern Jews out of Egypt with God's help and released them from slavery, this event is called the Exodus. In the picture to the left Moses holds a tablet. That is the Ten Commandments which God gave to Moses at Mt.Sinai during their journey because God wanted to receive devotion and loyalty by his people. The Ten Commandments played role in all of the monotheistic religions and served for the basic laws. Ultimately all three religions believe in Moses as a prophet but he is the biggest for Jewish 
people.   

Read And Read!

Reading of the Torah

  When most people say the word Torah they refer to the first five books of Bible -known as Old Testament for Christians- , which is Judaism's most important text. According to some traditions, all off the teachings found in the Torah, both written and oral, were given by God to Moses, some of them at Mount Sinai and others at Tabernacle, Israel. All the teachings were written down by Moses which resulted in the Torah we have today. The first book of Torah is called Genesis; it talks about the creation of the world and the stories of Judaism's ancestors. These stories start with Abraham, Sarah and end Joseph in Egypt. The second book is Exodus and tells the story of Hebrews journey to Mt.Sinai from Egypt with Moses and their wandering in wildness. The third book is Leviticus and includes Jewish rituals. The forth one is Number and explains Hebrew’s quest to find the Promised Land. Lastly the fifth one is Deuteronomy and continues with their quest but end with Moses’s death. In Conclusion the Torah is the holy text for Jews and they try to read it as much as they can to go deeper into their religion and to correct themselves.

Strained Every Nerve

Dohány Street Synagogue

      

      Dohány Street Synagogue,also knows ans the Great Synagogue is a historical building in the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest Synagogue in Europe and one of the largest in the world with a capacity of 2,964 seats. It was built between 1854-1859 with the decorations based on Islamic models from North Africa and medieval Spain.  The Dohány Street Synagogue complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Heroes' temple, the graveyard, the Memorial and the Jewish Museum. The street itself carries strong Holocaust implications, for instance on February 3 1939 the synagogue was bombed by the Hungarian pro-Nazi and was used as a base for German Radio during the World War II. During the Communist era the damaged structure became again a prayer house for the much diminished Jewish community. Its restoration started in 1991 and ended in 1998. The restoration was financed by the state and the private donations. Ultimately Jewish people did all they can do in order to build and restore the temple and carry out their beliefs.

Keeping Kosher

  Kashrut (translated as Kosher) is the set of Jewish religious dietary laws. Torah specifies certain kinds of food that are right to eat, and the other kinds that shall not be eaten. The meat of some animals are forbidden and whose meat may be eaten must be killed in a special, careful way by a religiously trained slaughterer. In Judaism for those who keep kosher, observance of the dietary laws is a both opportunity for obedience to God and for preserving Jewish unity and identity. The importance of the laws of kashrut to the Jewish people has been demonstrated in times of persecution, in which Jews have been forced to eat non kosher foods (usually pork) under penalty of death: many Jews chose to die rather than break kosher. Presently, about a sixth of American Jews or 0.3% of the American population fully keep kosher, and many more abstain from some non-kosher foods, especially pork. This practice of Jews is known by the whole world because eventually markets make kosher products around the world and it's visible to everyone.

Begins With Death...

The crucifixion is the execution of a person by nailing or binding them to a cross and was a popular method of killing enforced by Roman leaders in the ancient world. What started Christianity was the crucifixion or the death of Jesus Christ, the Messiah -savoir- . Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem on a Friday and on or near Passover by the Roman Empire because he was a threat for a rebellion since many lowered class people followed him and believed that he was their savior. It is believed that after his death Jesus went down to Hell to free the souls of the people who had died before his coming. On Sunday -after three days- he came back to life and left the tomb where he was buried, this is called the resurrection. Mary Magdalene was the first one to see him and she told it to the Apostles-followers of Jesus-. Apostles claimed that he appeared to them for 40 days and after that he ascended to heaven. Jesus informed his followers that who identifies him as the savior and son of God will reach salvation, reconciled with God for eternity. With those words and messages from Jesus Christianity started and then spread over the Empire.

Jesus of Nazareth

  Jesus Christ also referred as Jesus of Nazareth is the central figure of Christianity. He was born around 7 and 3 BC in Bethlehem, Judea as a Jew and was raised in Nazareth -northern Judea-. He was baptized -sins washed away- by a prophet known as John the Baptist. As a young man, he took up the trade of carpentry. He started teaching around age of 30 and claimed to be the new Messiah, king. Many didn't believe in him and Jewish leaders taught he was challenging their authority however he had enough power and followers to seen as a threat for the Roman Empire. It is believed that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born a virgin, performed miracles, founded the Church, died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve expiation, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven.The great majority of Christians worship him as the incarnation of God the Son -Christianity defines God as three persons or expressions:The Father,The Son(Jesus Christ)and the Holy Spirit, this is called a Divine Trinity-.  










                

The Guide Book

The first printed Bible

     

      The word Bible comes from Greek as biblia and means "books" in English because it has many books in one book. The Christian Bible is a collection of 66 books with the first 39 being The Old Testament and the other 27, New Testament. The Old Testament was written by Jews between 16th and 12th century BCE and both religions share it. But Jews interfere with the New Testament since it comes after Moses and that's what makes the Christian Bible unique. The New Testament consists of 4 different genres of Christian literature: Gospels-Jesus’ life and the main part-, Acts of the Apostles-acts of his followers-, Epistles-apostolic letters especially Saint Paul's- and an Apocalypse -revelation of St.John the Divine-. The words were spread by the Apostles and their Disciples to the outside world that Christianity turned out to be the licit religion of the Roman Empire (313 A.D.). According to researches The Holy Bible has been world's best-selling book and still is. Christians do take the bible seriously and they read it over and over to in order to strengthen their beliefs, correct their lives, actions and behaviors.

The Huge Landmark

St.Peter's Basilica (in Italian: Basilica di San Pietro in Vaticano) is a late Renaissance Church located within Vatican City. Designed by Donato Bramante,Michelangelo, Carlo Moderno, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, St.Peter's is the most renowned work of Renaissance architecture and remains one of the largest churches in world. It's regarded as one of the holiest Catholic sites and has been described as holding a unique position in Christian world. Many people go there on pilgrimage and  the Pope, head of Catholic Church, lives at Vatican and often says mass at St.Peter's. By Catholic tradition, St.Peter's Basilica is the burial place of its namesake Saint Peter, one of the twelve apostles, and the first Pope and Bishop of Rome. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peter's since the Early Christian period. There has been a church on this site since the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (4th century AD) but it was replaced. The construction of present basilica began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626. Ultimately the first (old) St.Peter's Basilica was built after Constantine making Christianity the legal religion of Roman Empire and in order to show and practice Christianity. Now the basilica is not only visited by Catholics but is visited by whole world and has become a huge land mark.

~These Are My Confessions~

         In Catholic teaching, the Sacrament of Penance is the method of the Church by which individual men and women may confess sins committed -after getting baptized- and have them absolved by a priest. This sacrament is known by many names, including penance,reconciliation and confession. Although it's not mandatory, the Catholic tradition is usually conducted within a confessional box, booth or reconciliation room. In order to confess a person should be able to criticize their actions and have the courage to share their sins. Confession is a major practice over all sects of Christianity but they have different ways to do it and different views on it. For instance in Orthodoxy, confession does not take place in a confessional, but normally in the main part of the church itself with a lectern set up and on it placed a Gospel Book and a blessing cross -also under a Christ icon-. Orthodox understand that the confession is not made to the priest, but to Christ,and the priest stands only as witness and guide. Ultimately, Christianity is the most populated religion and people around the world are aware of this practice mostly by visiting churches and from media-like movies-.

READ! IN THE NAME OF YOUR LORD

     Muhammad's (pbuh) first revelation was the event in which Prophet Muhammad was visited by the Arch-Angel Gabriel who brought him the tidings that God had chosen him to be His Last Messenger to this world, and had imposed upon him the duty of leading mankind out of the welter of sin, error and ignorance into the light of guidance, truth and knowledge. The event took place in a cave called Hira, located on the mountain Jabal an-Nour, near Mecca in 610 CE. and ultimately was the event which started the religion Islam. Muhammad took great interest in religion and often spent time alone in prayer and meditation in the cave of Mount Hira. One night while he was in contemplation, the archangel Gabriel appeared and said, 'Read', upon which he replied, 'I am unable to read'. Thereupon the angel caught hold of him and embraced him heavily. This happened two more times after which the angel commanded Muhammad to read the following verses: "Read! in the name of thy lord and cherisher who created: Created man out of a clot of congealed blood: Read! And thy lord is most bountiful, He who taught the use of pen; Taught the man that which he knew not". (Qur'an, sura 96 [Al-Alaq], ayat 1-5) Eventually he was able to repeat the 5 verses whereupon the angel released him and disappeared. Perplexed by this new experience, Prophet Muhammad made his way to home where he was consoled by his wife Khadijah and also who took him to her cousin Waraqah. Waraqah was familiar with Jewish and Christian scriptures and when Prophet Muhammad told him what happened he testified his prophet hood and was convinced that the revelation was from God. Waraqah said: "This is Namus (meaning Gabriel) that Allah sent to Moses." After this Prophet Muhammad accepted the fact that he was the last messenger and later on started speaking publicly. The first one to be a Muslim -someone who submits to the will of Allah- was his wife Khadijah -after the prophet itself-. 

The cave Hira

                                                   

   

Peace Be Upon Him

Hırka-i Şerif -The vest of Muhammad(s.a.v)- 

   The vest in this image belongs to one of the most inspirational being that lived and probably the most important one for 23% of the world. By Muslims it is believed that Muhammad (s.a.v) is the last prophet of Allah (God) and the descendant of Ishmael, a son of Abraham. He is the one who seal all the prophets like Abraham, Moses, Jesus -in Islam Jesus is a prophet and not the son of God since Qur'an says "Allah neither begets, nor is born"-. Muhammad (whose name means "highly praised) was born in Mecca in 570 AD. and was orphaned at the age of six. He was raised by his grandfather and uncle. He received schooling and began working in caravan trade as a very young man. At the age of 25, Muhammad become a trader and business for Khadijah -a wealthy businesswoman- whom later on become his wife. From birth to end Muhammad was a special person and displayed many miracles throughout his life, he was the one which God created with a pure heart and with ultimate beauty - this is a story that shows his reliability and how people in Mecca trusted him http://www.coiradio.com/library/special/youth/story/211muham.htm -. At the age of 40 Muhammad received his first revelation from Allah through Angel Gabriel and learned that he was the last messenger. By Muslims it is believed that previous prophets knew he was going to come and the Qur'an expressly states that both the Old and New Testaments contain references to Muhammad: "Those who follow the Messenger, The unlettered Prophet, Whom they find mentioned In their own (Scriptures)- In the Law and the Gospel-...It is they who will prosper." (Qur'an 7.157), "And remember, Jesus, The son of Mary, said: 'O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (Sent) to you, confirming The Law (which came) Before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger To come after me, Whose name shall be Ahmad' [i.e. Muhammad]." (Qur'an 61:6) After the revelations and the birth of new religion Muhammad had to leave Mecca with his followers because of attacks and opponents. They migrated to Medina in 622 which was called the Hijrah. In Medina he gained many followers and also was a political leader. In 630, Muhammad and 10,000 of his people marched to the outskirts of Mecca. Facing sure defeat, Mecca's leaders surrendered and Muhammad destroyed the idols in the Ka'ba and many converted to Islam, later on he had taken great strides toward unifying the entire Arabian Peninsula under Islam. Muhammad died two years later, at about age of 62 and was buried in Medina.

(s.a.v)-Peace be upon him -Muslims say this whenever they mention Muhammad-

True Words of God

     The Qur'an is the holy text of Muslims and considered to be "The Words of Allah (God)". Its scriptural status among a world-spanning religious community, and its major place within world literature, has led to a great deal of secondary literature on the Qur'an. It was verbally revealed by Allah to Muhammad (pbuh) through the angel Gabriel in a cave on the mountain of Hira in Mecca over a period of approximately 23 years, beginning on 22 December 609 CE -When he was 40- and concluding in 632 CE- when he died-. It was committed to memory by the early Muslims, and recorded in writing by scribes and believed to be the only revealed book that has been protected by Allah from distortion or corruption, for that reason many people converted to Islam. Qur'an is written in Arabic and only holy that way, Allah informs, "We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur'an so you people may understand / reason" (Qur'an 12:2). But, because many Muslims around the world do not understand Arabic, the meaning of Qur'an is also given in other languages, so that the readers can understand better what the Arabic words mean. However Muslims believe that  translations are not the true Qur'an and only the Arabic copy is true. Finally, Qur'an should be handled with the deepest respect since it's one of the most important things in Islam.

Quranic verses inscribed
on the shoulder blade of a camal!!! 

Qur'an Al Fatiha:

...

As a Way to Rekindle

         The Qol Sherif Mosque is located in Kazan, the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia and was reputed to be -at the time of its construction- the largest mosque in Russia and in Europe -outside of Istanbul-. It was built in the Volga Bulgarian architectural style, with elements of early Renaissance and Ottoman architecture. Although the present mosque was completed in 1996, it was based on the design of the original mosque built in 16th century by Qol Sherif -its namesake-, who was a religious leader that served there and died with his numerous students while defending Kazan from Russian forces in 1552. The original mosque was destroyed in 1552 during the storm of Kazan by Ivan The Terrible and a was decided to get rebuilt as a way to rekindle Kazan identity. The new complex includes a library, publishing house and an office of the Imam -an Islamic leader of a mosque or community who leads the prayers during praying-. It can accommodate 6.000 worshipers and nowadays the mosque predominantly serves as a museum of Islam however during the major Muslim celebrations thousands of people gather here to pray and practice their religion. 

Azan:

...

Here I Am At Your Service O Allah!

      Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca  and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims -if they have physical and  financial capability-. It  is one of the five pillars of Islam and believed to be wiping all the sins committed by the person. The gathering during Hajj is considered the largest  annual gathering of people in the world and it  attracts  people's attention, this way it has gone  global. The  Hajj is a demonstration of the  solidarity of the  Muslim people, and their  submission to Allah (God). Since it demonstrates  solidarity there is no  difference of ways to make  Hajj between the different sects of Islam. During pilgrimage (Hajj) special plain clothes are worn, this is called the Ihram and wearing likely clothes show that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. The Hajj occurs from the 8th to 12th of Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of Islamic calender -since Islamic calender is a lunar one, the dates change every year-. To do the Hajj each person walks counter-clockwise seven times around the Kaaba, the cube shaped building -which its history goes back to Abraham- and the direction of prayer for the Muslims. This is called the tawaf, while walking around a person should say these words in Arabic like how it's shown on the video: "Lebbeyk Allahumme lebbeyk, lebbeyk la şerike leke lebbeyk, innel'hamde, ve'n ni'mete, leke ve'l mülk, la şerike lek" -meaning: "Here I am at your service O Allah, here I am. Here I am at your service, You have no partner, here I am at Your service. For You alone is All Praise and All Grace, and for You alone is The Sovereignty. You have no partner."- Instead of Hajj people can also go to Mecca in different time to perform rituals, this is called the "Umrah", however, even if they choose to perform the Umrah, they are still obligated to perform the Hajj at some other point in their lifetime if they have the means to do so.

My grandfather during hajj :)