 You are clear for launch. And with that shut down your visors, O2 on and prepare for ignition to O2. You can copy that and um... Hey, welcome back. I'm Mr. Rouchoff. And when you look at nearly any region, we find that religion is part of any part of the culture of its people. This certainly is the case of the people of the Middle East and of North Africa. So in this lesson, we're going to look at the three major religions that originated in the Middle East and have had so much of influence on its culture and in fact of the cultures of the world. These religions are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Not only do these Semitic religions come from the Middle East, we also find that all three of these religions come from one man named Abraham which has become essentially the father or the patriarch of these religions. Now the story about how each religion claims Abraham as their own starts with Abraham marrying his wife Sarah. The problem is they didn't think they could have children. So Sarah offered to Abraham her servant Hagar to have as his second wife and together Abraham and Hagar had a son named Ishmael. But then Sarah and Abraham were able to have his son of their own named Isaac. And this is where the story gets a little gritty. Sarah begins to resent Hagar and finally Abraham, in order to keep peace, takes Hagar and Ishmael into the desert where they would eventually settle in Saudi Arabia near where Mecca is today. Ishmael's descendants are by tradition Arabs of which a name by the name of Muhammad according to Muslim tradition began receiving messages from God and founded the religion of Islam. The descendants of Isaac however, remember this was the son of Abraham and Sarah were the Jews and from which we get Judaism. Now around 4 BC according to the Christian tradition one of these Jews was born in a major Jesus Nazareth who Christians believe is the son of God. So we see how connected these religions are to each other through Abraham. In fact early Muslim law citing passages of their holy text which is the Quran permitted intermarriage between Muslims, Christians and Jews and provided protections to the Jews and the Christians as they were believed to be people of the book. So let's take a closer look at each of these religions and we will look first at the oldest of these religions which is Judaism. Judaism is the world's second oldest religion that dates back over 4,000 years and largely begins when Abraham made his covenant with God. A covenant is an agreement and in this covenant Abraham agreed on behalf of all the Jewish people that they would obey God's law in return for God for offering them protection. And the law that the Jews were to follow included the 10 commandments that a man named Moses is said to have received on a mountain from God. Now among these 10 commandments are instructions not to murder, not to lie, not to commit adultery among many others. The first of these commandments is that the Jews were to have no other gods. Thus Judaism was the first monolithic religion. Monotheism comes from the two Greek words, mono which means one and theos which means God, in other words one God. The 10 commandments are also joined by other commandments in the Jews' most sacred texts, the first five books of Moses or the Torah. Joining the Torah the Jews also have the Nevaim which is the collection of the stories of the prophets as well as the Kitavim which includes books such as the Proverbs, the Psalms, and other books. Together the Torah, the Nevaim, and the Kitavim make up the Hebrew Bible which we will see in a few moments also is the Christian Old Testament. Now the two most holy sites in Judaism are the Temple Mount in the western wall or what is also known as the Kotel. Both these sites are important due to their proximity to a site where both Solomon's Temple was built in 957 and then Herod's Second Temple was built upon it beginning around 19 BC. Of these two sites the Temple Mount is the most important as it was the foundation of these two temples and is also where we find the foundation stone upon which Abraham proved his loyalty to God by being willing to sacrifice his own son. The foundation stone is located under this golden dome building that we'll discuss in a few moments. However, due to the conflicts between the Muslim Arabs and the Jews, Jews are not allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. So the next best place is the Western Wall. The Western Wall is the wall of the Second Jewish Temple that was built by Herod the Great. After the Jews rebelled against the Romans who controlled Judea at the time, they were expelled from the homeland and the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It would be some 300 years before any Jews would be allowed back to worship at the site of the Temple. And even then they were only allowed to visit once every year. Now today however, Jews from around the world will make a pilgrimage to the Western Wall, also known as the Kotel, to pray at the Wall. Now just like we discussed in our European lessons that there are three divisions of the Christian Church, there are three major divisions in the Jewish faith. These are Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed. Orthodox Jews tend to follow the strictest adherence to the Hebrew Bible and observe the faith in the Hebrew language. While Reformed Jews put less weight behind the rituals of the faith and allow for individual interpretation and will use their own language for worship. And Conservative Jews tend to take a position between the Orthodox and their Reformed divisions of Judaism. However, there are some common practices that include the sabbat, which is the day of prayer and rest, that begins at the sunset on Friday and ends on the sunset of Saturday. Now during the sabbat, Orthodox and some Conservative Jews will go as far as not using tools or appliances during this day of rest. Now the sabbat services are usually held in synagogues led by a rabbi. Now while many Americans will assume that Hankeh is the holiest day for Jews, it's not even close. Instead, Yom Kippur, or the day of atonement, is the holiest day of the year and is observed by fasting, which means not to eat. However, refraining from eating is not just during Yom Kippur, as many Jews will only eat that which is deemed kosher. And kosher means food that complies with very specific Jewish dietary rules. This means that Jews that observe kosher will not eat foods such as seafood and pork. Now out of Judaism, we get Christianity. It is prophesized that a Messiah would deliver the Jews from their oppression. Christians believe that a Jew born in Bethlehem is this Messiah. That Jew is Jesus. Because Christianity came out of Judaism, Christians also believe in only one God, the same God as the Jews. However, Christians also believe that the Messiah Jesus is that Son of God. Christians also agree that Jesus was crucified on a cross near Jerusalem and then three days later rose from the dead to heaven. In fact, this is the core belief of Christianity. These beliefs are laid out in the 66 books of the Christian Bible, which has two parts. The Old Testament is the same as the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament tells of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, as well as the teaching of his apostles that assisted in spreading the faith. It is the work of the apostles and a man named Paul who had spread the faith around the Eastern Mediterranean and made it possible for Constantine to actually designate Christianity as the faith of the Roman Empire some 300 years later. The two holiest sites in Christianity are also the stage of the two holiest days of the faith. This is Christmas and Easter. The holiday Christmas celebrates Jesus' birth and the Church of the Deftivity is where Christians believe Jesus was actually born. Easter is the other of the holiest Christian days which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. Also in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Scepticur is where Jesus was both crucified and as well as where he was laid to rest in his tomb. Once again to the east-west of the Great Schism as well as the Protestant Reformation there are three major divisions of the Christian Church. These are Catholic, Orthodox and Protestantism. There are several practices that Christians will follow. This includes baptism which can either be by immersing or by christening which is an outward expression of your faith in Christ. Another ritual is the Eucharist or Communion called the Lord's Supper which is the ritual of taking bread and wine this is sometimes grape juice as a remembrance of Jesus dying on the cross. Confessing and asking the forgiveness of one's sins praying to God and attending church services or usually on Sundays are also ways in which Christians live their faith. Now our last religion is Islam. The Muslim faith believes that a man by the name of Muhammad was greeted by an archangel by the name of Gabriel and said that he was going to be Allah Allah is simply an Arabic word for God. Now the message that Muhammad was supposed to spread is of the Quran which is the holy text of Islam and just as with the Jews and Christians Muslims only believe in one God so they also are a monotheistic religion. Now as God's messenger Muhammad passed on five pillars of faith by which every good Muslim tries to live their life. First among these is the Shahada where the declaration of faith which is there is no God but God here. We can actually see the Shahada written in Arabic script on the Saudi Arabian flag. Now every Muslim also is to give money to the poor and once a year during Ramadan they will fast each day between sunrise and sunset. Not only would they not eat, they also will not drink or smoke during daylight hours. At the end of this month long fast they celebrate the breaking of the fast in a three day celebration which is known as Eid al-Fitr. Now the third pillar is a devotion to pray five times a day pray they will face towards the holy city of Mecca. Now what is interesting is that in hotels that often have Muslim visitors you can find the Qibla either on the ceiling or inside a drawer like what is shown here. The Qibla is used to show guests which way to pray towards Mecca. Of course it shouldn't be surprising that there is actually an app for this now. The last pillar is that once in your lifetime as a good Muslim you should make a pilgrimage to Mecca. In Mecca there is the Qaba which is a building in the holiest mosque covered in a black cloth. And this actually is the real destination of the Hajj and also where Muslims are actually facing when they pray. The Qaba said to have once been rebuilt by Abraham himself is the most sacred place of Islam. Now after completing their Hajj men will be awarded the title of Hajj. Women will be called Hajjah. This lets all other Muslims know that they have completed the last pillar of the faith. Now with Mecca is the holiest site in Islam the second holiest site is Medina. Now after being told that he was going to be the messenger of God, Muhammad began telling everyone of his good news. Unfortunately they didn't believe him and ran him out of Mecca. And he fled to Medina and it would be the people of Medina who first believed Muhammad was the true prophet. Thus Medina is the second most holy place of Islam. And the third most holy city in Islam is Jerusalem. Now 10 years after Muhammad was first approached by the Angel Gabriel a wing horse by the name of Barak came to him and took him to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem Muhammad ties Barak to a wall and then goes to the foundation stone and ascends to a heaven where he meets with Jesus, Moses and Abraham. Now that might sound odd but Muslims do acknowledge Jesus but they believe that he is a prophet not the son of God. Now after Muhammad leads the prophets of Jesus Moses and Abraham in prayer Muhammad returns back to earth and takes Barak back to Mecca. It is Muhammad's night journey why Jerusalem is the third most important site of all Islam. It is also where we find the Huram-i-Sharif and the Dome of the Rock. The Dome of the Rock is built over the foundation stone and if this picture looks familiar it's because this is also the Temple Mount Judaism's most holy site. Yup and this is actually the problem that the Jews and the Arabs have. The fact is is not just a matter of that both Islam and Judaism claim the same city. It's the fact that they actually claim the same piece of ground as holy to both their religions. Now if it doesn't seem complicated enough we have to look at where Muhammad is said to have tied up Barak before he went back up to the foundation stone. Where he tied Barak is on the back of this wall. Yeah that's right that's the western wall. Not only do the Muslims claim the same area for the Temple Mount they also claim the same wall. For the Muslims this isn't the western wall this is the Al Barak Wall. Now during Muhammad's time Islam quickly spread throughout the Middle East and within 100 years of his death it moves by conquest and by marriage merchants into Central Asia across Northern Africa and even into Europe. Today Islam is the second largest religion in the world and just like Judaism and Christianity Islam also has divisions. It is between Shia and Sunni. Now there is differences in how they practice their faith but both the Shia and the Sunni read from the Quran and practice the five pillars of faith. What really separates them is the issue of who is going to take over the religion after Muhammad died. One group argued that the next leader of Islam should be a relative of Muhammad and at the time that would have been Ali who was a cousin of Muhammad. This group is known as the Shia which literally is a contraction of the Arabic phrase for friends of Ali. One group argued that one only needs to be a faithful servant of Muhammad's teachings and doesn't have to be a direct relative. This group was the Sunni. Now today we see that the Sunnis have kind of won out as 90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and only 10% are Shia and the Shia that exists are largely found in Iran, Azerbaijan and eastern Iraq. Okay so we now have a basic understanding of the three Semitic religions in our next lesson we'll see how these differences in religion have contributed to conflict in the region but until then keep on learning.