Assignment no 1

Major Religions of the World

Name: Muhammad Umar Afzal

Roll No. 2192032

Class: BBA VI-A (Evening)

Course: Introduction to Social Sciences

Submitted to: Dr. Muhammad Irshad

Date: 14 December 2021

Christianity
Christianity is the world’s oldest religions that believe in one divine power. More than 2 billion
people of the world are Christians that is about 31% of the total population of today. It came
into being along the rise of Roman Empire from 27 BC. Almost 3 decades later Prophet Jesus
was born to Hazrat Maryam (a.s), which Christians believe is the son of God. Christians have
been very good at dominating other nation because they have been influencing the world
politically, economically and religiously as well. United States or many Western Nations for
instance, have majority population of Christians. Holy cities of Christians include Jerusalem,
Bethlehem, Sephoria, Nazareth and Sea of Galilee.

Their most basic believe is the concept of good and evil and the resurrection after the life of
this world. And those who did well here will be rewarded with paradise and the sinners will go
to hell. Satan is the enemy of God and Jesus is the savior of mankind. The book revealed to
Jesus was Bible, but they also follow the teachings of other holy books like gospel and the
testaments (old and new).

Islam
Islam is the second largest religion of the world comprising of 21% of the total population.
There are about 1.9 billion Muslims in the world with majority in Middle East, Central Asia,
South and South-East Asia, Africa and some parts of West as well. Islam emerged from Saudi
Arabia about 14 centuries ago with the revelation of Holy Quran to Holy Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH).

Muslims believe in oneness of Allah Almighty and the Prophet Muhammad is the last
messenger of Allah. They also believe in other prophets like Moses and Jesus but unlike
Christianity, Islamic believe is that Allah has no son. Five pillars of Islam are Believe (Oneness of
Allah and Prophet Muhammad is the last messenger), Prayers (Five times a day), Fasting (In the
month of Ramadan), Alms-giving and the Pilgrimage (Only for those who can afford). Holy Cities
of Islam are Mecca (Kaaba for the direction of prayers), Medina (Masjid-e-Nabwi), Jerusalem.

Hinduism
Hinduism is the third-largest religion behind Christianity and Islam with about 900 million
Hindus worldwide. The purpose of lifestyle of Hindus is to acquire four aims, referred to as
Purusharthas. These are Kama: the goal of happiness, Artha: goal of material success, Dharma:
leading a good life and Moksha: understanding, which frees a person from struggling and unites
their soul with Brahman. These offer Hindus possibilities to lead a good life. Hindus worship the
cow, snake, monkey, elephant and many other animals. Most Hindus don’t eat beef and pork
and many are completely vegetarians. Hindus value many books opposite to only one. The
writings known as Vedas were created around 1500 B.C. The Vadas are made up of: The rig
veda, The Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda. The Hindus worship technically takes place in
a Mandir (temple) and they can visit the Mandir any time as they please. Hindus have many
sacred days, holidays and festivals, some of which are Diwali, Holi, and Raksha Bandhan etc.
They follow a caste system in which they have divide people at 4 different levels:

 Brahmans – Scholars and priests at the top

 Administrators of the state – Politicians and High executives
 Commercial and agricultural entrepreneurs – Middle class
 Workers or Shudras – The lowest level of society

Hindus believe in the doctrines of samsara i.e. the continuous cycle of life, death, and
reincarnation and karma i.e. the universal law of cause and effect. They have many ancient
writings such as Mahabharata and Gita. Temple is the place of their worships and each God has
its own one, led by the pandits i.e. their religious scholars.

Judaism
Judaism is one of the oldest religions founded nearly 4,000 years ago. Jews also believe that
there is only one god. Jewish people worship in holy places known as synagogues and their
spiritual leaders are called rabbis. Today, there are about 14 million Jews worldwide most of
them live in U.S. and Israel. Traditionally a person is considered Jewish if his/her mother is
Jewish. The Jewish holy book is called ‘Torah’. According to Torah, God first revealed himself to
a man named Abraham, who became known as the founder of Judaism. Jews recite prayers
three times a day; in the morning, in the afternoon and after the sunset. Jews believe that
people should not be judged by their beliefs, but by the way they have faith. Jews combine two
different ideas of god in their beliefs. 1: God is a powerful being who is beyond human
imagination 2: God is right here with us, carrying everyone as a parent does to their child.

They think that they are born to lead; they also think they are special and the chosen one. They
are characterized by a belief in one transcendent god who revealed himself to Abraham, Moses
and the Hebrew prophets and by a religion life in accordance with scriptures and rabbinic
traditions.

Buddhism
Buddhists embrace the concept of karma. Followers of Buddhism can worship in temples or in
their own homes.
Buddhism is one of the major religions on the world. The religion's founder is considered an
extraordinary being, but not a god. The word Buddha means enlightened. Buddhism
encourages its people to avoid self-denial. Followers of Buddhism can worship in temples or in
their homes. Today, many forms of Buddhism exist around the world. The three main types are:
Theravada Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. Followers of Buddhism
don’t acknowledge a god instead they focus on inner peace and wisdom. Buddhists worship
many writings some of the most important are: Tipitaka, Sutras and The book of the dead.
Buddha's teachings are known as ‘dharma’. All Buddha's live by five moral precepts which
prohibit: Killing living things, taking what is not given, sexual misconduct, lying and using
intoxicants.