Authority in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

The authority of Abrahamic religions, Jewish, Christianity, and Islam will be explained from
the history and the kind of authority. I will display the development of each Abrahamic
religion to establish the authority or the power to preserve the sanctity of religion. This
religious authority sometimes leads to an understanding of religion and politics or the state. I
will explain in order from Jews, Christianity, and Islam.

Religious authority in Abrahamic religions is inseparable from the community. The early
period of every Abrahamic religion is the main teaching of the religion that later become the
precedent for the community. The religious authority in Jews tradition could be seen in the
covenant that contains the relationship between the descendant of Abraham and God.
During the time, influenced by Hellenistic and other cultures, the covenant implies the model
of society in Jewish tradition. The community model of Israel is a prophet who leads the
nation, a priest who leads the liturgical community, a king who rules the state, and a sage
who leads a disciple community. This model affects the authority of Jews community to
maintain its authenticity. 

Meanwhile in Christianity, in the modern era, there is a challenge against the authority that
finally emerge Protestant. They revolt to counter the clerical hierarchy authority of the
Roman Catholic Church and reject the permanent and undebatable notion of the cleric. We
can look at history, the church tried to hegemonize the people with the authority. Copernicus
become the victim when he was denied the concept of geocentrism and offered
heliocentrism. Back to the Christian authority, when we discuss Christianity, the highest
authority is Jesus as the God. After the death of Jesus, the authority moved to the Apostolic
Office that become the guardian of Jesus' teaching. They interpret and guide Christian to the
correct understanding of Christian doctrine. 

The last, I will explain religious authority in Islam. Quran is the highest source of Islamic
teaching and authority believed by Muslims as the kalâmullah (The God Words). The second
authority is the sunnah al-nabawiyyah (the tradition of the prophet) or hadith. The hadith was
codified after the death of prophet Muhammad to maintain its authenticity. The third authority
is ijma’ (consensus) from the Islamic scholars regarding their interpretation of the Quran and
hadith. The last authority is qiyas (analogy) from the problem that did not clearly mention in
Quran and hadith then compare with another similar problem. This kind of authority is related
to religious law as the consequence to do rituals in Islam. Religious law in Islam also known
as sharia originated from Quran and hadith. However, not every hadith from the prophet
Muhammad can be used as a law in Islam. Meanwhile, Quran has some unclear (dzanni)
verses that must be interpreted by Muslim scholars. This interpretation is sometimes misled
by the extremist group to legitimate their action by the verses from Quran. 

In conclusion, the Abrahamic religion establishes the authority of their God, religious leader,
and saint people. The aim of the religious authority is used as the control community to
follow the religious law. During the development of religion, the religious authority in
Abrahamic religion changes gradually and affect the religious sects in every religion. Thus,
there is a possibility of religious authority will be changed in the future. 

Muhammad Ikhsan Attaftazani

22/502077/PMU/11266
Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies