more sophisticated communication systems, transportation methods, and
trading routes, as well as new businesses, more integrated markets, and
expanded villages and cities—and a more sophisticated monetary and eco-
nomic system. We read in the Qur’aan:
2:136 Say: We believe in God, and in that which has been bestowed
from on high upon us, and that which has been bestowed upon
Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants,
and that which has been sent to Moses and Jesus; and that which
has been sent to all the [other] prophets by their Sustainer: we
make no distinction between any of them and it is unto Him that
we surrender ourselves.^7
42:13 The same religion has He established for you as that
which He enjoined on Noah—that which We have sent by inspira-
tion to thee—and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and
Jesus.The religion of Islam as understood from the Qur’aan and the tradition
of Prophet Muhammad (pp) reinvigorated the basic concepts brought by
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Being a Muslim means to submit our will to
the will of God by worshiping only Him and by abiding by His injunctions,
which He revealed to all His prophets. Conceptually, Islam can indeed be
looked upon as part of a Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition that extends
back to the father and patriarch of all prophets, Abraham (pp). One well-
read American Muslim stated that he researched all religions and philoso-
phies to find a faith to which he could adhere. He concluded that Islam was
it for him, because it did not take away from him Moses (pp) and his Jewish
beliefs of the Old Testament or his Christian beliefs in Jesus (pp) and in
the Bible. He said that Islam, to him, was the umbrella that covered all. He
added that Islam was to him like a tent that brought under it in one house
the teachings of Moses (pp) in Judaism and Jesus (pp) in Christianity; it did
not discredit these teachings, but rather intensified and deepened them.^8
This concept is exactly what is meant in this book by the Judeo-Christian-
Islamic lifestyle.
The original teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam prohibit
lending money and charging interest/usury (the original wordusurywas
used to mean paying a rent for the use of money; the meaning was
changed to mean, in today’s language, lending at an excessive interest
rate), ribit (which means an increase over the original amount of debt, in
the language of the Old Testament), and riba (which also means an in-
crease, in the language of the Qur’aan). It is also interesting to note that
charging interest is prohibited in Buddhism, Hinduism, and many other
The Faith-Based Judeo-Christian-Islamic Foundation 15