ISLAM- Allah (Almighty God) had with Ibrahim, (Abraham), in 2000 BCE. Since then, Allah established a final covenant through a final prophet Muhammad, born 570 CE. Muslims have in common five practices, known as the Five Pillars of Islam. These are the following: Recitation of the Shahadah, as written above, Salat, or prayer five times daily, Zakat, or the giving of alms toward charitable world-betterment, Sawn, or fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and Hajj, or the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. The consensus is that each of these practices is beneficial to oneself and to one’s community, and therefore pleasing to Allah. Also note that each one of these practices is intimately connected with education, as the Shahadah and salat must be backed with understanding; the zakat must be used in a maximally economical way; the Ramadan is a time for study; and the Hajj is an intellectual as well as spiritual learning adventure. All Muslims believe that Muhammad presented the Qur’an to the world in a perfect way; the majority of people would not otherwise argue that Muhammad was divine. Most people believe that Allah chose Muhammad to bear the Qu’ran, and other than that, he was simply a righteous man like other prophets. There are other sects of Islam, notably the Sufis, who more often experience Allah in a direct way through spiritual communion Islam has no central authority. While Christianity and Judaism – the previous Abrahamic traditions - also claim to have unadulterated Word of God, Islamic belief is much stricter about propagation of the Word in that the Qu’ran is translatable from the original Arabic.JAINISM- Jainism is an ancient religion from India promoting non-violence; constant attempt for the soul ascending onward to reach an apex of spirituality. When a soul has reached Jina, the most enlightened state, it means that all of the inner demons have been exorcised, and an inner equilibrium is reached. Every living creature has a soul; every soul can potentially become divine through knowledge, harmony, and power. Every being should be treated with equal respect, this means hurting no one. Each entity or soul is born human, sub-human, hellish, or celestial, as far as karma is concerned. Each being is the creator of his or her life, in this one or hereafter. The moment a soul has relinquished its karma, only then can divine consciousness, knowledge, infinite perception, and peace become a reality. On a daily basis, a typical Jain worship is a universal prayer, “Namokar Mantra,” and includes symbols offered as reminder of their path to attain the revered Moksha, or the ultimate liberation. Some of the current practices regarding Jainism have to do with participating is asceticism. This idea typically refers to minimizing one’s indulgences, and taking on habits of maintaining one’s health through diet, no matter how difficult it becomes. Being a vegetarian is essential, for otherwise it would be aggressive towards animals, which is obviously against their beliefs. JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES- Jehovah's Witnesses are Christians who follow Jesus Christ and have faith in the sacrifice that he made. They try to emulate Christ's example by teaching and preaching to those around them. The name of the Church is based on the belief that the name of God is Jehovah, as stated in the bible. A witness is one who proclaims the truth and knowledge he is convinced about. So, the name Jehovah's Witnesses denote their church as one that witnesses the truth about God. Jehovah's Witnesses believe theirs is the only true faith. This is based on scripture that says there is one faith, one baptism. The church began with a small group of bible students near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 1800's. They were initially known as the International Bible Students. They began publishing a bible journal called "The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom" in 1879. In 1931 the church adopted the name, Jehovah's Witnesses. Charles Taze Russell is credited with being the founder of the church. Russell began his life as a Congregationalist, became Agnostic trying to convert an Atheist to Christianity and then followed Adventism. Russell mixed doctrine of the bible with Adventism and taught it to the early followers. He predicted Jesus would return to earth in 1914 and when it didn't, he claimed that Christ had made an invisible return. The organization is modeled on first-century Christianity where there is no division of clergy and lay person. All baptized persons are ordained ministers and share the responsibility of teaching and preaching. Congregations are made up of 200 members and are led by spiritually mature men called elders. There is a group of elders that oversee each congregation. Congregations meeting in a building they call a Kingdom Hall. A group of 20 congregations make up a circuit and 10 circuits make a district. The overall church is overseen by a governing body that is located in Brooklyn, New York. Members generally worship twice a week; once on Sunday and again at a weeknight meeting. They allow people of any race or ethnicity to join their church and will not support any group that is motivated by racial or ethnic hatred. Disfellowshipped person is avoided by church members in order to be protected from their bad influence. This is based on the bible verse that says to "remove the wicked from among yourselves." Jehovah's Witnesses are caught up in witnessing their work. The average member attempts to fit in 60-100 hours a month of missionary work. When a person joins their church, they are expected to become missionaries themselves. They believe that husbands and wives should treat each other with respect. Children should be taught respect, morality, integrity, and dependability. They celebrate "Memorial of Christ's Death," which occurs around the same time as Christians celebrate Easter. The birth of Christ is not celebrated. They do not celebrate holidays that have non-Christian origins or that promote nationalism. JUCHE- Juche is the official ideology of North Korea. The word Juche is translated to "self-reliance" in the Korean language. The religion was originally created by Kim Il-sung, a Korean communist politician, in 1956. Juche was originally more of a political ideology than a religious one. However, during the early 1960s, Juche transformed into a much more spiritual ideology. Kim Il-sung defined Juche as “the independent stance of rejecting dependence on others and of using one’s own powers, believing in one’s own strength and displaying the revolutionary spirit of self-reliance.” In 1965, Kim Il-sung outlined three fundamental principles of Juche: chaju, or independence in politics; charip (self-sustenance in the economy) and chawi, or self-defense in national defense. Today, it is widely debated as to whether or not Juche can truly be defined as a religion. Many people argue that Juche fits into the category of religion, as it has millions of extremely devoted followers. Sociologists argue that Juche is indeed a religion, and more of a religion than either Chinese Maoism or Soviet communism. According to Thomas Belke, author of "JUCHE: A Christian Study of North Korea's State Religion", Juche is clearly a religion, with "more adherents than Judaism, Sikhism, Jainism or Zoroastrianism." Those who believe Juche is a religion also point to the fact that Juche has adopted several of the ideas promoted by Confucius. In addition, there are a number of "ceremonies" conducted in the name of Juche, as well as what outsiders often label "holy sites." followers of Juche claim to be atheists and as such, feel that following Juche can in no way be religious. Whether or not Juche is truly a religion, with millions of followers, it certainly has an impact on today's world!