Baptism and Christening

The term is from the Greek baptizo: lit. meaning, "immersing." It is not a symbol or a sign. It is an act of ritual purification for ritual worship. Esp. performing ablutions prior to worship of a deity. There are many ways to be purified or use of a ritual purification; depending on religion/culture. However, the simplest form is used over many cultures; even non religious peoples. For example, when a parent tells a child to wash their hands before they eat.

The water in baptism represents the cleaning away of sin. In Baptism, particularly on babies who haven't committed sin on Earth, Water is used to cleanse original sin, older people who have committed sin on Earth also have original sin washed away as well as the sins they have committed on Earth.

They use it to protect the person been baptized against evil and to spiritually cleanse them.

Catholic Answer Water is used because Our Blessed Lord commanded it, and that is the only way to have a valid baptism. It is usually blessed to dedicate it to God's use and remove any evil influences from it.

Water is used in baptism because that is how Our Blessed Lord commanded it: unless you are born of water and the Holy Spirit.... Further, because of Our Blessed Lord's command that is how the Apostles baptized, and so how the Church has always done it.

Baptism mentioned in the question refers to the Christian meaning of baptism. Actually there is no baptism in Islam since Islam is based on the concept that all humans are born sinless and they attain sins during their lives, and that all sins can be forgiven except giving worship to other gods but Allah or with Allah/God.

The other concept is that no one carries the sins of another:

36 Or hath he not had news of what is in the books of Moses

37 And Abraham who paid his debt:

38 That no laden one shall bear another's load,

39 And that man hath only that for which he maketh effort,

40 And that his effort will be seen.

41 And afterward he will be repaid for it with fullest payment;

42 And that thy Lord, to Him is the refer

[The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân, by M.M. Pickthall...53. an-Najm]

So, there is no such "ceremony" like baptism in Islam,but there may be a misunderstanding of the English meaning of a certain verse that may make the mix, below is the explanation:

137-138So if they believe in the like of that, which you believe, then they are rightly guided, but if they turn away, then they are only in opposition. So Allah will suffice you against them. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower. (Our Sibghah (religion) is) the Sibghah (Religion) of Allah (Islam) and which Sibghah (religion) can be better than Allah's? And we are His worshippers.

[Meanings of The Quran, Aal Imran]

Here The Ayaat 2:138 presents religion as "coloring" Sibghah صِبْغِ the expression carries within itself several levels of meaning. But the immediate allusion is to a certain Christian ceremony i.e. the Baptism

But, the Arabic meaning of the word Baptism is that:

the adoption of Allaah's (God's) attributes and broad principles of faith bring out the real change in the mind and character.

== == {| ! | One major difference in theological opinion between Zwingli and Luther is on the nature of the Christian sacraments. Many consider Luther to have been the originator of the belief that God's covenants to man are unconditional; Zwingli, on the other hand, proposed that God's covenants were just that--spiritually binding contracts between God and man that were vulnerable to man's relapse into the sinful life that could eventually lead to an annulment of God's part in the contract.[citation needed] E. Brooks Holifield says, When Luther called the sacrament a covenantal seal, he meant that baptism visibly ratified and guaranteed God's promises, as a royal seal authenticated a government document on which it was inscribed. Only secondarily was baptism a pledge of obedience by men. For Zwingli, however, the sacrament was primarily 'a covenant sign which indicates that all those who receive it are willing to amend their lives to follow Christ.[3] For both Luther and Zwingli, the sacrament of baptism was a sign or symbol of God's new Gospel covenant. Their theological differences arise in the relationship between baptism and mankind. ********************************************

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Baptism is simply a symbol of being cleansed by God. It is also the outward announcement that you have choosen God as your savior.

Jesus Christ walked down to the river Jordan to bathe in the holy water and relieve his sins, John knew of the importance of Jesus and baptised him in the water

from The Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, English translation 1994

Symbols of the Holy Spirit

694 Water. The symbolism of water signified the Holy Spirit's action in Baptism, since after the invocation of the Holy Spirit it becomes the efficacious sacramental sign of new birth; just as the gestation of our first birth took place in water; so the water of Baptism truly signifies that our birth into divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As "by one Spirit we were all baptized," so we are also "made to drink of one Spirit." (1 Cor 12:13) Thus the Spirit is also personally the living water welling up from Christ crucified (Jn 19:34; 1 Jn 5:8) as its source and welling up in us to eternal life. (Cf. Jn 4:10-14; 7:38; Ex 17:1-6; Isa 55:1; Zech 14:8; 1 Cor 10:4; Rev 21:6; 22:17)