Islamophobia, this has become a common term used all over the world now to express their fear of Islam. With ISIS, Taliban, Boko Haram, and Al-Qaeda, Islam is seen to be a religion that spread through bloodshed and hate. However, history has something else to say. In this report I will compare two of the most dominant religions in the world, Christianity and Islam through the eyes of war,trade, and education.
In Islam and Christianity, war has played a big role in both religions. In the present world, people believe that Islam is a religion that spread through the bloodshed of other countries. However, the truth is quite the opposite from people’s opinion. During the age of exploration many leaders and travelers,
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One such example is Christopher Columbus who discovered America and there is a holiday dedicated to him. Although, one of the sole reasons he went there was to convert them all to Christianity.In fact clearly stated in his journal that he wanted to take them back as servants, which he did. Another example is of the conquistador named Pizarro, who received permission to conquer the South American Coast in 1531. When reaching the Incan empire, the spanish army kidnapped Atahualpa and held him for ransom. After receiving their pay they killed Atahualpa and murdered many Incas. Unlike Christianity, Muslims have to follow guidelines before entering a conflict ,such as fighting with the least force possible . The Quran also states, “Qur'an 4:76 Islam allows war in self-defence (Qur'an 22:39), to defend Islam (rather than to spread it), to protect those who have been removed from their homes by force because they are Muslims …show more content…
Today, 2.5 percent of the Indian population is Christian. Christianity, was introduced to India through trade for spices. During the Renaissance, Spain and Portugal were continually travelling to India so that they could collect spices. In fact if Spain had not sent Christopher Columbus to India to look for spices the New World would have never been discovered. While Spain’s attempt was to convert the people to Christianity, Christopher Columbus clearly said, “But in truth, should I meet with gold or spices in great quantity, I shall remain till I collect as much as possible, and for this purpose I am proceeding solely in quest of them.” However, in 1493 a second voyage was launched under Christopher to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. The Portuguese also traded with India but in other regions, such as Japan and Mocao, they would take Catholic Missionaries to help spread Christianity. Likewise, India has been a source of trade in Islam too. During the 600 C.E.(Before the Prophet Muhammad had his vision with the teachings of Allah) Arab people were already trading with India. So when Muhammad spread Islam traders brought the religion to India, and by 629 C.E. the first mosque in India was built. In 721 CE they did conquer Sindh, India, but they never forced anyone to convert. However, in India many
In conclusion, early Muslims had multitudinous connections with several religions as beneficial partners for trade, travel, and conquest. By analyzing each primary source, the benefits of having a relationship with different religions comes to light. Whether Muslims were interacting with Vikings, Jews, or Christians, establishing a friendly relationship allowed early Muslims to continue building stronger military forces, acquiring material goods, and avoid being raided by enemies. Each source provides different insight to how early Muslims thought and treated the religious groups they encountered.
Religion is a part of society that is so closely bound to the rest of one’s life it becomes hard to distinguish what part of religion is actually being portrayed through themselves, or what is being portrayed through their culture and the rest of their society. In Holy Terrors, Bruce Lincoln states that religion is used as a justifiable mean of supporting violence and war throughout time (Lincoln 2). This becomes truly visible in times such as the practice of Jihad, the Reformation, and 9/11. The purpose of this essay is to show that as long as religion is bound to a political and cultural aspect of a community, religious war and destruction will always occur throughout the world. A historical methodology will be deployed in order to gain
It is clear that Hadewijch did not adopt the same positive view of Holy War that many of her contemporaries seem to favor. Her words allude to the tensions between Christianity and Islam in the Latin East, specifically, during the Second and Third Crusades. If humans cannot live together peacefully, she fears, there will be constant bloodshed. Ironically, Hadewijch’s advice, largely ignored, illuminates truths in the struggle to recapture the Holy Cities across the Mediterranean.
The Spaniards methods and strategies to convert Indians to Christianity moved from a pacified one more brutal and violent. Since the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the New World, it was clear that the mission of the Spaniard...
Violent Jihad as a struggle against one’s enemies has its root in [these] situations. When the Islamic religion spread over the region, Jihad became a religious tenet and assumed the form of a peaceful, internal struggle to strive for the good and reject the evil in one’s action. Violent, external conflict was never r...
Among some of the largest conflicts in the world stand the Crusades; a brutal conflict that lasted over 200 years and was debatably one of the largest armed religious conflicts in the history of humankind. Since this is so clearly an event of importance, historians have searched vigorously for the true answer as to why the crusades began. Ultimately, because of accusatory views on both the sides of the Christians and of the Muslims, the two groups grew in such hatred of each other that they began to act in deep discrimination of each other. Moreover, Christian motives seemed to be driven mostly by the capture of Jerusalem, the dark ages of Europe and the common-folks desperation for land, wealth, and a spot in heaven. What seems to be continually
Burns, Thomas J. "Islam." Religion and Society. OU Campus' Dale Hall, Norman. 14 Apr. 2014. Lecture.
Islam, a religion of people submitting to one God, seeking peace and a way of life without sin, is always misunderstood throughout the world. What some consider act of bigotry, others believe it to be the lack of education and wrong portrayal of events in media; however, one cannot not justify the so little knowledge that America and Americans have about Islam and Muslims. Historically there are have been myths, many attacks on Islam and much confusion between Islam as a religion and Middle Easter culture that is always associated with it. This paper is meant to dispel, or rather educate about the big issues that plague people’s minds with false ideas and this will only be touching the surface.
... expanded successfully in peace. On the other hand, the Western religions have a very violent and bloody past during their growth and expansion. As mention by Cason and Tillman “A defining theme that runs through the history of all three Western religions is that they arose out of conflict.” And still to this day they are in conflict.
Renard, John. Islam and Christianity: theological themes in comparative perspective. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. Print.
Throughout history it is evident that many religions have been tried, tested, and, for some, radically changed. Many religions have gone through periods of time in which the way they were run or enforced underwent changes in practice and leadership. In many cases disagreements and differing outlooks among members of certain religions were to blame for these changes. Christianity and Islam are two examples of religions that have experienced changes over the course of their existence. While these religions seem to have little in common at first glance, both have strikingly similar pasts that consist of radical splits due to disagreements among members of the Christian and Islamic churches, resulting in new branches within each religion.
In the Islamic conquest, Muslims conquered large areas consisting of distinct religion members. Muslims believed that all religions should be treated respectably; hence Jews and Christians followed ...
Starting from one of the very first holy wars, the Crusades are a prime example of this disuniting force of religion. Stemming from Pope Urban II’s rallying cry for soldiers to reclaim the Holy Land, this was a series of religious wars launched by Christian states of Europe against the Muslims. Thousands of men, both young and old, were motivated by promises of wealth, religious salvation, and chivalry to fight this religious battle against the Muslims. Despite the nobility, these wars had severe consequences between Christian and Islamic believers. In the article “The Crusades” by W. Robert Godfrey, he expresses, “Hundreds of thousands died, and the terrible massacre in Jerusalem by the crusaders has seriously damaged the reputation of Christianity among Muslims ever since.” This major event in history created tension between Christians and Muslim faiths. As one of the bloodiest wars in history, this conflict between the Muslims and the Christians represents how religion ruptures peace between two segregated sides.
At the first glance, Islam and Christianity appear to have nothing in common, however; as you go beyond the surface, they appear to have many similarities such as their beliefs of God, their beliefs of life after death, their holy scriptures, and their prayers. These religions, although are two entirely different beliefs, share a similar origin. Like many other religions, they both claim to be the one and only true way to God. In order to truly see and understand their similarities, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam. Throughout the course of this essay, I will compare the many facets that show the alikeness between these two growing religions.
War and violence is a huge issue in the world today and is the cause of a lot of the problems and issues that have happened whether it was 1000 years ago or in the 21st century. There have been many pointless wars and acts of violence that have killed thousands of people over religion. For example, the Crusades, created by the Latin Roman Catholic Church, was a series of military expeditions intended to take control of the Holy Land from Muslim control. They were often pointlessly violent, sometimes even involving Christians fighting Christians. The main purpose of these battles was to access the shrines that were affiliated with Jesus’ life in hope to find the one containing the tomb of Christ. The Crusaders overpowered many cities on the Mediterranean coast, building castles across the Holy Land to protect their new territories. There were more than four Crusades, each containing the people participating in different acts of war for the Holy Land. The Crusades are considered a ‘religious war’ and are a prime example of how war causes religion to divide because the Christians were fighting to take control of the Holy Land from the M...