Christianity Vs Islam Essay

Christianity and Islam contrast each other in that Muslims did not require conversion in the conquered places while Christians did and in that Christians had government organizations involved in the spread of the religion while Muslims did not; they resemble each other in that they both influenced people to spread the religion.

Muslims did not require the people they conquered to convert to Islam, while Christians did. In Islamic Empire, minority religious groups, such as Jews and Christians, were mostly tolerated. However, they did have a tax for not being Muslim called jizya. In the early part of the fourth century, Christianity began a slow process of becoming wedded into the state. The process was finalized around the year 380 when the

Roman emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the state. In his ruling time, non-Christians were subjected to forced conversions; the refusal to convert, often resulted on torture or death. The reason why Muslims did not require forced conversion was most likely due to the fact that while other religions were tolerated, non-Muslims were often discriminated against and did not have many rights.

In both religions, there were believers who spread their religion with others in foreign lands. Muslims migrated to Medina to spread the word of their God. On the other hand, Christians migrated to Constantinople to help Constantine spread Christianity. Also, both Muslims and Christians had craftwork that was very significant to the spread of their religions. Muslims, had craftwork of the name of their God, Allah, in Arabic calligraphy. Christians made crosses which represented Jesus. These people were extremely important because they were able to teach the word of their God to others and help influence them to convert.

Christians had government organizations involved in the spread of the religion while Muslims did not.

Christians had Constantine who was involved in the spread of the religion. Constantine made Christianity legal after his predecessors had punished Christians. Also, government officials prohibited many things to favour the religion, while officials in the Islamic Empire had not. One example would be the prohibition of observance of pagan cults. Political figures provided financial sponsorship for things such as rituals and festivals, as well. On the opposite side, Muslims did not have any political support like the support provided to Christians. A reason for this was that, as stated previously, people in the Islamic world did not have to convert and a sponsorship of government might have made it illegal to be any other than Muslim.

The Mauryan Empire resembles both the Islamic Empire and the Roman Empire in different ways. The Islamic Empire in this time resembles the Mauryan Empire to some extent in that Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism but did not require the people in his empire to convert. His government, remained tolerant to people of all religions. However, the Mauryan Empire is similar to Christianity in that Ashoka had important people from his government go on tours to preach Buddhism.

In conclusion, Islam and Christianity influenced the people in both similar and different ways. They both influenced people to travel and spread the religion in different ways.

However, they both differed in that Christians required people to convert to the religion and Christians had government support.