Final Exam- Religion influences on the great Empires of the Axial Age Religion played an important role in the great empires of the Axial Age. It was an important type of interaction that influenced cultural, societal, and political differences between regions. Religion enabled these regions to exchange religious ideologies and practices, form societal organizations, and establish authority between 800-200 BCE. This can be seen in the spread of Zoroastrianism throughout the Persian Empire, Islam in the first Islamic State, and Buddhism in ancient India. The spread of the Zoroastrianism religion was the result of the rise of the Persian Empire. The Zoroastrianism “ faith” also supposes a perpetual struggle between the dual elements of good …show more content…
This includes many significant political and social transformations influenced or conquered. This was “As long as they paid taxes to their new Muslim government, the conquered could live in the Islamic state and still practice their religion somewhat freely.” (Kordas 2023, The Arab-Islamic Conquests and the First Islamic States) This introduced many new social norms, ethical values, etc on individuals that contributed to the diverse communities within the Islamic State civilizations. These Muslim societies formed a governance authority based on Islamic principles and laws. The Islamic belief was “ founded by the Prophet Muhammad who was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia in 570 CE. The Prophet Muhammad, also known as “The Prophet” or “The Messenger” developed the religious, political and social principles that became the foundation of Islam.” (Syracuse University 2021, “Understanding Islam.”) Ultimately building a cultural and political society based on the Islamic …show more content…
Interacting with existing cultural and religious belief traditions/systems. Due to “The Kushan Empire dominated trade along the Silk Roads, was home to a religiously diverse population, and promoted the burgeoning religion of Buddhism within and outside its borders.” (Kordas 2023, The Margins of Empire) This created a society that focused on Buddha’s teachings and was very diverse. The Buddhist belief, “explores the depths of human suffering, desire, envy, decadence, and death, offering adherents a way out of an eternal cycle of misery if they adopt the Four Noble Truths leading to the Eightfold Path.” (Kordas 2023, “India, the Indian Ocean Basin, and East Asia”). This built a cultural society and brought people together with the same values of Buddhism with a monarchy
“In 622, a small community of Muslims gradually migrated from Mecca to Medina” (Cleveland 11) they were in effect kicked out of Mecca because their leader, Muhammad “posed a challenge to the social, economic, and religious structure of the city” (Cleveland 10). By 750, this small group of outcasts had gained power over “an empire that stretched from Morocco to India” (Cleveland 17). The religion of Muhammad, Islam, grew even beyond this first empire and became the driving force behind future expansions for a millennium. There are quite a few factors that played into the initial success of these Islamic empires and by extension, Islam. However, the strength of its empires was not only in their ability to gain power but also in their ability to sustain it. As each Islamic empire grew, the number cultures and religions within it grew as well. The Koran provided some guidance on how to manage these different regions in addition; each empire devised creative methods of dealing with the immense diversity. The strength of these Islamic empires lied in their ability to maintain a strong centralized government firmly based in Islam, while adapting to accept vastly different cultures.
Centuries after the death of the Buddha, his teachings spread throughout Asia and dominated (2). Around 1500, Western powers began entering the Buddhist controlled areas of Asia and created colonies, which persisted into the middle of...
In the seventh century, a new faith arose in the Middle East known as the Islamic religion. Just like Christianity and Judaism, the Islamic religion believed in one God known as Allah. The founder of Islam was a very unique individual known as Mohammad. Mohammad had an amazing spiritual experience that transformed his life and made a great impact in history. He experienced visions and revelations from Allah which he accepted as messages. Mohammed
Unification by religion was also shown through Ashoka’s Edicts that he had built across India. These pillars promoted Buddhism principles created a strong empire whose citizens were united by Buddhist values. Edicts, which are official orders, were carved on walls, rocks, and pillars, and were placed strategic...
The principal reason why the Zoroastrian philosophy stayed in the Iranian identity is because of the rituals and believes Islam inherited from Zoroastrians. For example, the call to prayer, the ablutions or the head coverings are similarities between the two religion. Otherwise, even if Islam had imposed its philosophy, Zoroastrianism is still believed and people attend traditional rituals daily. The Zoroastrian followers have kept the true Iranian identity and the converted Iranians brought part of their identity to Islam. After the Islamic conquest of Iran, Islam started hindering the Iranian identity.
Religion has greatly influenced western civilization. Religion is a way to express ourselves in our own way. To be able to choose who or what we believe in freely. This gives us a sense of individualism and helps our civilization to grow and develop each religion. Just about every ancient culture practiced religion in some way. They were either monotheist, polytheist, atheist, or believed in “magic”. Western civilization was impacted by religion in more ways than one. Every religion contributed in their own way. Some religions even worked together to help create a stronger, more structured civilization.
Buddhism is one of the biggest religions founded in India in the 6th and 5th cent. BC by Siddhartha Gautama, called the Buddha. One of the great Asian religions teaches the practice of the observance of moral precepts. The basic doctrines include the four noble truths taught by the Buddha. Since it was first introduced into China from India, Buddhism has had a history that has been characterized by periods of sometimes awkward and irregular development. This has mainly been the result of the clash of two cultures, each with a long history of tradition. Most of the difficulties have arisen due to the transplanting of an Indian religious/philosophical system onto a culture strongly dominated by indigenous secular, philosophical and religious systems. In spite of these difficulties, Chinese Buddhism has come to have an important influence on the growth and development of Buddhism in general and this has occurred largely because of its own innovatory contributions.(Eliade, M. p.16-29) The spread of Buddhism into China began in Central Asia and was facilitated by the efforts of the Indo-Scythian king Kanishka (Encyclopedia Britt. 273-274) of the Kushan dynasty which ruled in northern India, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia in the 1st and 2nd centuries (Encyclopedia Britt. 274). He is said to have undergone an Ashoka-like conversion upon seeing the slaughter caused by his campaigns. Around the beginning of the common era, Buddhism started to filter into China from Central Asia via the Silk Road, brought by monks, merchants and other travelers. It also entered later via trade routes around and through Southeast Asia. It was nurtured in the expatriate community of Loyang and other northern cities. (The Encyclopedia of Religion p58-62) Siddhartha (Buddha) was born around 563 B.C.E. in the town of Kapilavastu (located in today's Nepal). Siddhartha's parents were King Shuddhodana and Queen Maya, who ruled the Sakyas. His history is a miraculous one... One night, Queen Maya dreamed that an elephant with six tusks, carrying a lotus flower in its trunk, touched her right side. At that moment her son was conceived. Brahmins (learned men) came and interpreted the dream. The child would be either the greatest king in the world or the greatest ascetic (a holy man who practices self-denial). The future child would be named Siddhartha, which means "he who...
Islam is a major world religion. Its origin can be traced back to 610 CE in Arabia. The basis of this religion is the revelations to the prophet Mohammad. Dissatisfied with his life, he traveled to deserts, hills, and the wilderness surrounding Mecca, where he lived, to meditate and reflect. He became a new man through his revelations, which many of his followers believe Allah transmitted to him through his angel Gabriel. Islam was originally an Arab religion, but many different beliefs and practices were added to it, making it extremely popular and aiding in its rapid spread. This new religion spread to many different areas surrounding Arabia, both under Mohammad and after his death. The Muslim Empire grew to encompass Spain and the Eastern Roman Empire as well Persia and Africa. Many different practices and methods were used to spread Islam. The religion itself was appealing to, in addition to the inhabitants of Arabia, other people in the surrounding areas because of its distinct religious beliefs and practices, such as the five pillars, as well as the humility and prayerfulness of the Islamic people. They fought cruel, vicious wars with their enemies. Many different things motivated the warriors to expand, but above all, the riches they would gain from the people of the Fertile Crescent encouraged them to expand.
The prophet Muhammad had a significant impact on the rise and spread of the religion Islam. According to World Civilizations, Muhammad “began receiving revelations transmitted from Allah,” and later these revelations became holy scripts in the Quran. Muhammad started off with very few followers but as the faith of Allah started to spread, he gained more followers and he became a threat to Mecca’s rulers. As mentioned in World Civilization, “in 622 Muhammad left Mecca for Medina where his skilled leadership brought new followers.” In Medina, Muhammad became the religious authority in the area and he used this power to conquer Mecca, a holy place for Islamic believers. By the time of his death, he was able to have created a religious empire that controlled all of the Arabian Peninsula.
This is the techniques by which the Jews experienced Zoroastrianism - in private exchanges and political and city encounter, as opposed to informal religious studies. Moreover, the Jewish religion was re-made after the calamity of the Exile, these Zoroastrian lessons started to channel into the Jewish religious
The founder of Islam was Prophet Muhammad, and holy book of Islam is Quran. When Islam was created by Prophet Muhammad, his aim to make all the Arabians as a Muslim and then to conquer new places for spreading of Islam. The Arabian Peninsula was largely under the control of the Prophet Muhammad before his death in 632, and virtually all of the Byzantine territories of Greater Syria and Egypt were captured by the early 640s (Millwright M 2010). If religion were changed, the structure of the society, would be changed. People obeyed new tradition, rules of religion based on Quran.
Zoroaster was thus the first to teach the doctrines of an individual judgment, Heaven and Hell, the future resurrection of the body, the general Last Judgment, and life everlasting for the reunited soul and body. These doctrines were to become familiar articles of faith to much of mankind, through borrowings by Judaism, Christianity and Islam; yet it is in Zoroastrianism itself that they have their fullest logical coherence..” - Mary Boyce, Op.... ... middle of paper ... ... With such a high status, these religions share many similarities and also differences that give them a dynamic of interest and curiosity.
Conflict in society has many purposes. It is seen as a means of social stability through inequality, and also as a means of interest groups seeking individual needs. This analysis will show the Zoroastrian faith through many conflict theories. These theories include conflict as a source of social disruption, Conflict as a source of integration, and Conflict as pervasive element in all social life.
How do we define religion? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of religion is as follows: “the belief in a god or in a group of gods, an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods, or an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group” (Merriam-Webster.) My personal definition of religion is that it is a set of beliefs and practices that generally pertain to the worship of one or more than one spiritual being or representation of a spiritual power. Religion can be a personal belief or an organization or group of people who have similar beliefs and values. There are many different types of religions in the world and have been since the beginning of mankind.
The beginning of Islam all started in Arabia around 570 C.E. when a prophet was born. This prophet was known as Muhammad, although it is said that he has multiple names, which was born in a city called Makkah, or Mecca. This man lived a normal life by getting married and having children. He would venture out into the desert every now and then to pray and fast. It was during one time in the desert within a cave that an archangel known as Gabriel approached him. It is at this time that Gabriel gave Muhammad the first verses of the revelation. This would continue on for years up until Muhammad’s death. All of the verses that he was provided would eventually end up into the sacred text known as the Qur’an, or Koran. During Muhammad’s time of receiving the messages from God, his tribe wanted him dead as they did not want to change their way of living. Before his own tribe killed him, he was invited to travel to a city known as Yathrib to be their ruler, which this city would later be called Madinah. Muhammad and his followers set out for this particular city around June 622, which marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar.