Religious Traditions Of Christianity And Islam From 620-750 CE Essay Sample

Christianity is a religion that began approximately 2000 years ago and is the largest religion in the world. The focus of this religion is on Jesus Christ, who is divine in both nature and human. He is the son of God, and completed the Old Testament prophesies before dying on the cross. The Bible is the book used to study this religion. It is believed that he rose from the dead, and has walked on water. According to Christianity, there is only one God who is responsible for the creation of everything, including the universe, the Earth, and Adam and Eve. It is believed that humans are sinful and must pray. Christians are saved when the Holy Spirit lives in them; they are born again and changed. When this happens, they can have a relationship with God because he lives inside them. This religion also believes that God is a Father, Son, and a Spirit.
There were limits to accepting the Roman religion is, and the under some governments, there were Christianity cults that were subdued. However, there were others that were more accepting and Christians did not have to worry about being punished because of their religion. Not only did some Romans tolerate this, but in approximately 312, the emperor Constantine to Christianity made a conversion to Christianity (Lunn-Rickliffe, 2001). This can demonstrate that no matter how strong a group’s religious views are, it is possible for someone to move in the other direction and eventually, get others to follow behind them.
Christianity could have seemed appealing to those in Rome because in this religion, everyone is equal. For example, unlike other religions, men are not superior to women, which would have attracted women to Christianity. In addition to this newfound freedom, the promise of spiritual gifts would have made many decide to change their faiths.
The Islamic religion originated in the Middle East in the 7th century and was created from Prophet Muhammad’s teachings, which were an expression to the creator of the world, Allah, who is the God (Religion Library, n.d.). The book used to study this religion is the Qu’ran. Unlike Christianity, Muslims pray five times daily, and worship at mosques. There are five practices in Islam, referred to as the Five Pillars. These are faith, prayer, charity, fasting, and hajj, which is a pilgrimage to Mecca. Compared to other religions, those following Islam are very strong with their practices and follow them extremely thoroughly.
Muhammad did not appoint anyone to take his place when he died in 632, which made things difficult because in addition to being a religious leader, he was also the political leader. The fact that he did not have any sons made this even more challenging, but it was soon determined that his father-in-law Adu Bakr would be placed in this position. The Arabs were able to come together at this time and rather than fight against each other, they fought with each other, believing that if they died fighting in these wars they would go to Paradise afterwards.
While organized, they were able to defeat Byzantine, a province of Syria, Egypt, northern regions of Africa, and by 650, the entire Persian Empire (New patterns in civilization, n.d.). Although these areas were defeated, the Arabs still allowed governments of these areas to carry on with their practices and not become Islamic; however, they had to follow Muslim rules and pay taxes (New patterns in civilization, n.d.). The three following leaders after Adu Bakr were assassinated, one of which was Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali. The Arabs continued to gain power and territory, changing many regions to Islam by 725, including areas in northern Africa, Spain, Mesopotamia, Persia, and central Asia; but, their growth ended when they were defeated in France, at the Battle of Tours (New patterns in civilization, n.d.).
Muslim rulings were more strict than that of Christianity. The ideological Islam message prompted that Muslims to choose to follow Muhammad and his beliefs, and there was a mission to defeat for Allah (Arlandson, n.d.). They also placed great importance on the economy. If people did not convert to Muslim they were required to pay a tax, unless they did not give up fighting for their rights and beliefs. The goal of the ruler was to enlarge the frontiers to improve protection, compared with how it had been before the trans-Arab commerce (Arlandson, n.d.). The Islamic ideology is that of political control. To preserve their spot in politics, rulers had violent Arab tribes migrate to territories that were recently defeated (Arlandson, n.d.). Muslims had a large amount of territory, but Christians believed that they should control the holy lands. Because of this many wars, the Crusades, took place while the Christians fought for places such as where Jesus Christ lived. Unfortunately for the Christians, they were unable to do so.

References

Events in Muhammad’s life. (n.d.). Retrieved from The Islam Project website:
http://www.islamproject.org/muhammad/muhammad_07_EventsinMuhammadsLife.htm.
Guisepi, R. (n.d.). A history of Christianity. Retrieved from History World International website:
http://history-world.org/origins_of_christianity.htm.
New patterns in civilization. (n.d.) Retrieved from World Religions website:
http://stamfordhigh.org/Data/Sites/2/userfiles/1237/glencoehistorychapters/chap06.pdf
Religion Library: Islam. (n.d.). Retrieved from Patheos Library website:
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Islam.html.
Sansal, B. (n.d.). The Prophet Muhammed. Retrieved from All about Turkey website:
http://www.allaboutturkey.com/muhammed.htm.