Ap World Dbq: Attitudes of Christianity and Islam Toward Merchants

“An obsession with possessions enslaves us to the demon of worry. Jesus invites us to change our priorities, focus on the kingdom, and share with the needy” (Kraybill, 2011, p.101). A man’s wealth will be measured by the love, kindness and empathy he has for the poor and the hungry in Gods kingdom. For this matter Jesus wants the wealthy to humble themselves and receive their blessing by offering opportunities to the poor instead of being greedy and celebrating their own wealth.

Therefore I'll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon. And so ends my catechism." (5.1.129-140)

Money— sweeter than honey but oh so destructive. It facilitates a man’s life, while a lack of it imprisons him in the streets of penury. It raises his social status, while an absence of it leaves him unnoticed. It gives him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches.

honest man. Yet he still has to concede that trade is necessary (doc 5). This source could be biased

Commerce is the increasing of capital by buying goods and attempting to sell them at a price higher than their cost. Waiting for a rise in the market price or by transporting the goods to another place where they are more keenly demanded. It is necessary to have enough initial capital to pay in cash the sellers from whom one buys goods, to sell for cash as honesty. Dishonesty leads on the one hand to fraud and the adulteration of goods and on the other to delays on payment which diminish profits because capital remains idle during the interval. (Document 5, fourteen century—Universal History.) Evasiveness, litigation and disputation, all of which are characteristics of the profession and qualities lead to a decrease and weakening in virtue which can mistaken as bias because some may say this persona to commerce makes one a human being. This shows a much more respectful view towards merchants and may reflect the fact that Muhammad, the founder of Islam was a merchant himself.

In its Golden Age, Islam’s influence reached all the way to Spain, Anatolia, West Africa, and India, among other regions. While these regions were all, in a way, united under a common religion, each of them both altered and were altered by Islam in their own unique ways. Although there were similarities that existed with the spread of Islam to each of those places, many more differences prevailed. Differences and similarities existed in the forms of the role of migration, role of trade, role of cultural exchange, methods of conversion to Islam, and the unique cultural developments in each region.

“Many are friars in name but few by rights. As some say, Falseness is their prophet. Their cloak's appearance is poor, but their money box

Supported by documents 2, 5, and 7, this statement is very unambiguous. Written towards the beginning of the Islamic faith, in 620-650 CE, document 2 is from the Muslim point of view and the document believes the two and only then will their transaction be blessed. During this time, merchants and trade were highly valued and shown a great deal of respect. The main reason for this belief is the Prophet Muhammad. Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad so therefor; Muhammad is highly worshiped and looked upon on. The reason that merchants are dear to Muslims is because Prophet Muhammad as well as his wife, Khadija, are born Muslims, thus causing Muslims to appreciate merchants. However, as time goes on, it is noticeable that the respect will be lowered. In addition to document 2, document 5 is written by Ibn Khaldun, a leading Muslim scholar during the fourteenth century. Document 5 describes how it is sometimes necessary to transport goods to a place where they are more keenly demanded and therefore fetch a much higher price for them. As seen, people of both religions grew greedier over time and traded unfairly just to make a higher profit. Also in document 5, the scholar mentions that, “As for trade, although it be a natural means of livelihood, yet most of the methods it employs tricks aimed at making a profit by securing the difference between the

Ibn Khaldun, in the 14th century, also explains why he and other Muslims view merchants are not worthy of respect. Aquinas and Khaldun clarify why their faiths look down upon merchants. Also, a merchant's mother gave the perspective of a common Christian's view of merchants. Her obvious chastisement and command to "crave not for all; you already have enough to suffice you!" [D6]. Common people also thought merchants craved for money, as seen in this mother's letter. Islam and Christianity always to commended honest business and condemned greedy, inequitable trade; however, Islam did have a high opinion of merchants but came to agree with Christians that merchants were not respectable.

Document 3 was recorded much later in 1170 and discussed statements made from Godric, a merchant who had a biography written about himself by his colleague. The document discusses the importance of honesty in merchants, especially Godric himself. It also discusses how becoming a merchant focuses on hard work and labor, which allows them to develop an appreciation for the objects they interact with in trade. In comparison with the earlier time period, document 3 also portrays a negative point of view on trade in the Christian community. Godric, the Christian merchant, was so ashamed of his wealth and everything he owned that he gave them to the poor even though he worked for them so determinedly. Because of his negative views that he developed concerning the wealth he obtained, he gave his possessions to the poor in order to compensate for his sins. He still held the fear of not being accepted into heaven because of his wealth and because of his actions towards trade. Document 3 was useful in representing how far merchants will go to make up for their shameful past in hopes of savoring their religion. Because of the actions Godric displayed, the opinion of a negative point of view towards trade and merchants stays the same during this time period in Christianity. The colleague of Godric who was the author of this document could've

Upside-down prestige isn’t calculated by the height of our rung on the social ladder. In God’s inverted kingdom, greatness is signified by our willingness to serve. Service to others becomes the yardstick of stature in the new kingdom” (pg 229).

“It is not the rich man you should properly call happy, but him who knows how to use with wisdom the blessings of the gods, to endure hard poverty, and who fears dishonor worse than death, and is not afraid to die for cherished friends or fatherland.”

Less than two hundred years after the death of the prophet Muhammad the rule of Islam had spread from the Arab Peninsula to Italy after the Roman Empire had crumbled away; eventually it spread all the way to Iberia. The book The Muslims of Medieval Italy by Alex Metcalfe focuses on the Muslim-Christian dynamic and the respective ruling entities by examining the chronological timeline of events and more cultural history of the dynamic in the region. The first half of the book is more obviously focused on the chronological explanation of events and delving into the reasons for why things happened the way they did. As the book progresses, it noticeably starts to focus on the more cultural

As of today, the world’s two largest religions Christianity and Islam share an estimated 3.6 billion members, more than half of the world’s population. On the surface, they appear to have almost nothing in common, however, as one goes beyond the surface and examines the other factors such as the rituals, beliefs, ethics, founders, and convictions, the two religions share many similarities. However, in order to truly see and understand these similarities and differences, one must date back to the rise and birth of Christianity and Islam.

Consumer behavior is the process by which individuals seek, decide, procure, utilize and dispose of products so as to satisfy their needs and wants. Consumer behavior is attracting interest from scholars especially the marketing psychologists. The concept is important to marketing because it reveals why, when and how consumers make the decisions to buy. Many factors influence consumer behavior, for example, the price, preference, loyalty, culture, and region ( Suranyi, 2011). The paper would address into depth the relationship between religiosity and Islamic consumer behavior.