Christianity And Islam DBQ

“No nation was ever ruined by trade.” This quote was said by Benjamin Franklin in the late 1700s. These words are so simple, and it seems like anyone could have said them. However, this quote has a bigger meaning in that throughout world history, trade has been so important to so many countries and it has led to many empires successes. It has occurred for a very long time, and it has progressed dramatically. Trade has changed a lot, but some parts of trade stayed the same over a long periods of time. In the era between 300 CE and 1450 CE, trade between Eurasia and Africa changed because the empires and kingdoms in power were replaced and their control over trade differed;

source of trade maps displaying trade wealth in 800 C.E. and 1500 C.E. of Islam and Christianity would

It analyzes the interaction between the Chinese, Indians, and Arabs. This chapter examines the trade situation before and after the European invaded. Around 1500, was the first time the trade began and it was one of the greatest generators of the economy. Therefore, it was really important for places like Asia, Africa, and Arabs to get access to the Indian Ocean.

In the “Arabian Peninsula Trade Routes” (Doc. A) it shows how Mecca was very busy with all kinds of trade. Since Mecca is where Islam would start in the upcoming years, traders would come and go taking the teachings of Muhammad with them. Mecca was both the center of trade and the center of Islam which leads to the quick spread of faith through the many traders and merchants that

From their origins to 1500, the attitudes of both Christian and Muslims toward trade shifted as conditions in the Christian and Islamic worlds changed. In the beginning, Christian attitudes were more negative, while Muslims tended to encourage and respect trade and merchants. Over time, Muslims became more like early Christians in that they were suspicious of traders whereas the Christians became more like the early Muslims, equating merchants (at least honest ones) with doing God’s work, reflecting the changed importance of trade in the high Middle Ages in Europe.

The institutions merchants created were communities placed along popular trade routes where they can establish traditional cultures to cross into the indigenous culture. Merchant communities such as the Chinese merchant communities spread throughout Southeast Asia, the Jewish communities in the Indian Ocean basin, the Muslim communities in the Indian Ocean, the Sogdian communities in Central Asia.

Trade was a large part in why Islam spread so quickly. Mecca had several trading routes. “By the middle of the sixth century… Mecca was … prosperous and important (Doc A).” They were trading through the two main empires: Byzantine and Persian. East Africa, Spain, India, and China also traded with them. Mecca being at the center of the trading system, they brought in many tourists to see the famous holy shrine. With the help of communication people interested in Islam were also drawn because goods were not just traded, but the Islamic culture as well.

The Crusades and the Mongol invasions greatly affected the trade in the Islamic world, but the Mongols were more open to the idea of trade than the Crusaders. There were many ways the Crusades affected trade. For example, by increasing the demand for Middle Eastern products. This was cause for more production in the Middle East. Also, the Crusades increased the use of money in the Islamic world, and the need for it. Lastly, the Crusades created many new inventions to do with weaponry and war because of trade. This allowed for better chances on the battlefield, and all the new inventions caused the economy to grow because people bought more things as they were now available.

From a review of the 7 documents presented, it is clear that Christianity and Islam condemned inequitable trade, which led to many Christians and Muslims to look down upon merchants; however, honest business, especially as a merchant, is honored highly. In fact, the Qur'an compares fair merchants to martyrs which were some of the holiest people of all [D2]. However, many Christian and Muslim believers found most merchants to be dishonest and greedy. A Christian scholar describes a merchant's job and then concludes that when a person sells something for more than it is worth, it is "unjust and unlawful" [D4].

In the beginning of Christianity, trade was considered sinful, while the Muslims thought trade was a lesson of appreciation and hard work. Christians had a strongly negative attitude towards the interaction between trade and merchants. Islamic people, however, had various different opinions on trade in comparison to the Christian religion. However, over time, the thoughts on trade and merchants shifted to a more negative point of view from both religions. The opinions from these religions were opposite at the beginning of time, but they eventually fused into one overall thought and opinion by the 16th century.

This trade route definitely made it possible for the religion to diffuse as goods moved between territories and populations, but more importantly they facilitated the movement of these items to otherwise isolated locations, like small towns and villages, consequently exposing millions of these areas to ideas and religious ideologies from which they;d been oblivious to be beforehand. After a while, merchants weren’t the only ones who would exploit the kickoff of trade routes; warriors and proselytizers (people who were dedicated to converting others to a religion) also joined them. These routes were critical in the integrating of peoples of different cultures, religions and philosophies. The merchants would practice their religious traditions routinely, which created a strong influence on the non-Christians and induced them into advancing the spread of

Christianity and Islam had the same ethics towards trade. In both sources ethics are discussed and how trade should be treated. The Qur’an states that a transaction will be blessed unless

Islam and trade worked together to advance the spread of ideas and goods in the world. An example of this is trading and exporting spice. To get cinnamon sticks, people would cut up bodies of dead oxen and let the birds eat off the meat. This method of collecting cinnamon is then exported to different countries of the world. Islam and trade combined create these new ideas that other countries would learn from. Spices are the best illustration to get the correct correlation between Islam and trade because it evolved into many different views from other countries as well. As the Islams foraged the spices they shipped and exported it to other countries allowing them to test different uses for them. People have now learned that they can mask the

Throughout history, Christianity always had a reputation, or a “name” following it. Different perspectives approached the reputation that was attached to Christianity in different manners. Justin Martyr and Porphyry had objectives when defining whether this “name” really defined Christianity and the past. They wondered whether the past really represented Christianity. Additionally they honed in on the question of was the past that people represented as Christianity really the roots of Christianity? All around Porphyry and Justin was perceptions of what Christianity rooted from and stood for.

This shift to commerce advanced a shift in religious beliefs. The paganism and tribal system that had been in use for so long became compromised. “At the beginning of the seventh century, when the Quraysh and some of the other Arabs were leaving the old nomadic life behind and were becoming aware of the social problems of the settled life, the Prophet of Islam brought a new religious message to the Arabs” (Muhammad 68). Because of the shift in society, “some of the younger generation were growing disenchanted and seemed to be searching for a new spiritual and political solution to the malaise and disquiet in the city” (Muhammad, 68). In effect, the shift from a violent tribal system to a more peaceful sedentary lifestyle, centered on commerce in the marketplace, made the beliefs of paganism no longer sufficient to respond to the new principles on which people based their actions. People “felt that their old religious ideas no longer spoke to them in their dramatically altered world” (Muhammad, 8). Additionally, those who were still caught up in the violent warfare of the tribal system felt that the cycle of violence would never cease and that they could never achieve the unity necessary for