Islamic Responses To Black Death

During the time when the Black Plague struck there were two main religions in the world, Christianity and Islam. Christianity follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, God’s son. The book of the Christian is the Bible. The religion of Islam deals with submission to God, and following the teachings of Mohammed, which are spelled out in the Koran (The DBQ Project, Background Essay). An interesting topic that one might discover of this time is, how did these two religions react to the plague. Could it be possible that they acted as everyone else did at that time, or did they hold strong to their beliefs? When they Black Plague struck, the Christians and the Muslims had similar ways of dealing and responding to it.

Christian and Muslim responses to the Black Death. Indeed the Christian and Muslims specifically believed it was a punishment from God. For instance the muslims on the other hand thought if it was from God it has to be good. The christian people believed that God was punishing them for sinning. The plague killed 25 - 45% of the populations it came in contact with. They both had some similarities in trying to prevent the Christians and Muslims from getting the Black Death.

In 1346 European traders began to hear reports about earthquakes, floods, locusts, famine, and plague in faraway China. They knew very little then that the plague they were hearing about would follow the same trade routes to the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe that they themselves used. (doc. 1) In five short years, the plague killed between 25 and 45% of the populations it encountered. (doc 2) So how different were the Christian and Muslim responses? In 1348 Christianity and Islam came face to face with the Black Death. (doc. 3A) In truth, Muslims and Christians responded in many different ways. Their ideas for what caused the Black Death were somewhat different from each other also. Even the way they thought they could cure the

From the depths of the Middle East during the Post-Classical period, two of the most powerful world religions emerged. Islam and Christianity, although sharing many similarities, also had their fair share of disagreements, one being their responses to the Black Death. The religion, demography, and interactions all contributed to the differentiation of Muslim and Christian reactions. Christians thought that the Black Death was sent from God as a punishment and blamed the Jews, while Muslims considered it a blessing and did not accuse any minority of initiating the outbreak.

The infamous plague, known as the Black Death, was a deadly disease which managed to spread throughout Europe and the Middle East in the 14th century. Although both the Europeans and the Empires of Islam experienced the Black Death, each region had different responses and reasons for the causes of the disease. Empires of Islam viewed the plague as a blessing from God while Europeans believed it was a punishment from Him. As a result of the Black Death, Europeans rebelled whereas Empires of Islam respected authority. Europeans used other religions as an explanation for the start of the Black Death while Islamic empires did not blame other religions, but rather had other explanations that caused the disease.

In the year 1348 the world changed forever. The Black Death, which is another name for the Bubonic Plague, laid havoc on the entire world. “The plague chases the screaming without pity and does not accept a treasure for a ransom. Its engine is far-reaching. The plague enters into the house and swears it will not leave except with all of its inhabitants…” (Al-Wardi, #29, 113). The plague did not care if the people were rich, poor, white, black, Muslim or Catholic, it would kill whomever it could. The plague brought out the worst in people because people acted selfishly, people were completely inhumane, and there was no peace.

The Black Death was one of the worst pandemics in history. The disease ravaged Europe, Western Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa between 1346 and 1353 (Horrox 1994). It is difficult to understand the reality of such a devastating event, especially given the fact that science during the middle ages was severely underdeveloped. No one knew about bacteria, viruses, or other microbial agents of disease (Benedictow 2004). They had no way of protecting themselves during that time and no one was safe from the effects of the plague. Those who wrote chronicles claimed that only a tenth of the population had survived, while others claimed that half to a third of the population was left alive (Horrox 1994). In 1351, agents for Pope Clement VI predicted the number of deaths in Europe to be 23,840,000 (Gottfried 1983). Obviously, not all regions experienced the same mortality rates, but modern estimates of the death rate in England give the first outbreak a mortality rate of about forty-eight percent (Horrox 1994). That is, England lost half of its population in about a year and a half. Clearly the chroniclers ' who claimed that ninety percent of the population had died were overstating the magnitude of the plague, but this overemphasis demonstrates how terrifying the pandemic was to those who experienced it (Horrox 1994). The Black Death had huge consequences on the lives of those who were impacted directly, as well as major religious and cultural effects that came afterward.

In the events of the Bubonic Plague, religions took a different response in this therefor Christians and Muslims are the two most researchers thought about during this time. This paper will guide you through what they did, how it affected them, and what they believed. Both religions thought up of some things that could prevent or get rid of the plague. Christianity thought it was a curse and Muslims said it was a blessing. Let's move on to the first point of this paper, Christianity.

As was we all know that The Black Death is one of the tragic events in world history and it has effected many civilizations in early 1300s. This has made many devastating trends within Europe’s borders and raged with many diseases, and other infections. Not only this pandemic event has effected many people, but it has transform Europe’ political, religious, and cultural practices. The Black Death became an outbreak and painful change to western civilization in which it marked history

The Black Death was a plague carried by fleas on rats and it was very deadly. It started in the mid-14th century. The Black Death did not discriminate, anyone could get it. Religion was at its all time high during the time the Plague arrived in Europe. Two major religions that got the Black Death were Christians and Muslims. Muslims got the Plague in 1333 and Christians got the Plague in 1348 but their responses to the Black Death were greatly different but sometimes they were the same.

The Black Plague effected Europe religiously because they lost followers of the church so the numbers decreased which led to empty churches. “Population before the Plague was 75,000,000 and after the plague the numbers decreased rapidly by 1351 the population was 51,160,00” (Doc 2). Some of the town or community lost faith in their God because they thought that God should’ve answered their prayers when they were asking for their family members to get better and to heal or make things and people better around them. During this time period people were big believers in God, the people believed that god was powerful, but then after the plague their opinions were mistaken because the church didn’t help at all to make anyone better many people died because of this

The pandemic known to history as the Black Death was one of the world’s worst natural disasters in history. It was a critical time for many as the plague hit Europe and “devastated the Western world from 1347 to 1351, killing 25%-50% of Europe’s population and causing or accelerating marked political, economic, social, and cultural changes.” The plague made an unforgettable impact on the history of the West. It is believed to have originated somewhere in the steppes of central Asia in the 1330s and then spread westwards along the caravan routes. It spread over Europe like a wildfire and left a devastating mark wherever it passed. In its first few weeks in Europe, it killed between 100 and 200 people per day. Furthermore, as the weather became colder, the plague worsened, escalating the mortality rate to as high as 750 deaths per day. By the spring of 1348, the death toll may have reached 1000 a day. One of the main reasons the plague spread so quickly and had such a devastating effect on Europe was ultimately due to the lack of medical knowledge during the medieval time period.

The Black Plague, also known as Black Death, the Great Mortality, and the Pestilence, is the name given to the plague that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351. It is said to be the greatest catastrophe experienced by the western world up to that time. In Medieval England, the Black Death killed 1.5 million people out of an estimated 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. There was no medical knowledge in England to cope with the disease. After 1350, it stroke England another six times by the end of the century.

The Bubonic Plague, known more commonly as the Black Death, was a fatal disease that ravaged Asia and Europe during the mid-14th century. Although the destruction the Plague brought upon Europe in terms of deaths was enormous, the Islamic world arguably suffered more due to the fact that plague epidemics continually returned to the Islamic world up until the 19th century. The recurrence of the disease caused Muslim populations to never recover from the losses suffered and a resulting demographic shift that arguably helped Europe to surpass the Islamic world's previous superiority in scholarship.

The Black Death took place between 1315 and 1317, this Bubonic plague killed 10 percent The Catholic church failed to explain the cause of the Black Death, many church officials refused to treat the sick; leaving dying people behind. Citizens were desperate during the disaster, some had given up on life. They began living without rules and restrictions, they abandoned themselves into sexual and alcoholic indulgences. People lost their faith in Christianity, some extremists began to blame the Jews for causing the plague. An outbreak of anti-Semitism took place during the Black Death which caused the destruction over 60 major Jewish communities by the year of 1531. The plague also gave birth to a group of extreme believers called the flagellants in Germany who whipped themselves for forgiveness from God. The Black Death damaged the reputation of the church and many people lost faith in God.