Essay about War in Christianity and Islam

Associating Islam with violence is a false impression that the Western public has long cultivated about this religion. An example of this misconception is that Islam is a religion spread by the sword, meaning that Muslims went from one end of the world to the other, conquering nations and forcing the inhabitants to either convert or die. The truth is that Islam spread through the expansion of the Ottoman empire, not that people were forced to convert or die. A modern day example of the Islam=violence misconception is Saddam Hussein. Although Hussein is of the Islamic faith, not all of his actions necessarily represent Islamic beliefs.

The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power

On the surface, Islam and Christianity appear to have very little in common, however, as you get deeper into areas such as rituals, beliefs, ethics, founders, and sacred objects, the two show strong mutual similarities, particularly in the fundamental areas, while being totally different. In this essay I will compare and contrast many of the facets that make up the worlds largest and most recognized religions, Christianity and Islam.

Christianity and Islam are two of the world’s largest religions. The two are different in beliefs but are similar in origin. Like many religions both Islam and Christianity claim to be the one and only true way to God. Although Islam and Christianity differ in major ways, they also share some similarities.

However, some Christians will agree on conventional wars but not nuclear wars, this is because nuclear wars are seemed to be never justified. Nuclear war can cause innocent deaths in seconds after the explosion while conventional war can be controlled to not kill the innocent. Many Christians will argue nuclear war can never take place as it is against many evidence from biblical text, such as Matthew 5:38-48, where Jesus mentions how Christians should never being lead into violence and killing innocent people. Another biblical text is from Matthew 26:47-53 where Jesus told his disciple not to interfere the soldiers from arresting him, because violence should not be acted against with violence, this is taken not only for nuclear wars but conventional and any violent acts. However, freedom fighters known as terrorists fight for what they believe in can cause deaths of innocent people and conventional war is acceptable from Christians in order to stop it, as suggest from Mark 11:15-18 but nuclear war should not take place since it is no different form terrorists.

The war between two religions, christianity and islam took place between the eleventh century and the thirteenth century. This event was called the crusades. This event had many impacts, but were they good or bad? I think that it had a negative impact because it caused the churches to split, and the relationships of the religions was very negative.

When you are born into a world in which the two biggest religions on the globe are fighting the same battle they have been fighting for a thousand years you start to question the belifs of these two religions. If they both preach peace, why do we get war? I wonder what Jesus or Muhammad would say if they were alive today. Christanity, Islam, and Judaism are three of the most closely related religions in the world because they all see Abraham and other patriarcal figures in the bible as their spirtual ansestors. However, their points of similarity are no guarentee the followers will get along. In fact, most of the religiously motivated conflicts are between Muslims and Christans. All religions have

Islam is not the only religion that use violence for instance, the Christian use violence to destroy Islam. In the article crusades the idea of violence was demonstrated when pope urban II send innumerable amount of solder to “Rise in a spirit of cruelty against the jewish people scattered through the cities and slaughtered ’the women, also, and with their swords pierced tender children of whatever gender and sex.” The soldier did not stop there they also “Destroy the houses, synagogue of the jews and divided among themselves a very, large, amount of money [that once belonged to the jews].” Christians were influenced by Pope Urban II to assassinate million of people. It is estimated that about 1.7 million of people died during the crusades.

Politics and religion in the world of today aren’t subjects that generally go hand in hand in our own society. This was not always the case however; in Europe the two were synonymous up until relatively recently, (recently meant in the loosest sense of the word,) and are still closely tied in foreign parts of the world, the most obvious example being the Middle East. The duos intimate relationship was exemplified during the late sixteenth century, extending into the seventeenth century, during a series of wars which would later on come to be called “the wars of religion.” But is this title completely appropriate? For wars claiming to be centered on religion, they seem to carry an awfully heavy load of political baggage. In fact, one

Islam and Christianity seem to have very little in common; however, the two actually show strong likeness, principally in the central areas. Both Muslims and Christians are monotheists, believing in one God. While both believe in the same God, He is called by two completely different names. He is referred to as "Allah" by Muslims and "God" by Christians. Although Islam and Christianity are two different religions, their similarities in beliefs and prayers make them comparable in many aspects.

The message of peace is a fundamental universal concern which is relevant throughout our world today. Peace is not merely the ‘absence of war’, but a state of mind in which a sense of tranquillity comes from actively working towards right relationships with individuals and God. To understand the way in which Muslims and Christians view peace it is imperative to understand the source of the teachings for each religion. The principles teachings of peace for Both Christianity and Islam are primarily found in the sacred texts of both religious traditions. Christianity looks to the bible and specifically the New Testament for teachings about peace, whereas Islam focuses’ on the Qur’an and Hadith to guide their beliefs of peace. These sacred

Verses 2:190-194 and 216-218 of the Quran reflect what Muslims believe constitutes a just war. A part of verse 191 says, “And kill them wherever you overtake them, and expel them from where they had expelled you.” The Quran even supports a just war in sacred places and sacred times of the year. Another part of verse 191 says, “But do not fight them at the Sacred Mosque, unless they fight you there.” The first part of verse 194 mentions fighting during a sacred time when, “The sacred month for the sacred month; and sacrilege calls for retaliation.” It also addresses how it is a necessity for a Muslim to fight if there is persecution by verse 216 saying, “Fighting is ordained for you, even though you dislike it.” The rest of verse 216 says that the person who finds fighting unappealing must still fight. These people who do not like fighting do not know what is best for themselves, but God does according to verse 216.

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.

Conflicts, clashes, misunderstandings, and misconceptions represent an image of ignorance, sometimes, or a sign of prejudice. When it comes to religions, the situation escalates to be a real serious issue. Islam, and since its existence, has faced many struggles with many people who think of it as an outrageous religion that pushes people to kill, treat unfairly, and think criminally. However, Islam by name is a message of peace. The word Islam was taken from the word Salam, which simply means peace in Arabic. Additionally, the ideal of this religion is to worship one god –Allah– and believe that Mohammad is his messenger. Many of the legalizations of Islam call for concord and peace and fight a common wickedness; nevertheless, there are still some many people who are not aware of what the real meaning of this religion is and how it is rooted in Judaism and Christianity. Therefore, it is a religion that belongs to the same tree of the other divine religions mentioned before. Anyhow, since Islam and Christianity or Islam and Judaism are divine religions, why did they both exist? Why was not there only one religion? Well, a question like that cannot be answered with a simple answer. It is a matter of some many historical incidents that created that division in these religions. Overall, Islam and Christianity are very similar and compatible in many different ways although they have major differences.

To understand the connection between Islam and violence, one must understand certain facets of the Muslim worldview. One of the most important is the fact that, according to the historic Muslim understanding, there is no separation between religion and government—what in Christianity would be called the separation of church and state.