Christianity Vs Islam Essay

Christianity and Islam contrast each other in that Muslims did not require conversion in the conquered places while Christians did and in that Christians had government organizations involved in the spread of the religion while Muslims did not; they resemble each other in that they both influenced people to spread the religion.

Muslims did not require the people they conquered to convert to Islam, while Christians did. In Islamic Empire, minority religious groups, such as Jews and Christians, were mostly tolerated. However, they did have a tax for not being Muslim called jizya. In the early part of the fourth century, Christianity began a slow process of becoming wedded into the state. The process was finalized around the year 380 when the

Christians had Constantine who was involved in the spread of the religion. Constantine made Christianity legal after his predecessors had punished Christians. Also, government officials prohibited many things to favour the religion, while officials in the Islamic Empire had not. One example would be the prohibition of observance of pagan cults. Political figures provided financial sponsorship for things such as rituals and festivals, as well. On the opposite side, Muslims did not have any political support like the support provided to Christians. A reason for this was that, as stated previously, people in the Islamic world did not have to convert and a sponsorship of government might have made it illegal to be any other than Muslim.

The Mauryan Empire resembles both the Islamic Empire and the Roman Empire in different ways. The Islamic Empire in this time resembles the Mauryan Empire to some extent in that Emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism but did not require the people in his empire to convert. His government, remained tolerant to people of all religions. However, the Mauryan Empire is similar to Christianity in that Ashoka had important people from his government go on tours to preach Buddhism.

In conclusion, Islam and Christianity influenced the people in both similar and different ways. They both influenced people to travel and spread the religion in different ways.