Abrahamic Religions: Judaism, Christianity, And Islam

Three monotheistic religions rose from the Middle East; Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Believed by many to be unrelated, these three Abrahamic religions draw from a common ancestor and history, the prophet Abraham. The history of Judaism begins with the Covenant of Abraham. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Abraham obediently led his son to the altar, but God stopped Abraham. God explained that the command was a test of Abraham faith and obedience. Abraham’s submission to God’s will would become the core belief of the religions to follow. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all agree that Abraham was tested and his son was to be sacrificed; however, Jews and Christians name Isaac, and the Muslims name Ishmael, as the son to be

In many areas the religious tolerance of the Muslims toward the Christians allowed for a peaceful occupation. The indifference of the Muslims would prove to be preferable to the persecution the Byzantine Christians of another sect. The expansion of the Islamic empire would lead to conflict with the existing government. Byzantium suffering pressure from the expanding Muslim controlled army, called to Pope Urban II for assistance with the Muslim threat. Pope Urban II eager to prove his power over the secular rulers called for volunteers to punish the “wick race”, Muslims. Despite the differences between them, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam share a reverence for the city of Jerusalem. Pope Urban II claimed that the Muslims were attacking Christian pilgrims and preventing them from entering the city. This call to battle would be the first of a series of war named the Crusades by historians (Goldschmidt 84). Both Christians and Muslims describe the carnage of the Crusaders occupation of Jerusalem. The Dome of Rock was looted and converted to a church. Following the Christian capture of the Holy Land, four Christian states were formed to maintain control of the region. The success of the crusade was in partly due to the fact that Palestine was not part of the Muslim political or economic system. The first crusade passed through lands control by Christians and dissident Muslims (Goldschmidt 84-85). In 1144, the Zengi, Muslims, captured Edessa from the crusaders. Angered by the loss of Edessa, the Christians returned to the Middle East to capture the city of Damascus and take Syria from the Muslims. The Christians failed to take Syria; however the attempt roused the Muslims army who reclaimed Syria. Egypt remained uninvolved in the first and second crusade despite being Muslim controlled, because of trade with