Preview

Dbq Essay Islam And Christianity

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1254 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Dbq Essay Islam And Christianity
Trade as well as religion has always been a part of world history. However when you put the two side by side, it is often questioned whether trade is encouraged or advocated in a specific religion or not. Within the time period of 600 CE to about 1500,Islam and Christianity were able to be the world’s dominant religions. As both religions rose to power they began to develop their own attitudes towards merchants and trade itself. The two religions differ in their initial attitudes towards trade and merchants. While Christianity’s initial attitude did not accept trade and merchants, Islam’s initial attitude did accept trade and merchants. However both religions’ attitudes were similar in the fact that over time, they both changed their opinions …show more content…
Christianity's distaste for merchants and trade is displayed in an excerpt from the Christian Bible,New Testament (Matthew) where the author talks about how being wealthy makes it difficult to enter the kingdom of God (Doc 1). The document itself seems to be trustworthy since the Bible is Christianity's first book and was written by Christianity's earliest followers to simply tell the stories of the Christian faith (which shows no real ulterior motive). The mention of eternal life intensifies Christianity's negative attitude towards merchants. This is because merchants tended to be wealthy and if being a merchant jeopardized eternal life in heaven, Christianity would definitely see merchants and trade as bad. In The Life of St. Godric Reginald monk of Durham talks about how 12th century St. Godric was once a wealthy merchant but then abandoned that life (giving all of possessions to the poor) to become a hermit and follow God (Doc 3). Although the document itself may not be very trustworthy considering the author was a colleague to St. Godric and may portray him in a better light, it does state the initial attitudes Christians had
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Muslim/Catholic Trading DBQ Essay
    • 1210 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Muslim/Catholic Trading DBQ Essay

    There is, of course, a document that shows these thoughts on trade reflected in Christianity.…

    • 1210 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    DBQ Islam And Christianity Merchants
    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages

    DBQ Islam And Christianity Merchants

    Christianity and Islam have been the two of world’s most greatest religions for several hundreds years. Obviously, these two religions developed their own unique points of view toward commerce and trading through ever-changing society and different eras. Christianity’s first view toward the merchants is negative because Christians perceived that rich men cannot enter the heaven though Islam holds positive points toward trading because Islam’s founder, Muhammad was a merchant, therefore ranking merchant highly. Although the two religions initially have opposite ideas, before 16th century, they changed and assimilated individually and created their own peculiarity.…

    • 710 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ap World Dbq Christian and Islam Attitude Towards Merchants
    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Ap World Dbq Christian and Islam Attitude Towards Merchants

    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]. An influential Muslim scholar ventured to say that "flattery, and evasiveness, litigation and disputation" were all characteristic of a merchant's profession [D5]. Even common people, like a Christian mother scolds her own son, a merchant, for being greedy [D6]. Muslim law, as time went one, continued to allowed merchants to trade, but some instances of trade were rebuked by whole towns [D7]. Many encouraged generosity and viewed a merchant turning from his profession as a good thing as seen in Godric's life, who was a merchant and then devoted his life to charity and solitude [D3]. Furthermore, the Bible warns all that it is extremely hard for "a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" [D1]. Also, to fully understand how Christianity and Islam viewed merchants.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Merchants DBQ Essay
    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Merchants DBQ Essay

    Merchant activity sustained the livelihood of all major civilizations throughout history. These activities went great distances in the fact that they supported governments and economies throughout the world in ancient and present civilizations. Even though merchant activity sustained life and the livelihood of strong civilizations, different religions from around the world viewed these activities differently. Typically, throughout the post-classical civilizations, negativity would be the best word to describe the feelings most religions had towards merchants and the actions these people underwent.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Christian And Muslim DBQ
    • 1435 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Christian And Muslim DBQ

    Throughout all of time the Christians and the Muslims have had views that sometimes run parallel and sometimes these views are perpendicular to each other, which make them collide and intersect. Both Christians and Islam are a monotheistic religion; they believe that there is one true god. In addition they also both believe in Jesus, however the Muslims do not view him as the son of God, but rather as the last prophet sent by Allah. Both religions read The Bible, however unlike with Christianity; The Bible is not the main book, or rule, that the Muslims follow. This pattern throughout history did not fade from 70 C.E. to 1500s C.E, where Christians and Muslims once again cross paths on their views towards merchants and trading; Christians have viewed merchants and trading as a non-favored, strongly disliked, and poorly looked upon practice or people, but it was semi-acceptable to some people if the trading was “fair,” even then merchants were consistently looked at with condescension; this is where the Muslims and Christians collide again, in the beginning Muslims respected the truthful merchants, however as time went on, the respect towards the merchants decreased and began to run parallel with the views of the Christians.…

    • 1435 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Is Axum Similar
    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages

    How Is Axum Similar

    Trading networks were the best friends of religion as trade could spread religion much farther and faster than any other known method over huge distances of land. Who else traveled such great distances to new empires and civilizations then merchants? Rome’s participation in trade with Axum was the most influential in aligning Axum with other Eurasian empires. Its own way of life and desires would have slowly been reflected by Axum as there trade brought them closer together. Axum separated itself from the rest of Africa with its agricultural practices, such as using the plow while others were still using hoes and digging sticks. Furthermore, it’s a profitable trade, particularly with Rome, and also helped to establish it as an extremely successful…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Evolving Perspectives on Merchants
    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Evolving Perspectives on Merchants

    Documents 1 and 2 go from 620 CE to around 70 CE, the perception on Document 1, merchants from a Christian standpoint was very negative, while Document 2, Islam was very positive. Document 1, from the Christian Bible is quoting something that Jesus says. He states, “It is easier for the camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Merchants sold things to make a profit, and most of them became wealthy doing so; in that time period, wealthy people were considered greedy and greed is a sin in the Christian Bible. Sinner’s do not go to heaven and do not belong in God’s kingdom. But from a different point of view, the Muslim Qur’an, is expressing a much more positive attitude toward merchants in that time period. Document 2 is giving a set of guidelines to follow while trading. If the rules are abided by the document states, “On the day of judgment, the honest, truthful Muslim merchant will take rank with the martyrs of the faith.” In contrast with Christianity the Muslim merchant will go to their “kingdom” if they are honest and…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Achievements Of Islam Dbq Essay
    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Achievements Of Islam Dbq Essay

    The Islamics had many great achievements but I think their greatest one was building a trade route through their empire. Muslims were able to make such great contributions because they were open minded and had a high tolerance for different cultures. Because of this, they got to learn from the different countries they took over such as Greece, Rome, and India. They had so many different ideas and all that knowledge led to them making great achievements that lasted and made an impact on the world. Islamics had quite a few achievements in math. One being, as stated in Document 1, that they relied on mathematicians to calculate prayer times and also the direction of the Mecca. Both of these were very important to them because their culture was…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Christianity Islam
    • 896 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dbq Christianity Islam

    Christians and Muslims both taught merchants that trade should be based on honesty and fairness. Over time, Christian and Muslim merchants began to drift away from the principle of fair trade and became greedy. While Islam strongly promoted trade, Christianity warns the people to be disconnected from riches.…

    • 896 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Islam Dbq Analysis
    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Islam Dbq Analysis

    The Muslims and Islam, to build their own culture, used other countries as examples such as Rome, India, and Greece, as well as the countries that they conquered. They used these examples and the different teachings of these countries to advance them to the highest level that they had ever been. The documents show different views and help explain what the achievements are, how they came to be, and also their lasting impact on the rest of the world. The first set of documents talk about what the achievements are and the way that they helped to better the Muslims in Islam. The second group of documents give evidence and explain how the Muslims accomplished these achievements and what they improved on from other countries to make theirs the best…

    • 1056 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Attitudes of Christianity and Islam Towards Trade
    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Attitudes of Christianity and Islam Towards Trade

    Early in time both Christianity and Islam had opinions towards trade based directly from their founders. In Document 1, the Bible says that Jesus, the founder of Christianity, said that a rich man (a merchant) would have a very difficult time getting into heaven. This discouraged Christians from trade. Document 2, The Quran shows that the Muslims encouraged honest trade. This makes sense because the founder of Islam, Muhammad, was a merchant himself. Over time both religions’ opinions changed.…

    • 408 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Dbq Essay On Commerce And Trade
    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Dbq Essay On Commerce And Trade

    Commerce and trade play major roles in every civilization and is appreciated and needed by all, however, trade and commerce contrast with the religions, mainly Christianity and Islam. While Christianity appalls and forbids trading, Islam embraces it with open arms because their founder, Muhammad, was a merchant as well. The ideas of trade and religion changed from the time it began between 70-80 CE until the 15th and 16th centuries and both religions showed a change in their tolerance of commerce and trade.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Christianity and Trade
    • 807 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Christianity and Trade

    Trade and merchants play a major role in Christianity and Islam from their origins to the 1500’s, and even though both had similar attributes yet differed as well. Christians and Islam both had a negative outlook, both had their religious viewpoints, as well as both changed their views towards trade. Despite this, Christianity began to open up to trade, even tolerating it, while Muslims became stricter on merchants and trade.…

    • 807 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Dbq Muslims V. Christian Merchants
    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Dbq Muslims V. Christian Merchants

    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.…

    • 1982 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Fall Of Empires
    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Fall Of Empires

    The world experienced many changes through the years of 300 to 1500 C.E. The first empires rose, and when they fell new ones were ready to take their place. These empires became even more connected through trade routes. With trade came the spread of religion, culture, and ideas. The spread of religion also lead to today’s widespread world religions. Trade was not always a good thing, though, it also spread deadly diseases that reduced populations and caused the fall of empires.…

    • 805 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics