Religion is comprised of a system of designated practices and behavior, organizations, ethics, prophesies, worldview, moral and sacred places or artifacts that relate humankind to spiritual, transcendental or supernatural elements. Religions have grown over the years since human beings first occupied the planet. Currently, there are thousands of religions across the globe though the four largest ones include; Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. However, there are indeed striking similarities, but also significant differences between the various religions as evidenced from one Islamic and Christianity region in 600-1000 CE.
Mecca is considered as being one of the holiest cities in the Islamic religion. Mecca is the birthplace of Muhammad’s and the site whereby he had the first revelation of the Quran. Clans ruled Mecca and in 610 CE, the ruling clan at the time Quraysh tribe was offended by Muhammad’s teachings as he threatened their source of wealth, which was from Kaaba (Al-Olaqi, 2015). The Quraysh tribe drew their religious and political power from its polytheistic shrines. In Rome, by 600 CE, the empire had begun disintegrating, and at the time, the church and the state were merging. (Green, 2010) More than half of the Romans from the western side had formed a Christianity group referred to as the “Catholic.” The spiritual leader of the Christians was referred to as the Pope. There was a consolidation of political and church leaders’ power, and this saw them forming politico-religious treaties.
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It is an indication that from the two regions, Mecca and Rome, Islam and Christianity believers looked upon a single leader, in this case, Muhammad and the Pope. The two leaders were seen as being the spiritual and earthly authority. The two leaders tried hard to spread the religion into other areas that were considered as being non-Islam or non-Christian. However, in the case of Mecca, Muhammad teachings were not well received by the ruling class, which was formed by the Quraysh Clan (Hagen, 2009). Muhammad threated their source of power and wealth the Kaaba, and this saw the rulers perceiving Muhammad as being a danger (Hagen, 2009). This led to Muhammad’s departure from Mecca into Medina in 622 CE following an assassination plot against him (Al-Olaqi, 2015). In the case of Rome, the Pope worked in collaboration with political leaders, and this led to the formation of treaties (Green, 2010). The aim of this was to help the Pope, and via the priest and monks, he sent as missionaries to the various non-Christian nations with an attempt to convert them and increase Christianity across the globe. Another significant difference is that Mecca is the holiest city in Islam and the foundation upon which Islamic beliefs, Quran, begun. However, Rome is not the beginning of Christianity as it had already started in Jerusalem before 30 CE following the birth of Jesus Christ (Green, 2010).
Religion is as old as humankind is. The major religions in the world during the medieval era were Islam and Christianity, and they shared various similarities and differences as well. Islamic beliefs began in Mecca while Christianity did not start in Rome but Jerusalem. Muhammad, the Islamic leader, did not align with political leaders in spreading his word, unlike the Pope, who formed treaties with political leaders. The major similarity is that the two religions had leaders; Muhammad and the Pope whom the believers viewed as a spiritual earthly authority.
From the unit’s teachings, I have understood that while undertaking any form of historical research, citations of the articles, books, and conference papers is critical to avoid plagiarism. One should also faithfully transcribe the sources by not adding to, subtracting from, or altering any form of evidence forms the historical sources.
References
Al-Olaqi, F. M. T. S. (2015). The Prophet Muhammad’s Leadership: An Islamic View. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal , 2 (9).
Green, B. (2010). Christianity in ancient Rome: The first three centuries . London: T & T Clark.
Hagen, G. (2009). The imagined and the historical Muhammad. Journal of the American Oriental Society, 129(1), 97-111.
