Expansion of Islamic and Christian

Expansion of Islamic and Christian beliefs

By Isaiah Conway

The early expansion of Islam and Christianity after the death of the founder differ greatly in how they did it and in the political context of where the religions were founded. Early Christians spread their faith through missionaries preaching the teachings of Jesus to other cities and communities. Early Muslims on the other hand began to wage war and conquest against their neighbors shortly after the death of Muhammad to create the Dar alIslam or House of Islam. Given the fact that the two religions are continuing to expand to this day using various methods, this essay will focus on how the two religions expanded differently three to four hundred years after the death of the founder.

It is instructive to briefly look at the life of Muhammad to understand how and why the Muslim’s expanded the way they did. In his lifetime, Muhammad had contributed greatly to the spread of Islam by establishing a large community of people in Medina and in leading the conquest of Mecca by his Muslim warriors. Muhammad’s actions show that he believed that it was not just allowed but also necessary to spread the Islamic faith through violence and by the sword. In the Koran fighting and killing unbelievers or ‘infidels’ is allowed and encouraged. “So, when you meet the unbelievers in battle, strike at their necks until you have thoroughly subdued them and bind them firmly” (Surah 47, Verse 4). After Muhammad’s death in 632, the Muslim community established the position of the Caliphate, the leader that would take over and obtain his responsibilities in spirituality, prayer, administration, military and judicial matters. The actions of the Caliphates reflect Muhammad’s teaching and actions in his life. The first four caliphs: Abu Bakr 632-634 AD, Umar I 634-644, Uthman ibn Affan 644-656, Ali ibn Abi Talib 656-661 were called the Rashidun Caliphate or Rightly Guided caliphs. They immediately began to wage war and conquest on the surrounding territories, they considered this to be a holy war or jihad which is one of the pillars of Islam. This period of Muslim conquests lasted from around 624982 AD starting from when Muhammad was alive, to turn a religion into an empire that would last for more than a thousand years (Sandler, ABC-Clio).

The Muslim Conquests started with uniting Arabia, led by the first caliph Abu Bakr Muslim armies waged war with the separate city-states that then dominated the political landscape of the Arabian Peninsula. Abu Bakr’s reign lasted only for two years and was replaced quickly. Umar I, the second caliph led rapid sweeping conquests across Mesopotamia and along the coast of the Mediterranean into Syria and Jerusalem through 634-643 AD fighting the Byzantines. They then turned east into Persia, conquering the Persian capital of Ctesiphon in 637 and their empire and moving south into Egypt (Hutchinson, ABC-Clio). After ten years of rule, Umar was assassinated and replaced by Uthman ibn Affan who continued from Egypt across North Africa to Morocco right against the Straits of Gibraltar bordering Spain. Returning to the Middle East,

Muslim armies conquered Armenia movie eastward into Kazakhstan and right along the border of Afghanistan. These conquests ended in 656 AD with Uthman’s death by an angry mob and was replaced by Ali ibn Abi Talib. Muslim conquests stopped from 656-661 AD when the Umayyad family waged a civil war with Ali, the Umayyad’s won the civil and established themselves as the new Caliphate and introduced dynastic succession to the system. The Umayyad’s would continue the conquests through an invasion into Spain led by Tariq ibn Ziyad at 711 AD and a campaign into India by Muhammad ibn Qasim. The Umayyad dynasty would rule until 750 AD when they would be replaced by the Abbasids who ruled until 1258. In the period that the Abbasids held power, the Muslims had ceased their conquests and now had to focus on governing their already immense and widespread empire. In this time of peace, the Abbasids ushered in a Golden Age of Islam, art, culture, science and philosophy spread and grew through their empire, establishing Islam in their conquered territories. By 900 AD, the Muslim’s effectively established and secured a massive empire stretching from Spain to the Middle East to India, influencing countless numbers of people and nations. Their religious expansion would continue from the ashes of their political empire to becoming of the most successful and fastest-growing religions on the planet.

The early expansion of Christianity differs greatly with that of the early Muslims. It is important to first understand what kind of person Jesus Christ was as well. Jesus as the founder acted only in establishing the ideas and foundations of Christianity but he himself only spread his teachings to a small group of people and the Christian community didn’t develop under him. In imitation of the founder, Jesus’ apostles spread the word of Christianity peacefully by sending missionaries into other regions and cities, the Bible tells of these men preaching peacefully to different communities. “In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue together and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe, although the disbelieving Jews stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers.” (Acts 14:1-3). The early expansion of Christianity was a slow and difficult process, missionaries went from city to city preaching, facing persecution against their beliefs. It is important to note that during this time the Roman Empire was dominant and powerful in the Mediterranean, the

Apostles and early missionaries held no power and had to remain under the authority of the Romans. Judaea was also the power center of the Jewish faith that clashed with early Christianity even though the two have very similar historical and theological connections and often intertwined together.

After Jesus’ death at around 33-40 AD, the Christians were only a small community within the city of Jerusalem. Unlike the Muslim’s who created a political system and immediately began to conquer their neighbors, the Christians didn’t have soldiers or even any possible way to expand so rapidly. This community led by Saint Peter and James began preaching and spreading Christianity within the city of Jerusalem, this would’ve meant preaching to the many Jewish people living in the city. At first, Christianity and the word of God was only preached and offered to the Jewish people, Gentiles weren’t targeted for preaching and conversion. This changed around 40AD when the missionary Paul began to preach to Gentiles and the missions were split into the Jewish Mission and the Gentile Mission (Romans 1:16, 3:29). Paul started his journey across Asia Minor and the Mediterranean, planting the seed of Christianity all across these areas. Paul’s missions took him through the cities of Antioch, Tarsus, Iconium, Cyprus, Corinth and eventually all the way to Rome. These missions grew Christianity, the faith’s ideals on love, kindness, salvation and their charitable and humanitarian actions appealed to people in the Roman Empire who lacked power and authority (Hutchinson, ABC-Clio). For the first three centuries after Christ’s death Christians were to face persecution by the Roman Empire. Roman Emperors such as Nero (5468AD) and Diocletian (284305AD) ruthlessly persecuted the Christians, capturing them and sentencing them to brutal deaths in the Colosseum being torn apart by wild animals. This had an alternate affect in which the victims of this persecution became martyrs, symbols to the cause of Christianity struggling under the bane of the Emperors. Emperor Constantine I (306-337AD) became the first Christian Roman Emperor, he converted to Christianity at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD when he believed he received a vision from God. He then won the battle which he accredited to divine intervention. In 313 AD he issued the Edict of Milan which stopped the persecution of Christians, allowing full toleration of the religion in the Empire. Constantine would greatly aid the expansion of the church by financially endorsing them, building churches and placing Christians in positions of power and authority. Christianity grew to continually replace the old pagan beliefs of the Romans. In 325 AD the Council of Nicaea established the official Holy Trinity of God and in 380 AD Emperor Theodosius I would make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire (Hutchinson, ABC-Clio).

Four hundred years after Christ, Christianity grew from a young and small religion in Judaea to becoming the dominant faith of the vast

Roman Empire and continue to thrive after its catastrophic demise.

The evidence proves that the Muslim’s and the Christians expanded their religions very differently, were founded in completely different political contexts and had founders whose actions led their budding religions down different paths . Both religions are monotheisms, both imitated their prophet’s actions and even have theological similarities in their texts and teachings. However, the way that the two expanded, the political environment in which this expansion began and the different actions of their prophets sets the two far apart. The Christians were a weak and isolated community in Jerusalem who imitated Jesus by spreading their faith through a slow process of preaching and missions. Whereas the early Muslims had numerous followers, their own cities and imitated Muhammad in the spreading of their faith through war and conquest. These two faiths represent how not only a religion but a new idea can grow and reach people through the slow step of peace or through the fast and forceful stride of war and conflict.