Differences and Similarity of Religion and Daily Life; Islam and Byzantine

Maggie Larsen

World History I

December 12, 2016

Differences and Similarity of Religion and Daily Life; Islam and Byzantine

Christianity and Islam have since creation seen each other as different and have disagreed on which religion is the true religion. With these differences the religions are still very similar in practice and in belief, yet in popular belief they are out so far apart and seen as completely different. Islam has more structured practices and instructions. While Christianity is given more loose ways to follow the religion. Difference in belief, even with similarities, can cause difference in political laws and daily life.

Even though Islam and Christians during this time had land disputes, war, and looked upon each other as different, the religion's rules to live by and the society's rules to live by were similar. Islam had five pillars to follow in the religion; faith, prayer, social responsibility, fasting during Ramadan, and to perform the pilgrimage. (Beverley). Each of these pillars tell the followers of Islam how to live their lives, but a part of the five pillars is to follow the laws of the place they live in while sticking to the pillars. Christianity during this time had the ten commandments; God is the only god, to not make idols, never say the Lord’s name in vain, keep the sabbath holy, honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, not to bear false witness against your neighbour, and do not covet. (Bailey). The five pillars and the 10 commandments may be for different religions, yet they are similar. The five pillars has social responsibility, which can relate to the 10 commandments’ in to not murder, to not commit adultery, do not steal,  and to not to bear false witness against your neighbour. These are similar because the five pillars may not directly say these things from the 10 commandments but social responsibility can relate in how to hold yourself in a community. These two can also be very different in how the religions should be practiced, Islam is more structure in prayer with prayer five times a day, while in the 10 commandments prayer is not even mentioned. These two religions have difference in practice and execution, yet still have similarities. Islam and Christianity have these religious laws, but some political laws may contradict with the religious ones.

The laws that were made by Christians’ and Muslims’ are what gave even a larger gap between what these two religions stand for. Shari’a law was the combination of the Qur’an and Sunna put together to make a series of laws (Beck). During this period in history the christians also lived by Justinian Code which had for different parts; 5,000 laws from all of the laws in Roman history, the Digest, the Institutes, and the Novellae (Rautman). The Shari’a law may have been based on religious text, while the Justinian Code was not, but they were both made by the followers’ perception of their individual holy scriptures. The Shari’a law filled in the gaps that the five pillars left, without this there would even more difference on how many different sects there are of Islam. The Justinian code was based mostly on political laws, with very few that contradicted the ten commandments even though most of the laws were written by people who were not christian. These political laws combined with religion told the followers how to live in their daily lives.

All of the laws and religious practices defined how Christians’ and Muslims’ interact and live, but highly impact how they live their day to day lives, in what they wore, and family matters. Personal appearance in Byzantium was important to the citizens, the men were usually clean shaven and kept their hair short because the christian church was against vanity. Women had long hair which was a sought after trait, if it was well kept and hidden in public (Rautman Personal Appearance). What early Muslim women wore is debated, but it is predicted that they were conservative and did not dress flamboyantly (Lindsay). Even though the structure between Christianity and Islam are very different they had similar ideas on how a woman should dress, even though the Byzantine women were much less modest they kept their hair covered and did not believe in over valuing vanity. Men had many less rules and if any the rules were more related to hair and hygiene. “The ancient custom of regular public bathing declined in late antiquity, and after the 7th century people washed less frequently, either in the house or at private baths” (Singman). This quote shows some similarities between Islam and Christianity and how ancient rituals were left behind in both cultures. Islam and Christianity daily lives were affected by each other.

Christianity and Islam had many connections with out them directly taking from one another. Islam had its own laws and ideas while still being similar and even in battle they were similar. The differences between the two were what was seen and what was thought to be all there was with nothing that goes deeper than that. The religious texts, political laws, and daily life show that even though there were multiple differences between them they had similarities in more ways than one.

Works Cited

Bailey, Lee W. "Introduction to Christianity." World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy, ABC-CLIO, 2016, religion.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1570938?cid=41&sid=1570938. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.

Beverley, James A. "Introduction to Islam." World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy, ABC-CLIO, 2016, religion.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/1577389?cid=41&sid=1577389. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.

Lindsay, James. "Clothing in the Islamic World: Medieval World ." Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2016, dailylife.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1425984. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.

Rautman, Marcus. "Crime and the Law in the Byzantine Empire." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1715866. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.

Roth, Norman. "Jews and Muslims: Medieval World." Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2016, dailylife.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1503504. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.

Rautman, Marcus. "Personal Appearance in the Byzantine Empire: Medieval World." Daily Life through History, ABC-CLIO, 2016, dailylife.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1468863. Accessed 12 Dec. 2016.