Evelyn Warren Islam vs Byzantine Culture

Evelyn Warren

D Block

December 12, 2016

Comparing Islamic to Byzantine Culture

The religious differences between Ancient Byzantine Christianity and Ancient Islam caused differences in their cultures. Though the religions do not differ an extreme amount, they differ enough to have a large impact on the culture of the people. Their cultures vary in many different ways from food to their core values. There a many different restrictions on women and they celebrate different holidays. The impact religion has on society is large enough to shape two different cultures.

Byzantine culture has some differences than Islamic culture. In ancient Byzantine Christianity there were many holidays celebrated. One of the most major holidays is Christmas. This is the time of Jesus’s birth and involves other holidays such as Advent, the lead up to Christmas, and Epiphany, a celebration of the the Magi bringing gifts to the baby Jesus. The next major Holiday was Lent, which was a holiday in honor of Christ’s 40 day journey through the desert. There is fasting from meat and meat by products. (Milk, butter, eggs, etc.) On fridays the fasting is more extreme with only one meal a day. The fourth major holiday is Easter Sunday, and this is a celebration of Christ’s eternal life. Sunday is the holy day and it is a day of rest. (Cosman).  Another aspect of Byzantine culture is Women. Many lower class women were not well respected because they had jobs as actresses or prostitutes. One women in particular, Empress Theodora came from the lower class, but she married Justinian and became empress.  She improved the legal status of actresses, and also gave inheritance rights to women. (Fulton). Even though there were improvements made for women, they are still beneath men. They are expected to follow their husbands commands and are not of an equal status as them.  One important part of Byzantine Christian culture was food. The quality of the meal depended on your social status, but typically families ate two meals together a day, Ariston (breakfast) and Deipnon (dinner). Depending on your class, Depinon could be an event where you invite guests, arrange a menu, and hire entertainment. There were also formal banquets, but these were exclusive to men. If a women attended she was not allowed to sit at the same table. An average family most likely did not have such  elaborate meals, it was usually just family gathered around eating together. Ancient Byzantine had a rather healthy diet consisting of meat, butter and cheese, wheat bread, vegetables, fruit, fruit puddings, honey pastries, and to drink wine and water. There were not many strict enforced food restrictions. (Rautman). The most important aspect of Ancient Byzantine is their core values, which is the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments are;

1. I am the Lord thy God

2. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.

3. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.   

4. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain  

5. Remember the Sabbath Day, keep it holy

6. Honour thy Mother and Father  

7. Thou shalt not kill

8. Thou shalt not commit adultery

9. Thou shalt not steal

10. Thou shalt not bear false witnesses against thy neighbor

(“Ten Commandments”).

These Commandments really define what Byzantine Christianity was about, and what their  fundamental beliefs are.

Islamic culture has many differences than Byzantine Culture. In Islam there are two major holidays, Id al-Adha and Id al-Fitr. Id al-Adha is the feast of the sacrifice at the end of the hajj.  Id al-Fitr is the feast of breaking fast at the end of Ramadan. Ramadan is a month of fasting during daylight hours. Both holidays begin with special prayers in the morning, feasting, getting together with family and friends, and charity.  Friday is the Islamic holy day, but it is not a day of rest. (Campo). A second important part of Islamic culture is women. Women are not equal with men, and under the law men get more inheritance than women and in court a man’s testimony is more powerful than a females. Women are also forced to wear veils in the presence of a man, in order to keep men’s temptations at bay. Despite the cause of veiling, Islamic Women use vailing as a way of self expression and religious identity. There are four different types of scarves, Hijab, Niqab, Chador, and Burqa.  Scarves are important to women because in Islamic culture it is important to be modest. An immodest women brings shame to herself, her family, and her husband. One of the main origins of the different types of headscarves is social class. Rich women could afford to veil their whole bodies, but poor women working in fields could not afford the luxury. (Killian). Another important aspect of islamic culture is food. In food there is halal and haram. Halal is food allowed by islamic law and haram is food not allowed by islamic law.  Haram is either not allowed at all or not allowed at certain times. One example is wild game, wild game is usually halal, but on the hajj it’s haram. Examples of haram are intoxicating beverages, blood, and any food dedicated to a god other than Allah. And example is pigs meat. Pigs are considered unclean and unhealthy, and it is forbidden to eat meat from animals with cloven hooves. There are some exceptions to the rules of haram, such as if you are dying from starvation or thirst you may eat haram, but on any other occasion eating haram is an unforgivable act.  Breaking these rules involve penance fasting. (Beetz).  The most important aspect of Islamic culture is the Five Pillars of Faith. They are, Faith. “There is no god but Allah, and mUhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Prayer, Muslims must pray five times a day facing Mecca. Alms, giving back to the less fortunate. Fasting, during the month of Ramadan, islamic people fast from dawn to dusk. Pilgrimage, if the family is financially able they should perform the hajj. (Beck). The five pillars of faith are the core values of Islamic people and define their true values.

Though certain aspects of each religion may be different, both religions do have some similarities. One being that they both have two major Holidays (Christmas and Easter and Id al-Adha and Id al-Fitr) and a fasting period. (Lent and Ramadan). They also both have a holy day (Sunday and Friday). In both societies women are not equal with men, though in Islam women are expected to veil themselves, and women in Byzantium got more inheritance rights. One other similarity is that in their core values the first one is that their God is the only God. They believe that they should only worship one God and that their God is the correct one. There are also some large differences. In Islam there are many food restrictions, and Byzantine Christians did not have these. In their core values, Islam’s focus a lot on charity, their pilgrimage, and fasting, while Byzantine Christian’s focus on keeping the face of the Lord pure, honoring your mother and father, and not killing, stealing, committing adultery, or bearing false witnesses against your neighbor. Christian's focus more on what not to do, and Islam’s focus more on what to do. These cultures have strong differences differences and strong similarities.

The impact religion has on society is strong enough to shape two different cultures with different holidays, treatment of women, foods, and core values. Both cultures have been shaped by the restrictions of their religion. So since their religions are different their cultures are different. Even though the basic beliefs of each religion are not extremely different, they are different enough to shape two different societies that have two distinct cultures.   

Works Cited

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Campo, Juan E. “Divorce and Islam.” Encyclopedia of Islam, Facts On File, 2009, Ancient and Medieval History: Pre-1500, online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/218155?q=islam marriage laws.

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Fulton, Gloria. “Theodora.” Great Lives from History: The Middle Ages. Ed. Shelley Wolbrink. Hackensack: Salem, 2005. n. pag. Salem Online. Web. 01 Dec. 2016. <http://online.salempress.com>.

Killian, Caitlyn. “A Brief History of the Veil in Islam.” Civic Dilemmas, Facing History and Ourselves, Aug. 2003, www.facinghistory.org/civic-dilemmas/brief-history-veil-islam#3. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016.

Rautman, Marcus. “Food in the Byzantine Empire.” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO,2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1526445. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016.

“Ten Commandments (Ca. Sixth Century BCE).” World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2016, ancienthistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/574819. Accessed 2 Dec. 2016.