Laura Kate Evans

Religious Beliefs and Practices of the Byzantine and Islamic Empires

Religion played a major role in the beliefs and practices of ancient societies like the Byzantine and Islamic Empires. Both regimes had strong religious views, and these set a basis for what is still practiced today. The foundations of these two religions were set by their respective prophet, with Jesus as the Christians’ and Muhammad as the Muslims’. Both created guidelines for their religion, although these were vastly misinterpreted. The ancient diversity and conflict between Islam and Christianity remains a great controversy, and the first developments of both give an insight into how they relate to or contradict each other.

Unlike most ancient empires, the Byzantine regime comprised two main religions: Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox. The denominational division between the two was gradual, yet it still caused many problems within the Byzantine Empire. Prior to the Fourth Crusade, the only reason for the Byzantine church split was simple misunderstandings and different interpretations of The Old Testament (Stalcup, The Crusades). However, the differences between Catholicism and Orthodoxy became more pronounced with time. At first, the two coexisted peacefully and avoided conflict with each other. It was not until the Schism of 1054 when the division became finalized. The east tried to strengthen relations with the west, but their efforts were for naught (Eastern Orthodox). While there were few distinctions between Orthodoxy and Catholicism, the little they had were enough to cause conflict. Western Catholics believed the Pope held authority over the emperor, priests should not be married, and divorce should not be permitted. In contrast, Eastern Orthodox Christians believed the emperor retained authority over all Patriarchs and Bishops, priests could marry, and divorce could be allowed in certain circumstances (Beck 305). Orthodox Christians also believed against the concept of monophysitism, instead suggesting Jesus had both natures of divine and human (Eastern Orthodox). Although these differences seem rather drastic, the two religions still shared similarities. Both religions were based off the gospel of Jesus and The Old Testament. While their leadership structures were different, they each had priests and bishops. Furthermore, both Western Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy were adamant about converting others into joining their religion, and each had forms of baptism. Overall, the Byzantine Empire had two powerful religions that had unique beliefs, with both overlaps and contradictions of each other (Beck 305). During the rise and split of Christianity in the Byzantine Empire, Islam was making religious revelations of their own.

Islam is not only a geological location, but also a religious belief. Those who follow the Islamic practice are referred to as Muslims. This religion was derived from the teachings of Muhammad, who believed himself to be the last prophet. He taught monotheist concepts, claiming that Allah was the only God and that no other gods were to be worshipped (264). According to Janice J. Terry, “As Muhammad became increasingly religious he began to meditate…” (Terry). Muhammad valued honesty along with meditation, and also believed the Qur’an was the holy book of Allah (Cook). Before his death, Muhammad wrote The Pillars of Islam to ensure that his principles remained. There were five pillars, all of which are still practiced today. The first pillar states that Allah is the only God and that Muhammad is his prophet. The second pillar describes the concept of prayer, the third clarifies that everything belongs to Allah, the fourth introduces the practice of Ramadan, and the fifth pillar commemorates Muhammad’s migration to Mecca by requiring Muslims to walk seven times a day and to sacrifice an animal. The fourth pillar, or Ramadan, requires that Muslims spend the ninth month of their calendar fasting from sunrise to sunset to demonstrate discipline. On top of these pillars, Muhammad also required women to be covered at all times, as a sign of purity (Whitters). These religious traditions differed drastically from those of Christianity.

Islam and Christianity had many radical differences, but they had an extremely significant similarity. When Muslims said “Allah”, they were referring to the same God as Christians, but just in a different language. However, the two religions differed in many other different ways. Christians believed in baptism, the act of submitting oneself to a religion, while Muslims did not (Yannoulatos). Muslims belief against baptism is derived from the Qur’an, as it states, “Our religion is the Baptism of Allah: And who can baptize better than Allah? And it is He Whom we worship” (The Qur’an, Yusuf Ali, 2:138). Furthermore, Muslims’ use The Pillars of Islam as their religious practice is drastically different from The Ten Commandments, which appears in The Hebrew Bible. The Ten Commandments were derived from God and explained what Christians should not do. In contrast, The Pillars of Islam were derived from Muhammad and explained how Muslims should behave. However, both suggested that there is only one God and that honesty and love are of the utmost importance. While both religions’ basic foundations were similar to each other, some members of both religions believed the other to be faulty. According to Yannoulatos, a practicing Muslim, Christians believed their religion to be based off fact rather than interpretation, and believed the practice of Islam was completely contradictory of the “facts” (Yannoulatos). With that said, it is common knowledge that there were also Muslims who resisted the Christian beliefs. Altogether, the religions were extremely diverse from each other and had a variety of different approaches to theology.

Ancient Empires were highly focused on developing strong religious systems, and their theological discoveries formed much of the same faith people follow today. Religion was particularly important to the Islamic and Byzantine Empires, as it created conflict, peace, passion, and community. Although the Islam and Christianity differed on many different accounts, they did have many values in common. The two societies simply had contrasting interpretations of theology, and they each approached their beliefs differently. Overall, religion was the basis of both Byzantine and Islam and instilled the beliefs and practices that are still relevant today.

Works Cited

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Cook, Michael. Muhammad. Oxford, Oxford UP, 1983.

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The Qur’an. Quran.com. The Noble Qur’an, Quran.com, quran.com/search?q=baptism. Accessed 9 Dec. 2016.

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Stalcup, Brenda. The Crusades. San Diego, Greenhaven Press, 2000.

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Yannoulatos, Anastasios. “Byzantine And Contemporary Greek Orthodox Approaches To Islam.” Greek Orthodox Theological Review 55.1-4 (2010): 63-88. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Dec. 2016.