The Islam And Christian Holy War Religion Essay

The Islam And saviorian Holy War Religion analyzeFor centuries Christians and Muslims nourish fiercely engaged in con exds because they taked they impart be rewarded by immortal for waging war in his name. In late(a) magazines we yield be scrape very familiar with the jehad as the media has covered this military issue extensively after the September 11 attack that took place in the United States. This act of terror do the Islamic community a focal point of the media, which educated the populace on the violence of Islam or as they choose to call it Holy War. The truth is that, Islam is not the exactly religion that has committed violence in the name of divinity fudge. Christianity in like manner has its archives of violence and Holy Wars, they were called the charge ups. The grounds for the Crusades were to free fellow Christians from incursion and discrimination, Conquering undercoats in the possessed by otherwise religions and fulfilling promises to partake in a cr usade. at present we refer to Holy wars as Killing in Gods name, but war and religion call for g unitary hand in hand for centuries. stack go to battle after praying and making sacrifices to God, making them believe that God is on their side because they are fleck for his cause. An example is when Joshua destroyed the Anakites in the Bible. Involving God in much(prenominal) red-faced acts is not supposed to demand a war holy.In the past few centuries, since the first crusades began to recapture the holy land from the Muslims Saracens, holy wars between these two religions hit evolved on different paths. In the Christians context, we see a gradual decline in violence, the opposite is witnessed in Islam, and at that place have been a few recent cases of killing in the name of religion in Islam, the September 11 attack is one of the to the senior highest degree serious in recent time. Islam is the rapid growing religion in the world and today it is amongst the religions with the highest amount of believers. The jehad played a vital role in this rapid result of Islam. Battles that were fought and won over a braggy geographical area, the captives were each reborn by the sword or unstrainedly changed to the religion of the army that conquered them. fight in the cause of every(prenominal)ah those who fight you but do not trespass limitsAnd slay them wherever ye catch them. And turn them out from where they have dour you out for persecution is worse than slaughter but fight them not at the sacred Mosque unless they (first) fight you there but if they fight you, slay them. such(prenominal) is the reward of those who reject faith. But if they cease, Allah is oft-forgiving, most Merciful. And fight them on until there is no more persecution. And the religion becomes Allahs. But if they cease, let there be no hostility except to those who practice oppression (The record, Surah 2190-193).The Quran is the holy book of Islam the above quote is from t he Quran it encourages the Holy war. part this explains the numerous battles the Muslims were involved in few centuries ago, fortunately in ripe times the jehad is no longer carried on a large collection plate as compared to the past but there are close up almost exceptional cases. The Hadith is another important book in Islam and it is guerilla to the Quran. The Hadith contains the articulateings and activities of the Prophet Muhammad and he encourages the Jihad, saying that anyone who dies fighting for Allah will be rewarded, by going to paradise. Many of these sayings have been understand in different ways and people have acted according to these interpretations which have fail to savagery and wars. Although in this modern age, with the help of globalization and westernization the frequency and scale of spiritual wars have declined over time. However, a small percentage of Muslims, the extremists and anti -western ones still dwell on the verses in the Quran that talk astir(predicate) war, conflict and violence. This is what has lead to terrorism and suicide bombings in recent times.In addition, the duty of all Muslims is to do the utmost against those who do not believe in Allah, this was meant for nearest enemies of Muslims but as more Foes arose with time, the statements supporting the Jihad were updated. The Muslims are acting according to what they read in their Holy books, most do not feel remorseful for whatever damage they have caused because they believe this are divine instructions of the holy book. Today we do not hesitate to link the word Jihad which means grapple in Arabic to Terrorism, oddly after the September 11 attacks. un groundly wars and violence happen in some other countries like Nigeria which is one of the most spectral countries in the world. In Nigeria, Muslims and Christians clash frequently, fighting and wow over one problem or the other, but yet the fence religion knows very little about each others believes. R eligious wars in Nigeria are fueled by ignorance, tribalism, poverty, politics and struggle for power. Another country that has experienced ghostly war this modern time is India with a high population of Hindu, a small number of Muslims and a few Christians. just about hundred Christians were killed in a recent religious battles and another ten thousand left without a roofs over their head, telling us that religious wars may have reduced but still occurs in some societies.Furthermore, there are two forms of Jihad the greater and lesser Jihad. congenital Jihad or greater Jihad means the battle of believers to cost their Muslim faith as the Quran instructs. This explanation is consequently, after a battle the prophet said We are finished with the lesser international jihad now we are starting the greater jihad. He explained to his followers that fighting against an outer enemy is the lesser jihad and fighting against ones self is the greater jihad. This means that the lesser Jiha d will refer to the struggle against Unbelievers. (Heck) Muslims cat in great effort to live the way Allah instructed them, the personal Jihad has to do with the teachings while the Jihad against unbelievers is the Practical.However, some scholars find the Quran teachings of religion and encouragement of violence very contradictory. Many historians believe that the true core of Lesser Jihad does not necessary encourage fighting and brutality but states that Muslim should take a stand for their religion entirely when Islam is threatened. The misinterpretation of the lesser jihad, as a cause or reason to fight and engage in violence and brutality does not mystify it holy. If Islam is not threatened and Muslims wage war against non-believers then this cannot be referred to as Lesser Jihad. Over the age various people have construe the Quran, their interpretations were influenced by the struggles that they were experiencing at that time. Factors such as oppression, depression, an ger, suffering, hunger for power, hatred and other factors have influenced the interpreters perception of the scriptures. For instance, the Taliban strict and innate version of Islam has even made other Muslim countries view the Taliban with suspicion. Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the terrorist mathematical group Al base of operations has quoted the Quran on several occasions to beg off their violent actions on the west. Political leaders use religion to convince and justify their selfish desires. Using religion makes their argument convincing because they twist and interpreted the scriptures to serve the purpose and believers easily embrace them and believe it is just. Al Qaeda has used suicide bombing as tactics for attacks and the Quran forbids this. (Burk)The CrusadesBy large, Christianity is a religion that preaches peace but the record of killings and destruction in the past is contradictory to its teachings. In the past, wars were fought against those who opposed Christ ianity the wars were fought primarily against Muslims. This is because the rise of lslam slowed elaborate and threatened spread of Christianity. lslam under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate spread from what is now Saudi-Arabian Arabia in the Arabian Peninsula to Spain and parts of France. This made lslam a treat to Christianity and the Catholic Church, which was very powerful during the medieval times. The Church had enough political backing to crush anything or anyone that disobeys or treating the beliefs of the Church. Scholars and historians have argued about the cause or reason for the crusades. Some say that the crusades were crucial reaction by Christians to the domination of pilgrims in Muslim-controlled Jerusalem. Others argue that it was political imperialism disguised by religious piousness. Furthermore, others say that it was a social liberation for societies that were overburdened by landless nobles. whatever the reason, it does not change the fact that a lot of liv es and property were muddled in the process.The first Crusades were organized by pope Urban II in 1095. His main aim was to take Jerusalem from the hands of those he believed were non believers. Pope Urban II helped lay the foundation for many an(prenominal) years of bitter and violent fighting between Christianity and other religions. The Crusades were triggered by popes at that time like Pope Urban ll and Pope Eugene III who called for the second crusade. The Popes felt that the crusades were particularly their duty and under their motivation, even if some of the expeditions sometimes got out of control. They believed the crusades were Gods written report and that they were His instruments. Urban at Clermont used the following lyric poemI speak to those who are present, I shall proclaim it to the absent, but it is Christ who commands. Moreover, if those who set out thither lose their lives on the journey, by land or sea, or in fighting against the heathen, their sins shall be remitted in that hour this I grant through the power of God vested in me.The Pope organized the crusades, deciding the time, participants and also presents privileges to those that partook and threatened them with exile to all that do not realize their vow. (Dana) The crusades were used as a means of reclaiming the lost lands of Christians and acquiring more power for the Church. The age of the crusades was from 1905-1291 CE. In total, there were either eight or nine Crusades, depending on your view. Most historians consider the 9th Crusade to be part of the 8th. It was not only believers of other religions that suffered persecution, some Christians also suffered. Church theologians or leaders dealt with anybody who followed another religion or come up with rational thoughts that threatened Christian beliefs an example is the case of Galileo. Galileos teachings during the seventeenth century threatened the geocentric view of the universe. He said that the earth revolved around the sunbathe. The church maintained that the earth was stationary and the sun and heavenly bodies revolved around it and this was an accepted fact. Thus were Galileos claims, labeled as the ranting of a heretic and he was confronted by the church leaders and told to recant his theory or face the consequences. The crusades also helped the Church and Popes charter much wealth, with Crusaders freely giving to the Church before embarking on their journey. Crusaders were frequently taxed and this was handled by the Church. Consequently, the Popes became much more powerful, mainly because of their control over the assignment of the officials. (Dana) Heresy easily spread because of increasing mistrust of the Church, due to many reasons. For instance, all teachings in England, France and Germany had been carried out by the clerics and the crusaders discovered that they were continuously be to. Others learnt that they misinformation, and began to doubt. The political crusades brought discred it and dishonor upon the Church and the Popes. Many men realise that they were being used and the Popes were using their power for worldly ends. In the thirteenth century it became more touchy to persuade men to take the stick and fight.(Dana)In any case, there has been more recent violence committed to Christianity. Right after the civil war in the United States, the protestant-led white supremacist Ku Klux Klan members engaged in destruction of property, cross burning, beating, arson, murder rape and nipping against Jew, Catholics and African Americans and other social ethnic minorities. These are grave crimes exhibiting extreme violence and brutality. The mission of the Ku Klux Klan is to reestablish protestant Christian view in the United States. They believed that Jesus was the first Klansman. (Robert) They exhibited pure Christian radicalism. Similarly, the Arm of God (AOD) is an underground Christian terrorist organization active in the United States. This group has been involved in anti-abortion violence such as murder, property crimes and kidnapping. All these organization believe they are fighting for the morals of their religion and in the name of God. (Windle)Social RamificationConsequently, religious violence has lead to religious and ethnic profiling in society. The recent terrorist attacks have found to be rooted to religion and ethnicity thus causing countries to use profiling as a context for law enforcement and counter terrorism. Profiling can be defined as the use of racial, religious or ethnic stereotypes, sort of than individual behavior, as a basis for making law enforcement and investigative decisions about who has been or may be involved in condemnable activity. The global generalizations about a particular ethnic or religious groups propensity to commit a crime has made life difficult for people with certain ethnicity or religion. Society begins to look at such people as potential threats and this has negatively affects their d aily lives at school, work and social interaction.ConclusionFinally, today religion is not considered an act of violence, Christians especially Catholics are not proud of the crusades that happened in the past. This point in history, are now looked upon as a dark period In Christianity. A group of Western Christians recently formed a body, their aim is to repair the damage caused by the crusades by apologizing to the other religions that were affected during that time. (Robin)But when have Christians demonstrated this love to Muslims or Jews? We have asleep(p) to them with swords and guns. We have gone to them with racism and hatred. We have gone to them with feelings of cultural superiority and economic domination. We have gone to them with colonialism and exploitation. We have even gone to them with the Gospel cloaked in arguments of superiority. Only a few have ever gone with the content of Calvary We must(prenominal) do more than carry the message we must be the message.This kind of movement helps to show that Christians are not willing to carry out the crusade no recent case has been heard. Todays Christians motivation to practice their religion without harming anybody. The same can be said for most Muslims, although some Muslims extremists are obsessed with fighting the west. As the study has shown religious violence was greatly influence my politics and selfishness desires of leaders. Over the course of time leaders have used religion as a puppet and have twisted the word of God to suit their agenda and get their desires. Without this influence, misinterpretation and deceit violence would have not been so large spread in religion. Most religions preach God is of peace and we mankind being with our selfish ways have used religion as a way to control people and their beliefs. If we do not let our human imperfection influence the word of God and we follow the teaching of our scriptures diligently the world will be more peaceful. Ironically, our im perfections are barely curable and even the greatest men fault. This is the paradox of life.Work CitedBaird-Windle, Patricia Bader, Eleanor J., (2001), Targets of Hatred Anti-Abortion Terrorism, bleak York,St. Martins PressB.A Robins Christian apology for the Crusades The Reconciliation Walk Religious Tolerance.org.2005-NOV-04. tissue. 3 April 2011Dana C. The Popes and the Crusades Munro Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society Vol.55, No. 5 (1916), pp. 348-356 JSTOR. Web. 3 April 2011Josh Burek and James Norton A world-renowned scholar explains key points of Islam.Islamawareness.org. n.d. Web. 3 April 2011Michael, Robert, and Philip Rosen. Dictionary of anti-Semitism from the earliest times to the present.Lanham, Maryland, USA Scarecrow Press, 1997 p. 267.capital of Minnesota Heck. Jihad Revisited The Journal of Religious Ethics Vol. 32, No. 1 (spring, 2004), pp. 95-128.JSTOR. Web 3 April 2011