Comparative Essay of Islam & Christianity

Due to the vast expansion of Islam and Christianity in the time period from 700-1000 CE both religions flourished. While quite similar with their expansions, they developed with various unique characteristics, such as their tolerance for other religions. Islam and Christianity did many things the same that helped their missionary activity to flourish. Both religions had conquered their vast territories before beginning their conversions. They also created an area or center for worship. These areas were places where the people could connect with their religion. Christianity and Islam were spread through the help of certain people. However, these were different types of people in each religion. In the Islamic religion, they had used caliphs mainly previous to this time period, but then many Islamic troops captured many lands. On the other hand, Christianity had begun its spread through disciples, apostles, Paul and Christian appeal. Christianity and Islam did many things the same with their missionary activity, but they also did many things differently. The Muslims were accepting and somewhat tolerant of those who lived within their territories and practiced another religion. The people who did this were required only to pay an extra tax. Although the Christians, unlike the Muslims, were less tolerant of other religions. If you weren’t a Christian, you were looked at as an outcast, and most that were non-Christian either converted or left the area very quickly. Due to this, Christianity had a very fast process for conversion. For Islam, it was a much slower process. They accepted other religions, so many people stayed, but after some time the tax grew to be a lot forcing the people to then either convert or leave. In Islam, there is no one single person with the whole power to expel heretics and discipline clergy. In Christian societies, the Pope was the head of everything claiming independence and authority over the people. Islam and Christianity both had