Christianity Vs Islamic Encounters

There have always been tension between the religious believes of Islam and Christianity, and during the time of the Crusades tension was an understatement. The main goal was to take control of the sacred land, Jerusalem. These two religions had different interpretation on what to believe in. They believed that their beliefs were correct and the other was just an interpretation of their’s that was changed slightly. Both of these religions revolve around god, their are just smaller aspects that are different between the two. The Muslims were the first group to gain control of Jerusalem during the First Crusade. They took the sacred land of Jerusalem from the Franks who were so frightened by the Muslim army that they surrendered the city over for 30,000 dinar ransom for the poor. “Balian ibn Brazan offered 30,000 dinar as a ransom for the poor, which was accepted, and the city surrendered… the Muslim flags were hoisted over the walls of Jerusalem…(Heritage Reader, 173). As the Muslims raided through their new cit the Franks moaned and groaned, while the Muslims sang cried Allah akbar in much joy. The Muslims gained control over Jerusalem during the Muslim conquest. The Roman Catholics of Europe and their leader Pope Urban II, wanted to regain the land that had been taken from the Franks. The Roman Catholics believed that the Muslims had tarnished the holy land of Jerusalem with their Islamic beliefs. “They have either destroyed the churches of God or appropriated them for the rites of their own religion. They have destroyed alters, having defiled them with their uncleanness…” (Heritage Reader, 161). The Christians believed that the Muslims were followers of a false prophet and that they were very sneaky and vile. The Muslims main military expedition was gaining control of Jerusalem from the Franks. While, in contrast, the Christians main military expedition was controlling Jerusalem and getting the European Christians out of Islamic religious control. Pope Urban II pilgrimage turned into a huge military expedition, that based around the fact that their sacred city was being ruled by enemies. “This royal city, however, situated at the center of the earth, is now held captive by the enemies of Christ and is subjected, by those who do not know God, to the worship the heathen” Heritage Reader, 162). This quote from Pope Urban II proves how much animosity there is between the religious beliefs of Islamics and Christians. The reason the Christians believe that Jerusalem is so sacred is because this is where Jesus Christ rose from the dead. After seeing the Muslims celebrating and rejoicing over taking the city, Pope Urban II called for an armed pilgrimage of the city of Jerusalem. This “pilgrimage” was not much of one, it was a military expedition to bring all of the Muslim culture out of Jerusalem, almost like an exile of Muslims. The first attack by the Franks was a questioned plan by the leaders because they couldn't find a way into the city and had to cease the attack on the Muslims. The next day they started to attack and the outcome was much different. They rammed the through one part of the wall after much persistence and once through the wall the massacre started. There were Saracens, Arabs, and Ethiopians running everywhere trying to stay alive. They hid in places such as the tower of David and the temples of the lord and of Solomon. The largest massacre happened here in the temple of Solomon, “Many fled to the roof of the temple of Solomon, and were shot with arrows, so that they fell to the ground dead. In this temple almost ten thousand were killed” (Heritage Reader, 168). This conquering of the Christians over the Muslims for Jerusalem wasn't only very powerful but very merciless. They killed anyone that got in the path of the Christians, and their military expedition was a success. This was the final act of the First Crusade for the Christians. The Muslims believed that Christians just took a prophet and started worshiping him instead of God. In Usmah Ibn Munqidh’s autobiography about the Franks he views them much differently than the Christians viewed the Muslims. “The Franks are void of all zeal and jealousy” (Heritage Reader, 170). He tells the story of a man walking in on another man sleeping with his wife. The Muslim man was so surprised at the Christian man’s reaction. He was neither mad nor jealous, he just questioned the man “why.” The man based his reasoning for not being mad on his religion. This surprised Usmah Munqidh so much because in the Islamic religion the man would've most likely been killed for the act of adultery. He speaks of another encounter where he was grabbed by a woman in the street and many Franks surrounded him and called him a killer. He was saved by the knight that was escorting him through the city. By all of his biography you can see that Usmah Munqidh came to respect Christians the more he was around them. From this man’s autobiography he does not disrespect Christian’s beliefs or views, but almost see’s them as shocking by the way that they carry themselves. Throughout all of the Crusades their was a lot of animosity between Christians and Islamic religious beliefs. The Christians thought of the Muslims as followers of the wrong prophet, and they were very sneaky and vile. While the Muslims thought of the Christians as if they took a prophet and started worshiping him and that prophet was not God. After all of the these military expeditions and tension between these two powerful religions. Their beliefs of each other are almost the same in believing the other believes in the wrong prophet.