Compare And Contrast Christianity And Islamic Responses To Black Death

Christians and Muslims had different responses to the Black Death. The Black Death, or the Great Plague, is a combination of three plagues from three bacterial strains. The most well-known strain is Bubonic. The Great Plague reached places like the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. Within five years, it had killed between twenty-five and forty-five percent of the infected population. Although there were many similarities between Christians and Muslims, there were also a lot of differences. After reading the documents, there are noticeable differences in the reactions between Christians and Muslims. Christianity is originated with Jesus Christ. He is a leader with charisma who also connected with the poor and weak. Christ’s popularity

He is a man who received the word of God. Mohammed wanted all of his followers to submit themselves to God. This rule almost separated the poor and the wealthy. Mohammed and his followers were forced to leave and to goto Medina. The Muslims read a holy book containing Islam’s fundamental beliefs from God, called the Korah. These two religions compare and contrast closely. Christians in the west responded to the Black Death in mysterious ways. Out of about seventy-five million Christians in Europe, about thirty-one percent of these died from the Great Plague. This is about twenty-five million Christians. If you look at the primary sources made by the Christians, you can tell that the tone of their

For example, the death rate was about thirty-three percent out of the total population of about 6 million in the Middle East. This is about two million Muslims that were killed by the Great Plague. Also, with the tone of their writing, it was noticeable of how the Muslims were reacting to this deadly disease. After reading their documents, you can see that they were more understanding and calm. Rather than being selfish, they were more helpful to others by being informational. Muslims believed that the Black Plague was a blessing from God. While the Christians were frowning upon it, the Muslims were praising it. They believed that there were many things that caused the Great Plague, other than God. Some of these things were miasma, but due to wind carrying stench of Mongol bodies from Crimea, miasma due to overpopulation causing “evil moistures”, abundance of shooting stars, warm ovens, evil fairies or demons, and sin, like alcohol and prostitution. Their ways to prevent the Black Death were also interesting. These preventions consisted of consuming pickled onions, pumpkin seeds, and other sour juices, pass severe laws against alcohol and prostitution, stay indoors, use letter magic, and avoid sad talk. Lastly, Muslims did rituals, or small traditions, to show praise and understanding of the Great Plague that God had given them. They did this