Comparison Of Early Christianity And Early Islam

Contrasts between different traditions can in certain situations, help to throw light on both, by illustrating their similarity or difference (Black, 2011). It may also suggest the role of the different impacts to which each was exposed (Black 2011). The Caliph is the successor of the God’s messenger – Omar was the landmark figure in Islamic history as he dictated how a Caliph should be chosen (Al-Jazeera, 2016). It was during his reign that most of the conquests had occurred (Al-Jazeera,2016). He was the founder of the institutions of the state, and during his reign, the Islamic state had developed an administrative system, a regular army, garrison cities, political and judiciary systems (Al-Jazeera, 2016). These were the institutions needed

These religions formed each of their own religious communities – the church and the umma of believers (Black, 2003). The Christian community simply did not have a religious law in the Judaic or Islamic sense (Black, 2003). Economic and political matters were left undealt with as the Christian ‘social teaching’ was open to influences from outside (Black, 2003). Christian society had two powers – priests and kings (Black, 2011). Christian Kings and philosophers had rejected the belief that there should be a unified religious polity – the affairs of God and Caesar (the state) were completely different and that the state and its constitution could be deduced from human reason (Black, 2011). It was argued that the state was a product of human nature as the kings had not derived their authority from God through the church, but from God through nature (Black,

He was chosen, according to the Sunnis, by agreement; according to the Shi’a by title by Muhammad or the previous caliphs (Black, 2011). There were three different schools of political thought in classical Islam: religious jurisprudence, philosophy, and handbooks for rulers (Black, 2011). Religious jurisprudence was primarily about civil society (Black, 2011). It was based on the Quran and the Hadith as interpreted by the accord of the early jurists (Black, 2011). The Muslim philosophers associated the Caliphate with Plato’s ideal state (Black, 2011). They had understood the Quran by not using the Hadith, but by rather using human reason (Black, 2011). The civilisation of Islam began with that of divine revelation (Moten, 1996). The order Islam proposes is assured neither to a land nor to a person (Moten, 1996). Islam requests not a small piece of land but aims at subjecting the entire world to the will of God (Moten, 1996). Unlike the nation-state, Islamic political order is an open society that is willing to accept any person who chooses to adopt it (Moten, 1996). There is a concern of executing the will of Allah (God), in order to promote an external and internal safe and threat-free society (Moten, 1996). The Islamic political order is only a