Christianity and Islam, the Religions that Shaped the Course of World History

 

A Catholic cathedral in the Philippines

A son of a carpenter, Jesus was born at about 4 or 6 BC during the reign of Roman emperor Augustus Caesar. He assembled twelve disciples to represent the twelve tribes of Israel and started his ministry at about the age of 30. He preached about Jewish laws and religion and the eminent coming of the kingdom of God. His activities were not seen favorably by the Jewish religious leaders who considered him as a threat to the stability to the community. His claim as a son of God was deem unacceptable and highly blasphemous. The high priests plotted against him and succeeded in making Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea order Jesus’ crucifixion.

                              Jesus and Thomas after the Resurrection by Caravaggio (a public domain image)

Jewish and Roman authorities thought the death of Jesus would put an end to his following. But his disciples and his followers even became more devoted and firmer believer of him after his death. Jesus followers claimed that they saw him resurrected as he had said and promised. And they were willing to suffer or die for what they believed in. With their preaching and healing of the people, the early Christians were able to gain adherents, and soon they moved into the realm of the Roman Empire amid hardships and persecutions armed only with their willingness to sacrifice and the strength of their conviction. The promise of salvation, an eternal life for everyone and the reported miracles and healing convinced people that the one Christian God is superior to the pagans’ many gods which drove them to accept the new faith. And soon Christianity became the wave of belief whose rise in momentum could not be contained by the Roman Empire, the mightiest power on earth at that time.

Roman Emperor Constantine the Great who along with his forces saw a sign in the sky before the battle at Milvian Bridge against Maxentius on October AD 312 and attributed that vision for his victory in the battle. He adopted to the new faith and became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. In AD 313 he issued an edict permitting Christians and people of other faith to profess their belief without fear of persecution. In AD 380 Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, and this made the religion spread massively across the Middle East and much of Europe.

The extent of the Roman Empire during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Photo credit: Tataryn at Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0Unported

In AD 570 in Mecca, in Arabia Muhammad the prophet of Islam was born. At age 25 he married a wealthy widow named Kadijah. In his retreats in a cave in Mount Hira he encountered a being who told him to recite words. Afraid and thinking that he was becoming mad, he told the matter to Kadijah who in turn took him to Nofil, her Christian cousin. Nofil reassured Muhammad that what he saw was Angel Gabriel and that what he told him was message from Allah or God. Her words convinced Muhammad that he was indeed a messenger of Allah and that he had a mission to spread Allah's words.

Muhammad started to establish his new religion called Islam at Mecca at first. But locals as well the rulers were not interested, and they were even hostile to him and his few followers so that they feared for their safety. Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina in what Muslims called the event as Hegira. In Medina he was able to convert people to Islam and soon he was able to gain many followers. From Medina he returned triumphantly to Mecca where people now accepted Islam as their faith. Muhammad died in AD 632, and at that time Islam had already widely spread in Arabia. His successors called the caliphs then took the task of spreading the message of Allah and Islam beyond the borders of the Arabian Peninsula.

The caliphs propagated Islam by persuasion or by the sword overrunning Christian territories in most of the Middle East. They also marched toward northern India, Africa and Anatolia in present day Turkey. Christian Europe would be a prize target for Islamic conquest.

Muslims under the Umayyad Caliphate composed of Moors, Berbers and Arabs led by Tariq Ibn Ziyad crossed the strait of Gibraltar at about AD 711. They then conquered the Visigothic Christian Kingdom of Spain and in series of military campaigns controlled a vast region which they called Al-Andalus or Andalusia. To spread Islam farther, the Muslim Moors advanced north but they were defeated by Charles Martel, the Frankish leader in the Battle of tours in France on October AD 732. Defeated, the Moors retreated to Spain where they ruled in large part of that country for almost 800 years.

To protect pilgrims in the holy lands, to stop Muslim incursions into Christian territories and to recover places conquered by the Muslims in the Middle East, Christian kingdoms in Europe with the blessing of the pope launched military expeditions or crusades to execute those missions. The crusades were conducted from 1095 until 1291. However, the effort failed and the Holy Land and the Middle East remained firmly under Muslim control.  

Over time, in Spain the Christian kingdoms slowly regained much of their lost territories from the Muslims in a crusade known as Reconquista. The last straw for the Moors came with the marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castille. Their combined forces defeated Boabdil or Sultan Muhammad XII of Granada on January 2, 1492.  In the aftermath, the Moorish Sultan was sent back to Morocco and all Muslims and Jews who would not convert to Catholicism were expelled from Spain.

On May 29, 1453, Constantinople, Christendom’s second most important city after Rome and the seat of the eastern Roman Empire which was also known as the Byzantine Empire fell into the hands of the Muslim Ottoman Turks under the leadership of the 21-year-old Sultan Mehmed II.

A picture of the Hagia Sophia, a Christian Cathedral turned into a mosque after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. A photo by Dennis Jarvis at Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 20 Generic.

The event had a far-reaching impact to the world since Constantinople is situated strategically in the southeastern tip of Europe and beyond its coast not far away is the northern tip of Anatolia or Asia Minor. Both places are separated only by the narrow Strait of Bosporus which made that city an ideal transport point for goods and people coming from Europe to Asia or vice versa for military, commercial or other purposes. Muslim control of lands in the Middle East and the fall of Constantinople made it difficult for goods such as silks, porcelains and spices from India, China and the Far East to be transported to Europe via the traditional silk route. And those that made their way into Europe became expensive.

European kingdoms particularly Spain and Portugal looked for ways to get around the traditional but perilous routes to procure those desired goods coming from the east. And they came up with the idea of sea travels as the alternative. The execution of that concept ushered into the Age of Exploration or Age of Discovery.

Victoria, Ferdinand Magellan’s ship from a map of Ortelius (a public domain image)

An Age of Exploration era ship from a public domain image titled “Half Moon in Hudson”

The Age of Exploration which began in the 1400’s paved the way for the transport of goods and people from erstwhile unexplored lands to Europe and vice versa. This interaction also brought with it the exchange of ideas and technology as well as the transmission of communicable diseases. The Portuguese and the Spanish also discovered vast tracts of lands that they colonized. They brought people from Europe and had them settle in discovered new lands, and also profited from the slave trade which forcibly brought people from Africa to work as slave labor in the new world. This situation displaced the indigenous people and in some cases they were decimated by diseases carried by the Europeans. The movement of peoples from one place to another changed the demographic landscape of a place. The Age of Exploration was an era when European maritime powers spread their language, culture and the religion of Christianity to many parts of the world. Other European countries such as England, France and Netherland later participated in the exploration of uncharted or undeveloped land in continents such as the Americas, Australia and South East Asia. The exploration made by the Europeans gave rise to the birth of new countries in the New World and some of these countries such as the United States and others have even become stronger than their former mother countries.

Slave Trade by Auguste Francois Biard (a public domain image)

Jesus is one of the greatest and most adored historical figures who ever lived. His teachings and deeds have profound influence in the lives and culture of billions of people. Christians believe that he is God’s fulfillment of the promised messiah in the Bible and the Son of God. On the contrary the Jews claim that he is not because he did not satisfy the criteria of being the Messiah. Muslims say that he is just a mere prophet. Others say that he is just a man like the rest of us. Divine or not, Jesus Christ is undeniably a figure who we can draw inspiration and emulation. He was a pacifist par excellence. His teaching of loving God, your neighbor including your enemies; the forgiveness of people who wronged us, not judging others for their fault and other teachings are acts of kindness that will bring good even to people with the hardest of heart. These teachings will always remain relevant and will stand to the test of time for many generations.

Columbus, the Man Who Opened America's Door to European Settlement and Christian Evangelization

Photo credit: Sebastiano Piombo (from Wikipedia)

Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire paved the way for the cultural and religious exchange between Europe and Asia. In addition, trade and commerce between the two continents were opened and enhanced with the flourishing of lands along the Silk Route. The Roman Empire supplanted Alexander’s Greek Empire and extended its influence into Northern Africa and Western Europe. The conversion of Roman Emperor Constantine spread Christianity all over the Roman Empire. The birth of Islam around 610 A.D. eroded Christianity’s influence over much of Asia and North Africa. In just a few years after Prophet Muhammad’s death, his followers conquered much of territories that were once parts of Persian and Roman Empires.

The fall of the Christian City of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453 had a profound implication to Europe and the world. The Ottoman's conquest was significant in the sense that the city was the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire. The city’s location was also very strategic considering that it geographically links Europe and Asia, and it was a gateway for the transport of goods and people between the two continents.

The control of trade routes by hostile powers made it difficult for Europe to avail of commodities such as silk and spices from Asia. particularly those that came from India, China and Southeast Asia. It also made their cost became prohibitive. Christian maritime powers of Europe such as Spain and Portugal had to find an alternative way to Asia without passing through perilous land routes. The best option was through the sea. The competition of European powers to cross the seas to reach the spice islands in Asia ushered in the Age of Exploration.  

Christopher Columbus (30 Oct. 1451-20 May 1506) a Genoese navigator, proposed to King John II of Portugal an expedition to the East Indies via western sea route. But the monarch was not convinced and turned down his proposal. In 1488, Bartolomeu Dias, sailing southeast reached Cape of Good Hope which was a spring board toward the East Indies.  The success of Dias doused any hope of Columbus to have the king agree with his proposition.

Failing in his bid, Columbus presented his idea to King Henry VII of England who also turned it down. He later went to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella of Castile, Spain. At first, the monarchs were skeptical of Columbus’ proposal. However, it occurred to them that the eastern sea route was already taken and controlled by rival Portugal, and Columbus’ proposal if successful would give Spain an edge in the lucrative spice trade.

Photo credit: John Vanderlyn (from Wikipedia)

Photo credit: E. Benjamin Andrews (from Wikipedia)

In 1492, Columbus was granted authority by Queen Isabella to sail to Asia. He was given three ships- the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria which was his flagship. For claims on new lands to the crown Columbus was entitled to the following privileges: a rank of “the Admiral of the Ocean”; a designation of viceroy or governor of new found lands; a 10% perpetual share of profits earned as a result of his explorations, and the option to buy 1/8 interest in commercial venture in the new lands and to receive 1/8 of the profits.

On August 3, 1492, Columbus with his fleet of three ships departed from Palos de la Frontera, and sailed to his destination. After travelling considerable distances, he saw an island and landed on it. He named it San Salvador. He then passed through groups of islands that is now called the Bahamas and explored the northern coast of Cuba and Hispaniola. At that time Columbus believed that he had reached India, and even called the native inhabitants “Indios”or Indians. The Spanish crown was pleased with Columbus’ discovery, and was prepared to grant the condition set by Columbus in return for the successful voyage.

After meeting the monarchs, Columbus left port of Cadiz, Spain on September 24, 1493, for a second voyage. With a fleet of 17 ships and 1,200 men composed of soldiers, farmers and priests, he aimed to establish permanent colonies in new found lands. In his third voyages in 1498 Columbus with a fleet of six ships made further explorations to the islands and reached as far as the western coasts of South America. He returned to Hispaniola only to find that the Spanish settlers of the new colony were rebellious to his role. He made peace with them, but the news of his gross mismanagement and tyranny had already reached the Spanish monarchs who ordered that Columbus and his brothers be arrested and returned to Spain. Columbus was replaced as governor by Francisco de Bobadilla, a member of the Order of Calatrava. In Spain Columbus and his brothers were imprisoned, and he was divested of his privileges and properties. 

  

King Ferdinand II listened to Columbus’ plea and released him and his brothers after six weeks of confinement. They were also restored of their wealth and privileges. Columbus was also allowed to lead another voyage to the new found lands. But this time he would no longer serve as governor. He left Cadiz on 11 May 1502 with a fleet of three ships. He explored several islands and landed in Hispaniola. He explored the west coasts of Central America and east coasts of Cuba. A fierce storm stranded his fleet in Jamaica where he remained for almost a year. Columbus and his men then returned to Spain. They arrived in San Lucar on June 29, 1504. In Spain, Columbus' long years of travels took a toll on his health. He was severely stricken with diseases. Columbus died on May 20, 1506, probably at age 54 in Valladolid, Spain.

Critics of Columbus cited the negative effects of his explorations. They claimed that the arrival of the European settlers caused the depopulation of the indigenous Taino and Arawak Indians. The Indians were being exploited for forced labor such as having them worked in gold mines. Spanish soldiers committed with impunity grave abuses such as massacres and rapes. Indigenous people were seized, captured and sent to Spain as slaves with about half of them dying en route. The pandemic of small pox in 1519 which was brought by the European settlers into the islands almost brought to extinction the indigenous inhabitants.

Map from Wikipedia

Columbus’ erroneous view that the lands that he found were part of Asia denied him the honor of having the continent named after him. Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator, who came to the new lands a year after Columbus, correctly speculated that the land Columbus discovered was not Asia. Amerigo's travel journals also convinced German cartographer Martin Wadseemuller to reach the same conclusion. Wadseemuller published a world map in 1507 referring to the big new found continent as “America”, which is the Latinized version of Amerigo. With that map, people at that time also followed suit to refer to the continent as “America”. For it, Vespucci was unintentionally and undeservedly accorded an honor that should have rightfully belonged to Columbus.

It is claimed that Vikings came to America before Columbus did, and therefore he was not the first European to discover it. But there is no doubt that Columbus’ explorations were the ones which certainly opened the door of the American continent for European settlement. After Columbus had claimed lands for Spain, other European powers such as Portugal, England, France and Netherlands followed to explore the hitherto huge unknown continent. This resulted to the influx of immigrants who brought along with them their languages and cultures, and created new Independent nations with predominantly European cultures and demographics. The predominantly Christian roots of the immigrant people have also brought about the Christian evangelization of the American continent, thus making Christianity the largest religion of the world.

Hagia Sophia, a Beautiful, Historic World Monument

Photo by Bigdaddy (from Wikimedia Commons)

Hagia Sophia or the Church of the Holy Wisdom in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin and Aya Sofya in Turkish is a historic monument of two great empires that shaped the course of world history- the Roman and Ottoman Empires. It also served as a house of worship of adherents of two of the world’s largest religions- Christianity and Islam. It was the largest cathedral in the world until 1520. Hagia Sophia is famous for its massive dome.

Hagia Sophia was built on the site where Emperor Constantine built a wooden church. The second church was built by his son Constantius and the Emperor Theodosius the Great. That church was burned. Under the supervision of Justinian I, the church was rebuilt in its present form around 532 and 537 AD.

Constantine was the first Roman Emperor who became Christian. He later promoted Christianity and moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium, an ancient Greek city. After he defeated his rivals, Constantine rebuilt Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. It later became the capital of the eastern half of the Roman Empire which was also called the Byzantine Empire. Its heartland was Asia Minor and the Balkans.

Constantinople was situated on the southern coastal tip of the Balkan Peninsula along the Strait of Bosporus that separates the continents of Europe and Asia. The city’s strategic location provided the Byzantine Empire easy economic and military access to its territories across Asia and Southern Europe.

Justinian hired architects Isodore Militus and Arthemius of Tralles, both teachers of Geometry to design the church. He imported materials from neighboring places such as Ephesus, Athens, Rome and Delphi. The original dome of the church which Militus and Arthemius designed collapsed in an earthquake in 558. The replacement of 563 had to be repaired after a partial collapse in the 9^th and 14^th centuries.

In 1204 Hagia Sophia was attacked and sacked by the crusaders and looted of its properties. They arrested the Patriarch of Constantinople and replaced him with a Latin bishop. This event irreconcilably divided the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches which had long standing disputes that started from the great schism of 1054.

Photo by Andreas Wahra (from Wikimedia Commons)

Islamic text inside Hagia Sophia

In May 1453, Constantinople, the seat of the Byzantine Empire and the greatest city of Eastern Christendom at that time fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmet II. Amazed by the architectural beauty of the church, he converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque. Since then it remained a principal mosque for about 500 years. Hagia Sophia’s design then served as model of many mosques built around Constantinople and its neighboring areas.

The prominent feature of the cathedral is its dome which measures 230 ft (70 m) in width and 246 ft (75 m) in height. The dome is supported by pendentives which are rested on a square of 4 columns below. The 48 windows around the base of the dome reflect sunlight everywhere into the interior of the nave.

A mosaic depicting Jesus (center)

Mosaic of Virgin Mary and child Jesus. Photo by Griffendor (from Wikimedia Commons) 

The changes made during the Turkish era had markedly altered the outer appearance of Hagia Sophia so that it was indistinguishable that it was once a church. There are buttresses built to support the outer walls to ensure their endurance over the century. Four minarets were added by the corners of the church. The mihrab, the fountain, and mausoleum give the Hagia Sophia a mosque appearance. However, the inside of the edifice reveals the original purpose of its building. There are 6^th century church features such as mosaics painted on the walls depicting various Christian religious scenes. When Hagia Sophia was a mosque some mosaics were covered with plaster because of Muslim prohibition of figurative imagery. Further renovations of the church that was turned into mosque were made by Abdulmecid in 1847 who invited Swiss architects Gaspare and Giuseppe Fossati to do the job.

After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and following the establishment of Turkey as a nation, Constantinople was renamed Istanbul in 1930, and President Kemal Attaturk had the Hagia Sophia secularized by turning it into a museum in 1934.

Hagia Sophia is a masterpiece of Byzantine architecture. This priceless historic world monument is a UNESCO world cultural heritage site. Hagia Sophia is a major landmark and a tourist attraction of Turkey. All year round it is visited by tourists from different parts of the world.

Armed Conflicts in Syria and Iraq Threaten Christian Communities with Extinction

Photo credit to Massalim (from Wikipedia)

Civil wars and rebellions in Syria and Iraq have triggered the Diaspora of Christians to other lands where they can make their family safe from harm. The US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Arab Spring which toppled down well entrenched authoritarian leaders and the rise of the ISIS in Syria and Iraq have had a negative impact on the lives of Christians and other minorities such as the Yazidis.

Peoples in the west have negative views on autocratic leaders such as the late Saddam Hussein, and Muammar Khadafy of Libya and the deposed and imprisoned Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. Although those leaders were considered as dictatorial and corrupt, they were able to effectively control troublesome and problematic groups such as the Islamist extremists and the separatist minorities. On the positive side, the strong authoritarian regimes had made Christians live peacefully with their Muslim neighbors. The deposition of Hussein only resulted to a replacement by a weak leader who could not deal with rival factions in Iraq. In the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected president. However, the military view Morsi and his organization as extremist, and the military led by General  Abdel Fattah el Sisi deposed him in a coup d’ etat in 2013. If Morsi had stayed long in office, the Christians could have been a target of persecutions in Egypt and could result in their leaving the country. It is noteworthy that in Morsi’s short stay in office there were clashes between opposition groups and his supporters, and there were mass protests by the people in the streets.  With Morsi gone, Egypt now has enjoyed a relative peace compared to other countries that are also affected by the Arab Spring such as Syria and Iraq.

 Although the west depicted Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad as a brutal dictator, minorities such as Christians have not suffered persecutions under his leadership. Armed oppositions of his regime such as the Nusra Front and the ISIS are groups with extreme religious views and are considered terrorist organizations by the west. Replacement of the present Syrian leadership with any of these groups may not bode well for the minority Christians living in Syria.  

The crisis in Syria and Iraq has brought forth the emergence of groups that have extreme religious view such as the al Nusra and the ISIS. The ISIS has captured swath of lands from those countries for its caliphate. Wherever it goes it commits unimaginable atrocities to fellow Muslims, Christians and other minorities such as the Yazidis. Its onslaught seemed to be unstoppable at the start, but lately its image of invincibility has started to crumble with the gradual recapture of ISIS-held lands by the Iraqi, Kurdish and the coalition forces.

ISIS has a signature style of casting terror into the minds of its victims to make them submit to its will. Its acts include forcibly converting Christians and other groups including even the Shias to its extreme interpretation of Islam. Christians are given the option to pay the jisya tax if they will not change their religion otherwise they will leave the area or be killed. People who cross ISIS’ path will be killed, their properties seized and their female relatives raped or turned into sex slave. Under this condition Christians and even Muslim evacuate to other areas for their own safety.

It remains to be seen if the ISIS could successfully and effectively run its caliphate. Its seized oil wells and refineries are bombed by US and coalition planes to cripple down its ability to fund its operations. However, some analysts say that ISIS is not easy to defeat. And they are not certain when the conflict ends. But until then Syria and Iraq will be depopulated gradually of its Christian minority. Christians will emigrate to the neighboring countries and to far away western countries including USA, Canada and Australia. And probably those who do will not come back. The armed conflicts have paved the way for an eventual disappearance of Christianity from the land of its birth. It is ironic that as the Christian faith steadily spreads in many countries making it as the largest religion of the world as ever, it is slowly disappearing in the land where it has a 2,000 year-old rich biblical and historical legacies.

  

Kobane, a Significant Battle Site between the Kurds and the ISIS

A US Air Force Photo from Wikipedia

The initial military successes of the ISIS in Iraq and Syria have been reversed with the recent gains made by the Iraqi and Kurdish forces which are supported by US and coalition airstrikes. Waging a jihad and trying to establish a caliphate based on its extreme interpretation of Islam,  the Islamic State, an offshoot of Al Qaeda, is a big threat not only to the security of the Middle East but also to the world.                                                            

Although it claims to be inspired by Islam, the ISIS is disowned by Islamic religious and political leaders who say that its action is un-Islamic. In the battle fronts Muslims and non-Muslims are the victims of the ISIS’ aggression. Local tribesmen have to cooperate or do the bidding of the terror group lest they be punished. ISIS brutalities include among other acts mass executions of captured enemies and kidnappings of women and making them as sex slaves.

The terror group is able to sustain its operation through seizure of oil fields and selling oil through the black market, kidnapping for ransom and other illegal activities. It is also able to have its supply of recruits with the use of the internet. Its effort in the social media such as Facebook and Twitter has attracted fresh fighters from western countries, USA, Canada and other parts of the world. Lately, however, the number of new arrivals has decreased which is an indication that the appeal of the terror group to attract new members to its fold might have been affected by flood of news report depicting it in a very bad light.

The Kurds are indigenous people in parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran who are courageously resisting the ISIS advance into their territory. While some Iraqi forces ran away from the enemies in battles, the Kurds prefer to fight to the death rather than giving in to the demand of the terror group. The Kurdish forces in the battle front include even women. The Kurds are the largest stateless ethnic minority in the Middle East who has suffered long years of persecution from the leaders in the four countries where they live in.

To show its power, the ISIS has to deal with the Kurds defiance. It has attacked some Kurdish inhabited area to include Kobane which is situated in the Syria-Turkish border. The ISIS captured part of Kobane on September 2014. But fierce resistance of the outgunned Kurds has kept the jihadists from moving further. At that time many analysts thought that it would just be a matter of time before the town could fall to the terrorists. However, the intervention of the US with its air support has helped the Kurd stall the advance of the ISIS and prevented it from capturing the city.

Turkey which was earlier hesitant to provide military assistance to the embattled Kurds in Kobane has now allowed hundreds of peshmerga forces to enter Kobane through its territory. This peshmerga forces now is using artillery to pound ISIS positions. This development is a big boost to the morale of the Kurds in its effort to repel the ISIS from Kobane.

To some analysts Kobane is of less significance than to other areas that are also besieged by the terrorists. But the city has now gained prominence with the attention given to it by the world media. The city is now widely known to many people all over the world because of the ISIS phenomenon. Whichever side prevails in this ongoing battle will have the psychological edge over its opponent. For the ISIS a victory in Kobane is an inspiration to expand the coverage of its caliphate, and for the Kurds, a victory is a promotion of solidarity and loyalty to their own ethnic group and to the land or the territory which they consider as their own. 

The Brutalities of the ISIS

Waging jihad to establish Islamic caliphate, the ISIS emerges as the most fearsome and well funded terrorist organization in the world. Its ferocity and determination have made it conquer large swath of lands in Syria and Iraq. During a battle Iraqi security forces fled from engagement leaving behind large quantity of weapons given to them by the Americans. The bonanza of American weapons and their initial military victories were a big boost to the morale of the ISIS fighters.

The advance of the ISIS has displaced thousands of indigenous population. Its onslaught created a flow of refugees in Northern Iraq and the Turkish borders. The ISIS which is mostly composed of Sunnis is at odds with the local Shiites, and armed confrontations are common occurrence between them. Conquering an area, the ISIS militants give the minorities such as the Christians and the Yazidis to convert to Islam or be killed. In areas that fell under their control after a military operation, the militants imposed harsh actions to the local populace. Women and children are separated from the men. The men including older male children are then killed execution style. The method of execution includes shooting, beheading and crucifying. Captured or kidnapped women are then raped or made as sex slaves. Selected young women are gifted to ISIS commanders as “wives”. Captured children are trained to become “holy warriors” or suicide bombers.

The US and western nations airstrikes have given the Kurds, the Iraqi security forces and other local militias a breathing space to deal with the ISIS. The Peshmerga the Kurdish armed forces which took the brunt of the fighting were able to recapture lost grounds. With US air support and weapons supplied by France and other European nations' the Kurds stalled or halted the ISIS advance into their territory.

Getting back at the Americans, the ISIS beheaded two American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff in an effort to intimidate them and their allies. France which is active in the campaign against the terror group was also given a warning that its citizens will be targeted.

Despite the US air strikes, the ISIS militants have shown their superiority over local adversaries especially the Iraqi security forces. In the middle of September 2014, ISIS militants besieged an Iraqi army unit guarding a strategic supply route in Western Anbar. Suicide bombers dressed as Iraqi soldiers on bomb-laden Humvee vehicles drove through an army camp and detonated the bombs into the Iraqi soldiers’ positions. The explosions inflicted heavy casualties to the surprised Iraqi army. Amid the chaos and confusion that ensued, the militants then assaulted and overran the camp and killed as many as 250 Iraqi soldiers. Those who were not killed were captured or were able to escape. It is estimated that the Iraqi security forces lost about 500 of its troops that are listed as either killed or missing in that battle.

The brutalities of the ISIS have made some leaders and clerics of Muslim world such as Saudi Arabia to denounce the group. They stated that the group’s actions are disgrace to the Islamic faith and are not compatible with the principles of Islam. And that the ISIS does not represent the Muslims. Putting their money where their mouths are, Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain with Qatar in supporting role have joined the coalition of countries that conducted airstrikes against the ISIS in Syria.

Kurdish Female Warriors Take on the ISIS

Flag of Peshmerga

With its military victories in some parts of Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State or ISIS is able to control large swath of land on said countries. Members of the militant group are known for their ruthlessness wherever they are. They forced minorities such as Christians and Yazidis to convert to Islam or be killed. There are reports of mass rape of women and of abduction and of making them sex slaves to the militants.  Captured women are married off to the militants or are sold as bride for as low as $100. Caught enemy combatants are beheaded, crucified or tortured. Even the Al Qaeda is appalled with the extreme brutalities of the ISIS. The king of Saudi Arabia and some Muslim clerics have denounced the atrocities of the ISIS and call their actions as not compatible with Islam.

   

Lately, the Iraqi security Forces and the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters with US air strike support are able to slow down ISIS advance and are able to retake strategic areas that were captured by the ISIS. The Peshmerga or “those who confront death” is the security force of the autonomous region of Kurdistan. In the recent conflict it is in the forefront of battling the well armed, well funded and highly motivated ISIS militants. It also take up the cudgel for their fellow Kurds including the Yazidis to protect them from the militants who consider them as “devil worshippers”, and are therefore a fair game for persecution.

Members of Peshmerga forces include women, and an all –women Peshmerga Battalion is in the frontline against the ISIS militants. The reported violations of some Kurdish women by the ISIS militants made many women that include the youth and housewives to volunteer for military service. As combatants the women can help protect their homeland and stop the ISIS militants from making them booties of war if their village is overrun. 

For the terrorists it is ironic that women who they think are inferior to men are challenging them in the battlefield.  It is believed that this ruthless group considers it to be a worse nightmare for a jihadist to fight female enemy warrior. They believe that they would be denied entry into paradise if women killed them. Indeed the Kurds know the mindset of the terrorists and turn their absurd beliefs against them.

Spices, the Food Commodity that Changed the World

Photo credit: Judepics

In ancient times spices and other goods from India, China and Africa passed through the silk routes in Asia into Europe. The conquest of Alexander the Great of the Persian Empire and his military campaigns in India saw the introduction of European Hellenistic language and culture to Asia. This also facilitated the exchange and trade of commodities such as silk, spices among others between Europe and Asia. The Roman Empire which supplanted the Greeks in Asia was also an instrument for the exchange of goods, culture and knowledge throughout the Roman Empire which spanned Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. The conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great facilitated the spread of Christianity throughout the ancient Roman world.

In the mid 7^th century AD, Islam a new religion swept across Asia. The Islamic army conquered Persia, Egypt, India, the Levant and other places. and an invasion of Europe was imminent. With the conquest came the introduction of Arab culture to the conquered lands and the conversion of their population to the Islamic faith. At the rise of Islam overland route to Europe for the transport of spices was severely restricted and the Arab merchants had the control of the lucrative spice trade, the spice being an expensive and in demand commodity. The Abbasid Caliphate of Baghdad, the seat of the Islamic power grew rich with the situation.

The strategic city of Constantinople, the then Christendom’s second most important city after Rome and a gateway between Europe and Asia fell to the Muslim Ottoman Turks in 1453.The city states of Venice and Genoa being in good terms with the Ottoman Empire then gained financial benefits with the rise of power of the Ottomans. While Venice monopolized the spice trade and became fabulously rich with it, the Ottoman Empire imposed heavy taxation on spice and goods that were exported to Western Europe. As a result, spices which were imported from Asia particularly India became more expensive. 

Photo credit: Navy of Brazil

To avoid routes controlled by hostile and non-Christian power, European Kingdoms particularly Spain and Portugal looked for alternative routes to the seas for spice and other commodities. Their competition to dominate the seas for the lucrative spice trade ushered in the Age of Discovery and Exploration. 

Portugal pioneered the endeavor to sail the seas to reach India for the precious spices. An expedition by Bartolomeu Dias crossed the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. King Manuel I of Portugal sponsored four vessels under the command of Vasco da Gama that successfully reached India in 1497. In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral in his trip to India was blown westward to what is now Brazil. That incident made the Pacific Coast of the American continents open for explorations by the Europeans. 

Spain to be able to compete with Portugal had to find alternative sea route not controlled by the later. It had to find a westward sea route to reach India since the eastward route was already taken by Portugal. Queen Isabella of Spain sponsored and financed an expedition led by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Sailing westward, his fleet made a landfall on islands that are now called the Bahamas. Believing that he indeed reached India, he called the native there “Indians”. That event was of great significance because it led to the discovery of an unexplored vast track of land, a continent that is called America today.

The unsuccessful attempt of Columbus to reach India via the westward sea route was followed by Ferdinand Magellan in 1520. With a fleet of five ships he sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean for Moluccas where famed Spice Islands were located. However, he was killed in the Philippines before he could reach his destination. Surviving crews commanded by Sebastian Elcano were able to successfully reach Moluccas. After settling conflicts with the Portuguese, the crews with their only remaining ship that was loaded with spices were able to return to Spain taking the Indian Ocean and Cape of Good Hope sea routes. The crews who made the return-home voyage were the first people to circumnavigate the world.

Other European powers such as Britain and Netherlands later joined the exploration of lands across the seas for the expansion of their territories and for search of treasures. The Spice trade resulted to the “discovery” of undeveloped lands in the American continents and other parts of the world. Later, the perilous voyage to the high seas was no longer a necessity since the Europeans were able to plant and propagate spices in many parts of the world that they had settled in. The spice trade emporiums in India and the Spice Islands in the Moluccas have now lost their economic importance. 

The Age of Discovery and Exploration brought about the wide transfer of peoples, plants, animals, knowledge, cultures and even communicable diseases across the world.  New nations were born or created. It also significantly changed the ethnic composition and the spoken languages of the settled lands. People of European and African descents, most of them speaking their mother tongue, are now in community with the natives in what was then called a “New World”.

The Age of Discovery and Exploration also spread the Christian and the Islamic religions in many parts of the world. Christianity spread largely to the American continent and parts of Asia particularly the Philippines. Islam was spread to South East Asia particularly in such countries as Indonesia and Malaysia by the Arab merchants who were trading with spice and other goods.

Why Are Muslim Filipinos Called "Moros"?

The word “Moro” singular and “Moros” plural is a vestige of the Philippines’ colonial past and is rooted with the country’s cultural and historical ties with Spain, one of the former great imperial powers of the world.

Spain’s history has its share of relationship with Islam. In just hundreds of years after the death of Prophet Muhammad, Muslim armies crossed the Iberian Peninsula to conquer Europe for Islam. Crossing the Pyrenees, they were stopped and defeated by the forces of Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732. The Muslims retreated into the Iberian Peninsula where they conquered and occupied much of the territories which comprised mostly of what is now Spain and Portugal. The marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile enabled the Christian kingdoms to recover much of the territories occupied by the Muslims. The last Moorish or Muslim kingdom in Granada, Spain fell to the Christians in 1492.

The medieval Christian Spaniards generally called the Muslims as “Moros” or Moors in reference to the Northern African Muslim tribes that crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered and occupied much of the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslims in Spain were a mixture of Moors, Berbers, Arabs and even indigenous Iberians. Spanish Christian during the Muslim era generally called a person professing the Islamic faith “Moro” irrespective of his ethnicity.

The fall of Christian areas in the Middle East, Asia Minor and parts of Southern and Eastern Europe at the hands of the Muslims made it difficult for the goods from Asia to pass through the traditional land trade routes into Europe. This made the European monarchs particularly the Kings of Spain and Portugal to find alternative trade routes to the sea thereby bypassing the land areas controlled by hostile powers. This paved the way for the Age of Exploration when European powers discovered hitherto unknown lands and claimed them for themselves.

Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer in the service of the king of Spain made a voyage to reach Moluccas for its valued spices. What was significant of his voyage was that he intended to reach his destination by sailing westward instead of the usual eastward sea route.  Nearing Moluccas, he “discovered” an archipelago in 1521 which was later named as the Philippines in honor of King Philip II. The Spaniards colonized the country for over 300 years.

The Spaniards Christianized most of the inhabitants. However, the people of the Southern Philippines especially in Mindanao were not disposed of changing their Islamic faith and resisted Spanish rule. The Spaniards in the Philippines, like they did in their country, called the Muslims “Moros”. The Christians on the other hand were called “Indios”. The latter term was a misnomer because the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines are of Malayan race and not Indians.

Spanish incursions into Muslim territories made the Moros retaliate by raiding Christian settlements in the archipelago. This conflict brought about deep seated mutual distrust and animosity between Muslim and Filipino Christians. In time, the term “Moro” was used by Christians to pejoratively refer to a Muslim. Muslims on the other hand disdained from being called of such derogatory word.                                                     

With the passage of time Filipino Muslims have become receptive of the term “Moro” to refer generally to a Filipino Muslim irrespective of his tribal group. This is apparent with the use of word “Moro” in groups such as Moro National Liberation Front, Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Bangsa Moro. Perhaps for the members of this group the word “Moro” instead of being offensive is a source of pride. It is a symbol of the Muslims’ ever struggle for their righteous aspirations with Islam as their unifying factor.

In the Philippines, in practice, the word “Moro” to refer to Muslims is confined mostly in the print and other media. Filipinos in their conversations call their brothers who profess the Islamic faith as Muslim rather than a Moro. Alternatively, they may mention a Muslim based on his tribe such as Maranao, Tausug, Yakan, and Maguindanao among others.

Christianity and Islam, the Religions That Shape the Course of History

The belief of an almighty creator is an inherent nature of man. To cater to that belief, some people established religions that attracted large number of people. These religions even survive long after the death of their founders. By following a religion, a man has to suit his lifestyle in a way that his religion requires him. People’s collective adherence to a belief will somehow create a distinctive culture in a community. Indeed, religion has a profound impact on the social, political and cultural aspects of our lives. Since time immemorial many religions have been created and their struggle for expansion and dominance have resulted to the demise of empires, the change of the ethnic composition of a territory, the eruption of armed conflicts and the boom and decline of trade and commerce. Christianity and Islam are the two religions that in one way or the other affected the way many people live their lives in the past and present.

Jesus Christ and Christianity

The largest religion on earth was founded by a man named Jesus who was born in Bethlehem in Judea at around 6 AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. Little was known about his life in his younger age. He started his public ministry at the age of 30. With the help of his 12 disciples he preached to the people and healed the physically and spiritually sick. He told of the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God and of salvation. The Jewish high priests did not see Jesus’ activities in good light. For them he was a violator of the Jewish customs and traditions, and his claim to be the Messiah, the king of the Jews and the Son of God was highly blasphemous that called for a death penalty. The high priests plotted against him and put pressure on Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to have him executed. To appease the Jews and to prevent them from rioting, Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified.

Contrary to what the Jewish high priests and Roman authorities expected, the death of Jesus did not end the movement that he founded.  His disciples and other followers who denied and abandoned him when he was tried and executed became fearless even to the point of death to vouch for him. Many of them claimed to have seen the resurrected Jesus before his ascension to heaven. For Jesus disciples and followers he was what he claimed to be.

Christianity is a religion that believes that spiritual salvation can only be obtained through Jesus. Christians also believe that Jesus is God’s promise Messiah whose life, death and resurrection fulfilled the prophecies of the Holy Bible. Different Christian denominations however are in constant disagreement as to the nature and or divinity of Jesus.

The early Christians were persecuted by the Jews and Romans and were falsely accused of having caused the disasters and other unfavorable things that happened in their community. However, despite the hardships and difficulties, they continued to spread the teachings of Christ.

Things started to change for the better for the Christians during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I. He allowed freedom of worship in the empire. It was said that he saw a vision of the cross against the sun at the Battle of the Melvian Bridge in 312 AD, and that the sign would give him victory. Constantine later defeated his rivals and became the sole Roman emperor. The conversion of Constantine to Christianity which he made as the official religion of the empire enabled it to spread like wildfire within its territories. The Romans’ acceptance of Christianity also effectively eradicated their old polytheistic pagan belief.

During his reign Constantine transferred his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which was later called Constantinople in 330 AD. His move divided the empire into east and west, and the east became known as the Byzantine Empire.

Muhammad and Islam

Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca. He became an orphan in his early childhood and at age 25 he married a rich widow named Khadija. Becoming a merchant, he traveled to Syria where he came into contact with Jews and Christians. At age 40 Muhammad had a vision of the Angel Gabriel in a cave which ordered him to go forth and preach. At first Muhammad was so afraid of the vision that he even believed that it was a malevolent spirit. However, his wife convinced him that it was from God.

Muhammad was later convinced that he was indeed a messenger of God. He started to preach, but was able only to get few converts. His activities put him in a collision course with the religious leaders of Mecca, who plotted for his life. Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina in 622 AD.  His departure was referred by Muslims as Hegira. Muhammad established an Islamic community in Medina and gained religious as well as political prominence. He was victorious in the Battle of Badr and Uhud and captured Mecca with little bloodshed. He then cleansed the Kaaba of idols and converted the people there of his new religion.                                                                                                                                                                          

During his lifetime Muhammad was able to convert all of Arabia to his new religion which is called Islam or submission. In the centuries after his death in 632 AD Muslim armies spread the faith by conquest and conversion and forged an Arab empire that stretched from Spain to India.                                                                                                                                                         

Islam is a monotheistic religion that has some component of Judaism and Christianity. Muslims live by abiding with the five pillars of their faith. They are: shahada- professing that  Allah is the only God and Muhammad is His prophet; salat- praying 5 times a day; zakat- giving alms to the poor; sawm of Ramadan- fasting during the holy month and haj- the pilgrimage to Mecca. Islam’s holy book is called the Koran which Muslims believe as the literal words of Allah. Muslims governs their action based on the Sharia, a legal system that is adopted from the Koran.

Muslims and Christian Conflicts

After Muhammad’s death, his armies conquered the Zoroastrians in Persia and the Pagans of Arabia and the Jews and the Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine and in the process replacing the original dominant religions with Islam.

Having conquered much of the east, the Muslims trained their eyes on Europe. The Moors and the Arabs crossed into the Iberian Peninsula and occupied Spain. Advancing toward the north, they crossed the Pyrenees Mountains but were halted by Charles Martel who defeated them at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD and forced them to retreat back to Spain where they stayed and established their own dynasty. 

In Anatolia the Turks posed a grave threat to the Byzantine Empire. The Turks were nomadic people from central Asia who migrated to the Middle East and to Asia Minor. They were converted to Islam and championed the religion. Overtime, they became the power to be reckoned with in those areas. The Turks defeated the Byzantine forces at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 in which Emperor Romanus IV was captured by Turkish leader Alp Arslan. Their capture of Jerusalem made it difficult for Christian pilgrims to visit their holy places.

To eliminate the threat of the Turks on the Byzantine Empire and to free Palestine from them, Pope Urban organized the crusades to deal with the situation. The crusaders were composed of troops from different European nationalities. There were eight crusades that were launched from 1095 to 1270. But these military campaigns ended mostly in failures because of the mutual distrust among their leaders and the primary cause of the crusades was obscured by their selfish political and economic interests. The fourth crusade in 1204 was diverted to Constantinople and sacked the city and replaced the rulers there with Latin emperors, an action that alienated the Byzantine subjects from their Christian allies.

Victories and Defeats

The marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile strengthened their Christians kingdoms in Spain.  Their combined forces defeated the last Moorish kingdom of Granada in 1492, and the Moors were expelled from Spain. At first the Muslims and the Jews who opted to stay in the country were treated fairly. But later, the inquisitions made many of them leave Spain.

The Ottoman Turks were able to take over large area of Asia Minor and conquered some countries in the Balkan Peninsula thereby surrounding the city of Constantinople the seat of the Byzantine Empire and Christendom’s second most important city after Rome. It was just a matter of time before the moribund Byzantine Empire with its capital city would fall to the Muslim Turks. Finally, on May 29, 1453, forces under Sultan Muhammad II laid siege to the city and successfully captured it. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire which was supplanted by the Ottoman Empire which made Constantinople as its capital. The Ottomans wanted to take Europe for Islam. Led by Suleiman the Magnificent, they attempted to cross Western Europe through Vienna in 1529. However, they were driven back by the city’s defending troops.

Alternative Trade Routes to the Sea and the Age of Exploration

The control of important traditional trade routes by the Muslims made it difficult and expensive for goods such as spices from Asia to reach Europe. To get around the trade routes that were in the hands of the Arabs and Turks, Christian European kingdoms particularly Spain and Portugal looked to the sea to reach India where those goods were said to come from. Early explorers thought that the source of spices in the east could be reached through the sea by sailing westward, and around the Cape of Good Hope. Queen Isabella sponsored and financed the expedition of Christopher Columbus into the Indies in 1492. He was not able to reach India although he discovered a vast unexplored land that was later named the America.

Columbus exploration paved the way to the settlement of new lands that were at that time unknown to Europe. Other European powers such as Britain, France and Netherlands joined Spain and Portugal in the exploration of the New World. As a result, colonies were established which later became independent countries. New countries such as United States, Mexico, and Brazil among others were born. Their people are composed of indigenous inhabitants and settlers of divergent nationalities around the world.  Some countries such as the United States and Canada even became richer and greater than their former mother countries.

The discovery of new lands during the Age of Explorations enabled the European powers to extend their territories beyond the sea. It provided them economic benefit and enabled them to propagate their traditions, language, culture and religion in those lands. Somehow, the Age of Exploration has paved the way for the spread Christianity outside of Europe and the Middle East. Although many people believe in God and adhere to a religious belief, there are others who consider religion as absurdity. But it is an undeniable fact that religion is one of the factors that shaped the courses of events in history.

Related articles:

Spice Trade and the Discovery of America

El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar)
Hagia Sophia, a Beautiful Historic World Monument