Views On The Merchants And Trade In Christianity And Islam

Christianity and Islam being two of the largest religions views the merchants and trade in various of ways. After the writing of the Bible and the Qur’an, some of the basic beliefs of these religions began to vary in relation to trade. At first, Christianity didn’t have many views on trade because the Byzantine Empire had a lot of authority over the economy. In the beginning of Christianity, agriculture was good enough to survive but by the 1500s C. E. , trade was very significant and necessary which impacted the change in views toward trade and merchants. From 600 B. C. E until 1500 C. E. , the demand for trade grew and became a part of daily life for Christians and Muslims and although in the beginning of time they both saw it as a negative thing, they both learned to take advantage of it regarding their views on trade and merchant.

One of the many differences that the two religions had toward trade was the economic view, because they took different uses of trade to achieve a benefit in their lives. When it comes to economics, Christianity and Islam are very different and don’t agree on what should be done with trade and merchants. Documents 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7 state that trade should be fair and equal while Document 5 it says that it should turn into monetary profit for the merchant. . In document 6, while the Italians believed that masterpiece and certain works should only be bought when the artist was in need and not when you already have enough to suffice you, Khaldun, who was referred to document 5 compares trading and merchants to gambling where you have chances of greater wins when you invest more, and you should always seek the best before selling or trading something in a seek of profit. Khaldun also sees and describes trading and marketing as gambling, the more you invest, the more you can win and as something bad for the community. In the beginning, some Islam refused to believe because they thought they were committing a huge mistake. Referring to document 4, often Christians would commit such mistakes of selling products at a higher price than it was worth because Matthew wrote in the Bible that you should do to men what they do to you. Trade began expanding in the eleventh century and so these religions started creating a more strict opinion on trade. Going back to document 4, Aquinas, who is the writer of document 4, is not so reliable due to the fact that he is coming up with conclusions based on his research rather than based on facts of his own life or on things he himself witnessed. Both Islam and Christianity are monotheistic religions, believing in only one god, which is also believed by some religions researchers to be the same god, but referred with different nominatives, but at the same time, they have very different beliefs among the fact that they have different principles. The Christian and Islamic views differ but they both look to trade as a negative part of life in the beginning of their religious expansion in the eighth century, but later develop to accept trade. Considering documents 1, while Christians say that no rich man will go to heaven, the Muslims from document 2 say that as long as the man was honest he will go to heaven or rank high in society. While the Christian religion followed the Bible and its principles, the Muslims followed the Qur’an which contains different principles from those of the Bible leading to different views towards life. The reliability in document 2 is much more credible because they used the Qur’an and the Qur’an is the most reliable Islam document for it is the Islam bible containing all Islam principles.

Going back to Document 1, Matthew in the Bible states that even if a man is rich, his money won’t put him in heaven, for his actions describe him not his money. Matthew’s point of view is that no matter how much money you have, what will get you in heaven is your good actions rather than your money. The Qur’an states that honesty makes a trade fair and that fair trade will stand out among cheaters and the fair traders will be ranked higher. Just like the document 2, document 1 is also reliable because they use the Bible and the Bible is the most reliable Christian document that has ever existed for it contains the life of Jesus and the principles of Christian religion. The religions also changed their views in the political aspect of trade since trade affected the person’s status and political rank if they were very successful. Documents 1, 3, and 5 mention that trading and profits won’t get you high in society while documents 2 and 3 disagree and say with profit you could have a high rank. While the Qur’an says that you will be ranked with the martyrs of the faith if you are an honest trader, the Bible says that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. This is seen in document 2 and 1. Referring back to document 5, Khaldun compares trading and merchants to gambling where you have chances of greater wins when you invest more and you should always seek the best before selling or trading something in seek of profit. Khaldun stated that trading is like gambling but most other people would disagree with Khaldun because it is easier to cheat when trading and it is also easier to gain and harder to lose when trading especially because you can stop a trade at any moment. Matthew states that you should do to others what others do to you but Aquinas states that you should not deceive one’s neighbor to injure him in any way for it is sinful. From the point of view of document 6, Italian buyers see that trade and selling of products should only be done if needed and they say that if you have enough to suffice you then you don’t need to sell products.

As time went by, around 1100 C. E. , trade started to develop and it started to gain a major role in the life of these people who once thought negatively about trade but were now beginning to change. The expansion of trade throughout the world in the 1100s, led to the change in thought of people of many religions including Christianity and Islam. Documents 1 and 2 come from before the eleventh century where these religions were just starting but documents 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, come from after the eleventh century where they had developed into great religions. While the Qur’an states that trade is a bad thing and is not helpful religious wise unless done honestly, which is mention in document 2, Khaldun, from document 5, states the complete opposite and says that it should be done in order to achieve profits. In Document 5, Khaldun is also not so reliable for he is just like Aquinas, a scholar who writes based on his research. In document 3, Reginald describes the life of a man that made great trades and succeeded in life but decided to give himself and his money entirely to God’s service. Referring back to document 6, Italians believed that masterpiece and certain works should only be bought when the artist was in need and not when you already have enough to suffice you. Reginald’s point of view from document 3, is that no matter how much you profit from trade, you should always give the profit in God’s service rather than for your own benefit. In document 7, this court order states that products should be distributed among all rather than sold to only one person even if he pays for it.

The three facts from the documents show that even though they were starting to change their thoughts in relation to trade, it also shows that they were still in doubt if it was actually good or bad to trade for profit. An additional document from Diego Duran’s Book of the Gods and Rites is als very helpful to understand how in the 1500’s Christians saw trade as something normal and helpful to society. After this period of doubt around the fourteenth century, the merchants and religious people finally changed their point of view towards trade and by the 1500s they had a new life style. Christians and Muslims never agreed in many aspects but in relation to trade they have always had a similar point of view, especially after the 1300s when it became a part of their daily life. After facing economic difficulties the Islam also started to accept trade normally around the fourteenth century C. E. The evolution of trade from 600 C. E. until 1500 C. E. led to a great change in point of views of the major religions in the world, Islam and Christianity, leading to them finally accepting and looking at trade positively in the fourteenth century C. E. This change in opinion or change in point of view is exactly like the Europeans view on Christians, at first it was seen as a negative thing and the Christians were hated until the Byzantine Empire appeared and Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Byzantine Empire in 600 C. E.

Even though Christianity and Islam are two very different religions, they had very similar ways of looking at trade, and they both started seeing it as something terrible that would never lead to heaven or success, but later when it became vital to their lives, they started accepting the importance of trade and considering it one of the most important things and even going to other places to seek for new trading countries in the sixteenth century C. E.