Christianity And Islamic Responses To The Black Death Dbq Essay

In the mid-14th century, a state of physical and mental weariness shot over Europe and the Middle East due to the Black Death. People’s responses to this calamity was influenced by their religion and worldview. The two major religions, Christianity and Islam, dealt with the Black Death in many different ways. As for the Muslims, they viewed the plague as if it was a blessing from God and that prayer was negative. However, Christians believed it was a punishment from God, but God was not the only person they blamed. These statements are not the only ones that show how vastly different the responses of Christian and Muslims are. Christians throughout this disastrous time period were so eager to find someone to blame. They not only blamed God, but also accused the Jews of poisoning their wells. Due to so many deaths, the Christians were in a position where they thought conjunction of planets and excessive clothing caused the Black Plague unlike what the Muslims thought. Throughout this time period, Christians gave in to greed and evil when the plague caused so many deaths. In Document 6 it states, “The people for the greater part ever became more depraved, more prone to every vice and more inclined than before to evil and wickedness, not thinking of death, nor of the past plague nor of …show more content…
Instead of putting the blame on God like the Christians did, the Muslims carried around their holy book praying and weeping to God for his mercy on them. The Muslims stood steadfast and did not give up on their religion because of the disease, according to Document 9. Unlike the Christians, the Muslims did not kill the Jews based on Document 7. The Muslims way of prevention is vastly different compared to the Christians. In Document 5 it states in the Near East they consumed pumpkin seeds and sour juices, drank a solution of Amenina clay, stayed indoors, and used letter magic to prevent the Black