How has the beliefs of Islam impacted society?

Answer 1

This question has two parts: 1. What were the ways that Islam has impacted society? 2. How did these effects take place.? One way was through the Crusades. During the Middle Ages in Europe, most people were serfs, bound by law to remain on the land where they were born. Very few people were allowed to read and write; literacy was limited to the upper church hierarchy and a very few high public officials. Bathing was thought immoral; the average European or Brit of any social class only bathed 2-3 times per year. Saints boasted that they had never bathed in their lives. During the Crusades, vast armies of men of every social class travelled to the Muslim world, where they learned: 1. the concept that cleanliness is next to Godliness; for Muslims, formal worship is not possible unless the worshipper is in a state of ritual purity. Muslims must wash before prayer and must bathe if they have engaged in marital intimacy. Crusaders of all social classes discovered the many benefits and pleasures of personal cleanliness, and carried their new preference for cleanliness back to their castles, villages, and farms. 2. that it was possible and even desirable for ordinary people to lead to read. The Middle East had a very high literacy rate, because, as Muslims, the inhabitants, rich and poor, powerful and meek, sophisticated and simple, read and studied the Holy Qur'an. 3. that it was not necessary for ordinary people to be forced to live their entire lives on the same piece of land. Muslims were free to travel and do business, not only in their own regions, but to other regions and even other countries, and did not have to have anyone's permission to do it. One well-known result of this experience was the John Ball Rebellion. Inspired by the teachings of a serf name John Ball, who was a returned crusader, thousands of serfs left their demesnes and marched on England, demanding freedom. This action resulted in the signing of the Magna Charta, the first Northern European charter detailing the rights of people below the rank of royalty. Although the Magna Charta did not improve the condition of the common people, it did establish in Northern Europe that people other than royalty have rights, and was one of the first steps towards the Reformation of the Church, once common people in Europe began to learn to read and read The Bible for themselves. Another result was the eventual Reformation, a direct consequence of study of the Bible and other sacred texts. Even the Protestant proverb, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," is a result of the interaction between the Muslim world and Western Europe.