Grant J. Brill
Prof. Kurt Messick
RE 330 \u2013 Religions of the Middle East
30 March 2009

\u201cPeople of the Book\u201d is a term that is given to encompass the Abrahamic faiths of
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam who all share an intimate religious history in the Middle
East. Today, it is easy to attribute their grievances to colonialism; however, this can
sometimes be too simplistic as each religion has reacted differently and followed
different paths that have developed into what we see today. In this research paper we will
examine some of the fundamental events that have led to the religious complexities we
see today. To a certain degree each religion has begun modernizing at a different point in
history. For the purposes of this paper, modernization of each faith in the Middle East
began for the Christians and Muslims in 1071 with the defeat of the Byzantine Empire in
Tukey, and for Judaism in 1517 with the beginning of the reformation. The goal is not
just to track their historical efforts to adapt to a region whose geopolitical atmosphere
makes the separation of religion and politics impossible, but to also look at the problems
facing the people of the book\u2019s ability to peacefully coexist.

In 1007, the Byzantine Empire was in decay throughout the Turkish plains. The
Muslim Seljuks had been victorious and were now headed toward Constantinople.1
Meanwhile, the Byzantine Empire was primarily Christian yet the Byzantium
governments allowed for few civil liberties leaving its citizens open to a change in
government. Consequently, when Muslim armies entered the region they were welcomed
as liberators, and rightly so as Muslims entered viewing Christians as equals since they

were people of the book.2 While this inspired some Christians to convert to Islam and
some to maintain their identity it developed into a crisis that Pope Urban II in France had
to address. His response was the Christian Crusades which to much surprise started with
the persecution and massacre of the Jewish population in Europe. Each of the four
Crusades launched between 1099 and 1204 ended with increasing disaster, and in the end,
the crusaders were only able to secure Constantinople. The ruthless tactics of
indiscriminant killings employed by the crusaders left an impression on Muslims that can
be seen today. After the Crusades, Islam became not only the dominant religion in the
region but also less merciful when dealing with other faiths, in particular Christianity. As
Christianity receeded Islam became more and more prevalent in the region, Christian
communities assumed a low profile so as to not be perceived as a threat or rivalry by the
more predominant Muslims. This profile would continue until the end of World War I.

Meanwhile in 1517, Europe\u2019s Reformation era was in full swing with its aim of
revitalizing the Christian church through means of conversion. In the sights of the
Christian church were the numerous Jews who after centuries of exile and persecution
had found safe havens in much of Europe. Perhaps no one had greater hope for
converting the Jews as Martin Luther (1483-1546) who viewed conversion to be
relatively simple, based upon the success of the apostles during the time of Christ. Luther
was wrong though, making a fatal error in not taking into account that it was the result of
over a thousand years of persecution and exile that the Jews were in Europe and not in
the Holy Land with much of the aggression carried out by Christians. Unable to come to