Short essay Christian and Islamic View on Body and Marriage

Short essay Christian and Islamic View on Body and Marriage Christianity views the body as a tool to ascend toward God and in its early days, it encouraged practicing extreme forms of fasting and abstinence from sex as a way to tame one’s desires and control his instincts. Women who preserved their virginity infinitely were considered to be closer to God and chastity was revered as a higher physical functional level that can help the individual achieve his ultimate spiritual goal. Although Chasity was a higher level of spiritual performance, monogamous marriages were sacred in Christianity. On the other hand, Islam is a tradition that offers different perceptions on the body, and even though the body can be a tool for ascendance toward God, Muslims were advised and encouraged to marry and neglect chastity and to stay away from extreme self-inflicted suffering which may include unsupervised fasting and resisting one’s instincts. Marriage is a sacred union in Islam, but it doesn’t have to be “till death us do part” and polygamy is permissible under strict rules. I would like to address the Christian and Islamic views on the body and marriage and present the differences and similarities of these binary views and the cause behind it. Christianity is a tradition that is heavily saturated with Greek and Latin influence because it saw the light under the Roman Empire that was adjunct to the Greeks. However, Christianity had its own innovative perception of the body and marriage. While the body was a public property in the Greek and Roman times and the men were encouraged to keep a healthy lifestyle with exercise, nutrition, and open relationships, Christianity came along looking down upon flesh and sex; they were considered impure and dirty and implementing suffering on the body was believed to free and strengthen the soul and allow the person to be closer to God. The pleasures of the body were the devil’s weapons according to Christianity (Goldhill, 105), therefore, the perfect Christian was bound to carry an ascetic lifestyle. Christianity promoted that desires are the habitat of sin which overburden the soul and prevent it from waking up to God’s message. Preventing the sin is the main drive behind accustoming the body to harsh states of living and this is why people like Simeon Stylites practiced their acts of physical suffering for the sake of God (Goldhill, 104). Christian theology supported the concept of body suffering and we can observe some philosophers and theologians like Anselm of Canterbury (1033—1109) saying that the desire can control and shape the person’s will and direct it toward sinning “ although I must admit that we are sometimes so beleaguered by temptations that it would be difficult for us not to will what they suggest” ( Anselm, 42). As a result, Christians were encouraged to practice extreme physical measures These measures include continuous fasting and abstinence from sex. that they believed will sustain the soul in a state of purity. Christianity addressed the marriage as being a lifetime union between a man and a woman “It was Christians, for example, who proposed that marriage was a sacrament that should last forever” (Goldhill, 99). Men were only allowed to have sex only with their wives and any extramarital relationships were considered to be adultery and infidelity. This concept of the marriage challenged its Greek precedent, where having extramarital sex partners Mainly men with young boys. was normalized. Marriage is sacred in Christianity, and during its earliest days divorce was not in the church’s agenda "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery " (Mark 10:11-12). Sexual morality was to be preserved within marriage and marital family ties were the main establishment of society. Islam came six centuries later to present a different view on the human body and a somehow similar view on marriage. In the Islamic tradition, the human being is trusted by God to keep his or her own body in a balanced state physically and psychologically. Inflicting physical suffering is forbidden in Islam and God doesn’t require the individual to apply extreme practices in order to understand his message and purify the soul “We never burden any soul beyond its capacity (Quran 2:286). According to Islam, the human being is born sinless and by following the rules and duties of the tradition, he will be able to ascend toward God. Fasting is required from sunrise to sunset on a specific month The holy month of Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. During this month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset. every year and during this month, Muslims recharge their family ties and spiritual stamina and are recommended to increase their prayers and to read the Quran The Holy book of Muslims.. Asceticism and chastity are not encouraged, on the contrary, the individual should pursue what strengthens the social ties and what benefits the community as a whole “sexual abstinence, a vow of silence, turning eyes to heaven, a regime of prayer, a commitment to fasting, are all ways of destroying the social links between humans” ( Goldhill,107). The Islamic view on marriage is similar to the Christian’s with little modifications. Marriage is a sacred union In Islam and Christianity however, there is always room to reverse this union in the Islamic law in case one or both partners had a change of heart or found fundamental reasons for the separation " If a couple fears separation, you shall appoint an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from her family; if they reconcile, God will help them get together. God is Omniscient, Cognizant" (Quran 4:35). Polygamy is another practice that differentiates Islamic and Christian marriages There are new Christian sects in modern times like the Mormons for instance that practice some form of polygamy but in this essay, I am targeting the original and early version of Christianity. . Men are conditionally permitted to take up to four wives but they have to treat them equally and not cause any psychological harm to any of them. During the birth and the rise of Islam, women could not survive without the male's guardianship, therefore Muslims married for other reasons than love. Widowed, divorcee, and captured females had no way to sustain themselves without men’s protection and marriage also served as a union between different tribes and different countries; it was a peacemaker of some sort. The Islamic view on the body is more realistic and pragmatic in comparison to Christianity. Islam does not require pushing the body beyond its boundaries, on the contrary, it advises the individual to maintain balance and harmony and to enjoy life within the limitations of the religion. The ideal Muslim is the one that gets married, serves the community, and abide by the Islamic law while an Ideal Christian has his eyes focused on the heavens and his body habituated to live under an unbalanced biological state. Christianity encouraged extreme bodily practices that can unveil the purest form of worship while Islam promoted a state of balance where the body can function at its best yet be able to achieve a supreme spiritual state. Marriage is respected in both traditions with a mild difference in rules and regulations. Christianity is rooted in the Graeco-Roman tradition and Islam built of Christianity and elaborated more reasonable and pragmatic forms of worship, and we can conclude that both these traditions are adequate to the human life because they survived until our modern day. However, Islam works with the person’s abilities and endurance and it expects the human being to observe his biological need and settle for what is basic and keep a balance between the mundane and the spiritual. Works Cited Anselm, and Thomas Williams. Three Philosophical Dialogues: on Truth on Freedom of Choice on the Fall of the Devil. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub. Co, 2002. Goldhill, Simon. Love, Sex & Tragedy: How the Ancient World Shapes Our Lives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments. London: Trinitarian Bible Society, 2010. The Holy Quran. Hockessin, DE: Noor Foundation International, 2001. 1 Maaz