ABSTRACT
In recent years, political events have catapulted the relationship between Islam and Christianity into the spotlight, raising questions about the dynamics that have led to the variety of interactions that exist between the two religious communities today. This chapter outlines some general concepts that have influenced and characterises encounters between the two religious groups. The Qur'an itself focuses primarily on the nature of the deviations of Jewish and Christian doctrine and practice from the true message, but it also offers some explanations of how these aberrations have occurred. Within the first two centuries after Muhammad, the Muslim community grew in power and influence, spreading throughout the Mediterranean world and into southern Europe. The conflict between the Muslim East and Christian West persisted almost nonstop until Ottoman armies were finally halted following the siege of Vienna in 1683. After that, European powers reversed the trend, bringing most of the enormous Ottoman Empire under their influence and control in the following centuries.
