At the outset I need to say that this programme does contain distressing issues, particularly between members of the three Abrahamic faiths. Furthermore, it is not my intention to stir any anti-Moslem hatred. I sincerely, have the highest regard for all peace loving Arabs, Moslems, and Palestinians.
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In conversation with a longstanding Jewish friend we were discussing the current Israel – Gaza war and the huge world-wide fallout that has resulted towards Jewish people. Jews just don’t feel safe anymore.
On October 7th, some 3,000 Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza and perpetrated a barbaric massacre which included horrific atrocities. Days later, bodies were still being found. Now, a month later Israeli forensics teams are struggling to identify many of the remains.1 The Israeli medics and volunteers doing this work have been deeply traumatized by the atrocities.2 According to the latest count, 1,400 people were murdered, mostly civilians and over 240 were taken to Gaza as hostages. It was the worst massacre of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. This report shows that as soon as news of the horrific slaughter broke, which was live–streamed on social media by some of the terrorists, United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff immediately celebrated and justified it on Facebook. UNRWA Gaza teacher Osama Ahmed posted “Allah is Great, Allah is Great, reality surpasses our wildest dreams.” UNRWA principal Iman Hassan justified the massacre as “restoring rights” and “redressing” Palestinian “grievances.” Rawia Helles, Director of the Khan Younis Training Center and featured in an UNRWA video, glorified one of the terrorists as a “hero,” “raider,” and “prince of Khan Younis.” English Teacher Asmaa Rafiq Kuheil excitedly called to “sculpture the date” adding a heart emoji. School Administrator Hmada Ahmed posted “welcome the great October.”
I have entitled this programme “Hate Didn’t Start Here.” So, where did it start, and what are the root causes? Why are Jews scapegoated and consistently blamed for the world’s ills? These and many other questions beg answers. I will attempt to address some of the underlying causes, and suggest some attempts to tell a different narrative about Jewish people.
Recently I was listening to a talk on ‘Dream therapy,’ and how to decipher our dreams. Sometimes our dreams don’t have any profound meaning, while at other times their meaning is quite straightforward, sometimes they require us to dig deeper to discover their meaning.
A particular troubling dream: I had a troubling dream the other night after having watched a news report in which Israel was being blamed for committing genocide, pogroms, and ethnic-cleansing of Palestinians. In the dream I had got into an argument with someone who had been accusing me of hating Arabs and Palestinians in particular. It was very life-like and in it I was robustly defending myself against these accusations, and in fact said unequivocally that neither accusation was true, and in fact I have Arab, and Palestinian friends, that include both Moslems and Christians. It was not difficult to discover the meaning to this dream.
A Chosen People – In the musical Fidler on the Roof, the main character Teviah, the milkman from his village Anatefka in the Pale of Settlement, in Eastern Europe is walking along the road pulling his milk cart by himself because his horse is sick. His back is aching and the sweat is running down his brow. He looks up to heaven and says, “God I know we are the chosen people, but would you mind choosing someone else for a change!” I need to add that life in general is tough for Jews with pogroms and hard time for the Jewish people from the authorities, and at times, their Gentile neighbours not treating well either.
So, what does choosiness imply? Chosen to be what and why did God choose the Jews? Well it actually started with one man – Abram, and one woman, Sarai, who latter became Abraham and Sarah, who were from Median which is Modern day Iran and Turkey. First Abraham received the call:
Genesis 12 New International Version
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[a]
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”[b]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring[c] I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.
So, Abram who became Abraham was called a Hebrew and subsequently he became known as a Jew. The term ‘Jew,’ actually come from one of Abraham’s great grand children, the son of Jacob, called Judah from which Jew is derived.
The three Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, each in term refer to Abraham as their father. So why then all the rivalry, hatred, and killing? Why then the Moslem world who share an ancestor with Jews and Christians, is seeking to dominate in the name of Islam? Both Jews and Christians are being murdered by radical, fanatical Moslems in various parts of the world, particularly driven by the Iranian Moslem regime. But it is far more complex than that, and not all Moslems hate Jews.
Our special focus: The particular focus of the podcast is the current Israel – Gaza war, and the international hate that this has inflamed globally! Dry tinder only requires a single flame to light it, and that flame was the horrific attack by Hamas upon Israel on the 7th October, 2023.
More often, reflecting the refusal of Jews and Christians in Muhammad’s environment to accept his message, the Quran stresses their inability to comprehend the message they possess but do not put into practice and to appreciate that Muhammad’s teaching fulfills that message.
JEWISH POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW
Volume 29, Numbers 3–4
Introduction
The question of the Koran’s attitude toward Jews is not merely a theoretical-academic matter. Because of the centrality of the Koran in the life of the Muslim and of Muslim communities past and present, this question has had, and still has in our day, a fundamental influence on the formation of attitudes toward Jews. True, this is not the only factor and more everyday ones also come into play. But the topic remains an important one to study and become familiar with.
This article will begin with the history of the first – and very problematic – chapter in Muslims’ relations with the Jewish groups in Arabia, particularly in the city of Medina. It will then present selected verses of the kind – and they are the majority – that propound a negative and hostile attitude toward Jews, along with verses – only few – from which a tolerant attitude can be derived. Finally, I will show the potential for a creative modern interpretation that bolsters the tolerant attitude, an interpretation that is now undergoing a certain revival against the backdrop of the struggles between extremists and moderates in the Islamic world.
The Historical Picture1
The Jews in Medina before the Hegira
In 622 Muhammad with his few believers moved to the city of Medina. More than 10 years of preaching to the residents of his own city, Mecca, had reached a dead end and he had been harshly persecuted. There is no credible information on Muhammad’s relations with Jews before the Hegira, but he may have encountered Jews in his journeys as a trader, which was his profession until he began to prophesize at the age of 40. It is clear, however, that the consent of several individuals and subtribes to receive him in Medina stemmed from these people’s exposure to a Jewish-monotheist influence; there was a significant Jewish presence in the city and its environs.
Three prominent Jewish tribes were in the city at the time of the Hegira: Qaynuqa, Nadir, and Qurayza. The latest research shows that their weight in the city was considerable; they dominated commerce, agricultural land, fortresses, and weapons. They were allies (not wards) of the two dominant Arab tribes, Aws and Khazraj.
The tribes had undergone a long process of Arabization (as reflected in their names, customs, and ways of life). There is no clear evidence of their religious-spiritual inclinations, but it is commonly assumed that they were rabbinic-Talmudic Jews of the familiar kind who observed commandments and were faithful to their God. An instance of this is the Beit Midrash in the city, a kind of “cheder” for the children of the Jews in which the sons of the Muslim elite also studied and, probably, assimilated a monotheistic attitude. It is not surprising that 7 of the 12 local leaders of Medina had been students in the “cheder.”
Attempts at Persuasion: Persecution and Killing
In the first period of his stay in Medina, Muhammad made great efforts to persuade the Jews to recognize him as a prophet and join his camp. To that end he was prepared to order his believers to pray in the direction of Jerusalem and to adopt Yom Kippur as a fast day. But his efforts were totally rebuffed. The Jews (with just a few exceptions) adhered to the rule that prophecy had already been annulled at the beginning of Second Temple days, and at most agreed that Muhammad may have been sent to spread a monotheistic message to the Arabs only. The traditions and the verses of the Koran show that the response to the Jews’ obduracy was a dramatic intensification of the polemics against them, centering on the accusation that they had distorted their own books, which, the Muslims claim, presage Muhammad’s revelation. This polemical escalation led to a staged process of removing the Jews, some of whom were deported and others killed. This process was reinforced by a gradual yet rapid joining of Muhammad’s ranks by non-Jewish residents of Medina. The Jews’ status deteriorated and they could no longer rely on the old defense pacts with the Arab tribes, whose leaders explained to them that “hearts have changed.”
Already in 624, about two years after the Hegira, Muhammad laid siege to the strongholds of the Jewish tribe Qaynuqa and deported them to Syria. They left all their weapons and all their property behind them. About a year later the members of Nadir were also deported after Muhammad’s forces had cut down their date orchards, the source of their livelihood. Their homes and property were also confiscated by the Muslim community. The most dramatic events occurred in 627, when the men of the Qurayza tribe were massacred and the women and children were sold into slavery. The tradition tries to obscure Muhammad’s responsibility for the killing of hundreds of Jews by accusing them of violating agreements, but this charge lacks any solid historical basis. The anti-Jewish campaign concluded with the conquest of the Khaybar oasis north of Medina in 628, the deportation of some of its residents, and the turning of others into tenant farmers. The slogan heard until today (at least in Hamas processions) is “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud, jish Muhammad sa Ya’ud!” (Khaybar, Khaybar, o Jews! The army of Muhammad will return!). It has become a symbol of the Jews’ subjugation in Arabia only six years after the Hegira.
Two other phenomena are worth noting. First, alongside the physical struggle against the Jews, Muhammad removed Jewish elements from his new religion: the direction of prayer reverted to Mecca instead of Jerusalem; the month of Ramadan replaced Yom Kippur as the time of fasting; and other steps were taken to emphasize Islam’s more independent and elevated status. Second, interestingly, there are no signs of significant cooperation among the Jewish tribes in resisting Muhammad. For now it is hard to find the reason for this.
Some Koranic “Jewish” Verses
When the Koran refers explicitly to the Jews, it uses three different terms: Children of Israel, “Banu Israil;” the Jews, “al-Yahud;” and “the People of the Book,” a term that refers to Jews and Christians alike. The first category concerns the biblical Israelites and almost always echoes the biblical story, in many cases adding materials from the immense Jewish literature of interpretations and legends that do not appear in the Bible, mostly from the Midrash.
The vast majority of the verses are utterly pejorative and it is easy to understand why and how they have been used to justify Muslim anti-Semitic attitudes past and present. In the first category, the stories stress the grave sins of the Israelites, mainly their disobedience of God and their prophets, and the harsh punishments that were their lot throughout their long history of suffering. Some of the punishments will haunt them forever, according to some verses. The tales are shaped to maintain a similarity between the fate of the biblical prophets and the situation of Muhammad vis-à-vis the heathen Arabs and the Jews who rejected him. This setting puts Muhammad on an equal footing with Moses and Jesus, for example, and also provides him with a divine promise that notwithstanding all the hurdles his way and message will finally prevail.
In the second and third categories, the harsh allegations are directed against the Jews who confronted Muhammad and refused to join his new religion. These are basically verses of bitter polemic against the beliefs and actions of those Jews.
As a rule, the Koran lacks any mention of the specific context of the revelation. Nevertheless, the “Jewish” verses usually conform to the basic historical sequence laid down by Muslim tradition and widely accepted today by Western scholarship. So, roughly speaking, we find a few tolerant verses, probably dating to the period when Muhammad still hoped to gain the Jews’ support and/or lacked the power to act directly against them using violent means. These verses are also relevant to the period when he sought to convince his own Meccan tribe that he was God’s Messenger. Even then, and also in later stages, negative verses about the Israelites are also included.
The following is a small selection of relevant verses, each followed by a short summation.
Anti-Jewish Verses
An example of a grave sin of the ancient Israelites.
…The people of Moses took to them, after him, of their ornaments a Calf — a mere body that lowed. Did they not see it spoke not to them, neither guided them upon any way? Yet they took it to them, and were evildoers. (7:145-146)
The Jews are accused of unbelief and of killing their own prophets.
So, for their breaking the compact, and disbelieving in the signs of God, and slaying the Prophets without right, and for their saying, “Our hearts are uncircumcised” — nay, but God sealed them for their unbelief, so they believe not, except a few.… (4:154-155)
A clear reference to the destruction of the two temples and a warning for the future.
And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: “You shall do corruption in the earth twice.…”
So, when the promise of the first of these came to pass, We sent against you servants of Ours, men of great might, and they went through the habitations, and it was a promise performed.
Then We gave back to you the turn to prevail over them.…
Then, when the promise of the second came to pass, We sent against you Our servants to discountenance you, and to enter the Temple, as they entered it the first time. (17:4-7)
The major allegation of falsification, which is much repeated in the Koran.
People of the Book, now there has come to you Our Messenger, making clear to you many things you have been concealing of the Book, and effacing many things.… (5:19)
Part of the sinfulness of the Jews is their adherence to their sages and not directly to the Torah.
The Jews say, “Ezra is the Son of God”; the Christians say, “The Messiah is the Son of God.”
…God assail them! How they are perverted!
They have taken their rabbis and their monks as Lords apart from God. (9:30-31)
Jews are hostile to Muslims:
Thou wilt surely find the most hostile of men to the believers are the Jews and the idolaters. (5:85)
One of the harshest verses, describing the Jews as apes and swine.
Say: “People of the Book, do you blame us for any other cause than that we believe in God, and what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down before, and that most of you are ungodly?…”
Whomsoever God has cursed, and with whom He is wroth, and made some of them apes and swine, and worshippers of idols — they are worse situated, and have gone further astray from the right way. (5:64-65)
An indication of the battles against the Jews, and a divine authorization to kill them.
And He brought down those of the People of the Book who supported them from their fortresses and cast terror in their hearts; some you slew, some you made captive. And He bequeathed upon you their lands, their habitations, and their possessions, and a land you never trod. God is powerful over everything. (33:26)
Tolerant Verses
If God had willed, He would have made you one nation; but that He may try you in what has come to you. So be you forward in good works; unto God shall you return.… (5:54)
No compulsion is there in religion. Rectitude has become clear from error. So whosoever disbelieves in idols and believes in God, has laid hold of the most firm handle, unbreaking…. (2:257)
How can we turn hatred into love? If we continue to perpetuate hatred between Moslems, Jews and Christians, we will continue to hate and seek ways to destroy each other – Love is all we need, the Beetles song says! Nice thought, but the ‘how,’ is much more complex, and that is going to require much more that having nice thoughts about each other!
Gods way: We like to sing, “I want God’s way to be my way as I journey here below, for there is no other highway that a Child of God should go…” Lovely sentiment, yet we cannot escape the harsh reality of all the conflict, hatred, war, and killing that is taking place all too often in the Name of God! Allah Akbar – God is great, as the suicide bomber blow him or her self up, and killing countless other innocent people with them in their declaration of God’s greatness – really?
Yeshua is the way: Jesus, Yeshua or Isa holds the key to unlocking the door upon God’s true love, and helping to end all the strife between the three Abrahamic faiths.
Isa (Arabic: عِيسَى, romanized: ʿĪsā) is a classical Arabic name and a translation of Jesus. The name Isa is the name used for Jesus in the Quran. However, it is not the only translation; it is most commonly associated with Jesus as depicted in Islam, and thus, commonly used by Muslims.
Encountering This Jewish Jesus: Messianic Jewish Faith and Practice by Roni Mechanic | 27 Aug 2023
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