By DR. MEHNAZ AFRIDI
JEWS IN ISLAM
In Islam, Muslims are asked to live in harmony and accept Jews as a people of faith, believing that Jews were given a similar scriptural message from the same God. The two groups have shared a long history together: Jews are known as “People of the Book†or Ahl-al Kitab in Islam, and were the first group of people to accept and receive the most important message through Abraham that adheres to the monotheistic belief in the one-ness of God, or Tawhid. The Jews were the people led by Moses to spread the deep faith of the unknowable, inconceivable, beneficent, and all-knowing God. They share many beliefs, including belief in the one God, the prophetic tradition, dietary laws, ritual prayer, and alms to the poor, with their fellow Muslims. Islamic history is replete with Muslim-Jewish encounters, and their mentions in the Qur’an and the Prophet’s sayings are understood in the social and historical context of the Prophet’s time. As an example, the verses that indicate mistrust between the Jews and Muslims were revealed at a time when certain Jewish tribes broke their contract with the Prophet and refused to acknowledge him as a messenger of God. Daesh and other extremist groups not only attempt to erase the long history of Jewish-Muslim co-existence, but they also distort certain verses of the Qur’an to justify their hatred and violence toward the Jews, to whom they wrongfully refer as kuffar—loosely translated as “unbeliever†or “infidel.â€
The word “infidel,†in Arabic kafir (singular of kuffar) does not literally mean “non-believer.†In Arabic, kafir has multiple meanings and its root is commonly translated as “disbelief,†which also means “to conceal or cover the truth.†The word kafir is used in the Qur’an not only for Jews but also for Muslims who rejected belief in God, His miracles, or the Prophet’s sayings. The language of concealment, deafening and blinding, is also used to refer to those who go astray, including Muslims: “So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts†(22:46). Extremist groups, especially Daesh, have taken the word kafir and distorted it to justify violence and terror against Jews, Muslims, and those who do not agree with their skewed understanding of God’s religion.
The Qur’an also rejects any exclusivist claim to heavenly reward (2:111–112). The most pluralistic verse is repeated twice in the Qur’an, in 2:62 and 5:69, the former of which states: “The believers, the Jews, the Christians and the Sabians—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good—will have their rewards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor will they grieve.â€
The most important message of the Qur’an is with regard to the “Day of Judgment,†where Muslims believe the balance of their deeds will be revealed: “Those who believe (in the Qur’an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians (can mean an ancient religion or people with no specific religion), Christians, Magians, and Polytheists, God will judge between them on the Day of Judgment: for God (alone) is witness of all things†(22:17). Furthermore, the Qur’an states that judgment is a divine quality, and as such only God can fully judge humankind. As the Qur’an notes: “For behold, unto (only) Us will be their return, Then it will be for Us to Judge (humans)†(88:25–26). The concept of God being the ultimate Judge is so central to Muslim belief that those who accuse Jews—who are followers of God’s scripture—of being “infidels†are egregiously going against God’s revelations.
Furthermore, there is an oft-repeated charge against Muslims that the Qur’an is inherently anti-Semitic due to three Qur’anic verses that refer to Jews as either “apes†(2:63–65 and 7:163–166) or “apes and pigs†(5:59–60). While these verses exist and must be acknowledged, they also must be properly understood and contextualized. Nowhere in these verses (or anywhere else in the Qur’an) does God say that all Jews are apes or pigs. The verses in which Jews are called “apes†or “apes and pigs†refer to a specific group of Sabbath-desecrating Jewish fishermen who disobeyed God by profaning the Sabbath. God tells this group that their punishment is to “be as despicable as apes†since they refuse to obey God’s laws. Scholars argue that God did not literally turn these Jews into apes or pigs, but rather that this expression is metaphorical in nature. Distorted understandings of these verses and the use of “apes†or “apes and pigs†in the Qur’an have mutually reinforced the goals of extremist groups and Islamophobes alike; the former distort these verses to promote their incendiary political agendas, and the latter quote these extremist Jew-haters to “prove†that Islam denigrates Jews. Neither is true.
The Qur’an also refers to groups of Arabs as hypocrites: “And among those around you of the Arabs are hypocrites, and from the people of Medina. They have become accustomed to hypocrisy. You, O Muhammad, do not know them, but We know them. We will punish them twice [in this world]; then they will be returned to a great punishment†(9:101). If the same logic is applied to this verse then one can argue that the Qur’an considers all Arabs to be hypocrites. This claim is ridiculous.
Contrary to how extremists exploit scripture, the Qur’an prescribes tolerance and eternal life to Jews and asks Muslims to accept their message in the Torah (tawrah). The Qur’an states that Islam is close to Judaism, and as such, Muslims may even join Jews in communal meals, and Jews can worship in a mosque. Too, a Muslim man can marry a Jewish woman without her converting to Islam, something exemplified by Prophet Muhammad, who married two Jewish women: Safiya Bint Huyayy and Rayhana bint Zayd.
JEWISH-MUSLIM EARLY ENCOUNTER
The Prophet’s attempt to spread the message of the oneness of God, and equality of minorities and slaves, threatened the economic and military dominance of the neighboring polytheistic tribes. When the Jewish tribes—the Banu Qaynuqa‘, Banu al-Nadir, and Banu Qurayza—resisted and rejected his message, the Prophet offered them a mutually beneficial contract, the Pact of Medina, which they signed to affirm that they were part of a community (ummah) of believers and under mutual protection. This would form the basis of a multireligious community in Medina; however, this agreement was ultimately not successful and the Prophet suggested that Jews and Muslims live under their own religious laws (din).
As the nascent Muslim community grew, there were many attempts to assassinate the Prophet, and the Muslims were continually being attacked by pagan tribes. To fortify his troops during these battles, the Prophet needed to forge alliances with other tribes, a task for which he enlisted the help of arbitrator Sa’ad ibn Mua’dh, and which ultimately allied the Muslims with certain Jewish tribes, including the Banu Qurayza. During the Battle of the Trench, the Banu Qurayza did not uphold their agreement with the Prophet, but instead betrayed the Prophet, who had been relying on their support. Although the Muslims were severely outnumbered, the Prophet and his followers won the battle. By reneging on their agreement, the Banu Qurayza had committed political treason that needed to be punished. The Prophet once again turned to Sa’ad, this time to suggest an appropriate punishment. As Sa’ad was severely wounded in the battle, the Banu Qurayza agreed to his appointment as their judge. Sa’ad judged that their men were to be killed and their children and women to be taken as slaves, a decision the Prophet abided by. The Prophet, however, wanted to treat the Jewish members with kindness and compassion, so he married one of the Jewish women, thereby establishing the standard for respectful treatment for the remaining members of this Jewish tribe: “This day [all] good foods have been made lawful, and the food of those who were given the Scripture is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them. And [lawful in marriage are] chaste women from among the believers and chaste women from among those who were given the Scripture before you†(5:5).
JEWS AND MUSLIMS: MEDIEVAL TO MODERN
Jews and Muslims have built deep bonds on the foundations laid centuries ago. With similar beliefs and practices, Jews have lived in Muslim lands in harmony and co-existence with their neighbors. Jews and Muslims translated Greek works together into Arabic and Hebrew during the medieval period. Maimonides, a great Jewish philosopher, became a personal physician of Muslim governors. One of the most well-known examples is Shmuel Hanagid, who not only served as vizier (high official) of the Muslim king of Granada, but also as a commander of his armies. He successfully commanded power and brought his kingdom great fame and influence. Jews, in Muslim lands, often fared much better than anywhere else and shared in their local culture, language, and customs.
Jews were allotted governing power, especially from the tenth through the twelfth centuries in such areas as Muslim Spain, Iraq, Egypt, and areas of North Africa such as Tunisia, and in the Ottoman Empire during the sixteenth century. These were golden ages for Jews and their Muslim host countries. In the twentieth century, during the Holocaust, Albanian Muslims rescued Jews who were fleeing persecution. Muslims also helped Jews during the Holocaust in countries like Iran, Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt, and in Eastern European cities, including Sarajevo. Muslims were seen as the protectors of the People of the Book in the most dangerous times and were seen as people with whom Jews could live with in harmony without persecution.
JEWS ARE NOT THE ENEMY
There is no basis for hating or mistrusting Jews in the Qur’an or historically. They share a belief in the same monotheistic (Abrahamic) God, and share in the message of the Prophets Moses and Abraham. The periods of peace between the two faith communities outnumber the times of turbulence, no matter what the extremists want others to believe. Jews are seen in a favorable light and allotted a status that is highly regarded by Muslims and in the Qur’an: “Say, ‘O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord.’ And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people’†(5:68).
