Islamic Anti-Semitism

One issue that has long been difficult for me to confront has been the existence of extreme anti-Semitism among the Muslims. This attitude goes beyond a contempt for a modern state of Israel, it arises in the attitudes of Muslims every day, everywhere. So where does this vitriol stem from? Is it inculcated in Islam's teachings?

Yes and no.

Islam, and other monotheistic traditions including Judaism, supersedes previous religious tradition. Some of you may be thinking, "Judaism was the first!" That isn't exactly correct. From what we know of Jewish scripture, the Jews worshiped other deities prior to their adoption of monotheism. The most readily accessible point for this would be the worship of the golden calf, idolatry. They reverted back to their old ways. Further in, we encounter the names of deities, now retold as evil spirits or perhaps adversarial deities. Ba'al literally means "Lord" or "Master", but has long been equated with a false deity or belief, Ba'alzebub etc.

Judges 2:11 The Israelites did evil before the Lord by worshiping the Baals. 3:7 The Israelites did evil in 
the Lord’s sight. They forgot the Lord their God and worshiped the Baals and the Asherahs.


Another interesting comparison to pre-existing mythology is that of the story found in Genesis with the Enuma Elis. This epic is the basis for the Babylonian creation myth, and includes a striking resemblance to the story of creation found in Genesis. Curiously, this myth is far older than the story told in Genesis, which suggests a great deal of "borrowing" at best or abrogation at worst.  


The old Semitic religions to which these deities and beliefs belonged have now long been forgotten, either destroyed by their Jewish competitors or simply discarded for other beliefs. Similarly, Christianity and Islam have made significant in-roads into abrogating the pre-existing Abrahamic beliefs and adding onto their own belief system. Objectively, in the case of Islam, Allah (subhana wa t'ala) was likely a deity unrelated to the pantheon from which Yahweh was drawn. However, the Arabs applied the lore and beliefs from this earlier tradition to their indigenous beliefs creating the religion we call Islam today.


It is in this light that we should view Islam's refashioning of Jewish lore. Simply put: the Muslims have done what all other peoples before them did, they adopted pre-existing religious belief as their own. In truth, this means that all religious likely has similar origins and all share a composite view from a scholarly standpoint. As a Muslim, I accept that the revelations granted to Muhammad (sallahu aleyhi wa sellam) were genuine. Are they new? Well, no, Muslims readily accept that there's nothing "new" to it. 


Allah says: " And certainly We sent messengers before you: there are some of them that We have mentioned to you and there are others whom We have not mentioned to you, and it was not meet for a messenger that he should bring a sign except with Allah's permission, but when the command of Allah came, judgment was given with truth, and those who treated (it) as a lie were lost." (40:78)


and also


"And certainly We raised in every nation a messenger saying: Serve Allah and shun the Shaitan. So there were some of them whom Allah guided and there were others against whom error was due; therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters." (16:36)


By the same token, Muslims should readily accept that what is old, e.g. Judaism, is not "wrong". Jews are the religious group most like ourselves on the planet. I'm not even talking about cosmetic similarities like kosher and halal or the fact that we use a Semitic language as a liturgical language, I mean our core belief. We both believe, verbatim, that God is ONE. That should encapsulate everything Muslims need to know about Jews right there, that these people are the believers in ONE God, and there is ONLY ONE GOD. Are they Muslims? Not by the definition given to us, but they are certainly close and certainly could potentially come to accept Islam. If they do not seek to be enjoined to Islam, I am not of the capacity to judge them or ascertain that they will enter hellfire or any other form of spiritual extortion. 

Some may argue that the Qur'an encourages hatred of Jews. I find this claim to be not only laughable, but also erroneous to such a degree as to betray the fact that the accuser hasn't read the work to begin with. Of chief concern to those who claim the Qur'an is anti-Semitic are these verses:


Allah says:  "And you had already known about those who transgressed among you concerning the sabbath, and We said to them, "Be apes, despised."(2:65)



and


"And ask them about that town which stood by the sea: how its people would profane the Sabbath whenever their fish came to them, breaking the water’s surface, on a day on which they ought to have kept Sabbath - because they would not come to them on other than Sabbath-days!...And then, when they disdainfully persisted in doing what they had been forbidden to do, We said unto them: ‘Be as apes despicable!" (7:163-166)


Commentators have argued that these passages mean that God literally transformed Jews into apes and pigs. This is wrong on multiple fronts. First of all, the passage is allegorical. I don't care how you want to spin it, "be AS apes" is pretty clear. They had rejected the message and in doing so had doomed themselves for not honoring their bargain. That said, not all of the Jews have turned their backs on their agreement with God. Unlike in the Bible, where we're left to question whether or not passages are literal, Allah says: 


"It is He who has sent down to you, [O Muhammad], the Book; in it are verses precise - they are the foundation of the Book - and others allegorical. As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they will follow that of it which is allegorical, seeking discord and seeking an interpretation [suitable to them]. And no one knows its interpretation except Allah . But those firm in knowledge say, "We believe in it. All is from our Lord." And no one will be reminded except those of understanding." (3:7)


There are other verses which essentially state that the Jews turned their backs on previous prophets, and often led themselves astray. In and of themselves, these verses are not anti-Semitic, as they refer to specific people at a specific time. By that logic, the Bible is an anti-Semitic tract because it details points where the Jews were successfully enticed to apostasy. 


Ok, so maybe the Qur'an isn't as anti-Semitic as some claim. Now how about various hadith collections? Without question, anti-Semitism exists in authenticated hadith narratives most respected by Muslim jurists. The following is related in both Muslim and al-Bukhari:


"Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews."  Book 41, Number 6985


Emphasis added is my own. How do Muslims respond to this being in our most cherished collections? Surely we cannot reject this?

My question is: "Why can't I?" The above is not from the immutable word of Allah (subhana wa t'ala), it was penned centuries later by fallible men with their own agendas. It's not alone either, there's a great deal more, this is probably just the most reprehensible example. Reports such as these should be scrutinized by Muslims. Does this not conflict with earlier statements found in Allah's own words? Why should we allow a sentiment found in a medieval document supersede what we feel to be the very word of God?!

The hadith flesh out a significant portion of our faith, without them we'd be lost. Similarly, we must carefully analyze these texts and respect a preference of opinion concerning their merit. If I choose to disavow this writing, I see no harm in it. Indeed, I am not disobeying Allah or his Messenger by doing so. I am challenging the belief, and I believe quite firmly that Muslims are called to challenge their religion daily.

Muslims and Jews are similar in one other, very important way. We're both the 'other' historically in Western civilization. Criticism of the Talmud has long been a staple of Christian anti-Semities such as Johann Andreas Eisenmenger and Elizabeth Dilling, and similarly we are seeing a rash of attacks on the Qur'an and hadith along much of the same lines. Jews have long been accused of plotting to take over the world. Look at any major conspiracy theorist site or blatant anti-Semitic site and you'll see it writ large: Jewish bankers control our government, our media, and probably our minds. Similarly, we today hear that Muslims are engaged in a worldwide quest for Islamic domination. Dar al-Harb versus Dar al-Islam. Anti-Semites claim that Jews can deceive gentiles through their prayer of kol nidre, anti-Muslims claim that Muslims can deceive the kuffar through taqiyyah.

At the end of the day, it's the same old story. Muslims may very well be the "new Jews", but they aren't helping matters by persisting in making Jews the "old Jews". Let's be very clear about this, there can be no progress in the Islamic world today if it continues to operate on the paradigm that there is a Jewish adversary seeking to control the whole of the Middle East under some sort of kosher hegemony. Jews are our natural allies, not our enemy.