Islamic–Jewish relations
Islamic–Jewish relations
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Islamic–Jewish relations

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Islamic–Jewish relations

Religious ties between Muslims and the Jewish people have existed since the founding of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century; Muhammad's views on Jews were shaped by his extensive contact with the Jewish tribes of Arabia during his lifetime. Islam shares similar values, guidelines, and principles with the Jewish religion, and also incorporates Jewish history as a part of its own. Muslims regard the Israelites, to whom Jews and Samaritans trace their ethnic ancestry, as an important religious concept; they are referenced around 43 times in the Quran, excluding individual prophets, and in many accounts of hadith. Similarly, Moses, the most important Jewish prophet, is also regarded by Muslims as an Islamic prophet and messenger (see: Moses in Islam); his name is mentioned in the Quran 136 times—more than any other individual—and his life is narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. The Torah, which is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, is also held by Muslims as an Islamic holy book that was revealed by God (or Allah) through various Israelite prophets and messengers (see: Torah in Islam). Later rabbinic authorities and Jewish scholars, such as Maimonides, engaged in discussions concerning the relationship between Islam and Jewish religious law. Maimonides himself, it has been argued, was influenced by Islamic legal thought while living in the caliphates of his time.

Although the origins of Judaism go back to the time of the ancient Hebrews, it is considered to have started becoming a distinct religion in its own right in the Kingdom of Judah, where it developed as a strictly monotheistic outgrowth of Yahwism. Thus, with a difference of at least 2,000 years, Judaism and Islam share a common geographical origin in what is known today as the Middle East, with the former from the Southern Levant and the latter from the Hejaz. Additionally, both religions claim Abraham as their spiritual patriarch and are thereby classified as Abrahamic religions. Islam was strongly influenced by Judaism in its fundamental religious outlook, structure, jurisprudence, and practice. Because of this similarity, as well as through the influence of Islamic culture and philosophy on the Jewish populations in the Muslim world, there has been considerable and continued physical, theological, and political overlap between the two religions since Islam's founding. Notably, the first Islamic Waqf was donated by a Jew named Mukhayriq, who was a rabbi in the city of Medina. In 1027, the Jewish polymath Samuel ibn Naghrillah became top advisor and military general of the Taifa of Granada in the Muslim-controlled Iberian Peninsula.

The Jewish people are among the three original "People of the Book" of Islam, which recognizes them, Christians, and Sabians as followers of the pre-Islamic revelations of Allah. Ties between the two communities have been marked by periods of cooperation, of ambivalence, and of open conflict. The early Muslims fought battles with a number of the Jewish tribes of Arabia, such as the Banu Qurayza, and Jews were persecuted at times under Muslim rule in subsequent centuries. Most recently, the Arab–Israeli conflict has resulted in heightened tensions between the Jewish world and the Muslim world, including the perpetuation of antisemitism and Islamophobia.

The term "Semitic" is due to the legendary derivation of the peoples so called from Shem, son of Noah (Genesis 10:1). Hebreaic and Arabian peoples are generally classified as Semitic, a racialist concept derived from Biblical accounts of the origins of the cultures known to the ancient Hebrews. Those closest to them in culture and language were generally deemed to be descended from their forefather Shem, one of the sons of Noah.[citation needed] Enemies were often said to be descendants of his cursed nephew Canaan, grandson of Noah, son of Ham. Modern historians confirm the affinity of ancient Hebrews and Arabs based on characteristics that are usually transmitted from parent to child, such as genes and habits, with the most well-studied criterion being language.[citation needed] Similarities between Semitic languages (including Hebrew and Arabic) and their differences with those spoken by other adjacent people confirm the common origin of Hebrews and Arabs among other Semitic nations.

Around the 12th century BC, Judaism developed as a monotheistic religion. According to Jewish religious tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham, who is considered a Hebrew. (The first Hebrew being Eber, a forefather of Abraham.) The Hebrew Bible occasionally refers to Arvi peoples (or variants thereof), translated as "Arab" or "Arabian" deriving from "Arava" plain, the dwellers of plains.[citation needed] Some Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula are considered descendants of Ismael, the first son of Abraham.[citation needed] While the commonly held view among historians is that Islam originated in Arabia in the 7th century AD, in Islam's view, Adam was the first Muslim (in the sense of believing in Allah and surrendering to Allah's commands). Islam also shares many traits with Judaism (as well as with Christianity), like the belief in and reverence for common prophets, such as Moses and Abraham, who are recognized in all three Abrahamic religions.

Judaism and Islam are known as "Abrahamic religions". The first Abrahamic religion was Judaism as practiced in the wilderness of the Sinai peninsula subsequent to the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and continuing as the Hebrews entered the land of Canaan to conquer and settle it. The kingdom eventually split into the kingdoms of Israel and Judah prior to the Babylonian Exile, at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. The firstborn son of Abraham, Ishmael, is considered by Muslims to be the Father of the Arabs. Abraham's second son Isaac is called Father of the Hebrews. In Islamic tradition Isaac is viewed as the grandfather of all Israelites and the promised son of Ibraham from his barren wife Sarah. In the Hadith, Muhammad says that some twenty five thousand prophets and messengers came from Abraham's seed, most of these being from Isaac, and that the last one in this line was Jesus. In the Jewish tradition Abraham is called Avraham Avinu or "Our Father Abraham". For Muslims, he is considered an important prophet of Islam (see Ibrahim) and the ancestor of Muhammad through Ishmael. Ibrahim is regarded as one of the prophets of Islam alongside Noah, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, among others. The narrative of his life in the Quran is similar to that seen in the Tanakh.

As in Judaism and Christianity, Moses is regarded in Islam as one of the most prominent prophets. His story is frequently recounted in both the Meccan and Medinan chapters, some of which are long. Although there are differences in the Quranic and Biblical accounts, the remaining narratives are similar. They agree on the events of Moses' infancy, exile to Midian, plagues and miracles, deliverage of the Israelites, parting of the Red Sea, the revelation of the tablets, the incident of the Golden Calf and the 40 years of wandering.

According to Noegel and Wheeler some scholars think there is a parallel between the status of Aaron in Moses' narrative and Umar in the narrative of Muhammad. In both the Biblical and Quranic accounts, Moses is accompanied by Aaron. In both accounts Moses is portrayed more actively. The Quranic and Biblical accounts differ on the nus of responsibility for the Golden Calf incident. The Bible accuses Aaron, whereas the Quranic narrative defends him.

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