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*Do Muslims Hate Jews?* Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2009 http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225697872492&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE Question: Name of Questioner: Murtaza Why is there hatred between Muslims and Jews and how does Islam want us to treat Jews? Answer: Answered By: *Shahul Hameed*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1123996220182&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAAboutIslamCounselorE%2FAAboutIslamCounselorE> Salam, Murtaza. Thank you for your question. It is a sad fact that there has been so much misunderstanding and suspicion between the Jewish and Muslim communities all these years. In fact, there are several common factors that should have served as bases for both communities to have a cordial relationship, though the reality on the ground is unfortunately different. The most important belief that should bind Muslims and Jews together as brothers and sisters is the faith in the One True God of the universe. Both religions teach the need for establishing the Law of God on earth, so that there will be peace and harmony flourishing everywhere. All the Jewish prophets, including Moses (peace be on him) are honored and respected by Muslims as prophets of Islam too. Particularly honored is Abraham (peace be upon him) whom the Quran calls an "*ummah* or a nation unto himself. Indeed, both Jews and Arabs are the Children of Abraham; Jews descended from his second son Isaac (peace be on him) and Arabs from the first son of Ishmael (peace be on him). To Moses, God Almighty revealed the Torah, as He revealed to Jesus (peace be on him) the Gospel. Completing the progressive revelation of the Divine Guidance to man, God finally revealed the Quran to the final messenger, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). All these prophets were sent by God and the religion they taught was basically the same religion, namely submission to God (which is the meaning of the word *"Islam"*). But instead of developing mutual love as a result of these common grounds, the Jews and Muslims developed mutual animosity over the centuries. The reasons are as follows: The Jews claim that being the children of Abraham, they should get the land of Canaan (Palestine) promised to Abraham's "seed" by Jehovah. The relevant verse in the Torah says: *"And I will give you and your seed after you the land of your sojournings, the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be to them for a God."* And God said to Abraham, *"And you shall keep My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations."* (Bereishit (Genesis) 17:8-9) The Arabs are the children of Abraham's firstborn Ishmael, and the Jews are the children of his second son, Isaac. The Jews claim that Ishmael's children have no right to* "the Promised Land"*; because Ishmael was the son of the handmaiden of Sarah, the mother of Isaac. The complexity of the problem arises from the above claim. In the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), the sixth book of the Bible, we read in Chapter 21: *"If a man has two wives-one beloved and the other despised-and they bear him sons, the beloved one and the despised one, and the firstborn son is from the despised one.* ** *Then it will be, on the day he [the husband] bequeaths his property to his sons, that he will not be able to give the son of the beloved [wife] birthright precedence over the son of the despised [wife]-the [real] firstborn son.* ** *Rather, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the despised [wife] and give him a double share in all that he possesses, because he [this firstborn son] is the first of his strength, then he has the birthright entitlement. "* (Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21:15-17) It is obvious here that a mother's status does not deprive her firstborn of his rights. But the Jews sideline this rule of the Torah, just for denying Ishmael's children their right to the land God gave them as well as to their brethren, the Children of Isaac. The Jews believe in their racial superiority, because they think that their status as God's Chosen People can mean nothing else. The Quran, (though it is criticized by some Jews as anti-Semitic, for example, *Al-Baqarah 2:47*<http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURAN/2.htm>) very clearly states that the Children of Israel are God's Chosen People. But the Quran denies the claim that this means that God considers the Jews as His favorites in derogation of others, see *Al-Jumu`ah 62:6-7*<http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/QURAN/62.htm>). Their special status only means that God chose them as the special carriers of His Message; for He chose from them a large number of prophets, for instance. As a community, the Jews were unmindful of the mission entrusted them, and were very casual in the matter of obedience to God and His prophets. (Exodus 32: 1-9) This is clear from the Old Testament of the Bible. Muslims say that this was the reason why God made them undergo severe hardships again and again. In the 19th century, following a trend in Europe, people around the world began identifying themselves as nations and demanding national rights. At this time, the Jews living as citizens of different countries could have remained in their respective countries, as the Christians and Muslims did. But two factors conspired against this; first, their consciousness of the Promised Land to which the Jewish fundamentalists had been calling all Jews to return; and second, the bitterness they felt against the lands where they had been treated as outcasts so far. (Karen Armstrong: *The Battle for God*, Harper Collins, London, 2001, p. 150) The Zionist movement began against this background; and those Jews who started Zionism identified Palestine as the place for their new nation and started a wave of immigration from Europe for settlement there. At that time, Palestine was part of the Ottoman Empire. Until the beginning of the 20th century, most Jews living in Palestine observed traditional religious practices, spending their time studying religious texts. Their attachment to the land was religious rather than national, and they were not involved in the Zionist movement, which was started by the European Jews who were mostly secular nationalists influenced by colonial ideas about Europeans' rights to claim and settle other parts of the world." (Armstrong, p. 150) The Zionists appealed to the religious sentiments of Jews everywhere who believed in their right to the Promised Land, and were able to get their support in infiltrating into Palestinian land and form the State of Israel in 1948. >From the day Israel got UN approval, Zionist Israelis started defying UN resolutions one after another to annex more and more of Arab land to Israel. And in this process, they brutally murdered thousands of Palestinian men, women and children and destroyed their homes, farms, shops and other workplaces ignoring world criticism. In the West Bank and Gaza the Israeli government inflicted collective punishments on the Palestinians such as curfews, house demolitions and closure of roads, schools and community institutions. Hundreds of Palestinian activists were deported and tens of thousands of acres of Palestinian land were confiscated. Torture of Palestinian prisoners has been a common practice, and scores of people have died in detention from abuse or neglect. And Israel has built hundreds of settlements on Palestinian land and permitted hundreds of thousands of its own Jewish citizens to move there, defying international law. (Armstrong, p. 150) The systematic occupation of more and more of Arab land by Israel has been going on the while. It was made easy for Israel to do this by the United States. It is interesting to note that Israel goes on changing its border as it needs more and more land for its planned expansion at the expense of the Palestinians. The Intifadah (the Uprising) and the recent "martyr-operations" of the Palestinians is the last ditch battle of a people fighting for their basic human rights. But world media distort the facts to tell the world a different story. The Americans who support the racist claims of Israel have no qualms at all in bankrolling and arming the Israelis to deny the Palestinians their birthright to their homeland. Speaking of the present Siege of Gaza by Israel, Ramzi Kysia, a member of the Free Gaza Movement writes: *"Because of the siege, eighty percent of families in Gaza are now dependent on international food aid just to be able to eat.... Running water is now available to most households for only four to six hours a day. Sewege treatment centers no longer function properly.... The humanitarian condition of the one and a half million men, women, and children illegally incarcerated in Gaza is now at its worst point in the last forty years of Israeli occupation"* (*Stop the Siege on Gaza<http://stopthesiegeongaza.blogspot.com/2008/07/gaza-breaking-into-prison.html> *) Patrick O'Conner, an activist with International Solidarity Movement states about Gaza: *"**The conflict here is driven by the imprisonment of a people — the theft of their land and the denial of their basic rights. Israeli policies, and US complicity, are feeding desperation, and dimming hopes for achieving peace any time soon."* The foregoing sort of sums up the reasons behind the present hostility between Israel and the Muslim world. But at the same time, we must never forget thousands of sincere Jews who believe in the right of the Palestinians to their home land and dream of a peace whereby both the groups can live as brothers. Islam teaches that Muslims should treat the Jews — along with the Christians — as Ahl al-Kitab (People of the Book) and respect them as their own brethren. That is the Islamic view about Jews in general, Zionist atrocities notwithstanding. I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch. *Salam*. *Useful Links:* - *Muslims & Jews: Different Creeds?*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1203758563481&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE> - *Was the Prophet Unjust to the Jews?*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154235103599&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE> - *Muslim View of Jews and Christians*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE&cid=1123996016732> - *Jews, Zionists, and Israelis*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1123996016018&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE> - *Is the Quran Hard on Jews?*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1123996015780&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE> - *Does the Quran Hate People of the Book?*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam/AskAboutIslamE/AskAboutIslamE&cid=1124255786495> - *Does Islam Advocate Hatred?*<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1123996015502&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAskAboutIslamE%2FAskAboutIslamE> * * <http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1153698300049&pagename=Zone-English-Discover_Islam%2FDIELayout> *Muslim-Christian Ties<http://www.readingislam.com/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&cid=1153698300049&pagename=Zone-English-Discover_Islam%2FDIELayout> * [image: Click Here!]<http://ad.islamonline.net/iolbanner/servlet/click/zone?zid=218&cid=400&mid=5536&pid=0&default=false&random=67540563×tamp=20090318010833&test=false&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.islamonline.net%2FEnglish%2Findex.shtml&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.readingislam.com%2Fservlet%2FSatellite%3Fc%3DArticle_C%26cid%3D1236508855509%26pagename%3DZone-English-Discover_Islam%252FDIELayout> *The Prophet has taught us how to endure pain without complaining and how to persevere in the face of hardships. Prophet Muhammad was a leading example of patience in the face of his ardent enemies. His patience never ceases to dazzle us till today.* --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Nor can Goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (evil) with what is better; then the enmity between him and you will become as if it were your friend and intimate! Visit: sultan.org Subscribe: [email protected] Post to group: [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
