According to the Ethnologue, there are almost one billion speakers of English as a first or second language. English is spoken as a first or a second language in many countries, with most native speakers being in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland; there are also large populations in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Southern Africa.
It "has more non-native speakers than any other language, is more
widely dispersed around the world and is used for more purposes than any
other language". Its large number of speakers, plus its worldwide
presence, have made English a common language
(lingua franca) "of the airlines, of the sea and shipping, of computer
technology, of science and indeed of (global) communication generally".
Development
Modern English evolved from Early Modern English which was used from the beginning of the Tudor period until the Interregnum and Restoration in England. By the late 18th century, the British Empire
had facilitated the spread of Modern English through its colonies and
geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy,
art, and formal education all contributed to English becoming the first
truly global language. Modern English also facilitated worldwide
international communication. English was adopted in North America,
India, parts of Africa, Australia, and many other regions. In the
post-colonial period, some newly created nations that had multiple indigenous languages
opted to continue using Modern English as the official language to
avoid the political difficulties inherent in promoting one indigenous
language above another.
Outline of changes
The
following is an outline of the major changes in Modern English compared
to its previous form (Middle English), and also some major changes in
English over the course of the 20th century. Note, however, that these
are generalizations, and some of these may not be true for specific
dialects:
The meet–meat merger
in most dialects: making the words "meat", "threat" and "great" have
three different vowels, although all three words once rhymed.
The foot–strut split: so that "cut" and "put", and "pudding" and "budding" no longer rhyme; and "putt" and "put" are no longer homophones.
The lot–cloth split: the vowel in words like "cloth" and "off" is pronounced with the vowel in "thought", as opposed to the vowel used in "lot".
disuse of the T–V distinction (thou, ye). Contemporary Modern English usually retains only the formal second-person personal pronoun, "you" (ye), used in both formal and informal contexts.
use of auxiliary verbs becomes mandatory in interrogative sentences.
Changes in alphabet and spelling were heavily influenced by the advent of printing and continental printing practices.
The letter thorn (þ), which began to be replaced by th as early as Middle English, finally fell into disuse. In Early Modern English printing, thorn was represented with the Latin y, which appeared similar to thorn in blackletter typeface (𝖞). The last vestige of the letter was in ligatures of thorn, ye (thee), yt (that), yu (thou), which were still seen occasionally in the King James Bible of 1611 and in Shakespeare's folios.
The letters i and j, previously written as a single letter, began to be distinguished; likewise for u and v. This was a common development of the Latin alphabet during this period.
The signing of the Camp David Accords in September 1978 were a vital step forward in improving Jewish–Islamic relations, specifically between Israel and Egypt. Left to right: former president of Egypt Anwar Sadat, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, and former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin
Islamic–Jewish relations comprise the human and diplomatic relations between Jewish people and Muslims in the Arabian Peninsula, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and their surrounding regions. Jewish–Islamic relations may also refer to the shared and disputed ideals between Judaism and Islam, which began roughly in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. The two religions share similar values, guidelines, and principles. Islam also incorporates Jewish history as a part of its own. Muslims regard the Children of Israel as an important religious concept in Islam. Moses, the most important prophet of Judaism, is also considered a prophet and messenger in Islam. Moses is mentioned in the Quran more than any other individual, and his life is narrated and recounted more than that of any other prophet. There are approximately 43 references to the Israelites in the Quran (excluding individual prophets), and many in the Hadith. Later rabbinic authorities and Jewish scholars such as Maimonides
discussed the relationship between Islam and Jewish law. Maimonides
himself, it has been argued, was influenced by Islamic legal thought.
Because Islam and Judaism share a common origin in the Middle East through Abraham, both are considered Abrahamic religions.
There are many shared aspects between Judaism and Islam; 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 faiths in the subsequent 1,400 years.
Notably, the first Islamic Waqf was donated by a Jew, Rabbi Mukhayriq. In 1027, a Jew, Samuel ibn Naghrillah, became top advisor and military general of the Taifa of Granada.
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. 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. 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. Some Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula are considered descendants of Ismael, the first son of Abraham. 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.
Abraham
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.
Moses
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.
In the course of Muhammad's proselytizing in Mecca, he initially viewed Christians and Jews (both of whom he referred to as "People of the Book")
as natural allies, sharing the core principles of his teachings, and
anticipated their acceptance and support. Ten years after his first
revelation in Mount Hira,
a delegation consisting of the representatives of the twelve important
clans of Medina pledged to physically protect Muhammad and invited him
as a neutral outsider to Medina to serve as chief arbitrator for the
entire community, which had been fighting with each other for around a
hundred years and was in need of an authority.
Among the things Muhammad did in order to settle down the
longstanding grievances among the tribes of Medina was drafting a
document known as the Constitution of Medina.
The community defined in the Constitution of Medina had a religious
outlook but was also shaped by the practical considerations and
substantially preserved the legal forms of the old Arab tribes.[20] Muhammad also adopted some features of the Jewish worship and customs such as fasting on the Yom Kippur
day. According to Alford Welch, the Jewish practice of having three
daily prayer rituals appears to have been a factor in the introduction
of the Islamic midday prayer, but Muhammad's adoption of facing north
toward Jerusalem, Islam's first Qiblah or direction of prayer (later
changed to facing toward the Kabah in Mecca), when performing the daily
prayers, was practiced among other groups in Arabia.
Many Medinans converted to the faith of the Meccan immigrants,
particularly pagan and polytheist tribes, but there were fewer Jewish
converts.[21] The Jews rejected Muhammad's claim to prophethood,[18] and further argued that some passages in the Qur'an contradicted the Torah.[22] Their opposition was due to political as well as religious reasons, as many Jews in Medina had close links with Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy, who was partial to the Jews and would have been Medina's prince if not for Muhammad's arrival.[22][23]
Mark Cohen
adds that Muhammad appeared "centuries after the cessation of biblical
prophecy" and "couched his message in a verbiage foreign to Judaism both
in its format and rhetoric."[24]Maimonides, a Jewish scholar, referred to Muhammad as a false prophet.
Moreover, Maimonides asserted that Muhammad's claim to prophethood was
in itself what disqualified him, because it contradicted the prophecy of
Moses, the Torah and the Oral Tradition. His argument further asserted that Muhammad being illiterate also disqualified him from being a prophet.[25]
In the Constitution of Medina, Jews were given equality to Muslims in exchange for political loyalty[18][26]
and were allowed to practice their own culture and religion. A
significant narrative symbolising the inter-faith harmony between early
Muslims and Jews is that of the Rabbi Mukhayriq. The Rabbi was from Banu Nadir
and fought alongside Muslims at the Battle of Uhud and bequeathed his
entire wealth to Muhammad in the case of his death. He was subsequently
called "the best of the Jews" by Muhammad.[27][28]
Later, as Muhammad encountered opposition from the Jews, Muslims began
to adopt a more negative view on the Jews, seeing them as something of a
fifth column. Jewish violations of the Constitution of Medina, by aiding the enemies of the community, finally brought on major battles of Badr and Uhud which resulted in Muslim victories and the exile of the Banu Qainuqa and Banu Nadir, two of the main three Jewish tribes from Medina, and the mass slaughtering of all male adults of Banu Qurayza.
Other prophets
Both Judaism and Islam regard many people as being prophets, with exceptions.
Both teach that Eber, Job, and Joseph were prophets. However, according to one sage in Judaism the whole story attributed to Job was an allegory and Job never actually existed. Rashi,
a Jewish commentator on the Hebrew Scriptures, quotes a text dating to
160 AD, which is also quoted in the Talmud, in his commentary on Genesis
10 to show that Eber was a prophet.
Jews have often lived in predominantly Islamic nations. Since many national borders have changed over the fourteen centuries of Islamic history, a single community, such as the Jewish community in Cairo, may have been contained in a number of different nations over different periods.
Traditionally Jews living in Muslim lands, known (along with Christians) as dhimmis, were allowed to practice their religion and to administer their internal affairs but subject to certain conditions. They had to pay the jizya (a per capita tax imposed on free, adult non-Muslim males) to the Muslim government but were exempted from paying the zakat (a tax imposed on free, adult Muslim males). Dhimmis were prohibited from bearing arms or giving testimony in most Muslim court cases, for there were many Sharia laws which did not apply to Dhimmis, who practiced Halakha. A common misconception is that of the requirement of distinctive clothing, which is a law not taught by the Qur'an or hadith but allegedly invented by the Abbasid Caliphate in early medievalBaghdad.
Jews rarely faced martyrdom or exile, or forced compulsion to change
their religion, and they were mostly free in their choice of residence
and profession. They did, however, have certain restrictions placed upon them, listed in the Pact of Umar. The Pact of Umar
was a set of guidelines placed upon Jews in Islamic territories, many
of them being very restrictive and prohibitive. However, compared to
Jews of Western Christendom at the time, Jews under Islamic rule were
generally treated with more compassion and understanding, rather than
violence and abhorrence.
This period of relative tolerance, political advancement and cultural
peacefulness is a time that is referred to as a golden age.
As Jews advanced the social ladder, they also gained economic status
and power. Many Jews had their own businesses and were even ranking
officials within the government. However, Jews still experienced tense
and violent times – they were often discriminated against and, as a
result, were often the recipient of many violent acts placed upon them. The notable examples of massacre of Jews include the killing or forcible conversion of them by the rulers of the Almohad dynasty in Al-Andalus in the 12th century.
Notable examples of the cases where the choice of residence was taken
away from them includes confining Jews to walled quarters (mellahs) in Morocco beginning from the 15th century and especially since the early 19th century. Most conversions were voluntary and happened for various reasons.However, there were some forced conversions in the 12th century under the Almohad dynasty of North Africa and al-Andalus as well as in Persia.
The medieval Volga state of Khazaria converted to Judaism, whereas its subject Volga Bulgaria converted to Islam.
Conversion of Jews to Islam
According to Judaism, Jews that voluntarily convert to Islam commit a treacherous act of heresy in abandoning the Torah. There is a view, held by the Radvaz and Ritva, that a Jew should be prepared to take his own life rather than convert to another religion, but the Rambam, also known as Maimonides, expresses that it is not necessary that a Jew take his own life if he is forced to convert but privately follows the Torah.
Islam accepts converts, and spreading Dawah to other religious adherents including Jews.
In modern times, some notable converts to Islam from a Jewish background include Muhammad Asad (b. Leopold Weiss), Abdallah Schleifer (b. Marc Schleifer), Youssef Darwish, Layla Morad and Maryam Jameelah (b. Margret Marcus). More than 200 Israeli Jews converted to Islam between 2000 and 2008.
Historically, in accordance with traditional Islamic law, Jews generally enjoyed freedom of religion in Islamic states as People of the Book.
However, certain rulers did historically enact forced conversions for
political reasons and religious reasons in regards to youth and orphans.
A number of groups who converted from Judaism to Islam have remained
Muslim, while maintaining a connection to and interest in their Jewish
heritage. These groups include the anusim or Daggataun of Timbuktu who converted in 1492, when Askia Muhammed came to power in Timbuktu and decreed that Jews must convert to Islam or leave, and the Chala, a portion of the Bukharan Jewish community who were pressured and many times forced to convert to Islam.
In Persia, during the Safavid
dynasty of the 16th and 17th centuries, Jews were forced to proclaim
publicly that they had converted to Islam, and were given the name Jadid-al-Islam (New Muslims). In 1661, an Islamic edict was issued overturning these forced conversions,
and the Jews returned to practicing Judaism openly. Jews in Yemen also
had to face oppression, during which persecution reached its climax in
the 17th century when nearly all Jewish communities in Yemen were given
the choice of either converting to Islam or of being banished to a
remote desert area, and which later became known as the Mawza Exile. Similarly, to end a pogrom in 1839, the Jews of Mashhad were forced to convert en masse
to Islam. They practiced Judaism secretly for over a century before
openly returning to their faith. At the turn of the 21st century, around
10,000 lived in Israel, another 4,000 in New York City, and 1,000 elsewhere. (See Allahdad incident.)
In Turkey, the claimed messiahSabbatai Zevi was forced to convert to Islam in 1668.
Most of his followers abandoned him, but several thousand converted to
Islam as well, while continuing to see themselves as Jews. They became known as the Dönmeh (a Turkish word for a religious convert). Some Dönmeh remain today, primarily in Turkey.
Conversion of Muslims to Judaism
Judaism does not proselytize, and often discourages conversion to
Judaism; maintaining that all people have a covenant with God, and
instead encourages non-Jews to uphold the Seven Laws
which it believes were given to Noah. Conversions to Judaism are
therefore relatively rare, including those from the Islamic world. One
famous Muslim who converted to Judaism was Ovadyah, famous from his contact with Maimonides.
Reza Jabari, an Iranian flight attendant who hijacked the air carrier Kish Air flight 707 between Tehran and the resort of Kish Island
in September 1995, and landed in Israel converted to Judaism after
serving four-and-a-half years in an Israeli prison. He settled among
Iranian Jews in the Israeli Red Sea resort town of Eilat. Another such case includes Avraham Sinai,
a former Hezbollah fighter who, after the Israel–Lebanon War ended,
fled to Israel and converted from Islam to become a religious and
practicing Jew.
Contemporary era
Iran contains the largest number of Jews within predominantly Muslim countries and Uzbekistan and Turkey
have the next largest communities. Iran's Jewish community is
officially recognized as a religious minority group by the government,
and, like the Zoroastrians, they were allocated a seat in the Iranian parliament.
In 2000, it was estimated that at that time there were still
30,000–35,000 Jews in Iran; other sources put the figure as low as
20,000–25,000.
They cannot emigrate out of Iran, since the government only allows one
family member to leave and be out of the country at a time. A Jewish
businessman was hanged for helping Jews emigrate.
In present times, the Arab–Israeli conflict is a defining event in the relationship between Muslims and Jews. The State of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948, one day before the expiry of the British Mandate of Palestine. Not long after, five Arab countries—Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq—attacked Israel, launching the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. After almost a year of fighting, a ceasefire was declared and temporary borders, known as the Green Line, were instituted. Jordan annexed what became known as the West Bank and Egypt took control of the Gaza Strip. Israel was admitted as a member of the United Nations on 11 May 1949. During the course of the hostilities, 711,000 Arabs, according to UN estimates, fled or were expelled. The following decades saw a similar Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries where 800,000–1,000,000 Jews were forcibly expelled or fled from Arab nations due to persecution.
Interfaith activities
The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek has argued that the term Judeo-Muslim to describe the middle-east culture against the western Christian culture would be more appropriate in these days,
claiming as well a reduced influence from the Jewish culture on the
western world due to the historical persecution and exclusion of the
Jewish minority. (Though there is also a different perspective on Jewish
contributions and influence.)
A Judaeo-Christian-Muslim concept thus refers to the three main monotheistic religions, commonly known as the Abrahamic religions.
Formal exchanges between the three religions, modeled on the
decades-old Jewish–Christian interfaith dialogue groups, became common
in American cities following the 1993 Israeli–Palestinian Oslo accords.
The governments of Jordan and Qatar have been particularly active
in fostering dialogue between Muslims and Jews, through conferences and
institutes.
Following 9/11, there was a breakdown in interfaith dialogue that
included mosques, due to the increased attention to Islamic sermons in
American mosques, that revealed "anti-Jewish and anti-Israel outbursts
by previously respected Muslim clerics and community leaders."
One of the country's most prominent mosques is the New York
Islamic Cultural Center, built with funding from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia,
and Malaysia. Its imam, Mohammad Al-Gamei'a, disappeared two days after
9/11.
Back in Egypt, he was interviewed
on an Arabic-language Web site, charging that the "Zionist media" had
covered up Jewish responsibility for the terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center. He agreed with Osama bin Laden's accusations in bin
Laden's Letter to America, claiming that Jews were guilty of
"disseminating corruption, heresy, homosexuality, alcoholism, and
drugs." And he said that Muslims in America were afraid to go to the
hospital for fear that some Jewish doctors had "poisoned" Muslim
children. "These people murdered the prophets; do you think they will
stop spilling our blood? No," he said.
Since 2007, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, led by Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons
has made improving Muslim–Jewish relations their main focus. They have
hosted the National Summit of Imams and Rabbis in 2007, the Gathering of
Muslim and Jewish Leaders in Brussels in 2010 and in Paris in 2012, and
three Missions of Muslim and Jewish Leaders to Washington D.C.. Each
November the Foundation hosts the Weekend of Twinning which encourages
Muslims and Jews, Imams and Rabbis, Mosques and synagogues, and Muslim
and Jewish organizations to hold joint programming inspired by the
commonalities between Muslims and Jews.
The interview was published 4 October on a Web site affiliated
with Cairo's Al-Azhar University, Islam's most respected theological
academy. Immediately after 9/11, Imam Al-Gamei'a had presided over an
interfaith service at his mosque. At the service the imam was quoted as
saying, "We emphasize the condemnation of all persons, whoever they be,
who have carried out this inhuman act." The Reverend James Parks Morton,
president of the Interfaith Center of New York, who attended the
service, called Imam Al-Gamei'a's subsequent comments "astonishing." "It
makes interfaith dialogue all the more important," Reverend Morton
said.
First Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders in Brussels, December 2010 hosted by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding – left to right: Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric – European Council President Herman Van Rompuy – Rabbi Marc Schneier – Imam Dr. Abdujalil Sajid
Post 9/11 remarks made by Muslim leaders in Cleveland and Los Angeles
also led to the suspension of longstanding Muslim–Jewish dialogues.
Some Jewish community leaders cite the statements as the latest evidence
that Muslim–Jewish dialogue is futile in today's charged atmosphere.
John Rosove, senior rabbi of Temple Israel of Hollywood,
and other Jewish participants withdrew from the three-year-old
Muslim-Jewish dialogue group after one of the Muslim participants, Salam
al-Marayati of MPAC, suggested in a radio interview that Israel should be put on the list of suspects behind the 11 September attacks. However, in January 2011, MPAC member Wa’el Azmeh and Temple Israel engaged in an interfaith dialogue.
In Cleveland, Jewish community leaders put Muslim–Jewish
relations on hold after the spiritual leader of a prominent mosque
appeared in (a 1991) videotape ...aired after 9/11 by a local TV
station. Imam Fawaz Damra calls for "directing all the rifles at the
first and last enemy of the Islamic nation and that is the sons of
monkeys and pigs, the Jews." The revelation was all the more shocking
since Imam Damra had been an active participant in local interfaith
activities.
Good Jewish–Muslim relations continue in Detroit, which has the
nation's largest Arab-American community. Jewish organizations there
have established good relations with a religious group called the
Islamic Supreme Council of North America.
In Los Angeles, there has been a formation of an interfaith think tank through the partnership of neighboring institutions the University of Southern California, The Hebrew Union College, and Omar Foundation. The Center for Muslim–Jewish Engagement
has an extensive online resource center with scholarly works on similar
topics from Muslim and Jewish perspectives. The Center of Muslim–Jewish
Engagement has begun to launch an interfaith religious text-study group
to build bonds and form a positive community promoting interfaith
relations.
There are many common aspects between Islam and Judaism. As Islam developed it gradually became the major religion closest to Judaism, both of them being strictly Monotheist religious traditions originating in a Semitic Middle Eastern culture. As opposed to Christianity, which originated from interaction between ancient Greek and Hebrew
cultures, Islam is similar to Judaism in its fundamental religious
outlook, structure, jurisprudence and practice. There are many
traditions within Islam originating from traditions within the Hebrew Bible or from postbiblical Jewish traditions. These practices are known collectively as the Isra'iliyat.
Islam and Judaism share the idea of a revealed scripture. Even though
they differ over the precise text and its interpretations, the Hebrew Torah and the Muslim Qur'an
share a lot of narrative as well as injunctions. From this, they share
many other fundamental religious concepts such as the belief in a day of
Divine Judgment. Reflecting the vintage of the religions, the Torah is traditionally in the form of a scroll and the Qur'an in the form of a codex.
Muslims commonly refer to Jews (and Christians) as fellow "People of the Book": people who follow the same general teachings in relation to the worship of the one God worshipped by Abraham. The Qur'an distinguishes between "People of the Book" (Jews and Christians), who should be tolerated even if they hold to their faiths, and idolaters (polytheists) who are not given that same degree of tolerance (See Al-Baqara, 256). Some restrictions for Muslims are relaxed, such as Muslim males being allowed to marry a woman from the "People of the Book", or Muslims being allowed to eat Kosher meat.
The Quranic account and Islamic sources explain that the Torah
has undergone extensive corruption through textual alteration and
contextomy. Various Jewish factions had sparred in the Hasmonean era of
who the most notable were the Pharisees and Sadducees. The modern Jewish
tradition originates from the Pharisaic school which has dominated
Jewish theology since the end of the Second Temple period. The Pharisees
and Sadducees had differed over the interpretation of the Biblocal
canon. The Sadducees adopted a stricter literal interpretation of the
Bible against the Pharisaic stress on the Oral Torah and a non-literal
interpretation of the written Torah with the usage of the oral Torah.
Such interpretation advanced far beyond the literal interpretations.
Later the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud continued with constructing a
framework of interpreting the Torah homiletically. This framework was
sketched out early in the Talmud and this framework is attributed to
R.Hillel, R.Ishmael b. Elisha and R. Eli'ezer b.R. Yossey of the
Galilee. The Bablylonian Talmud documents seventy incidents where the
sages interpreted the Bible by chainging a word or more. This came about
by processes such as changing the vocalisation of verbiage, because
Hebrew alphabet is consonantal, to suit a particular interpretation. At
other times Talmudic sages would split words into two. With this
evidence, Mazuz points out that the Quranic charge of the Torah's
corruption was not misleading but was a rejection of the homiletic
methodology in the Talmud.
Religious law
Rules of conduct
The most obvious common practice is the statement of the absolute
unity of God, which Muslims observe in their five times daily prayers (salat), and Jews state at least twice (Shema Yisrael), along with praying 3 times daily. The two faiths also share the central practices of fasting and almsgiving, as well as dietary laws and other aspects of ritual purity.
Under the strict dietary laws, lawful food is called Kosher in Judaism and Halal in Islam. Both religions prohibit the consumption of pork. Halal restrictions are similar to a subset of the Kashrut
dietary laws, so all kosher foods are considered halal, while not all
halal foods are Kosher. Halal laws, for instance, do not prohibit the
mixing of milk and meat or the consumption of shellfish, each of which
are prohibited by the kosher laws, with the exception that in the Shia
Islam belief shellfish, mussels, and similar sea foods and fish without
scales are not considered halal.
Sacred texts of both religions ban homosexuality and forbid human sexual relations outside of marriage and necessitate abstinence during the wife's menstruation. Both Islam and Judaism practice circumcision of males.
Islam and Judaism both consider the Christian doctrine of the trinity and the belief of Jesus being God as explicitly against the tenets of monotheism. Idolatry and the worship of graven images is likewise forbidden in both religions. Both have official colors (Blue in Judaism and Green in Islam). Both faiths believe in angels, as servants of God and share a similar idea of demons (Jinn and Shedim); Jewish demonology mentions ha-Satan and Muslim demonology mentions Al-Shai'tan
both rejecting him as an opponent of God. Many angels also possess
similar names and roles in both Judaism and Islam. Neither religion
subscribes to the concept of original sin and both religions traditionally view homosexuality as sinful. Narrative similarities between Jewish texts and the Hadith have also been noted. For example, both state that Potiphar's wife was named Zuleika.
There is a small bone in the body at the base of the spinal column called the Luz bone (known by differing traditions as either the coccyx or the seventh cervical vertebra) from which the body will be rebuilt at the time of resurrection, according to Muslims and Jews who share the belief that this bone does not decay. Muslim books refer to this bone as "^Ajbu al-Thanab" (عَجْبُ الذَّنَب). Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah replied to Hadrian, as to how man revived in the world to come, "From Luz, in the back-bone".
The Islamic Hadith and Jewish Talmud
have also often been compared as authoritative extracanonical texts
that were originally oral transmissions for generations before being
committed to writing.
One
of the most important early Jewish philosophers influenced by Islamic
philosophy is Rav Saadia Gaon (892–942). His most important work is
Emunoth ve-Deoth (Book of Beliefs and Opinions). In this work Saadia
treats of the questions that interested the Mutakallimun so deeply—such
as the creation of matter, the unity of God, the divine attributes, the
soul, etc.—and he criticizes the philosophers severely.
The 12th century saw the apotheosis of pure philosophy. This supreme exaltation of philosophy was due, in great measure, to Ghazali (1058–1111) among the Arabs, and to Judah ha-Levi
(1140) among the Jews. Like Ghazali, Judah ha-Levi took upon himself to
free religion from the shackles of speculative philosophy, and to this
end wrote the Kuzari, in which he sought to discredit all schools of philosophy alike.
Maimonides endeavored to harmonize the philosophy of Aristotle with Judaism; and to this end he composed the work, Dalalat al-Ḥairin (Guide for the Perplexed)—known better under its Hebrew title Moreh Nevuchim—which
served for many centuries as the subject of discussion and comment by
Jewish thinkers. In this work, Maimonides considers creation,
the unity of God, the attributes of God, the soul, etc., and treats
them in accordance with the theories of Aristotle to the extent in which
these latter do not conflict with religion. For example, while
accepting the teachings of Aristotle upon matter and form, he pronounces
against the eternity of matter. Nor does he accept Aristotle's theory
that God can have a knowledge of universals only, and not of
particulars. If He had no knowledge of particulars, He would be subject
to constant change. Maimonides argues: "God perceives future events
before they happen, and this perception never fails Him. Therefore there
are no new ideas to present themselves to Him. He knows that such and
such an individual does not yet exist, but that he will be born at such a
time, exist for such a period, and then return into non-existence. When
then this individual comes into being, God does not learn any new fact;
nothing has happened that He knew not of, for He knew this individual,
such as he is now, before his birth" (Moreh, i.20). While seeking
thus to avoid the troublesome consequences certain Aristotelian
theories would entail upon religion, Maimonides could not altogether
escape those involved in Aristotle's idea of the unity of souls; and
herein he laid himself open to the attacks of the orthodox.
A series of eminent men—such as the Tibbons, Narboni, and Gersonides—joined in translating the Arabic philosophical works into Hebrew and commenting upon them.[citation needed]
The works of Ibn Roshd especially became the subject of their study,
due in great measure to Maimonides, who, in a letter addressed to his
pupil Joseph ben Judah, spoke in the highest terms of Ibn Roshd's commentary.
In a response, Maimonides discusses the relationship between Judaism and Islam:
The Ishmaelites are not at all idolaters; [idolatry] has long been
severed from their mouths and hearts; and they attribute to God a proper
unity, a unity concerning which there is no doubt. And because they lie
about us, and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son,
is no reason for us to lie about them and say that they are idolaters
... And should anyone say that the house that they honor [the Kaaba] is a
house of idolatry and an idol is hidden within it, which their
ancestors used to worship, then what of it? The hearts of those who bow
down toward it today are [directed] only toward Heaven ... [Regarding]
the Ishmaelites today—idolatry has been severed from the mouths of all
of them [including] women and children. Their error and foolishness is
in other things which cannot be put into writing because of the
renegades and wicked among Israel [i.e., apostates]. But as regards the
unity of God they have no error at all.
Influence on exegesis
Saadia Gaon's commentary on the Bible bears the stamp of the Mutazilites;
and its author, while not admitting any positive attributes of God,
except these of essence, endeavors to interpret Biblical passages in
such a way as to rid them of anthropomorphism. The Jewish commentator, Abraham ibn Ezra, explains the Biblical account of Creation and other Scriptural passages in a philosophical sense. Nahmanides
(Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman), too, and other commentators, show the
influence of the philosophical ideas current in their respective epochs.
This salutary inspiration, which lasted for five consecutive centuries,
yielded to that other influence alone that came from the neglected
depths of Jewish and of Neoplatonicmysticism, and which took the name of Kabbalah.
