ANSWERS ABOUT ISLAM Part 5 - By HJS

Why is Islam so hostile to Jews? I thought “People of the Book” were okay in Islam.

When Muhammad was in Mecca, trying to establish Islam, the Arabs in Mecca, except for a few, were hostile to the idea, and their attitudes ran from rude to belligerent. The Jews and Christians on the other hand, were not hostile and at least listened to him and shared information. In fact, it was a delegation from Yathrib a city that was home to both Arabs and Jews that asked him to become their mediator among the mixed tribes, agreeing to accept him as prophet and welcome his adherents to their city. Earlier, when he was a lad traveling throughout the region with caravans, he met many people, some of whom were Jews and Christians. The Christians there, however, were Nestorians and other sects outside the mainstream of Christianity.

In the Yathrib (Medina) area, many Jewish tribes coexisted with Arabs living there. At first many of them cooperated with Muhammad but an occasion arose in which they were not pleased with his version of their scriptures and his claim to be a prophet. A rift ensued that never healed. A brief look at the Noble Qur’an illustrates the depth of “Allah’s” displeasure with the “People of the Book” which was revealed after the event:

In ayats 5:11- 5:26, the Muslims were warned to guard against errors like those of their predecessors, the Jews and Christians. The Jews and Christians, Allah said, were bad examples because they broke their covenants and descended into evil ways. Nonetheless, they were admonished to give up their evil ways and accept Islam.

Ayats 5:27 – 5:32 related that two sons of Adam prepared sacrifices, only one of which was accepted. The son whose sacrifice was rejected killed his brother but failed to hide the body. This story was a reproach for the Jews for a plot to kill the Prophet*. It also noted the sanctity of human life.

The Holy Prophet was reassured by ayats 5:41 – 5:50, not to pay too much attention to the enmity, the evil designs, and the machinations of the Jews (at Medina) but continued exerting his utmost to establish the Right Way in accordance with the Qur’an that is being revealed. He should deal with the Christians the same way he deals with the Jews; they too have forsaken their own Gospel.
Ayat 5:51 “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you - then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.”

Thus begins a series of ayats, 5:51 – 5:69, that describes the “degenerate moral condition” of both the Jews and Christians. They are warned that evil designs (plots) and hypocrisy are what they can expect from the two peoples. Ayat 5:68 states:

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.

And the final ayat in the series, 5:69:


“Indeed, those who have believed [in Prophet Muhammad] and those [before Him] who were Jews or Sabeans or Christians - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.”

The last two ayats expressed frustration that the two peoples will do what they will and not change their ways no matter how many times they are reminded of their own scriptures. The ones who do agree and come over to Islam will be saved on the Last Day and should not bother grieving for the rest.

The Jewish Rabbis who spent a lifetime studying their scriptures did not like being told that they “got it all wrong” and Muhammad, who knew what the scriptures were supposed to be, was going to instruct them. The Rabbis were very upset and the Messenger became very angry about the way they were taking his offer. It would appear that it was not a friendly end to the visit.

*Note: An explanation from http://www.peacewithrealism.org/jihad/jihad06.htm and the included Hadiths


Tensions had been growing between Muhammad and the Jewish tribes of Medina. While the Arab tribes were gradually being drawn to Islam, the Jews, already having a monotheistic faith and feeling no need for another prophet, held out. This weakened the ties between the Jews and those Arab tribes with which they were allied. Muhammad began to threaten the Jews once they failed to show enthusiasm for Islam. Because of these developments the Jews felt isolated and endangered, and their sympathies naturally began to incline towards Muhammad's Meccan enemies.


Muhammad's harsh treatment of the Bani Qaynuqa must have alarmed the other Jewish tribes. Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf, a leader and poet of the Bani Nadir, composed verses lamenting the Meccan defeat at Badr and satirizing Muhammad. This enraged Muhammad, so he had Ka'b assassinated, telling the killers it would be OK to lie in order to gain the confidence of their victim. (The story is recounted in Ibn Ishaq 550-51 and also in the Hadith, Sahih Bukhari, 5:59:369.)


A follower of Muhammad killed two men of the tribe of Amir in a case of mistaken identity. So Muhammad had to pay blood money to the tribe of Amir for the lives of these two men. He agreed to do so both to avoid a vendetta and in hopes of winning the Amir tribe to Islam.
Muhammad now had to raise the money for the blood payment. He went to the Bani Nadir to get them to pay a part of it. He felt that the Jewish tribe should contribute because it had an alliance with the Bani Amir, and also because of the mutual defense pact that Muhammad had imposed on the tribes of Medina.


Perhaps not really knowing what to do, the Jews signaled their agreement, then asked Muhammad to wait with his delegation while they prepared a meal. Meanwhile Muhammad excused himself and left the house. His companions went looking for him, and when they found him he told them an angel had revealed to him that the Bani Nadir were plotting to kill him. He then sent the Bani Nadir an ultimatum, demanding that they all leave the country within ten days or else be beheaded (Lings, 202). One hadith provides a direct quote:


Narrated Abu Huraira: While we were in the mosque, Allah's Apostle came out and said, "Let us proceed to the Jews." So we went out with him till we came to Bait-al-Midras. The Prophet stood up there and called them, saying, "O assembly of Jews! Surrender to Allah (embrace Islam) and you will be safe!" They said, "You have conveyed Allah's message, O Aba-al-Qasim" Allah's Apostle then said to them, "That is what I want; embrace Islam and you will be safe." They said, "You have conveyed the message, O Aba-al-Qasim." Allah's Apostle then said to them, "That is what I want," and repeated his words for the third time and added, "Know that the earth is for Allah and I want to exile you from this land, so whoever among you has property he should sell it, otherwise, know that the land is for Allah and His Apostle." (Sahih Bukhari, 9:92:447)

The Muslims laid siege to the Bani Nadir and the tribe finally was exiled and their lands and assets confiscated.

This authenticated story is just one of many stories of the time. As time went on, more friction ensued between the Jews and Muhammad and entire tribes were either driven out by the Muslim forces or killed. As I mentioned in the preceding article, it was a difficult time for everyone in the Medina area, since the Prophet had so many problems to solve with the ongoing war with Mecca, problems with his own “hypocrites”, administrative problems, etc. Nonetheless, I have to say that after more than 13 centuries, it is beyond time to get together and do what has to be done to end the grievances.


However, the arrival of the Jews in their new “homeland” seems to have erased the centuries and re-opened old wounds. The fact that the Jews, harassed on all sides by Arab nations, were able to defend themselves and make a very desolate area bloom and pay off, did nothing but exacerbate the rekindled hatred.

HJS

I heartily recommend a review of the above linked site. It gives and authenticated (by Hadiths) look at the problems that divided the Jews and the Muslims at the time.