Judaism

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The accepts the Jews (Banu ) as having a covenant with God, and classifies them as People of the Book, but describes them as having repeatedly broken their covenant, changed (tahrif) the Torah from what God gave them to what is convenient for them, and tended to oppose God’s prophets. This opposition has even gone to the extremes of the Jews killing, or trying to kill, their prophets.

It is clear that some of the positive and negative comments have a background in Muhammad’s experiences of living in an environment with significant Jewish tribes in the political framework. Initially he may have thought that they would be interested in his message, and early favourable comments perhaps reflect this optimism. He was soon disillusioned, though, and the tribes in the Medina area often allied themselves with the opponents of the new religion, so the reflects this with many bitter attacks on the Jews and their treachery. The final defeat of the Jews of Khaybar in 628 CE and the massacre of the male population with the enslavement of the women and children brought to an end active opposition from the local Jews.

As the Islamic empire expanded, it incorporated significant Jewish minorities and a dhimmi system was initiated, under the terms of which the Jews became a protected minority if they paid a specific tax for non-Muslims.

The sometimes treats the Jews as equivalent to Christians as People of the Book, but often as worse than the Christians. God is described as having punished them for their disobedience by giving them burdensome laws governing what was acceptable food, what is haram or forbidden for them (6.146). One source of their punishment was their zulm or wrongdoing (4.160–161), which was usury, something they were strictly forbidden to do. Many of the Jews compete with each other as sinners (5.62) and, in the sura al-Baqara, they are roundly criticized for arguing ceaselessly about the precise way in which they are supposed to carry out a sacrifice, because they wished to avoid the sacrifice altogether. The behaviour of the Jews leads the frequently to link them more with the polytheists than with the other People of the Book, since the claim is that they are not really believers and have a propensity to lead believers astray if left to act freely. Finally, Muslims are warned against being friends with the Jews and trusting them.

OLIVER LEAMAN

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