Jews and Muslims Between Conflict and Encounter

JULY 19 Jews and Muslims Between Conflict and Encounter The Jews are called People of the Book in the Qur’an. The Qur’an has allowed Muslims to marry Jewish women. Above all the Qur’an tells us that Muslims and Jews have the common creed. The Qur’an addressing the Jews states: O People of the Scripture! Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall ascribe no partner unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords besides God. (3:64) This shows that Jews have been accorded special status in Islam. So Jews and Muslims, more than anyone else, must live together in amity and harmony. And history is a witness to it. With the exception of conflicts between Jews and Muslims during the early fifty years of Islam and the recent fifty years, both the communities have lived together harmoniously for more than one thousand years. The history of both Arab and non-Arab countries testifies to it. If you travel to Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, etc. you will see even today that Jews and Muslims share a common culture. It is the result of this that for the last fourteen hundred years Jews have been coming closer to Islam. Abdullah ibn Salam, a well known Jewish scholar provides an example in the early phase of Islam, and Mohammad Asad is one such example in the recent history. The truth is that the controversy between the Muslims and Jews is not religious but political. In the early period as well as today, political differences are the main reasons for this conflict. To my view, if in this matter politics and religion are delinked, the intensity of the conflict will be lessened on its own. Then they will start living together in harmony as they had been living fifty years ago. Some hold that the enmity between the Muslims and Jews is eternal as it is rooted in the Qur’an itself. For instance the Qur’an has this to say: You will find the most vehement of people in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews and the idolaters. (5:82) This is a grave misunderstanding, something pertaining to a particular time has been generalised. In actual fact, this verse is related to some Jews who were Prophet’s contemporary and not to all their generations till Doomsday.