Islam and Judaism
Family: Encounters with other traditions · 15 entries
Entries on this theme
Person
Abdullah ibn Salam
c. 550 CEA learned rabbi of Banu Qaynuqa' who examined the Prophet, declared him genuine, and became the most famous Jewish convert of Medina — held in Sunni tradition as one promised paradise.Mu'adh ibn Jabal
c. 603 CEA young Ansari convert of the pledges of Aqaba, remembered as the most learned of the community in what is lawful and forbidden; the Prophet sent him to Yemen as its teacher and judge.Safiyya bint Huyayy
c. 610 CEA woman of the Jewish tribe Banu Nadir who was taken captive at Khaybar, then freed and married to the Prophet, becoming one of the Mothers of the Believers.Sabbatai Zevi
Sabbatai Zevi (1626-1676 CE) was a Jewish messianic claimant whose movement flourished across the Ottoman world and ended in his nominal conversion to Islam before the sultan; academic study records his course and Ottoman context.
Concept
The covenant of God and oaths, and selling them for a little price
Sha'rawi holds that the verse threatening those who sell God's covenant and oaths for a small price applies to anyone who sells a sign of God for gain, in any age or religion. He says the occasion of its revelation concerned a group of the People of the Book who professed faith and then denied it for food and clothing. He reads the word khuluq as a settled disposition in the soul.The description of the Prophet in earlier scriptures
Sha'rawi holds that the People of the Book knew the Prophet's description and time from their scriptures, and that their rejection was not ignorance but self-interest and envy of their leadership; that the Torah contains what was distorted and what was not, and that the verses about the Prophet were distorted.Misleading others and bearing their burden
Sha'rawi holds that misguidance has several senses: going astray and being lost in a thing, failing to reach the truth, and knowing the law and then turning from it. Someone who misleads and also misleads others increases his burden by leading others astray. He uses this to distinguish two verses about bearing burdens. He reads the verse about a group among the People of the Book who wished to lead the believers astray as saying they lead only themselves astray, without success in the wider aim.The story of the Children of Israel in the Qur'an
Sha'rawi holds that God chose the story of the Children of Israel because it contains the most miracles and prophets, because they were the most disobedient of peoples, and that the favour He reminds them of includes the rescue of their sons from slaughter. He reads a passage in al-Isra as applying to a later time, a contemporary political reading presented only as his view.Prohibition as chastisement and correction
Sha'rawi holds that some prohibitions are chastisement and correction, not a sign of harm in the thing forbidden, and that seeking a harm in what God forbade is a wish to escape his rule. He cites the prohibition of certain good things on the Jews as a punishment for their wrongdoing. He records that the People of the Book claimed camels had been forbidden since the time of Abraham and Noah, and that the Prophet made clear they were not forbidden, since all food had been lawful for the children of Israel except what Israel had forbidden himself.Mixing truth with falsehood (talbis al-haqq)
Sha'rawi holds that talbis means putting one thing into another so that the appearance changes, as a garment is worn over the body. He reads the verse as referring to an attempt by some People of the Book to mix truth with falsehood. In his view this included altering the scriptures and denying the good tidings of the Prophet that they contained. He says this concealment was not hidden from their own learned men.
Group
Banu Nadir
Medina's second Jewish tribe to break with the Prophet — date-palm landholders expelled to Khaybar in 625 after the breakdown of the pact, where their exiles kept the quarrel alive.Banu Qaynuqa'
The first of Medina's three Jewish tribes to break with the Prophet — goldsmiths of the city's market, besieged after Badr and expelled to Syria in 624.Banu Qurayza
Medina's last Jewish tribe — besieged after the Battle of the Trench for treating with the confederates, judged by the arbitration they themselves accepted, and their men put to death in the gravest single act of violence of the Prophet's era.The Jewish communities of Khaybar
The Jewish oasis communities of Khaybar, north of Medina — farmers and smiths behind strong fortresses, including exiles of Banu Nadir — subdued in 628 and left on the land under tribute until Umar's expulsion.
Screening Room
What is missing? Tell us · A theme is open when it has a reviewed guide, 10 questions, 25 entries across 5 classes, and voices from several traditions and regions.