By Neza T. Reyhan, New Age Islam
14 August 2017
Name of the Book: Judaism and Islam
as Synergistic Monotheisms: A Reform Rabbi's Reflections on the Profound
Connectedness of Islam and Judaism
Author: Rabbi Allen Maller
Publisher: Hadassa Word Press
Pages: 117
Price: 15 US dollars
ISBN: 978-3-639-79499-1
Current political tensions in West Asia over
Palestine/Israel might seem to project a different image, but contrary to what
many think, there is actually much in common between Judaism and Islam. At a
time when the conflict over Palestine/Israel could easily escalate into a Third
World War—or even, as some think, into a final battle of global proportions
that might herald the End Times—it is good to remind ourselves of this fact.
This is a task that Rabbi Allen Maller, a Jewish religious scholar based in the
USA, has taken upon himself in this very timely book. Interestingly, the book
is a collection of articles on Muslim-Jewish relations by the author that have
been published over the years in several Islamic websites, a testimony to the
fact that there are also several Muslims who, like Rabbi Maller, are eager to
promote friendship between Muslims and Jews.
A
“Muslim Jew”
Readers will not be left unimpressed by the
Rabbi’s very warm appreciation of Islam. The Rabbi provides some insights into
his own personal journey of studying Islam—about how he, as a ‘Reform Rabbi,
‘learns from Muhammad’, as he puts it. He explains that he first became
interested in Islam when he studied it at the University of California Los
Angeles almost half a century ago, and says that he has continued this study
‘off and on’ since then.
Impressed by the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad (whom he considers as a prophet sent by God) while still identifying
as a Jew, the Rabbi sees himself as a ‘Muslim Jew’, the word Muslim here being
understood in the broader sense of one who has submitted to the One God.
“Actually I am a Muslim Jew i.e. a faithful Jew submitting to the will of God,
because I am a Reform Rabbi”, the Rabbi clarifies. “I am faithful”, he
explains, “to the covenant that God made with Abraham–the first Jew who was a
Muslim (faithful monotheist)”, adding, “and I submit to the covenant and its
commandments that God made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai”. At the
same time, he says, “I believe that the Quran is as true for Muslims as the
Torah is true for Jews.”
Similarities between Islam and Judaism
A major focus of the book is to draw out
some of the similarities between Judaism and Islam. The Rabbi says that the
most important belief that unites Muslims and Jews is “the faith in the One God
as the Creator, Sustainer and Law-Giver of the universe.” The Rabbi reminds us
that in the Quran, “one of the most recounted narratives is the story of the
bondage of the Children of Israel and their deliverance from Egypt’s Pharaoh.”
Both Islam and Judaism, the Rabbi goes on, “teach the need for establishing the
Law of God on earth, so that there will be peace and harmony flourishing
everywhere.” The Rabbi believes that the Quran and the Torah “complement each
other”, and opines that “it is false and narrow minded to say that one
contradicts the other.”
Another aspect that the Rabbi focuses on is
what he sees as the close similarities between the teachings of the Prophet
Muhammad and the particular Jewish tradition that he is affiliated with, ‘Reform
Judaism’, which began in Germany almost two hundred years ago and which is now
the largest Jewish denomination in the USA. The Rabbi writes that in many ways
reports that relate to the Prophet Muhammad’s comments about Orthodox Judaism,
and religion in general, “prefigure the thinking of Reform Rabbis some twelve
to thirteen centuries later.” The Rabbi relates that “Reform Judaism”, which
seeks to make the practice of the faith more easy and simple, is in many ways,
closer to early Islam than it is to Orthodox Judaism”. He believes that “the
reform movement in Judaism would have started 14 centuries ago if the Jews of
Muhammad’s time had followed his teachings.”
Countering Misinterpretations
While recognizing the common ground between
Islam and Judaism, the Rabbi does not ignore the existence of considerable
antipathy among many Jews and Muslims today. One source of anti-Jewish feelings
among many present-day Muslims that he highlights is a selective and distorted
interpretation of references to Jews in the Quran. These are verses that, he
says, actually only apply to some Jews (and some Christians) but are
misinterpreted to apply to all Christians and Jews.
The
Quran correctly understood does not denounce all of the Children of Israel, the
Rabbi points out. Every community, including the Muslim Ummah, he says,
“contains groups of faithful believers and a party who disbelieve”. The same
holds true for the Jews. The Quran recognizes this fact when it distinguishes
between Jews who follow the path that God has established for them from those
Jews who have strayed from this path. For instance, it states: “There is among
them a party on the right course; but many of them follow a course that is
evil.” (5:66)
Defining Christians and Jews as “descendants
of apes and pigs”, the Rabbi rues, “is notoriously widespread today in
religious, educational and public discourse in the Arab world.” But, he
explains, “In truth, the Quran never states all Jews were turned into apes or
pigs; but clearly states that only some Jews were”, and in this regard he
quotes the Quran as saying: “…They are those whom Allah has cast aside and on
whom His wrath has fallen and of whom He has made some as apes and swine…”
(5:60)
This
means, the Rabbi says, that in every generation there were some Jews who failed
to live according to the covenant that God had made the Jewish People; just as
in every generation some Muslims within the Muslim Ummah have failed to live
according to Islamic teachings. In every religious community of human beings
there are many individuals who act like apes and pigs and fail to repent and
amend their behaviour. But to claim that this describes all Jews (and
Christians), as some Muslims do, is thus absolutely unacceptable from the
Quranic point of view itself. Those who imply that Christians and Jews in
general are “the descendants of apes and pigs”, the Rabbi insists, “are Satans
spreading misguidance for political purposes. Their teachings should be
rejected.”
Far
from condemning all Jews (and Christians), the Rabbi reminds us, the Quran
clearly refers to some of them as firmly on the right path:
“They are not all alike. Some of the People of
the Book are firmly committed to the truth. They recite the Verses of Allah
during the hours of night, and remain in the state of [prayer] prostration
before their Lord.” (3:113)
The
Quran is also very explicit at stating that as in the case of Muslims, those
Christians and Jews who adhere to their covenant will be rewarded. Thus, it
says:
“Those who believe (in the Quran), and those
who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians; any who
believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their
reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. (2:62)
Along with critiquing the marked tendency
among many Muslims to denigrate all Jews (and Christians) on the basis of
misinterpretations of certain Quranic verses, the Rabbi also critiques
exclusivism and supremacism among a sizeable number of Jews, which derives from
distorted interpretations of their faith. Thus, he emphatically insists that
(contrary to what some Jews may believe), “Jews are not THE chosen people”.
They have a “sacred relationship” with the one God, but, he says, “they are not
the only ones to do so.”
Highlighting Cases of Jewish-Muslim Harmony in
History
Another concern of the book is to highlight
the fact that, contrary to what many might think, conflict has not always been
the defining feature of Jewish-Muslim history. Thus, the Rabbi writes, “Jews in
Sunni Muslim lands have rarely been forcibly converted; as frequently happened
in Christian lands.” In a fascinating chapter titled “A Rabbi Allied with
Prophet Muhammad”, the Rabbi highlights the little-known story of Mukhayriq, a
Rabbi from Medina, who died fighting, along with the Prophet Muhammad and the
Muslims, in the Battle of Uhud against the opponents of Islam. He might have
been “the first Jewish martyr of Islam.”
Appreciation of the Quranic Understanding of
Religious Pluralism
Yet
another aspect that the book focuses on is the Quranic understanding of
religious pluralism, which the Rabbi sees as being able to accommodate
remarkable religious diversity, including the Jewish faith. “The strong support
that the Quran gives to religious pluralism”, he says, “is a lesson that is
sorely needed by the religious fundamentalists of all religions in the world
today; who prefer making claims of truth, to doing acts of kindness and love.”
According to the Quran, God has sent prophets
to every nation, and they have taught the same basic religion—of submission to
the One God. The Rabbi quotes the Prophet as saying: “Prophets are paternal
brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.” This suggests
the basic oneness of the teachings of all the prophets. “Since all monotheistic
scriptures come from the one and only God,” the Rabbi says, “we should view
other scriptures as potentially enriching our own understanding and
appreciation of our own scripture”—surely a powerful way to bring people from
different faith traditions into closer communion. This is possibly what the
term ‘Synergistic Monotheisms’ in the title of the book refers to.
The
Rabbi writes that “God chose not to create human beings as one nation or with
only one religion so that each religion could compete with all the others in
order to see which religion produces the highest percentage of moral and loving
people; and which people best embody in their personal and communal lives the
moral teachings of their prophet.” In this regard, he quotes the Quran (5.48):
“For
every one of you did We appoint a law and a way. If Allah had pleased He would
have made you one people, but (He didn’t) that He might test you in what He
gave you. Therefore compete with one another to hasten to virtuous deeds; for
all return to Allah, so He will let you know that in which you differed.”
This
means, the Rabbi believes, that religious pluralism is the will of God. The
ongoing conflict between Jews and Muslims, he insists, is thus not religious
but political. One crucial implication of this is that if Muslims and Jews were
to understand their religion in the right manner, it could be the most
effective means for bringing them closer together and for solving what seems to
many to be the almost wholly insoluble political conflict over Palestine/Israel
that threatens to engulf the whole world.
This book comes straight from the heart of
a man who seems deeply committed to peace between people who (claim to) follow
different religions, someone who is also deeply pained by the horrors being
committed in religion’s name. It is a beautiful example an appreciative
understanding of another religion by a person who seems deeply rooted in his
own. For those concerned about the conflict over Palestine/Israel—an issue on
which global peace seems to hinge—and about relations between Muslims and Jews,
and peace in the world generally, this book is a very precious gift.
Many of Rabbi Maller’s writings are accessible on the Internet, including
on his website www.rabbimaller.com
7:56 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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