Jews and Torah — in the Qur’an October 29, 2008

Writing for The American Muslim, Dr. Aisha Y. Musa, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Florida International University, has posted a very interesting article entitled “Jews in the Qur’an: An Introduction”, where she attempts to counteract some of what she holds are commonly believed mistruths about the portrayal of Jews in the Qur’an. The article is the first in a series of articles, which will examine not only the Qur’an but also Hadith as well as tafsir (commentary).

The entire article is very worth reading and quite interesting, and my quotes do not do the piece justice, but I wanted to post a couple snippets here:

There are approximately 60 verses in the Qur’an that speak directly about or to the Jews. Two thirds of these use the phrase “Children of Israel” (bani Isra’il), others use the terms “Jews” (yahud) or “those who are Jewish” (alladhina hadu). In addition to verses specifically about or addressing the Jews, the Qur’an also speaks of the people of the Book (ahl al-kitab) and “those who have been given the Book” (alladhina utu al-kitab).

These verses are generally understood to refer to both the Christians and the Jews, those who received the scriptures which preceded the Qur’an. The Qur’an also mentions the Torah more than a dozen times. It also mentions the Pslams of David. In addition to the variety of verses that speak to or about the Jews, chapter 17 of the Qur’an is entitled “The Children of Israel.”

In order to better understand the Qur’an’s portrayal of the Jews it is important to understand the Qur’an’s portrayal of religion itself. Right religion, according to the Qur’an, is submission to God (lit. islam in Arabic). Those who submit to God are, by literal definition, muslim. Thus, islam, in its generic, literal meaning is the religion of all the prophets and messengers from Noah to Abraham to Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, according to the Qur’an (10:71-72, 84; 2:128-131; 5:110-111).

Thus, there is a distinction between the Qur’anic use of the term muslim as a generic term, which refers to someone who submits to God, and the proper noun Muslim, which refers to a follower of the religion founded by Muhammad in the seventh century. Does one need to be a Muslim to be a muslim? Must a Jew who recognizes Muhammad as a messenger and the Qur’an as scripture convert to Islam? The perhaps surprising answer, from a Qur’anic perspective, the answer is, no.

The article continues:

The above verses [Qur’an 3:113-115, 5:69] clearly extend the promise of God to all who believe and do good, whether they are believers in the Qur’an or not. Those who are criticized in the Qur’an are those who fail to uphold their covenant with God. Nothing in the Qur’an calls on the Jews to abandon the Torah in favor of the Qur’an. Quite the opposite. The Qur’an repeated declares that it comes to confirm the previous scripture, not to supplant it. Indeed, the Qur’an criticizes the Jews of Medina for coming to Muhammad for judgment when they had the Torah [Qur’an 5:43].

The following verse [Qur’an 5:44] further emphasizes the importance of the Torah, and the fact that those who follow it are submitting to God.

The piece concludes:

Considering all of these verses, whether they are speaking to or about the children of Israel, or the Jews, or people of the Book, it is clear that Qur’anic criticism and condemnation is aimed not at the Jews as a people, but only at those among them who fail to reverence God and uphold their covenant with Him.

Moreover, the Qur’an calls on Jews to adhere to what God has sent down in the Torah. So, if a Jew recognizes Muhammad as a messenger and the Qur’an as God’s Book, should follow the Torah. To do otherwise would be to disobey the Qur’an.

A fascinating piece, well worth reading. I would be interested in hearing what other scholars of Islamic studies and shari’a think about this.