University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL.com: by Greg Garrison —
David J. Wasserstein, a professor of Jewish History at Vanderbilt University, will lecture on “How Islam Saved the Jews” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 24, at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
The free, public lecture will take place at UAB’s Volker Hall, Lecture Room A, 1670 University Blvd. The event is co-sponsored by the UAB Department of History and the Birmingham Islamic Society.
“It’s a chance for Jews and Muslims who are now often at odds politically to reflect on our glorious historical past and for a moment forget about our political differences, and work on future peace,” said Ashfaq Taufique, president of the Birmingham Islamic Society.
Wasserstein will discuss how the spread of Islam after Muslims conquered Mecca in 630 A.D. led to a thriving Muslim culture that also allowed a thriving Jewish subculture, until about 1300 A.D.
“Within a century of the death of Mohammad, in 632, Muslim armies had conquered almost the whole of the world where Jews lived, from Spain eastward across North Africa and the Middle East as far as the eastern frontier of Iran and beyond,” Wasserstein wrote in The Jewish Chronicle. “Almost all the Jews in the world were now ruled by Islam. This new situation transformed Jewish existence. Their fortunes changed in legal, demographic, social, religious, political, geographical, economic, linguistic and cultural terms – all for the better.”
If not for the Muslim conquests, Jewish culture might have died out, Wasserstein believes.
“The political unity brought by the new Islamic world-empire did not last, but it created a vast Islamic world civilization, similar to the older Christian civilization that it replaced,” Wasserstein wrote in The Jewish Chronicle. “Within this huge area, Jews lived and enjoyed broadly similar status and rights everywhere. They could move around, maintain contacts, and develop their identity as Jews. A great new expansion of trade from the ninth century onwards brought the Spanish Jews – like the Muslims – into touch with the Jews and the Muslims even of India.”
Wasserstein has written several books, including “The Rise and Fall of the Party-Kings, Politics and Society in Islamic Spain, 1002-1086” and “The Caliphate in the West; An Islamic Political Institution in the Iberian Peninsula” and he co-authored “The Legend of the Septuagint, From Classical Antiquity to Today.”
Wasserstein received his Ph.D from Oxford University in 1982. His research interests include medieval Islamic history, medieval Jewish studies, Islam in Spain, Islamic numismatics and minorities in the Islamic world. With a background in classical studies, he is also interested in the classical tradition in Islam, and in particular in the ways in which Judaism, Islam and the classical world intersect culturally, linguistically, and politically.
Categories: Americas, Highlight, Islam, Jewish Faith, Judaism
Until Arabs / Palestinians were made to pay for the sins of the Nazis / Germans there was no reason for Muslims and Jews to be enemies. After all Muslims are even permitted to take Jewish ladies as their wives.
I’m not so sure that your comments implying relations being so good before the NAZI’s are historically correct. There are numerous historical examples where your comment is false.
For example…
“In January 1933 Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government, and many Germans believed that they had found a savior for their nation”
However,
“The Hebron Massacre
(August 23, 1929)
For many years, the small Jewish community in the ancient city of Hebron lived in peace with their tens of thousands of Arab neighbors. But, on the night of August 23, 1929, the tension simmering within this cauldron of nationalities bubbled over and for a period of three days, Hebron turned into a city of terror and murder as the Arab residents led a rampaging massacre against the bewildered and helpless Jewish community.”
The Jewish people, since about 4,000 years ago, have always dreamed to return to the land of Israel. It is in the essence of being Jewish. In the bible, Hebron is where Abraham lived and burried Sarah. It is also where the Jewish patriarchs were burried. The fighting was, and is, probably over intoleration of the Jewish people living on the land. It was inevitable to happen.
Caliph Umar Farooq versus Emperor Heraclius: Who gave us our Religious Freedoms?
I still remember Israel’s former foreign minister Abba Eban once saying “The most golden period of modern Jewish history was under the Muslims in Spain, where the most famous Jewish Philosopher. Mamonides was patronized, and exalted.” Among many many other areas of Jewish recognition and honors bestowed by Muslims on the Jewish citizens was appointments of Jews to the positions of generals, ministers and administrators.
Muslims are also on records as saving the lives of Jews throughout history while they were persecuted by others. To me, they are our brothers, and their religious practices and morals are closest to the Islamic ways
On the other hand, most persecution and excesses on Jews were perpetrated by a religion other than Muslims (…Holocaust, inquisition, etc… )
Is it possible to bring that culture of religious tolerance and harmony back in Pakistan?
A strategy is needed to bring that environment of “glorious historical past” for a peaceful future; scholars should think about it seriously!
Hopefully the professor is aware of the quranic provisions that muhammadans should not befriend Jews and Christians. …
The verse says, don’t take them as your wali. Wali cannot be translated into friend. Wali is something much more intimate.
Namelee, you are unable to see any of the Quranic teachings in neutral or positive light, because of your life long biases.
The verse that you allude to is in the chapter 5 of the Quran and the same chapter also has the following verses:
Zia,
It is good to see how you hang yourself with your own rope.The verse you quoted says nothing about the Jews who are the people we are writing about.
Is it not true that Muhammad taught that the hour will not come until the rock tells the muhammadan that “there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him”?
During the recent visit to Saudi Arabia by Barack Obama, the Saudi authorities refused to issue a visa to a Jewish journalist who was slated to go on the trip.
Has the muhammadan hostility towards the Jew abetted? It has not and will never because that hatred is ‘divinely’ ordained.
Many a Muslims are denied visas to come to Western countries for a myriad of reasons, so that means nothing.
Jews are our cousins and my relatives and sons and daughters of my Great Grand Pa, Baba Abraham, may peace be on him. What else you want me to say and they are truly Monotheist, unlike you, who sometimes confuses one with three.
Read two of the verses I quoted above again:
Zia,
That is very interesting. Perhaps you can recall an instance when a muhammadan journalist on a presidential visit was denied a visa. If there is no such precedent, then the action of the Saudis is quite a big deal because it goes to prove their animosity towards the Jews. That is racism.
…
I have said here before that 1+1 does not always give two. Quite often the sum is still one. A sperm and an egg will not ordinarily produce two fetuses but one. In muhammadan parlance, one body and one soul/spirit will give one human being. What is true of 1+1 is also true of 1+1+1. So, be guided accordingly.
namelee has no real reply to anything quoted from the Quran. Namelee is busy misguiding about the Quran, such as words shown below from namelee post dated April 25, 10:54 a.m.:
Hopefully the professor is aware of the quranic provisions that muhammadans should not befriend Jews and Christians.
———————-
That is a false accusation. I give the right meanings here:
Hopefully the professor is aware of the quranic provisions that muhammadans should not take Jews and Christians as their Guardians.
That is the right report.
At the time when Jews went into Minorities under Roman Empire where new sudden dawn for Christian had arrived and when Christians had no good feelings for Jews and they had some long awaited maths to settle down. And Jews had no earth under the sky. And they were moving further towards the east, especially near Mekkah and were looking for That Prophet to come. So Allah Mercied on them and He raised That Prophet and told him, the truth of their religion and gave Muslims firm grounds against Roman and Persian Empires which brought peace and stability for wandering Jews for many many years. Anyways – this is a past, and even if there was anything done wrong by some Muslims, Christians or Jews, there is no need to let these shadows of the past linger on the heads of new borns, who never played any role in the mistakes of the past. Long Live Peace! Amin!
Ghulam Sarawr,
You are very amusing. There are scores of versions of the quran and hardly do any two of them say the same thing or use exactly the same words. I have versions where both words ‘friend’ and ‘guardian’ are used. The two words will be broken down to ‘associate’.
…
Namelee –
Good point from you but As Arabic has different meanings so you can translate it in best way suitable to the overall picture or truth around or suitable to the context etc. – you are talking of translations not original Arabic Text. If you like, you can read it as a Friend or Guardian (both words look fine to me as both basically compliment on an other). Thanks
The religious Tolerance, cultural and political display of the Muslims in the history of the world knows no boundaries. Alhamdulillahi Rabbi laalameen.