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Islam and Antisemitism – 2

Friday Khutba by Dr Zahid Aziz, for Lahore Ahmadiyya UK, 8 December 2023

“Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.” — ch. 2, Al-Baqarah, v. 62	اِنَّ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَ الَّذِیۡنَ ہَادُوۡا وَ النَّصٰرٰی وَ الصّٰبِئِیۡنَ مَنۡ اٰمَنَ بِاللّٰہِ وَ الۡیَوۡمِ الۡاٰخِرِ وَ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَہُمۡ اَجۡرُہُمۡ عِنۡدَ رَبِّہِمۡ ۪ۚ وَ لَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَیۡہِمۡ وَ لَا ہُمۡ یَحۡزَنُوۡنَ ﴿۶۲﴾
“Those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabians and the Christians and the Magians and those who set up partners (with Allah) — surely Allah will decide between them on the day of Resurrection. Surely Allah is Witness over all things.” — ch. 22, Al-Ḥajj, v. 17	اِنَّ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَ الَّذِیۡنَ ہَادُوۡا وَ الصّٰبِئِیۡنَ وَ النَّصٰرٰی وَ الۡمَجُوۡسَ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ اَشۡرَکُوۡۤا ٭ۖ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ یَفۡصِلُ بَیۡنَہُمۡ یَوۡمَ الۡقِیٰمَۃِ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ عَلٰی کُلِّ شَیۡءٍ شَہِیۡدٌ ﴿۱۷﴾

I am continuing with the theme of last week’s khutba, and showing that the allegation is entirely false that Islam teaches Muslims to hate Jews, in order words, what is called antisemitism. The first verse which I recited above occurs again in a slightly different form in ch. 5, Al-Mā’idah, v. 69. It is indicated in this verse that what matters in God’s eyes is a person’s belief in God, belief in the eventual accountability of one’s actions before God, and the doing of good deeds. The followers of the various religions mentioned, including Muslims and Jews, consider these as the key principles of their religions. So they ought to act on these principles. Considering themselves as the specially chosen and forgiven ones of God because they call themselves as Muslim, Jew, Christian or anything else, is not a claim which has any value with God. The second verse I recited doesn’t mention any reward from God, like the first verse, but merely says that followers of all religions, as well those whose religion was only idol-worship, will have their differences decided by God on the Day of Judgment.

Both these verses indicate that God judges everyone by the same standards, whether Muslim, Jew or Christian, or anyone else. The placing of the Jews in the same category as everyone else for judgment shows that the Quran is not singling out Jews and applying to them some harsher and stricter standard than to Muslims or others.

In his practical example, the Holy Prophet Muhammad treated Jews with the same humanity and courtesy that he showed to anyone else. There is a hadith in Sahih Bukhari in which someone reported:

“A funeral procession passed by us and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم stood up, and we stood up too. We said: ‘Messenger of Allah! This is the funeral procession of a Jew.’ He said: ‘Whenever you see a funeral procession, stand up’.”

It is reported in the next hadith that, at a time after the conquest of Iran by Muslims, two Companions of the Holy Prophet were once sitting in the street when what happened was this:

“A funeral procession passed by them and they stood up. They were told that the funeral procession was of one of the local inhabitants, that is, from among non-Muslims living under the protection of the Muslims (ahl adh-dhimmah). These Companions replied: A funeral procession passed by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he stood up. When he was told that it was the funeral of a Jew, he said: ‘Is it not of a human being?’ ” (Bukhari, h. 1311 and 1312)

The words of the Holy Prophet in Arabic were: أَلَيْسَتْ نَفْسًا — a laisat nafs-an? Just three simple words: Is it not a human soul? This hadith is also in Sahih Muslim (h. 961). Hence it is of the highest authenticity. According to a version in Sahih Muslim, when the Holy Prophet was told that it was the funeral of a Jewish woman, he replied:

“Death is surely a matter of dread and alarm. So when you see a funeral procession, stand up” (h. 960a).

And another version in Sahih Muslim records:

“The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his Companions stood for the funeral procession of a Jew until the coffin disappeared from view” (h. 960c).

The Holy Prophet had a wife belonging to a Jewish tribe, whose name was Safiyyah. Also Hafsah, daughter of Hazrat Umar, was a wife of the Holy Prophet from his own tribe of the Quraish. Once Hafsah described Safiyyah as “daughter of a Jew”. What then happened is reported in a hadith in the collection of Tirmidhi:

“The news reached Safiyyah that Hafsah said: ‘The daughter of a Jew’, so she wept. Then the Prophet came to her while she was crying, so he said: ‘What makes you cry?’ She said: ‘Hafsah said to me that I am the daughter of a Jew.’ So the Prophet said: ‘And you are the daughter of a Prophet (meaning Aaron), and your uncle is a Prophet (meaning Moses), and you are married to a Prophet, so what is she boasting to you about?’ Then he said (to Hafsah): ‘Fear Allah, O Hafsah’.” (Tirmidhi, h. 3894).

According to another version of this report, the Holy Prophet’s wives Hazrat Aishah and Hazrat Hafsah (daughters of Hazrat Abu Bakr and Umar) had said about Safiyyah: “We are more honoured by the Messenger of Allah than her,” and “We are the wives of the Prophet and his cousins”. Upon this, the Holy Prophet said to Safiyyah:

“Why did you not say (to them): How can you be better than me when my husband is Muhammad, my father is Aaron, and my uncle is Moses?” (Tirmidhi, h. 3892).

The Holy Prophet was advising Safiyyah to tell Hafsah and Aishah (God be pleased with them all) that she was related to three prophets, to two of them by descent and to one by marriage, while they were related to only one prophet!

There is another incident reported by Hazrat Aishah herself as follows:

The camel of Safiyyah was fatigued, and Zainab had a surplus mount. The Messenger of Allah said to Zainab: Give her the camel. She said: Should I give to that Jewess? Thereupon the Messenger of Allah became angry and kept away from her during (the months of) Dhu al-Hijjah, Muharram, and a part of Safar” (Abu Dawud, h. 4602).

These events show that the Holy Prophet Muhammad severely disapproved of insulting Jews and he reprimanded his own followers and his own wives for insulting them.

There is another incident reported in Sahih Bukhari more than half a dozen times. One version is as follows:

“Two men, a Muslim and a Jew, quarrelled. The Muslim said (as an oath): ‘By Him (i.e. God) Who gave Muhammad superiority over all the people!’ The Jew responded (with the oath): ‘By Him Who gave Moses superiority over all the people!’ At this the Muslim raised his hand and slapped the Jew on the face. The Jew went to the Holy Prophet and informed him of what had happened between him and the Muslim. The Holy Prophet sent for the Muslim and asked him about it. The Muslim informed him of the event. The Holy Prophet said (to the Muslim): Do not give me superiority over Moses” (Bukhari, h. 2411, and 3408, 6517, 7472).

According to another version, it was the Jew who started the dispute because he was selling something and a Muslim offered him only a low price and that made him unhappy. So the Jew said as an oath: “No, by Him Who gave Moses superiority over all mortals!” Hearing him, a man from among the Ansar got up and slapped him on the face and said: “You say, By Him Who gave Moses superiority over all mortals, while the Prophet (Muhammad) is present amongst us!” The Jew went to the Prophet and said:

“O Abu-l-Qasim! I am under the assurance and contract of security (with you), so what right does so-and-so have to slap me?”

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم asked the Muslim: “Why have you slapped him?” He told him the whole story. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم became angry, till anger showed on his face, and said: “Do not give superiority to any prophet amongst Allah’s Prophets” (Bukhari, h. 3414, and 4638, 6917). This incident is repeated in so many versions in Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim that it is absolutely certain that this story is authentic and true.

Let us remember that this took place under a Muslim state in Madinah, whose Head of state was the Holy Prophet Muhammad. Jews were living under the protection of that Muslim state. That is why this Jew took his complaint to the Holy Prophet, and he had confidence in the Holy Prophet that he would do justice. The dispute in the incident involved the name of the Holy Prophet himself. The Holy Prophet told the Muslim that he should not have said what he did. Of course, this does not mean that the Holy Prophet is telling Muslims not to regard him as superior to all other prophets. What it means is that his superiority cannot be established by having this kind of dispute, which leads to a Muslim losing control and striking the other person.

Another incident reported in Hadith is as follows. A Jewish scholar had lent some money to the Holy Prophet. Later he came to demand it back. The Holy Prophet said: I have no money that I can give you. He said: “Muhammad, I will not leave from here until you pay what you owe me.” The Holy Prophet said: “All right, I will stay with you.” So the Holy Prophet remained with him through the Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha prayers, and the next morning’s Fajr prayers. His Companions were annoyed and they told the Jew that they would throw him out. But the Holy Prophet stopped them. They said: “O Messenger of Allah, Can a Jew hold you up?” He said:

“Allah has forbidden me to do injustice to anyone who is under our compact of security, and such people.”

Later that morning, the Jew suddenly said:

“I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, and I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah. I give a half of my property in the way of Allah. I swear by Allah that I did what I did only because I was testing you to see if the qualities that are recorded in the Torah about the promised prophet are found in you or not. The Torah says: … He will not be abusive in language nor hard-hearted, nor will he shout loudly in the streets, nor will he indulge in foul talk.” (Mishkat, Kitab-ul-Fitan, ch. ‘Morals and habits of the Holy Prophet’, sec. 3)

The Holy Prophet here affirmed that Jews were living under his rule with security guaranteed to them through an agreement with them. So he granted them their full rights and treated them with justice, kindness and tolerance. It is therefore absolutely clear and categorical from the Holy Quran and the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad that Islam rejects antisemitism in every form, including use of sarcastic and hurtful language towards Jews. May Allah enable the wider world, and Muslims themselves, to realise that Islam set the highest standards of civilisation, behaviour and human rights in how Muslims should treat followers of other faiths — Ameen. These high standards of Islam can now be contrasted starkly with the standards that the present-day materialistic and worldly-minded nations adhere to in pursuit of their low and narrow national interests.

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