This comprehensive, meticulously documented collection of scholarly articles presents indisputable evidence that a readily discernible, uniquely Islamic antisemitism--a specific Muslim hatred of Jews--has been expressed continuously since the advent of Islam. Debunking the conventional wisdom, which continues to assert that Muslim animosity toward Jews is entirely a 20th-century phenomenon fueled mainly by the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict, leading scholars provide example after example of antisemitic motifs in Muslim documents reaching back to the beginnings of Islam.
The contributors show that the Koran itself is a significant source of hostility toward Jews, as well as other foundational Muslim texts including the hadith (the words and deeds of Muhammad as recorded by pious Muslim transmitters) and the sira (the earliest Muslim biographies of Muhammad). Many other examples are adduced in the writings of influential Muslim jurists, theologians, and scholars, from the Middle Ages through the contemporary era.
These primary sources, and seminal secondary analyses translated here for the first time into English--such as Hartwig Hirschfeld's mid-1880s essays on Muhammad's subjugation of the Jews of Medina and George Vajda's elegant, comprehensive 1937 study of the hadith--detail the sacralized rationale for Islam's anti-Jewish bigotry. Numerous complementary historical accounts illustrate the resulting plight of Jewish communities in the Muslim world across space and time, culminating in the genocidal threat posed to the Jews of Israel today.
Scholars, educators, and interested lay readers will find this collection an invaluable resource for understanding the phenomenon of Muslim antisemitism, past and present.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History:
Professor Bostom has accomplished a daring feat by refuting an age old myth within the discipline of Middle Eastern History. His thesis statement, that Jews were not treated better under Muslim auspices, cuts through preconceived notions. It is an immense work that will take the avid historian weeks to go through, but it is all worth the work. Even though he is not an historian by trade he still manages to conjure new and old muslim source material, which makes his case all the more solid. It is not only a... more info
Considerably biased:
As a non-Muslim who has done some minimal study of Islam, I found this book to be very one-sided and polemical. Even a non-expert like myself can easily identify the biases and one-sided arguments in this book. Given the somewhat understandable bias against Islam in the Western world, no doubt many people will find this book confirms their views of Islam. However, I would encourage those inclined to agree with the author to consider that many Muslims do not hate Jews and to do their own research on this... more info
FALSE ARGUMENTS. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME, AND MONEY:
Just from my own research I found at least 23 false argumnet through out the book.
Unfourtunately, some people just want to hate others. For those people, this book might be good.
A Must Read in Today's World:
In today's world where the threats of Radical Islamists may set fire to the whole world there are many apologists for Islam that say Jew Hatred is not part of "true" Islam. This work documents and exposes the truth from Muhammad to today using the most accepted references and Islamic scriptures to document his findings. If you want to understand the truth of the relationship between Islam, the Jewish people and thus the motivations behind Muslim actions today you need to read this book. This book exposes... more info
