Pamela Geller Is Wrong About “Islamic Jew Hatred Commanded by the Qur’an”

by Sheila Musaji

Those of us who have followed Pamela Geller’s writings and speeches have seen her use this phrase Islamic Jew-hatred commanded by the quran or mandated by the Qur’an or “a 1,400-year history of Islamic persecution, subjugation and slaughter of the Jews” many, many, many times.

In a previous article Pamela Geller’s False Claim that Muslims Curse Christians and Jews in Their Daily Prayers I discussed one aspect of her false claims about “Islamic Jew hatred”.  Many of the issues raised about particular Qur’anic verses are discussed here, and to misrepresentations of many Arabic/Qur’anic terms here.

This past week, Geller was scheduled to speak on the topic of “Islamic Jew-Hatred: The Root Cause of the Failure to Achieve Peace” in an event sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and hosted by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles.  The event was cancelled at that location, but she gave the speech at another location.

Geller is wrong, but sadly, there are many who follow her bigoted ravings and repeat them as if they are facts.  Robert Spencer, her partner in the hate group SIOA, reprints and magnifies her pronouncements, and numerous Islamophobic sites reprint and repeat.  This “Islamic Jew Hatred commanded by the Qur’an” is the current Islamophobic meme that they are attempting to popularize.

It is true that there are Muslims who are anti-Semites, as there are Jews who are Islamophobes.  It is true that some Jews, Muslims, and Christians have interpreted scriptural passages in such a way that they seemed to justify their particular prejudices.  It is true that the Torah, the New Testament, and the Qur’an all have passages that may be interpreted in selective ways. 

It is true that there have been translations and commentaries on the Qur’an that have included such anti-Semitic interpretations (for example the Hilali-Khan translation and commentary), just as it is true that there have been translations and commentaries on the Torah (for example Torat Hamelech/King’s Torah) that have included anti-gentile interpretations. 

It is also true that relations between Arabs and Israelis, and between Jews and Arabs and Muslims have been very badly strained in the past 75 years due to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.  This political issue has led some Muslims and some Jews to take a “zero sum” position and see all members of the other group as the enemy.  It is true that injustices have been committed. 

It is not true that bigoted interpretations of scriptural passages are the only interpretations (either by Jewish, Christian, or Muslim scholars), either historically or currently.  It is not true that Jews and Muslims have not spoken out against these bigoted strains within their own religion.  It is not true that Muslims and Jews have not condemned those who have called for violence.  It is not true that relations between Jews and Muslims have always been bad, either historically or currently.  It is not true that Muslims and Jews cannot be friends or respect each other. 

In an article on the similarities between anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, I said

For Jewish and Christian members of the Islamophobia industry, I would appeal to you to consider that there is no claim about some particular Imam somewhere saying something extreme or just plain stupid that can’t be matched by a Rabbi or a Reverend doing the same.  There is no act of violence carried out by Muslims that can’t be matched by those carried out by Christians and Jews.  There is no community that is free of criminals and hateful people.  There is no more violence in the Qur’an than in the Torah or the New Testament.  There is no religious community that doesn’t have individuals (even individuals who should know better) who attempt to use religion to justify their wrong actions, or who make distorted interpretations of their religion to justify themselves.

Jews, Christians, and Muslims need to step up and be counted, do what they can to marginalize their own extremists, and stop demonizing each other.  American Muslim Imams And Community Leaders issued a strong statement against Holocaust Denial & anti-Semitism.   In 2009 when a speaker at the ISNA conference made an anti-Semitic statement, ISNA apologized to the Jewish community.  The ADL has issued statements against Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry.   There are many interfaith efforts to build bridges and work cooperatively on the many issues of mutual concern.

However, it seems that much too often, it is the voices of hate and division that get the most media attention and therefore have an opportunity to spread their poison more widely. 

All of us as members of whatever faith group need to counter hateful speech with thoughtful speech, and to be aware that such tendencies exist among all groups.  As Hans Kung has pointed out so beautifully, “There can be no peace among nations until there is peace among the religions.  There can be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions”. Somehow we must find a way to change the diatribe into dialogue (as Muslim scholars have requested in the Common Word document) in the interest of working together towards peace. 

Anti-Semitism is wrong, racism is wrong, homophobia is wrong, and Islamophobia is wrong.  Decent people need to make it clear that expressions of hatred towards anyone are simply not socially acceptable.

A few years ago when a bigoted speaker, Amir Abdel Malik Ali, was invited to speak by a Muslim student group, Hussein Ibish wrote an article protesting this in which he said

It is immoral and counterproductive to promote extreme and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Moreover, it is impossible to take a serious and effective stance against “Islamophobia” while promoting or condoning anti-Semitism. These two forms of bigotry are intimately connected, both thematically and historically. Neither the Jewish community nor the Islamic community can advance its legitimate interests or perspectives by promoting fear and hatred of one another.

If Muslims were “mandated” or “required” to hate Jews, then did the American Muslim Imams And Community Leaders who issued a strong statement against Holocaust Denial & anti-Semitism read some different Qur’an?  Did Reza Aslan who co-edited the book Muslims and Jews in America with Aaron Tapper read some different Qur’an?

If Muslims were “mandated” or “required” to hate Jews as a religious obligation, then how is it that we can find so many stories such as these:

A TAM collection of many stories about Muslims Who Fought Against the ‘Real’ Fascists & Nazis about Muslim soldiers who fought in WWII against these forces, and about ordinary Muslims who saved Jews from certain death at the hands of the Nazis.

A Muslim who helped Jews attacked on a New York subway. 

A Muslim who helped build a Fayetteville synagogue. 

Muslims and Jews participating together in Mosque Synagogue “Twinning”. 

Muslims giving space in their mosque for members of Chabad of East Bronx, an ultra-Orthodox synagogue, to worship when they lost their facility. 

Muslim and Jewish Students at USC participated in a Skid Row food distribution and clean-up sponsored by Ansar Service Partnership and USC Hillel.

Children of Abraham: Jews and Muslims in Conversation is an interfaith dialogue program jointly organized and facilitated by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ).

In Libya, a 2,000 year old Jewish Shul has been protected by a Muslim family for three generations.  Mohamed Madi is the latest of three generations who have secured the Yefren shul. His grandfather protected Yefren’s Jews with a rifle in 1948. Under Gaddafi, his father secretly tended to the synagogue. The Madis also look after the rabbi’s house. Such guardianship, he says, is about “honour and respect for our neighbours, and for their religion”.  “We have a very good relationship with the Muslims of Yefren,” says Jakov Guetta, grandson of Yefren’s last rabbi, now living in Israel. “The Amazigh are special people, good people. They protected the Jewish people from the Nazis in the war. We have had a very good relationship for hundreds of years.” He recalls Yefren’s Jewish history as one featuring “powerful things, miracles, everything”.

The acclaimed French film “Free Men” (“Les Hommes Libres”), about Muslims saving Jews in Nazi occupied Paris is scheduled to be released in the U.S. this year. 

The Holocaust Center of Orlando, Florida is opening an exhibit on the Albanian Muslims who saved Jews during the Holocaust.  It is co-hosted by the Islamic Society of Central Florida. 

Muslims and Jews gathered together in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn to participate in the kickoff event for United in Service: The Jewish Muslim Volunteer Alliance (JMVA). They came came from the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals New York Chapter, Uri L’Tzedek: Orthodox Social Justice, and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School.

More than 150 clergy and laity of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other faiths gathered at the Building Bridges Coalition of Staten Island to attend an interfaith Seder.  The ADAMS Center in Virginia hosted an interfaith Seder

These are the Muslims and Jews who are actually living their faith in such a way that they make the world a little brighter.  These are the Muslims and Jews who give hope to all of us that it is possible to find a way to peace and mutual respect.

Here on TAM, we have been publishing articles urging dialogue, understanding and mutual respect for almost 25 years.  There are many listed at the bottom of this article.  Here are just a few of those articles that make the point that it is not Islam that is responsible for the fact that some Muslims are anti-Semitic, it is human weakness.

In the article Is There Anti-Semitism in The Qur’an? Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi said

Anti-Semitism means condemning and hating a people because of their Semitic race. Anti-Semitism is bigotry and racism. Like all racism it is wrong and it has no place in Islam or in Islamic scripture. The Qur’an does not allow hate against any race, nationality or color. God says in the Qur’an:

“O people, We have created you from a male and female and made you into races and tribes so that you may know each other. Indeed the noblest of you in the sight of God are those who are the most pious among you. And Allah knows every thing and is aware of every thing.” (49:13)

Throughout the history of Islam, Muslims have never used passages from the Qur’an to justify acts of anti-Semitism. The ill-effects of racism, including ethnic cleaning, genocide and Holocaust, which has been suffered by Jews and non-Jews alike over the past several centuries, has never been done under the banner of any passages from the Qur’an. Jews were among the earliest converts to Islam (in Medina) and, throughout the Middle Ages, Jews found sanctuary to practice their own religion under Islamic rule. It is truly disappointing and naive to ignore more than 1400 years of history and learned discourse on the Qur’an and argue that the current political situation in the Middle East has its roots in passages from the Qur’an.

As with all scriptures, passages in the Qur’an must be read within the proper context. The Qur’an was not just revealed for Muslims, but for all people, including Jews and Christians. Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was in the line of previous Prophets of God, including Prophets Abraham, Moses and Jesus, and the Qur’an is in the line of previous scriptures revealed by God. The Qur’an does not condemn the Semitic race and, in fact, accords Jews a special status given their shared prophetic traditions with Islam. The Qur’an instead criticizes those Jews who turned away from God’s authentic message and admonishes those who scorned and ridiculed Prophet Muhammad and the message of the Qur’an. Such criticism is similar to the criticism against Jews found in other scriptures, including the Hebrew Bible, and should be taken by all people as a reminder and warning against forsaking and straying from the authentic message of God. Such specific criticism has never been interpreted by learned scholars of the Qur’an to incite hatred against Jewish people and should not be confused with anti-Semitism.

The Qur’an speaks extensively about the Children of Israel (Bani Isra’il) and recognizes that the Jews (al-Yahud) are, according to lineage, descendants of Prophet Abraham through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. They were chosen by God for a mission (44:32) and God raised among them many Prophets and bestowed upon them what He had not bestowed upon many others (5:20). He exalted them over other nations of the earth (2:47, 122) and granted them many favors.

Passages in the Qur’an which criticize the Jews fall primarily into two categories. First, the Qur’an speaks of how some of the Children of Israel turned away from the authentic message revealed to them. They disobeyed God and showed ingratitude for God’s favors on them. They lost the original Tawrat and introduced their own words and interpretations in the divine books. They became arrogant and claimed that they were God’s children and went about vaunting their position as His most chosen people (4:155; 5:13, 18). They also brazenly committed sins and their rabbis and priests did not stop them from doing so (5:63, 79). God raised His Prophet Jesus among them so that he might show them several miracles and thereby guide them to the right path, but they rejected him, attempted to kill him, and even claimed that they had indeed killed him although they had not been able to do so (4:157, 158). God specifically addresses the Children of Israel in many of these passages. This is important, because it shows that the message of the Qur’an was intended for all people, including the Jews, and the criticism was directed against a specific group of people for their specific actions. This criticism should be distinguished fr