So, What Did the Muslims Do for the Jews?...
By David J Wasserstein, May 24, 2012 Islam saved Jewry. This is an unpopular, discomforting claim in the modern world. But it is a historical truth. The argument for it is double. First, in 570 CE, when the Prophet Mohammad was born, the Jews and Judaism were on the way to oblivion. And second, the coming of Islam saved them, providing a new context in which they not only survived, but flourished, laying foundations for subsequent Jewish cultural prosperity – also in Christendom – through the medieval period into the modern world. By the fourth century, Christianity had become the dominant religion in the Roman empire. One aspect of this success was opposition to rival faiths, including Judaism, along...
American Jews and Muslims Work Together...
WASHINGTON — When American Muslim religious leaders looked for Christian and Jewish counterparts to stand with them against Islamophobia at a high-profile gathering tied to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, several major Jewish spiritual leaders readily answered their call. “Ten years after 9/11 it has somehow become respectable to verbally attack Muslims and Islam in America,” said Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, as he and Orthodox Rabbi Marc Schneier stood with other clergy in a Washington church September 8. “The good people in this room are fighting back.” There was a time when a Jewish presence with these Muslim leaders would have been controversial. But today the sight of Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious...
Quebec’s Muslims, Jews Oppose Bid to Ban Religious Symbols in Public Jobs...
MONTREAL, Canada – Quebec’s Muslims and Jews are on the same side of a heated debate over whether the regional government can ban employees in public service from wearing overt religious symbols, such as Muslim women wearing headscarves. Last week, the Quebec government lit a political firestorm by unveiling its “Charter of Values,” under which employees in public sectors or connected with it would be banned from wearing symbols that advertise any religion. Among other things it would mean that Muslim women observing the hijab, Sikh men wearing the turban, Jews sporting the kippah or Christians with larger-than-average crucifixes could no longer do so at government jobs. The Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec has denounced the bill, which...
Boston Muslims and Jews Come Together in the Shadow of the Marathon Bombings...
BOSTON – In a country and a city where Muslims and Jews do not tend to overlap socially, the party at the American Islamic Congress Cultural Center on Boston’s tony Newbury Street, just a few blocks from the finish line of the Boston Marathon, was a rare moment for the two groups to talk and connect. The event, where guests nibbled on baklava and listened to student musicians from Brandeis University play Middle Eastern tunes on ouds and violins, had been planned months before the marathon bombings and subsequent manhunt that engulfed Boston and left behind a city forever changed. “I don’t think there is enough dialogue between the communities,” said Ron Levy, a retired Baghdad-born Jewish management...
Jewish and Muslim Students Can Work Together Against Prejudice...
There are more than 110,000 Jewish and Muslim students in Britain, but it’s not often their shared experiences are considered. Globally, Muslim-Jewish relations are a touchy topic, with the focus on political divisions (such as Palestine-Israel), and an assumption of historical enmity. I have felt this cold, polarising air from both communities, whose leaders seem unwilling to address it. But born and raised in Alwoodley, Leeds, I grew up with more Jewish than Muslim friends, and realised our startling similarities. The National Jewish Student Survey in 2011 showed the day-to-day issues facing Jewish students. In the main these concerned passing exams and finding a job, but Judaism also played a strong role in encouraging them to support and give to...
Kenyan Muslims, Christians Vow Unity
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenyan clerics across the religious divide vowed Tuesday to not allow sectarian violence to erupt following attacks on churches over the weekend that killed at least 15 people. The Inter-Religious Council of Kenya said Muslims will form vigilante groups alongside Christians to guard churches in Kenya’s North Eastern Province, where the latest attacks occurred. Adan Wachu, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims and the chairman of Inter-Religious Council, said the weekend attacks, which are being blamed on an al-Qaida-linked militant group from Somalia, are meant to trigger sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims. Wachu said clerics will actively preach against retaliation to prevent violence from spreading in Kenya like it has in...
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