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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Writer Finds Parallels in Judaism, Islam

By SOLLY PRESS

(Copyright 1979, JTA, Inc.)

JOHANNESBURG —
Who speaks for Islam to-
day?

...........

.„.

/OMERSET

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Those who feign Islam
may be reminded that the
Koran mentions the Torah
by name, speaks of Ab-
raham 70 times, and men-
tions Moses in 34 suras. The
Hebrew Kings and Prophets
occur frequently in the Ko-
ran, and Gabriel plays a
significant role in the birth
of Islam in Arabia, the land
of Ishmael.
The feigners of Islam
overlook the fact that the
Torah records the names of
Omar, Abdel, Salah and
Hassan, among several
other "Islamic" per-
sonalities. As readily over-
looked by Islam's fanatics

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are the great and abiding
similarities between
Judaism and Islam, closer
than either is to the third
sister, Christianity.
Not only do both pray
to the same all-merciful
God, neither recognizes
any mediator between
the individual and his
creator. Indeed, both
Islam and Judaism still
share a similar set of cus-
toms, languages and his-
tory.
The best of Jewish schol-
arship points out the
mutual closeness by way of,
say, the biblical and tal-
mudic expression "Ribon
ha-Olamin" _(Lord of the
World) and the Koran's "rab
al-Alamin." The
similarities range from di-
vine election to pro-
Israelite, anti-Pharaonic
themes. Guess to whom
Deuteronomy 18:18 refers:
"I shall raise up for them a
prophet among their own
brothers."
Prof. Norman Bentwich
used to remind his readers
that the Prophet Muham-
med himself made a cove-
nant with the Jews of Eilat,
the same historic port now-
adays coveted by those who
loudly proclaim loyalty to
his teachings. As quickly
skimmed over is the fact
that the Davidic exilarch
Bostanai (Bustani) was the
,brother-in-law
,brother-in-law of the
Caliph Omar.
This was long before Spain's
golden age.
"Islam," remarked Prof.
S.D. Goitein, "is from the
very flesh and bone of
Judaism," a theme sup-
ported by the Koran itself:
"We believe in what was re-
vealed to Abraham,
Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and
the Tribes." The Koran ap-
pears also to contain a spe-
cial message for Israelits,
Ishmaelites, Syrians,
Lebanese, and Sheban
Ethiopians: "Allah ordains
that blood relations are
closer to one another than to
other believers (prose-
lytes)."
So whence the animos-
ity towards Jewry? If the
Koran itself contains the
fruits of biblical and tal-
mudic Judaism, the
animosity can only arise
from blatant misin-
terpretations of Islam it-
self, a blindness worse
than endemic trachoma.
Though Araby itself is not
inhospitable to fanatics in
our times, possibly the most
far-fetched misinterpreta-
tions of Islam arise among
those whose ancestors were
converted by Ishmael's sci-
mitar. -
Proselytes are said to veer
from fanatic zeal to intellec-
tual reluctance and even
alienation. If so, Muslims
are no exception. The Shias
of Iran seem to represent
the former, the Neo-Destour
of Tunisia appear to reflect
the latter. Examples of both
can no doubt be found from
the Malayalam countries
and Pakistan to the Muslim
areas of tropical Africa.
Whatever the dangerous
analogies, it remains true

that today's anti-Israel
stances come most stri-
dently from those whose
holy book contains all that
is necessary to understand
Jewry's love for Zion —
Zionism. So, the question
remains: who will yet speak
for the true Islam?

Friday, November 30, 1919 39

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