Recently, I've been having this discussion with a friend on the existence of anti-Semitic sentiments found in the Muslim community.
I'll begin with his points first:
Let us first begin with the proper understanding of the term Anti-Semitism. Basically it's a European phenomenon founded on hatred of Jews solely for their being Jewish. Such sentiments are foreign to the religion of Islam as well as to the historical instances of the Muslim community. Hatred of Jews for their 'Jewish-ness' is nowhere to be found in Islamic history.
Secondly, the more recent trend found in the Muslim community of ill-will towards Jews can be explained by their occupation of the Holy Land and the ensuing oppression of the Palestinian people. Thus, the strong feelings against Jews is not a theological one, but a political one. If the root cause of this hatred were to be addressed, the tension between the two communities would cease to exist and would thus return to the equilibrium that existed for the previous 1400 years.
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I countered that while the origins of the term may be as he described, the current-day, common usage has changed and is now come to mean 'any hatred of the Jewish peoples' regardless of the reason. Let us move beyond the etymological roots of the word and focus on the colloquial usage.
As to the root cause being the political tussle between Israelis and Palestinians, how does that explain the constant barrage of hatred towards Jews with regards to their role in the banking sector, control of the media and Hollywood, their conniving role in the American government, and other conspiracy theories. Even if peace were to prevail in the Middle East, the Muslim street would remain abuzz with such nonsensical talk.
Additionally, too many Muslims have used this hatred to twist verses of the Quran and sayings of the Prophet (saw). Where there was never any anti-Semitic sentiment over the first 1400 years of Muslim understanding of the Quran and Sunnah, the past 50 years have introduced such racists ideology such as all Jews are descendants of apes and pigs, they are the killer of prophets, and even the trees and rocks hate the Jews for they will reveal them hiding in the midst of battle (as narrated by our beloved Prophet (saw)).
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His reply: It is essential that we adhere to the original usage of the term for such hatred of Jews is strictly a Euro-Christian phenomenon. It is an emotion predicated on nothing but the religion of the Jews. The problems of their (Xian) civilization must not be juxtaposed onto our faith community. The ill-will that you (Naeem) speak of does indeed exist, but it cannot be referred to as anti-Semitism. Doing so allows Western commentators to impose this disease onto the Muslim community, which simply has never been the case, past or present.
This sickness of blaming the Jews for various conspiracy theories or hating the Yahud for killing the Palestinians can be called many things, but it must NOT be called anti-Semitism. Muslims must not allow the Christian world to share their collective guilt of hating and oppressing the Jewish people (explicitly founded on their being the killers of Jesus Christ) with the Muslim world.
By so flagrantly accusing the Muslim community of anti-Semitism, you (Naeem) are fanning the flames of the fire begun by the West, who is intent on not only propagating the falsehood that Muslims as a people are anti-Semitical, but that Islam as an ideology is anti-Semitical. And this is the greatest disservice we can do to our very own religion.
Finally, you (Naeem) undermine the significance of the political problem of Israel and Palestine. Muslims the world over have an emotional attachment to that part of the world and to see it so viciously occupied leaves a scar never before seen in our community. I recall Ghandi even having said something to the effect that if the Palestinian problem persists, tensions in the Indian Muslim community will become unbearable. He understood the emotional explosiveness of this issue. Why don't you?
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I hope I summarized the argument of my friend correctly. If he ever gets the time to read this through and finds my presentation lacking, he is free to chime in with any corrections.
In conclusion, I must agree with his argument against using the term anti-Semitism for it projects a feeling that is simply foreign to the Muslim world. No where in our texts can it be found that Jews are to be hated for simply being Jews. So no matter what ill-will may be found in our community, it must not be called anti-Semitism. Muslims will never be like the Nazis or the KKK.
That being said, we do have a serious problem in our community where too much Jew-bashing takes place. Part of the problem undoubtedly arises from the political situation in Palestine. Part of it comes from our weakened state of mind which leads us to constantly look for conspiracies to explain our failed state. Part of it comes from twisted minds who have twisted teachings of our religion to shed a negative light on the Jewish people.
Those issues must definitely be addressed.
But nowhere can we say that this ill-will comes from anti-Semitic thought in our people or in our religion. That is clearly evident. I hope more Muslims begin to pick up on this nuance, which may be subtle but is very weighty.
WAW
3 days ago
7 comments:
I have to agree with your friend.
I was thinking, if the Jews are apes and pigs, weren't they previously the correct people of god, the people of the book. Technically, wasn't Musa(A) Jewish as he is from Bani-Israel.
that leaves me to conclude that the statement is completely out of context?
-The Muslim Kid-
Brother Naeem,
AA,
Living here in your old stomping ground- yankeeland, one can attest that the Jewish lobby of North America has long mastered the art of propaganda - soooo obvious I know. Whenever our media here shows tragedies such as Gaza, for some strange reason Hollywood starts churning out movies sympathetic to the Holocaust. Here is a link for those who want a view from an American Jew who agrees with this and has been threatened by the pro-Israeli lobby here for his unique writings regarding anti-semitism.
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
This overkill of Jewish sympathy campaigning only ignites greater anti- Semitism not only here in the USA, its also apparent world-wide.
Let's not forget how cleverly some media producers here in the USA add fuel to the anti- semitic fire. On channels such as CNN, NBC and of course Fox network, many vital issues concerned with Muslim nations are discussed and debated by whom? Not surprisingly- not by a single Muslim scholar, but by Jewish " experts " who purposefully marginalize many contentious issues related to Islam. These media disinformationists callously put a spin on all issues Islamic by manipulating facts, ie the " War on Terror" etc. As a result, can one blame those who see through this smokescreen leading to anti-semitism? These anti-semitic views are held by my non Muslamin friends as well, not so hard to believe really. Many stress how very important it is for Muslims to push harder for a more balanced media campaign to offset the pro-Israeli lobby. How ironic that CNN has a majority shareholder- Prince Waleed, a Saudi who could have some powerful influence to balance this status quo yet he is pitifully low-key. He has serious power and influence to clean up the airwaves and and bring some serious debate and discussion to the arena, yet he where is his sense of justice in this injustice equation?
AA-
@Muslim, sorry for the late reply, but I'm not sure what you're getting at...
@Anon, if I may say so, I believe you missed the point of my post. I'm specifically trying to get us to stop using the term anti-Semitism to describe the ill-will that exists in many Muslims towards the Jewish people. That can NOT be described as anti-Semitism. This term has so much Euro-Xian cultural and religious baggage that we simply are not associated with.
I find myself not making a point at all when I comment, i seem foolish.
Simply because I have nothing to say but yet must say something. I always seem to agree with whats written and dont have much to say.
I hope that made sense..
-The Muslim Kid-
I haven't checked your blog in a while, but I was touched to see this discussion on here. I wanted to put in my two cents from my point of view:
First: the problem of mixing up Anti-Zionist and Anti-Semitic comes mostly from the Jews. I do not believe it's Christians trying to project their bias onto the Muslim world, rather those Zionists who cannot conceive of a Jew who is not Zionist. They believe religiously in their right to be in the land, and they therefore equate political opposition with religious discrimination. Personally, I have a huge problem who use the word Zionist and Jew interchangeably, but it is widespread in the media, and it's the fault of the Zionists.
Up until the rise of Protestantism, Jews were supposed to live in Muslim countries if at all possible. Muslim countries were considered considerably more tolerant that Christian countries, and there were huge Jewish communities in Baghdad and Damascus for thousands of years (up until the mid 1970's) that lived in peace and probably were good friends with their Muslim neighbors. It is very clear that whatever this conflict is has an extremely recent origin.
It is my hope that is will have an even swifter conclusion.
As an aside, I was in the Arab shuk in the Old City of Jerusalem yesterday and I saw something quite praiseworthy. This is my only forum for discussing it, so I thought I would tell you so you could be proud. Amid hundreds of shopkeepers trying to sell whatever to the "rich Americans", one man was praying while we passed, on a mat, facing what I assume was Mecca. He ignored us as we walked past. Such devotion to prayer and worship simply amazed me, given how badly most of the shopkeepers wanted business. I returned and gave him business after he finished praying, but there was too much of a language barrier for me to be able to explain why.
My apologies for the long segue way, but I was very impressed and I wanted you to know how much this outsider feels your religion is to be praised.
JewishnotZionist,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Your story from Jerusalem was very nice. It is this type of understanding and appreciation for the 'other' that will help us build a better world.
as-salaamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh,
Brother Naeem,
I have always wondered why the term 'anti-Semetic' means 'hatred towards Jews' when a 'Semite' includes Hebrews and Arabs. I think the proper term should be 'anti-Jewish' since an Arab couldn't be 'anti-Semetic' since he is from the same Semetic people.
Baaraka Allahu feek.
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