Journal for the Study of Antisemitism

112 JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ANTISEMITISM [ VOL. 1:95
between Muslims and non-believers. Muslims are described as “the best
nation that hath been raised up unto mankind,” whereas non-Muslims are
depicted as “smitten with vileness wheresoever they are found” (Preamble).
The only exceptions are those who submit to Islamic domination as dhimmis,
thereby obtaining “security by entering into a treaty with Allah.” Hassan
al-Banna, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, is then quoted
as promising the destruction of Israel, which “will continue to exist until
Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” Lest there be
any illusion that Hamas could be induced to make peace with Israel, the
document explicitly asserts that “the Islamic Resistance Movement believes
that the land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [an inalienable religious
endowment] consecrated for future Muslim generations until Judgment
Day” (Article 11, Hamas Covenant). Hence, “there is no solution for the
Palestinian question except through Jihad. Initiatives, proposals and international
conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavors” (Article 13).
Moreover, the Hamas Covenant rejects any distinction between anti-
Zionism and anti-Semitism. Although some contemporary writers allege
that Muslim anti-Semitism is a recent development fostered by National
Socialist influence, Hamas regards Muhammad himself as looking forward
to a genocidal ending of the Muslim-Jewish conflict. 66 The Covenant cites a
Hadith of Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari (810-870), the editor-collector
of what is considered one of the most trusted collections of oral traditions
concerning the life of Muhammad (810-870). In the Hadith, the Prophet is
depicted as declaring:
The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews
(killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The
stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind
me, come and kill him. Only the Gharkad tree (evidently a certain kind of
tree) would not do that because it is one of the trees of the Jews. (Article
7)
In keeping with the spirit of al-Bukhari’s Hadith and in complete disre-
66. On the significance of the relevance of this Hadith for contemporary
antisemitism, see Andrew Bostom, “Why Islam’s Jew-Hating Hadith Matter,”
Front Page Magazine, October 3, 2008, http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?
ARTID=32563. On the theory of the Nazi roots of Islamic antisemitism, see Matthias
Kuntzel, “Islamic Antisemitism and Its Nazi Roots,” April 2003, http://www.
matthiaskuentzel.de/contents/islamic-antisemitism-and-its-nazi-roots. For an
exchange on this issue between Bostom and Kuntzel, see “Debating the Islamist-
Nazi Connection,” Front Page Magazine, January 2, 2008, http://97.74.65.51/read
Article.aspx?ARTID=29361.