Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

Box 5.3
Recapturing <strong>the</strong> Spirit of Jewish-Muslim Dialogue
Rabbi David Rosen
Rabbi David Rosen is Chairman of <strong>the</strong> International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>
former Chief Rabbi of Irel<strong>and</strong>. In 2005 he was made a papal Knight Comm<strong>and</strong>er for his contributions to Catholic-
Jewish reconciliation.
Few religions have as much in common as <strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> Judaism. Despite <strong>the</strong> exigencies of history, which took <strong>the</strong> majority of
<strong>the</strong> Jewish People outside <strong>the</strong> Middle East, Judaism has historically remained overwhelmingly rooted in its Semitic worldview.
At <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>the</strong> two faiths is an ethical-mono<strong>the</strong>istic vision that determinedly resists any compromise on <strong>the</strong> idea of <strong>the</strong>
transcendence <strong>and</strong> unity of God, who is envisaged as just <strong>and</strong> merciful <strong>and</strong> who has revealed a way of life in accordance
with <strong>the</strong>se values for <strong>the</strong> benefit of human society. Much <strong>the</strong> same religious narrative <strong>and</strong> similar religious injunctions are
found in <strong>the</strong> Hebrew Pentateuch (<strong>the</strong> Torah) <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Koran.
Common to <strong>the</strong> two traditions are central practices of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, dietary laws <strong>and</strong> aspects of ritual purity.
The two faiths have traditionally shared o<strong>the</strong>r fundamental religious concepts such as reward <strong>and</strong> punishment related to
a Day of Divine Judgment <strong>and</strong> belief in <strong>the</strong> afterlife.
The structure <strong>and</strong> modus oper<strong>and</strong>i of <strong>the</strong>ir respective religious jurisprudential codes of conduct – Sharia <strong>and</strong> Halachah –
bear striking similarity <strong>and</strong> nei<strong>the</strong>r tradition has clergy who by virtue of sacrament are separate from <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> community.
Religious authority is essentially a function of individual mastery of religious sources to be able to guide <strong>the</strong> community in
accordance with <strong>the</strong>ir teachings.
Jews under <strong>Islam</strong>, in marked contrast to Christian rule, were free to practice <strong>the</strong>ir religion without interference, although a
number of restrictive conditions applied ensuring <strong>the</strong>ir subordinate status that were codified in <strong>the</strong> Pact of ‘Umar. Places
<strong>and</strong> periods of positive interaction between <strong>the</strong> two communities are part of <strong>the</strong>ir heritage.
In addition, cultural advancement <strong>and</strong> productivity in Muslim society was mirrored in <strong>the</strong> respective Jewish communities –
most notably in <strong>the</strong> Iberian peninsula in <strong>the</strong> region known in Arabic as al-Andalus.
The relatively open society of al-Andalus ended as North African armies came to help defend against <strong>the</strong> Spanish Christians.
In o<strong>the</strong>r parts of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Islam</strong>ic world, <strong>the</strong> open <strong>and</strong> humanistic qualities of <strong>Islam</strong>ic society began to give way by <strong>the</strong> 13 th century
to more feudalistic mentalities of rigidity <strong>and</strong> control with negative impact upon Jewish communities.
However, we should note that even <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re were Muslim societies in which Jews were welcomed <strong>and</strong> that despite periods
of tension <strong>and</strong> even conflict, <strong>the</strong> heritage of positive Muslim-Jewish relations prevailed in different corners of <strong>the</strong> Muslim world.
Despite popular interpretations, modern nationalism did not make a conflict of Arab nationalism with Jewish nationalism
inevitable. Indeed, <strong>the</strong> principal leaders on both sides in 1919 signed an historic document that presented <strong>the</strong> return of
<strong>the</strong> Jewish people to its ancestral homel<strong>and</strong> as having potential blessing <strong>and</strong> benefit for Arab society as a whole.
Tragically that vision did not materialize <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Israel-Arab conflict – <strong>and</strong> now more specifically <strong>the</strong> Israeli-Palestinian conflict –
became <strong>the</strong> focus of a sense of historical injury within <strong>the</strong> Arab world, <strong>and</strong> subsequently in <strong>the</strong> Muslim world beyond.
The resultant widespread misconception of some innate hostility between Judaism <strong>and</strong> <strong>Islam</strong> is a travesty of our respective
heritages <strong>and</strong> denies <strong>the</strong> noblest periods of our mutual history. It transforms a territorial conflict, which can be resolved
through territorial compromise, into an intractable religious conflict <strong>and</strong> has become a lightening rod for a plethora of
historical <strong>and</strong> contemporary ill feeling.
Aside from political action that needs to be taken to resolve conflict, it is essential to recapture <strong>and</strong> develop <strong>the</strong> spirit of
Jewish-Muslim dialogue <strong>and</strong> mutual respect. This should take place not only to be true to <strong>the</strong> most sublime teachings
<strong>and</strong> historical experience of our respective faith traditions, but also to facilitate genuine reconciliation – both in <strong>the</strong> Holy
L<strong>and</strong> itself <strong>and</strong> in terms of <strong>the</strong> relationship between <strong>the</strong> Muslim <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> non-Muslim world at large.
<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue Religion, Ethics <strong>and</strong> Ideology
63