Compare and Contrast Judaism and Islam

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C H A P T E R 8

JUDAISM “God wants us to effectively be his partner in helping

the world, in repairing the world, and in improving the

condition of people and civilization around us.” Eli Epstein1

8.1 Contrast biblical Judaism with rabbinic Judaism

8.2 Examine the role the European Enlightenment played in the development of Judaism

8.3 Identify the key tenets of the Jewish faith

8.4 Summarize the main sacred practices

8.5 Describe the High Holy Days and key festivals in the Jewish calendar

8.6 Differentiate between the major branches of contemporary Judaism

Judaism, which has no central leader or group making theological decisions, encompasses the diverse ethnic and religious traditions of the Jewish people, from a shared heritage of law and narrative they see as dating back to earliest human times.

In religious terms, Jews are those who experience their long and often dif- ficult history as a continuing dialogue with God. In a religious sense, “Israel” refers to all those who struggle to answer the call of God and who acknowledge and strive to obey the one God, through the Torah, or “teaching,” given to the patriarchs, Moses, and the prophets.

As a nation, the Jews preserved memories of both a homeland in the land of Israel and their own exile from that land. Both memories contributed to their survival through millennia of dispersion and oppression. After the horrors of the Holocaust in the twentieth century, some Jews successfully promot- ed the idea of a state for a concentration of Jews in the land of Israel as the only safe way for Jews to resist anti-Semitism and to survive. Other Jews con- tinued to believe that they could seek safety in communities around the world. Many who consider themselves Jews have been born into a Jewish ethnic identity but do not feel a strong connection to the practice of Jewish religious traditions.

Given the persecution, dispersion, and even lack of religiosity among many Jews, how have they not dissolved as a people? Their survival, and that of Judaism as a whole, has required constant accommodation to changing cir- cumstances. Nonetheless, they have managed to sustain a remarkable degree of cohesiveness and similar practices and beliefs.

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TIMELINE

Judaism

BCE c. 1900–1700 Abraham, the first patriarch

c. 1300–1200 Moses leads the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt

1207 Israelites present in Canaan

c. 1010–970 David, king of Judah and Israel

961–931 King Solomon builds the First Temple of Jerusalem

722 Fall of northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria

586 Fall of Judah to Babylon; First Temple destroyed; Jews exiled to Babylon, some flee to Egypt.

c. 535 Jews return to Jerusalem and Judaea

515 Second Temple of Jerusalem built

c. 430 Torah read to the public by Ezra the Scribe

c. 333 Alexander’s conquest; beginning of Hellenization of the East.

167 Maccabean Revolt

30 BCE–10 CE Hillel the Elder

CE 70 Jerusalem falls to the Romans and Second Temple destroyed

c. 90 Jewish canon of Tanakh set, under Rabbi Akiva’s leadership

132–135 Bar Kokhba revolt

c. 200 Mishnah compiled; diaspora extends through Mesopotamia and North Africa

c. 500 Babylonian Talmud completed

1095 Crusaders begin massacring Jews in Europe en route to the Holy Land

1135–1204 Life of Maimonides

1478 The Spanish Inquisition begins

1492 Mass expulsion of Jews from Spain

1555 onward Ghettos of Italy and Germany

1654 Jews begin to settle in North America

c. 1700–1760 The Baal Shem Tov begins Hasidism

c. 1770–1880 Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment

1881 Large-scale Jewish migrations to North America begin

1933–1945 The Holocaust, reaching its climax in World War II

1947 Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

1948 Israel declared an independent state

1950 Law of Return

1967 Six-Day War; acquisition of territories transforms Israeli–Palestinian relationships

1972 First woman rabbi ordained

1982 United Nations supports independent Palestinian state

1990 onward Israeli–Palestinian conflicts and peace initiatives

2013 Women’s rights to wear prayer shawls and tefillin and read Torah at Western Wall supported by court order

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In this chapter we will focus on Judaism as an evolving tradition, first by tak- ing an overview of the history of the Jewish people and then by examining the religious concepts and practices that characterize followers of the Torah today.

Biblical and rabbinic Judaism What is the difference between biblical and rabbinic Judaism?

The Jewish sense of history begins with the stories recounted in the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh. Biblical history begins with the creation of the world by a supreme deity, or God, and progresses through the patriarchs, matriarchs, and Moses who spoke with God and led the people according to God’s command- ments, and the prophets who heard God’s warnings to those who strayed from the commandments. But Jewish history does not end where the stories of the Tanakh end, about the second century BCE. After the holy center of Judaism, the Temple of Jerusalem, was conquered and destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, Jewish history is that of a dispersed people, finding unity in their evolving teachings and traditional practices. These were eventually codified in the great compendium of Jewish law and lore, the Talmud.

Biblical stories

Although knowledge of the early history of the Children of Israel is based large- ly on the narratives of the Tanakh, scholars see different degrees of historical authenticity in the varied textual accounts. Some of the people, events, and genealogies set forth cannot be verified by other evidence. It may be that the Israelites were too small and loosely organized a group to be noted by histori- ans of other cultures. No mention of Israel appears in other sources until about 1230 BCE, but biblical narratives and genealogies place Abraham, said to be the first patriarch of the Israelites, at about 1700 to 1900 BCE.

The Jewish scriptures consist of the Torah (or Pentateuch), the Prophets, and the Writings. These books date roughly from the 10th to the 2nd century BCE, and were written mostly in classical Hebrew. They are often referred to as Tanakh, an acronym from the first letters of each division— Torah, Nevi’im, Kethuvim.

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Jews hold the Pentateuch, the “five books of Moses” that appear at the beginning of the Tanakh, as the most sacred part of the scriptures. Traditionalists believe that these books were divinely revealed to Moses in a covenantal event at Mt. Sinai and were written down by him as a single document. Contemporary biblical scholars view the texts in a different light, utilizing clues such as dupli- cated narratives and variant names of God to identify a series of sources within the texts of the Torah. They argue that distinct oral and then written traditions were brought together in an editorial process with the intent of interpreting the formation of Israel from a religious point of view, as the results of God’s actions in human history. The Pentateuch seems to have assumed its final form in the days of Ezra the Scribe (fifth century BCE).

Some stories in the Pentateuch, such as the Creation, the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, and the Tower of Babel, are similar to earlier Mesopotamian legends. The biblical legal material also reflects the ancient Near Eastern legal tradition, albeit with many innovations. Only in the latest books of Israelite history and the contemporaneous prophetic books do we begin to see referenc- es to events and figures whose existence can be confirmed by external literary and archaeological evidence. The significance of biblical history is thus better understood not in terms of an emphasis on historicity but rather as narratives of peoplehood and as a backdrop for the communal traditions that follow.

From creation to the God of Abraham The Hebrew scriptures begin with a sweeping poetic account of the creation of Heaven and Earth by God in six days, from the time of “the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from (or: the spirit of) God sweeping over the water.”2 After creating the material universe, God created man and woman in the divine “image” or “likeness,” establishing them as masters of the earth, rulers of “the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on the earth.”3 In this account, God is portrayed as a transcendent Creator, without origins, gender, or form, a being utterly different from what has been created. Since Hebrew has no gender-neutral pronouns, God is generally—though not always—described in male singular terms. This creation story (in Genesis 1 and 2:1–4) is attributed by scholars to the “priestly source,” thought to be editors writing immedi- ately before or after the exile of the Jews to Babylon in 586 BCE.

A second, probably earlier, version of the cre- ation story follows, beginning in Genesis 2:4. It is thought to be a contribution to the scriptures from the “Yahwist source,” which called the supreme deity by the name “Yahweh.” Instead of presenting woman as the equal of man, the second account of creation portrays her as an offshoot of Adam, the first man, formed to be his partner and helpmeet. The story that follows has commonly been interpreted as blaming woman for the troubles of humanity, although this read- ing is not supported in the story itself. According to the legend of Adam and Eve, originally God placed the first two humans in a garden paradise. The woman, Eve (“mother of all the living”), was promised wisdom by a serpent (often interpreted by Christians as a symbol of Satan) to encourage her to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, against God’s command. She gave some to Adam as well. According to the legend, this ended their innocence. God cursed the ser- pent and the land, and banished Adam and Eve

After eating the fruit of knowledge, Adam and Eve are exiled from paradise. (The Wandering of Adam and Eve, Abel Pann, c. 1925, Jerusalem. Colored lithograph.)

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from their garden. Their lives were no longer paradisical, and nor were they immortal, for they no longer had access to the “tree of life.”

The theme of exile reappears continually in the Hebrew Bible, and in later Jewish history the people are rendered homeless again and again. The biblical narratives emphasize that the people risk God’s displeasure every time they stray from God’s commands. They are repeatedly exiled from their spiritual home because of these transgressions and continually seek a return to it.

Some Jews developed a more optimistic interpretation of exile. This was the feeling that the Jewish people were spread throughout the world by God’s will, for a sacred purpose: to be good citizens of whatever land they reside in, and to help raise the imperfect world again to the condition of perfection in which God had created it. The rabbinic tradition, which began in the first century CE and has shaped Jewish theology into the modern period, emphasized that the way out of exile was through study and righteous living. Commandments have their origin in God and, if followed, will lead humanity back to a life in harmony with God.

Covenant A unique belief introduced by Jewish theology was the idea of a spe- cial covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and God. In the ancient

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The Israelites identified themselves as a people whose ancestors, Abraham and Sarah, moved from Ur and Haran in Mesopotamia to Canaan; Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, called “Israel,” resettled his large family in Egypt, where the Israelites were eventually treated as slaves.

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Near East, every nation had a god, with whom it had a reciprocal contract in which both were accountable. On the people’s side, obedience to their god was expected. On the divine side, the god granted special favors and was also bound by his own ethical agreements to the people. In Jewish monotheism—the belief that only one God is real, and all other gods are false—Israel’s covenant with its God came to be seen as unique in the world, with Israel viewed as the one God’s only “chosen” people. The paradigm for this special relationship was the covenant between God and Abraham on behalf of the Jewish people.

A more universal covenant with humanity as a whole is portrayed in the story of Noah, who was said to be the sole righteous man of his time. According to the biblical narrator, who attributes thoughts and emotions to God, God despairs of the general wickedness of humans, regrets having created them, and sends a great flood “to destroy all flesh under the sky.”4 Ancient Near Eastern traditions include stories of great floods, which emphasize the power of the gods and the finiteness of human life. In the biblical story, God establishes a covenant with Noah and gives directions for the building of an ark, which saves Noah’s family and two of each of God’s creatures. God promises never again to destroy the created world or to interfere with the established natural order, with the rainbow as a sign of this covenant “between me and all flesh that is on earth.”5

God does, however, continue to intervene in history, according to the narra- tors. Ten generations after the legend of Noah, the narrative focuses on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (the “patriarchs”), and their wives, Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel (the “matriarchs”). According to the biblical narratives, Abraham was born in Ur (now in Iraq), migrated to Haran (now in Turkey), and then was called by God to journey to Canaan. With his wife Sarah and his household, he left the land of his father and also the religion of his father, a worshiper of the old gods.

TEACHING STORY

Abraham’s Willingness to Sacrifice Isaac

God put Abraham to the test. He said to him, “Abraham,” and he answered, “Here I am.” And He said, “Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you.” So early next morning, Abraham saddled his ass and took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for the burnt offering, and he set out for the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his servants, “You stay here with the ass. The boy and I will go up there; we will worship and we will return to you.” Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and put it on his son Isaac. He himself took the firestone and the knife; and the two walked off together. Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he answered, “Yes, my son.” And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” And Abraham said, “God will see to the sheep for His burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together. They arrived at the place of which God had told

him. Abraham built an altar there; he laid out the wood; he bound his son Isaac; he laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to slay his son. Then an angel of the LORD called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” And he said, “Do not raise your hand against the boy, or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me.” When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son. … The angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I swear, the LORD declares: Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your favored one, I will bestow My blessing upon you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sands on the seashore; and your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes. All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.”

Genesis 22:1–18

Abraham’s descendants are said to have given birth to the twelve tribes of Israel. They are symbolically depicted here as sitting in the patriarch’s lap. (Souvigny Bible, 12th century, France.)

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Abraham is held up as an example of obedience to God’s commands. Without hesitation, he is said to undergo circumcision (cutting away of the foreskin of the penis) as an initiatory rite, a sign of the covenant in which God agrees to be the divine protector of Abraham and his descendants, with all males to be likewise circumcised on the eighth day after birth.

Abraham and his wife Sarah were childless for many years. Sarah offered her servant, the Egyptian woman Hagar, as Abraham’s concubine. According to social tradition, any child who was born of this relationship was considered to be the offspring of Abraham and Sarah, but if Sarah herself were to give birth to a child, it would carry the inheritance rights of the firstborn. After Hagar conceived a son by Abraham—Ishmael—God blessed Sarah at the age of ninety, saying that she would become the “mother of nations: the kings of many people shall spring from her” (Genesis 17:16). According to the biblical account, Sarah does indeed give birth to a son, Isaac, and then insists that Ishmael and Hagar be banished to the wilderness. God supports this demand, assuring Abraham that he will be father of two nations—one line through Isaac (to become the Israelites) and one through Ishmael (whom Arabs consider their ancestor).

According to the biblical narrative, God tested Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice his most precious possession, which was his beloved son Isaac (see Box, p. 255). Thinkers have struggled to explain this demand, for human sac- rifice was deemed to be very loathsome, but the point of the story seems to be the merit of Abraham’s great obedience to God. When Abraham prepares to sacrifice Isaac, the Lord stops him, satisfied that “now I know that you fear God.”6 The Hebrew word yirah, usually translated as “fear” of God, also implies “awe of God’s greatness,” or what Rabbi Lawrence Kushner calls “trembling in the presence of ultimate holiness.”7

Early monotheism Scholars disagree on whether pure monotheism—the wor- ship of a single God of the universe, exclusive of any other divine beings—was practiced by the early patriarchs. Many names for divinity are used in the early scriptures, and some researchers consider them names of separate gods. It is known that the religion of the Canaanites had some influence on that of the Israelites. The Canaanites were polytheistic, with highly developed mythology and ritual directed largely to agricultural fertility. They were settled agricultural peoples who paid homage to a high male god called El, and a Great Mother Goddess named Asherah, whose worship may be more ancient. The goddess, associated with vegetation, agricultural knowledge, and abundance, was wor- shiped at asherahs (sacred poles or trees).

Although the Israelites destroyed the asherahs, they apparently incorpo- rated or adapted elements of the older faiths of the area into their own. The hymns recorded in the biblical book of Psalms, for example, may have roots in Canaanite traditions. In any case, Judaism ultimately rejected the gods of sur- rounding peoples. The Israelites came to see themselves as having been chosen by a single divine patron. In their patriarchal culture, this God was perceived as a ruler in a close relationship to the people, like a parent to children, or a sover- eign to vassals. At first Israel’s God may have been perceived as a private tribal god, later known as the supreme and only deity of the universe.

Israel’s birth in struggle It is also unclear who the people of the biblical narratives were. Some scholars think the word “Hebrew” is derived from the generic term habiru, used for the low-class, landless people who lived as out- laws and were often hired as mercenaries. Another derivation may relate to the Hebrew word ivrim, which means nomads or wanderers. Others point to ‘ibri as the biblical word for Hebrew, meaning “children of Eber,” an ethnic term. But because of frequent moving and intermarrying, the Israelites were actu- ally of mixed ethnic stock, including Hebrew, Aramaean, and Canaanite. The word “Semite” is a modern linguistic term applied to Jews, Arabs, and others of

Statue of the Canaanite high god El, 13th century BCE.

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eastern Mediterranean origin whose languages are classified as Semitic; it is often inaccurately used as an ethnic designation.

According to the genealogies set forth in the Pentateuch, the people who became known as Israelites were the offspring of Jacob, grandson of Abraham. Jacob received a new name, Israel, after wrestling all night with a being who turned out to be an angel of God (“Israel” means “the one who struggled with God”).

This story in which a human being struggles and finally is reborn at a higher level of spirituality has been taken as a metaphor for the spiritual evolution of the people of Israel. As a result of the struggle, Israel the patriarch receives the prom- ise that many nations will be born from him. The nation Israel—”the smallest of peoples”8—is perceived as the spiritual center for the world to grow toward God.

Egypt: bondage and exodus Jacob/Israel is said to have had one daughter and twelve sons by his two wives and their two maidservants. The twelve sons became the progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. The whole group left Canaan for Goshen in Egypt during a famine. Exodus, the second book of the Tanakh, opens about four centuries later with a statement that the descendants of Israel had become numerous. To keep them from becoming too powerful, the reigning pharaoh ordered that they be turned into slaves for massive construc- tion projects. To further curb the population, the pharaoh ordered midwives to kill all boy babies born to the Israelite women.

One who escaped this fate was Moses, an Israelite of the tribe of Levi, who was raised in the palace by the pharaoh’s own daughter. He is said to have fled the country after killing an Egyptian overseer who was beating an Israelite worker. According to the scriptural Book of Exodus, Moses was chosen by God to defy the pharaoh and lead the people out of bondage, out of Egypt. On a mountain, an angel of God appeared to him from within a bush blazing with fire but not consumed by it. God called to him out of the bush and yet cautioned, “Do not come closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”9 When God told Moses to go and rescue “My people, the Israelites, from Egypt,”10 Moses demurred, but God insisted:

I will be with you … Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “Ehyeh [I Am] sent me to you. … The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.”11

The word given in this biblical translation as “LORD” is considered too sacred to be pronounced. In the Hebrew scriptures it is rendered only in consonants as YHWH or YHVH; the pronunciation of the vowels is not known.

With his brother Aaron to act as spokesperson, Moses did indeed return to Egypt. Many chapters of Exodus recount miracles used to convince the pharaoh to let the people go into the wilderness to worship their God. These signs included a rod that turned into a serpent, plagues of locusts, flies, and frogs, animal diseases, a terrible storm, lasting dark- ness, and finally the killing by the Lord of all firstborn children and crea- tures. The Israelites were spared this fate, marking their doors with the blood of a slaughtered lamb so that the Lord would pass over them. (The holiday Passover commemorates this story.) At this, the pharaoh at last let the Israelites go. The redemption from bondage by the special pro- tection of the Lord has served ever since as a central theme in Judaism.

According to the scriptural account, the Lord’s presence led the Israelites, manifesting as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The armies of the deceitful pharaoh pursued them until the famous scene in which Moses stretched his staff toward the sea and God caused an east wind to blow all night, dividing the waters so that the Israelites could pass through safely on a dry seabed. As the Egyptians

God speaks to Moses from a burning bush, as depicted by Marc Chagall (1887–1985). (Detail of stained-glass window, Cathedral of St. Etienne, Metz, France.)

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tried to follow, God told Moses again to hold out his arm over the sea, and the walls of water came crashing down on them, drowning every one. Miriam the prophetess, sister of Moses and Aaron, took a timbrel and danced in triumph, and all the women joined her.

From the wilderness to Canaan According to the Pentateuch, God told Moses that he would lead the people back to Canaan. First, however, it was necessary to travel to the holy Mount Sinai to re-establish the covenant between God and the people. The Lord is said to have descended to its summit in a terrifying show of lightning, thunder, fire, smoke, and trumpeting. God is said to have then given the people through Moses a set of rules for righteous living, later called the Torah. Among them were the utterances that Christians call “the Ten Com- mandments” (see Box, facing page), on stone tablets. God also gave a set of social norms, prescribed religious feasts, and detailed instructions for the construction of a portable tabernacle with a holy ark, the Ark of the Covenant, in which to keep the stone tablets on which God inscribed the commandments.

During the forty days that Moses was on the mountain receiving these instructions, the people who had just agreed to a holy covenant with God became disturbed and impatient. The biblical account says that under Aaron’s reluctant supervision they melted down their gold jewelry and cast it into the form of a golden calf, practicing what the authors of the biblical narratives con- sidered idol-worship, which had been explicitly forbidden by God. Moses is said to have been so outraged by their idolatry that he smashed the stone tablets and destroyed the idol. He ordered the only people still siding with YHWH, the Levites, to slay 3,000 of those who had strayed.

After another forty-day meeting with God on the summit of Mount Sinai, Moses again returned with stone tablets on which God had inscribed the com- mandments. Moses’ face was said to be so radiant from his encounter with God that he had to veil it. Aaron and his sons were invested as priests, the tabernacle was constructed as directed, and the people set off for the land of Canaan, with the Presence of the Lord filling the tabernacle.

According to the biblical narrative, Miriam the prophetess danced triumphantly with a timbrel after the Israelites safely crossed the seabed, with the returning waters drowning the Egyptians. (Anna Kocherovsky, Miriam Dancing, tapestry.)

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Acceptance of the laws given to Moses at Mount Sinai brought a new dimen- sion to the covenant between God and Israel. God had freed the Jews from slavery and extinction at the hands of the Egyptians, and now the Jews freely agreed to accept the Torah. As Rabbi Irving Greenberg explains:

In faithfulness to that commitment, the people of Israel pledge to teach the way of justice and righteousness as best they can, to remain distinctive and unassimilated in the world and thus hold up the message for all people to see, to create a model community showing how the world can go about realizing the dream, and to work alongside others to move society toward the end goal of redemption. Thus, the Jewish covenantal mission will be a blessing for all families of the earth. For its part, the Divine is pledged never to abandon Israel, to protect and safeguard the people, to help in the realization of the dream.12

Carrying the ark representing this covenant, the Israelites headed for the land of Canaan. An initial foray into that land was unsuccessful, owing to the peo- ple’s fearfulness, and they then had to wander for forty years through the desert before they could re-enter the promised land, fertile Canaan, which at that time belonged to other peoples. The long sojourn in the wilderness is a familiar metaphor in the spiritual search. Faith is continually tested by difficulties. But even in the wilderness, the Israelites’ God did not forsake them. Every day they found their daily bread scattered on the ground, in the form of an unknown food, which they named manna.

The entry into the promised land of Israel is remembered differently in two biblical books. While the book of Joshua tells of an organized assault and full conquest, Judges portrays a more stop-and-start campaign, a picture that is sup- ported by archaeological evidence of major military conflicts in the thirteenth to eleventh centuries BCE. In any case, the people of Israel were certainly present in the land by 1207 BCE, when the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah set up a stone inscription claiming to have conquered them and the Canaanites. At Sinai, God had vowed to oust the inhabitants of the lands into which the Israelites advanced, and warned them against adopting the local spiritual practices: “You

The Ten Commandments

I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me. But showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not swear falsely by the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not clear one who swears falsely by His name. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the

seventh day is a Sabbath of the LORD your God: you shall not do any work. … For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house: you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

Exodus 20:2–14

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must tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred posts.”13 The editors of the scriptures clearly considered the Canaanite religion spiritually inva- lid and morally inferior to their own.

The First Temple of Jerusalem David, the second king of Israel, is remembered as Israel’s greatest king. An obscure shepherd, David was chosen by the prophet Samuel to be anointed on the head with oil, for thus were future kings found and divinely acknowledged in those times. Composer and singer of psalms, David was summoned to the court of the first Israelite king, Saul, to play soothing music whenever an evil spirit seized the king. When Saul and his son were killed in battle, David was made king. By defeating or making allegiances with surrounding nations, David created the beginnings of a secure, prosperous Israelite empire. He made the cap- tured city of Jerusalem its capital and brought the Ark of the Covenant there.

Under the reign of David’s son King Solomon, a great temple was built in Jerusalem. It was to be a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant, which was housed in the innermost sanctum, with an altar outside for making the burned offerings of animals, grain, and oil to the divine. There already existed an ancient practice among pre-Israelite peoples of using high places for altars where sacrifices were made to the gods. After centuries of wandering worship, the Israelites now had a central, stationary place where God would be most present to them. God is said to have appeared to Solomon after the fourteen-day Temple dedication ceremony and pledged: “My eyes and My heart shall ever be there.”14

The Temple became the central place for sacrifice in Judaism. But its builder, Solomon, also accumulated great personal wealth, at the expense of the people, and built altars to the gods of his wives, who came from other nations. This so angered the Lord, according to the scriptures, that he divided the kingdom after Solomon’s death. An internal revolt of the ten northern tribes established a new kingdom of Israel, which was independent of Jerusalem and the dynasty of David. The southern kingdom, continuing in its allegiance to the house of David and retaining Jerusalem as its capital, renamed itself Judah, after David’s tribe.

Prophets such as Elijah warned the people against worshiping gods other than the Lord, and exhorted them to end their evil ways. Over the centuries, these prophets were men and women who had undergone transformational ordeals that made them instruments for the word of God. The “early prophets,” includ- ing Elijah, focused on the sin of idolatry; the “later prophets” warned that social injustice and moral corruption would be the ruin of the Jewish state.

By the reign of King Hoshea of Israel, the kingdom was so corrupt and idola- trous, at least according to the interpretation of the Judean biblical writers, that God permitted the kingdom of Assyria to overtake what was left of the small country in 722 BCE. Assyria carried off most of the Israelites to exile among the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). Most of the Israelites became dispersed within Assyria; these people who thenceforth lost a distinct ethnic identity are known as the “Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.”

Judah maintained its independence, declining and continually warned of impending doom by its prophets. Indeed, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia (which had taken over the Assyrian Empire) captured Jerusalem. In 586 BCE the great walls of Jerusalem were battered down and its buildings put to the torch by the Babylonians. The great Temple was emptied of its sacred treasures, the altar

Moses presents the Ten Commandments of God to his people. (Detail of Michal Meron, The Ten Commandments.)

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dismantled, and the building destroyed. Many Judaeans, especially from the elite upper classes, were taken to exile in Babylonia, where they were thence- forth known as “Jews,” since they were from Judah. The psalmist describes the feeling of exile from Zion, God’s chosen place:

By the waters of Babylon there we sat, sat and wept, as we thought of Zion. There on the poplars we hung up our lyres, for our captors asked us there for songs, our tormenters, for amusement, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.” How can we sing a song of the Lord on alien soil?

Psalms 137:1–4

In exile among foreigners, the Jews nonetheless remained loyal to their God. They transformed the taunt of their captors into a spiritual challenge. This faith- fulness in the midst of difficulties, without the security and support for com- munity provided by territory, was an important development in the history of Western religions. Remembering the terrestrial Zion, maintaining communities of Jews in the land of Israel, and turning in the direction of Zion three times a day in prayer helped preserve the Jews as a scattered people through what they experienced as their thousands of years of exile.

I never could forget you. See, I have engraved you On the palms of My hands …

Isaiah 49:15–16

Return to Jerusalem

After fifty years of exile in Babylon, a small group of devoted Jews, probably fewer than 50,000, returned to their holy city and land, now called Judaea. They were allowed to return by the Persian king, Cyrus. But many Jews did not return to Jerusalem from Babylon, which was now their home. They were thenceforth said to be living in the diaspora, from the Greek word for dispersion. They always remembered Zion as a central part of their faith, but also learned to establish their creative lives in the diaspora.

King Cyrus authorized the rebuilding of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was completed in 515 BCE. The Second Temple became the central symbol to a scattered Jewish nation. A new emphasis on temple rites developed, with an hereditary priesthood tracing its ancestry to Aaron.

The priestly class, under the leadership of Ezra (a priest and scribe), also undertook to organize the stories of the people, editing the Pentateuch to reveal the hand of God. Some scholars think that it was these priestly editors who wrote the creation account in Genesis 1, glorifying their God as creator of the universe.

The Torah was now established as the spiritual and secular foundation of the dispersed nation. In approximately 430 BCE, Ezra the scribe set the precedent of reading for hours from the Torah scrolls in a public square. These “five books of Moses” were accepted as a sacred covenant.

As the Jews lived under foreign rule—Persian, Greek, Parthian, and then Roman—they were exposed to cross-cultural religious traditions, many of which they wove into their own worldviews and practices. Concepts of Satan, the hier- archy of angels, reward or punishment in an afterlife, and the final resurrection of the body on the Day of Judgment are thought by some scholars to have made their way into Jewish belief from the Zoroastrianism of the Persian Empire, for these beliefs were absent from earlier Judaic religion. However, they were not uniformly accepted. Greek lifestyle and thought were introduced into the

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Middle East by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BCE. The rationalistic, humanistic influences of Hellenism led many wealthy and intellectual Jews, including the priests in Jerusalem, to adopt a Hellenistic attitude of scepticism rather than unquestioning belief.

Tension between traditionalists and those embracing Greek ways came to a head during the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Hellenistic ruler of Syria (175–164 BCE), the nation that then held political sovereignty over the land of Israel. Antiochus seems to have tried to achieve political unity by forcing a single Hellenistic culture on all his subjects, abolishing the Torah as the Jewish consti- tution, burning copies of the Torah, killing families who circumcised their sons, building an altar to Zeus in the Temple of Jerusalem, and sacrificing a hog on it (in defiance of the Mosaic law against eating or touching dead pigs as unclean). The Maccabean rebellion, a revolt led by the Hasmon family of priests, called in Hebrew the Maccabees (Hammers), won a degree of independence for Judaea in 164 BCE. The successful rebellion established a new and independent kingdom, once again called Israel, once again centered around Jerusalem, and ruled by the Hasmonean family.

At the time of the Hasmonean kings, three sects of Jews formed in Judaea. One was the Sadducees, priests and wealthy businesspeople, conservatives intent on preserving the letter of the law. The Pharisees were more liberal citizens from all classes who sought to study the applications of the Torah to everyday life. A third general movement was uncompromising in its piety and its disgust with what it considered a corrupted priesthood. The Jewish historian Josephus describes one of these groups: the Essenes. Its initiated members were males who dressed in white, shared their property communally, avoided luxury, and placed great emphasis on ritual purity. What may have been a similar or related group retreated to the desert soon after the Hasmonean takeover of the high priesthood in 152 BCE, and there developed a communal habitation at Qumran, near the Dead Sea. Their leader was the “Teacher of Righteousness,” a priest, reformer, and mystic. The library of this community, now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, was discovered near Qumran in 1947 and is yielding precious clues about that period. It is possible that members of the dissident sect that collected and wrote the scrolls were scattered throughout Palestine, with Qumran as their center for study and initiation. They apparently were preparing themselves for a cosmic battle in which the “Sons of Light” would be victorious over the “Sons of Darkness” and establish a reign of utmost purity centered in Jerusalem.

Ruins of the Qumran settlement.

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Eventually the conflicts among the Hasmoneans erupted into civil war. The Roman general Pompey was called in from Syria in 63 BCE to choose between contenders to the Hasmonean throne, but he took over the country instead. There followed four centuries of oppressive Roman rule of Judaea.

Under Roman rule, belief grew among Jews about a messianic age in which the people would at last be rescued from their sufferings and Jews would return to their homeland. This belief had been voiced by earlier prophets. For instance, the prophet Ezekiel received a vision in which God showed him a valley of scattered, dry human bones, which God then reunited and brought back to life, explaining:

O mortal, these bones are the whole House of Israel. … I am going to take the Israelite people from among the nations they have gone to, and gather them from every quarter, and bring them to their own land. … They shall follow My rules and faithfully obey My laws. Thus they shall remain in the land which I gave to My servant Jacob and in which your fathers dwelt; they and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, with My servant David as their prince for all time.

Ezekiel 37:11–28

In addition to anticipating the ingathering of the Jewish people back to the land of Israel, the classical prophets had foreseen a universal destiny for Israel. Combining the particular and universal orientations of Judaism, they had prophesied a coming “End of Days” in which disaster would be followed by universal redemption, when all nations would recognize the one God. In the books of both Isaiah and Micah appears a famous passage about the coming reign of world peace:

Instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Thus He will judge among the many peoples, And arbitrate for the multitude of nations, However distant; And they shall beat their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not take up Sword against nation; They shall never again know war; But every man shall sit Under his grapevine or fig tree With no one to disturb him.

Micah 4:2–4

Under oppressive Seleucid Greek rule, apocalyptic literature became very popular. Such literature sees the world in stark terms of good and evil, predicts the coming of God’s victory over evil, asserts that God will then reward good people and punish evil people, and thus urges people to live righteous lives now in preparation for that time. Among some Jews, the belief grew that there would be a Messiah, who would come to bring evil times to an end and establish the reign of peace. In the biblical book of Daniel, probably written while Jews were being persecuted by the Seleucid emperor Antiochus IV, the chief charac- ter Daniel describes a symbolic vision of “one like a human being” who would come on heavenly clouds, and on him the white-haired, fiery-throned “Ancient of Days” would confer “everlasting dominion” over all people, a kingship “that shall not be destroyed.”15 By the first century CE, expectations had developed that through this Messiah, God would gather the chosen people and not only free them from oppression but also reinstate Jewish political sovereignty in the land of Israel. The messianic end of the age, or end of the world, would be

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heralded by a period of great oppression and wick- edness. Many felt that this time was surely at hand. There were some Jews who felt that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.

Spurred by anti-Roman militants called Zealots, some Jews rose up in armed rebellion against Rome in 66 CE. The rebellion was suppressed, and after heroic resistance, the Jewish defenders were slaugh- tered in the holy walled city of Jerusalem in 70 CE. The Roman legions destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, leaving only a course of foundation stones still standing. The Temple has never been rebuilt. A remaining portion of the Temple’s retaining wall, known as the Western Wall, has been a place of Jewish pilgrimage and prayer for twenty centuries.

A second ultimately disastrous revolt followed in 132 CE. Its leader was Simon bar Kokhba. His initial success against the Romans brought short- lived excitement over what some considered the long-awaited Messianic Age. Bar Kokhba’s rule over the independent state lasted only three years, however, for the Romans committed up to one- half of their entire army to reconquer the area. A Roman historian of the time reported that 580,000 Jews were killed. Jerusalem was reduced to ruins, along with all Judaean towns. Those remaining Jews who had not been executed were forbidden to read the Torah, observe the Sabbath, or circumcise their sons. None was allowed to enter Jerusalem when it was rebuilt as the Roman city Aelia Capitolina, except on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, when they could pay to lean against all that

remained of it—the Western Wall—and lament the loss of their sacred home. Judaea was renamed Palestine after the ancient Philistines. Judaism no longer had a physical heart or a geographic center.

Rabbinic Judaism

Judaism could have died then, as its people scattered throughout the Mediterranean countries and western Asia. However, one of the groups who survived the destruction of Judaea were the rabbis, inheritors of the Pharisaic tradition. They are the founders of rabbinic Judaism, which has defined the major forms of Jewish practice over the last 2,000 years. Another was the mes- sianic movement that had formed around Jesus of Nazareth, which later devel- oped into the separate religious tradition known as Christianity.

Contemporary scholars think that Jesus, a Jew who can be seen within the context of the Jewish movements of the first century CE, including the apoca- lyptic expectations of the Essenes and roaming preachers advocating repentance, was also closely related to the Pharisees and the school of Hillel the Elder, who taught from about 30 BCE to 10 CE, probably overlapping with the life of Jesus. Jesus emphasized holiness in worldly life and, like the Jewish prophets, obser- vance of the spirit and the full and often complex ethical implications of the law, not merely fulfillment of the letter of the law. The early apostles of Jesus emphasized traditions shared by the rabbis, that, with the arrival of the Messiah and the age of messianic redemption, observance of the ritual laws would be abrogated. The apostle Paul, who became the major missionary of the Christian sect, preached to both Jews and Gentiles in the diaspora that with the advent of Jesus, God would accept them without their practicing circumcision and Mosaic

{Place Western Wall photo near here}

Although the Second Temple of Jerusalem was largely destroyed in 70 CE, a section of its western supporting wall remains intact. It is considered the most sacred place in Judaism because of its proximity to the Holy of Holies in the former Temple. The Muslim Dome of the Rock is seen behind, on the site of the Temple Mount itself.

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laws governing many aspects of daily life and hygiene. Judaism and Christianity are both monotheistic and from common stock. Between them, in their differ- ent ways, they have kept the teachings of the Tanakh vibrantly alive. Both the Jesus movement and rabbinic Judaism used the Hebrew Bible as a foundation document, but from it they have developed in their own paths.

The rabbis were teachers, religious decision-makers, and creators of liturgical prayer. No longer were there priests or a Temple for offering sacrifices. The sub- stitute for animal sacrifice was liturgical prayer and ethical behavior. The people met in synagogues, which simply means “meeting places,” to read the Torah and to worship communally, praying simply and directly to God. A minyan—a quorum of ten adult males—had to be present for community worship.

Everyone was taught the basics of the Torah as a matter of course, but, from the age of five or six, many men also occupied themselves with deep study of the scriptures. Women were excluded or exempted from formal Torah study, for their family responsibilities at home were considered primary for them. They were responsible for keeping the dietary laws, preparing for the Sabbath and other home-centered aspects of Jewish religious life, lighting the Sabbath candles, caring for young children, teaching their daughters the commandments they would be expected to fulfill as women, and regulating sexual expression in the marriage according to rabbinic laws in order to maintain ritual purity in their homes. Although they were under sacred obligation to pray, they were obligated neither to a particular liturgy nor to a particular time of prayer. By contrast, men’s prayer and study assumed the significant value of textual and religious literacy. It is said that in the afterlife one can see the Jewish sages still bent over their books studying. This is Paradise.

The revealed scriptures were closed; what remained was to interpret them as indications of God’s word and will in history. This process continues to the pres- ent, giving Judaism a continually evolving quality in tandem with unalterable roots in the ancient books of Moses. Centering the religion in books and teach- ings rather than in a geographical location or a politically vulnerable priesthood has enabled the dispersed community to retain a sense of unity across time and space, as well as a common heritage of law, language, and practice.

The rabbis set themselves the task of thoroughly interpreting the Hebrew scriptures. Their process of study yielded two types of interpretation: legal decisions, called halakhah (proper conduct), and non-legal teachings, called haggadah (folklore, sociological and historical knowledge, theological argu- ments, ritual traditions, sermons, and mystical teachings).

In addition to delving into the meanings of the written Torah, the rabbis undertook to apply the biblical teachings to their contemporary lives, in very different cultural circumstances from those of the ancients, and to interpret scripture in ways acceptable to contemporary values. The model for this delicate task of living interpretation had been set by Hillel the Elder. He was known as a humble and pious scholar, who stressed loving relationships, good deeds, and charity toward the less advantaged. His most famous disciple, Yochanan ben Zakkai, was a pacifist who managed to get himself smuggled out of Jerusalem in a coffin while the city was held by the Zealots. He was taken to the Roman gen- eral Vespasian, who permitted him to set up a school in Yavne where scholars could continue to study the Torah in peace. When Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 CE, ben Zakkai’s school became for some time the center of Jewish learning, assuring continuation of rabbinic tradition.

What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary; go and learn it.

Hillel the Elder16

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The rabbis’ biblical interpretations, referred to as Midrash (“seeking,” “search- ing”), yielded a vast body of legal and spiritual literature, known in Jewish tra- dition as the oral Torah. According to rabbinical tradition, God gave Moses two versions of the Torah at Sinai: the written Torah, which appears in the five books of Moses, and the oral Torah, a larger set of teachings, which was memorized and passed down through the generations all the way to the early rabbis. After the fixing of the Jewish canon—the scriptures admitted to the Tanakh—in about 90 CE, the rabbinical schools set out to systematize all the commentaries and the oral tradition, which was continually evolving on the basis of expanded and updated understandings of the original oral Torah.

In about 200 CE, Judah the Patriarch completed a terse edition of legal teach- ings of the oral Torah, which was thenceforth known as the Mishnah. The Mishnah’s method of deriving legal principles for social order is based on logical analysis of how things are and why they are so. It systematically sets up hier- archical classifications, such as levels of women’s status and domestic responsi- bilities. Despite the subordination of women to men in traditional Jewish legal codes, a woman enjoys rights and protection from her husband and benefits from the expectations that she be creative and a moral beacon. There are also directives in the Mishnah regarding men’s responsibility to women—such as a husband’s obligation to give sexual pleasure to his wife—and, in general, the responsibility of rulers and privileged members of society to insure legal justice for people of all classes and to provide for the material well-being of the lower classes, widows, orphans, and resident aliens. Accordingly, Jews have often been prominent in movements for social justice.

The Mishnah became the basic study text for rabbinic academies in Judaea and Babylonia, and after several centuries, the Mishnah and the rabbis’ com- mentaries on it were organized into the Talmud. This is a vast compendium of law, Midrash, and argument. It does not have a beginning, middle, and end in any traditional sense. It records disagreements among rabbis and sometimes leaves them standing. Drawing on “prooftexts” from the Torah, the rabbis came to different and often inventive conclusions.

There are actually two authorized Talmuds. Both have the same Mishnah; what differs is the additional commentaries, or Gemara. The Jerusalem Talmud is the earlier one, written down about 400 CE. It emphasizes continual study of the Torah as a spiritual practice, a primary way of coming to know the will and ways of God. Talmudic scholar Adin Steinsaltz refers to the Talmud as “a book of holy intellectualism.”17

The Babylonian Talmud grew out of the other major center of rabbinical study: Babylonia. Completed about 500 CE, it is more developed as an encyclope- dia of the Torah, for Jewish life in Babylonia was less precarious. The Babylonian Talmud was also better preserved than the Jerusalem Talmud, and it has thus

A Torah study session in the kollel (center for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature) at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Israel.

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become the dominant version in Jewish theology and law. It, too, describes study of the Torah as essential to Israel’s destiny as a nation upholding God’s laws.

Midrash is still open-ended, for significant com- mentaries and commentaries on commentaries have continued to arise over the centuries. No single voice has dominated this continual study of the Torah and its interpretations. Rabbis have often disagreed in their interpretations, and these disagreements, some- times between rabbis from different centuries, are presented together. This continual interweaving of historical commentaries, as if all Jewry were present at a single marathon Torah-study event, has been a significant unifying factor for the far-flung, often per- secuted Jewish population of the world.

In the process of exegesis, the rabbis have actually introduced new ideas into Judaism, while claiming that they were merely revealing what already existed in the scriptures. Notions of the soul are not found in the Tanakh, but they do appear in the Talmud and in Midrash. The ways in which God is referred to and perceived also change. In the early biblical narratives, the Lord appears to the patriarchs and Moses in dramatic forms, such as the burning bush and the smoking mountain. Later, the prophets are visited by angelic messengers, and they sometimes hear a divine inner voice speaking to them. In the rabbinical mystical literature, God is presented in even more transcendent, less anthropomorphic ways. God’s presence in the world, in relationship to the people, is called the Shekhinah, a feminine noun that often represents the nurturing aspect of God. Sometimes the loving protection of the Shekhinah is depicted as a radiant, winged presence.

The rabbis also developed prayers that over time replaced the animal sacrifices of the Temple. These are still used in contemporary Jewish liturgy. For instance, the Kaddish, exaltation of God’s name recited repeatedly in Jewish prayer ser- vices, is preserved in Aramaic, the language of Babylonia.

May His great name be praised to all eternity. Hallowed and honored, extolled and exalted, adored and acclaimed be the name of the Holy One, though He is above all the praises, hymns, and songs of adoration which men can utter.

Excerpt from the Kaddish18

Evolving Judaism What role did the European Enlightenment play in the development of Judaism? In the early centuries of the Common Era, the Jewish population of the land of Israel declined, though it never disappeared, nor did the land of Israel ever lose its spiritual centrality in Jewish consciousness. Some Jews settled in other regions of the Roman Empire, and larger numbers established themselves among the Zoroastrian Persians in Mesopotamia. The city of Babylon became the major center of Jewish intellectual activity, a position it would hold well into the tenth century.

The Throne of the Shekhinah, as depicted by contemporary artist Hannah Omer and cyber- architect Yitzhak Hayut-Man.

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Even when the Babylonian Talmud was completed in the sixth century CE, the rabbinic enterprise continued. The two great Babylonian rabbinic academies were often appealed to with difficult questions from far-flung Jewish communi- ties. Their answers, which were considered binding on all Jews, and the ques- tions themselves, became a new and enduring form of legal writing, Responsa literature, which continues to the present.

When Baghdad became the capital city of the great Abbasid Empire in the eighth century, Jewish life concentrated around that city as well. Jews were treated relatively well under Islamic rule. Like Christians, they were recognized as a “People of the Book,” and were allowed to maintain their religious tradi- tions and run their communities autonomously as long as they paid a substantial head tax. In Baghdad, as throughout the Islamic Middle East, many Jews were prosperous merchants, professionals, and craftsmen. In the early Middle Ages, in fact, Jews played a significant role in international trade because of their facility with languages and their ability to find supportive co-religionists in virtually any community.

Life under Islamic rule was also intellectually exciting for the Jewish com- munity, which had rapidly adopted Arabic as its spoken language. During its early centuries, the world of Islam was far advanced beyond Christian Europe in its explorations of science, medicine, philosophy, poetry, and the fine arts. Jews living in Muslim countries benefited from an atmosphere of cultural cre- ativity and tolerance. Many Jews were well-known physicians. Muslim Spain, in particular, where some Jews rose to high political position in Muslim courts, was renowned for its outstanding Hebrew poets and major philosophical and scientific Jewish writers.

From time to time, however, Jews were threatened by intolerant Muslim rul- ers and were forced to flee to other territories. The great scholar and physician Maimonides (1135–1204) was forced to leave his ancestral home of Córdoba, Spain, in the mid-twelfth century; he and his family eventually settled in Egypt. Considered one of the greatest of all Jewish intellectuals, Maimonides is par- ticularly famous for his synthesis between reason and faith. In writings such as The Guide for the Perplexed he spoke on behalf of the rationality that he saw as characterizing Judaism since the dawning of the rabbinic age:

What is man’s singular function here on earth? It is, simply, to contemplate abstract intellectual matters and to discover truth. … And the highest intellectual contemplation that man can develop is the knowledge of God and his unity.19

Jews who lived in Christian countries were less exposed to the vibrant intel- lectual energy of the Islamic world between the seventh and twelfth centuries. Christian Europe in those centuries was primarily a feudal agricultural society in which literacy mainly belonged to the Church. Jews, who were primarily merchants, became expendable, and throughout the later Middle Ages there was a steady pattern of expulsions of Jews from countries in which they had long lived.

Prejudice against Jews had long been simmering among Christians. While Jews and Christians, like all humans, suffered from hatred and unwarranted attacks and often directed their vitriol against each other, Christians had particu- lar reasons for their hatred of Jews: Jesus was a Jew, and his own people had not accepted Christian claims that he was the Messiah. Moreover, Jews were blamed for his murder and for preventing his messianic successes ever after by refusing to believe in him.

Beginning in 1095, Jews became victims of mobs of Christian crusaders trave- ling through Europe with the intention to defend the Holy Land. They had been provoked by rumors that Christians were being harmed there by Muslims, with Jews as their accomplices. Believing in the holiness of their mission, crusaders and orders of knights also attacked Jews as nonconformists who did not agree with the doctrines of the Christian Church. They massacred so many Jews that many formerly prosperous Jewish communities in Germany were wiped out.

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In the twelfth century, superstitious rumors were spread in England that Jews were engaged in ritual murders of Christians, and many Jews were subse- quently slaughtered. Then, in thirteenth-century Germany, Jews were accused of stealing the consecrated bread used by Christians for communion with Jesus, and then torturing it. Such strange rumors were never verified, but they spread rapidly, and with them, killings of Jews. In the fourteenth century, Jews were blamed for the plague and thus were either killed or forced out of many coun- tries. In 1492, tens of thousands of Jews were forced to leave Spain, where they had lived for more than a thousand years. Others chose to convert to Christianity rather than to leave their homeland even though staying in Spain as conversos (converted Jews) would expose them to the dreaded Inquisition, which had been established in Spain in 1478. The Inquisition represented the Roman Catholic Church, and its mission was to discover perceived heretics within the Christian community. It had no power over Jews, but it did have jurisdiction over the large numbers of Jews who had converted to Christianity, whether vol- untarily or by force, and who might be practicing their former religion in secret. The Inquisition, which had the power to torture the accused and to execute the convicted, continued to function in Spain and in Spanish territories well into the eighteenth century.

There was further deterioration of Jewish life in western Europe in the six- teenth and seventeenth centuries. After 1555, those Jews who remained in some cities of Italy and Germany were forced to live in ghettos, special Jewish-only quarters, which were often walled in and locked at night and during Christian holy days, to limit mixing between Christians and Jews.

During the later Middle Ages, Poland became a haven for the expelled Jews of western Europe. Jews were welcomed by Poland’s feudal leaders, who needed a middle class for the economic development of their agricultural country. Jews were allowed freedom of residence and occupation, and they rapidly grew in numbers, finding in their new home an enclave of peace and prosperity. Jews lived an intensely religious life in villages and towns that were almost complete- ly Jewish, speaking Yiddish, a distinctive Jewish language that was based on the medieval German they had spoken in western Europe.

In 1648, the flourishing of the Ashkenazi Jewish communities of central and eastern Europe suffered a great setback when the Cossack peasants of the Ukraine revolted against Polish rule. Associating Jewry with their Roman Catholic Polish oppressors, Greek Orthodox Cossacks led terrible pogroms (mas- sacres) against the Jews, which were followed by even more killing as Poland collapsed.

In this time of despair in both eastern and western Europe, Jews were heav- ily taxed and ill-treated. Their longing for deliverance from danger, poverty, and oppression fueled the old messianic dream. Among the “pseudo-Messiahs” who rose to the occasion, the most famous was Shabbatai Tzevi (1626–1676) of Smyrna, a Turkish port. A rather unstable personality, he became convinced that it was his calling to be the Messiah. A young man named Nathan, who became his enthusiastic prophet, sent letters to Jews throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa announcing that the Messiah had at last appeared in his master. Many believed him and prepared for their return to the Holy Land. However, when Tzevi entered the Ottoman Empire he was arrested and put in jail. Given the choice of converting to Islam or being executed, he chose conversion and was given a government position. The shock to his supporters was terrible.

Kabbalah and Hasidism

Mystical yearning has been a part of Jewish tradition since biblical times. The fervent experience of, and love for, God is an undercurrent in several writ- ings of the biblical prophets, and is incorporated into the Talmud as well. The Merkabah (chariot) mystical traditions from the late Hellenistic period are based on the account attributed to the prophet Ezekiel of a vision of “the semblance

A central Kabbalistic image is the Tree of God, a representation of the emanation of the qualities of the infinite Ein Sof into revealed aspects, the sephiroth. The topmost circle represents Will; the tenth represents the Shekhinah— the presence of God.

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of the Presence of the LORD” (Ezekiel 1:26–28). Some mystical writings are found in the extra-biblical collections of texts known as the Apocrypha and the Pseudepigrapha. The apocryphal Book of Enoch describes the ascent to God as a journey through seven heavenly spheres to an audience with the King of the celestial court. Some texts from the Qumran settlement also seem to concern mystical experiences.

In the Middle Ages, esoteric teachings developed known as Kabbalah. The most important book in this genre is the Zohar (Way of Splendor). The Zohar is a massive and complex offering of stories, explanations of the esoteric levels of the Torah, and descriptions of visionary practice and experiences. It depicts many unseen spiritual dimensions interacting with the physical world in which we live.

During the sixteenth century Kabbalah’s most influential leader was Isaac Luria (1534–1572). He explained creation as the beaming of the divine light into ten special vessels, some of which were shattered by the impact because they contained lower forces that could not bear the intensity of the light. The breaking of the vessels spewed forth particles of evil as well as fragments of light into the world. Humans have a great responsibility to help end chaos and evil in the world by regathering the “sparks of holiness” in the unclean realms to repair the holy vessels. This concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world) has continued to be very important in Jewish thought, emphasizing the relationship between God and humans as a covenantal one with reciprocal responsibilities in which both are working together to uplift the world, and where every human act, both good and bad, has ultimate significance. To this end, Luria asked his followers to follow strict ascetic purification practices, prayer, and observance of the commandments of the Torah, and to chant sacred formulas.

Lurianic Kabbalism resurfaced in a very different form in the eighteenth cen- tury as Hasidism, the path of ecstatic piety. It developed in Ukraine and Poland, where Jews had become legally oppressed, poverty-stricken, and fearful for their lives from riots and murders. The rabbis had little to offer them, retreating into academic debates about legal aspects of the Torah.

Into this grim setting came the Baal Shem Tov (1700–1760), a beloved healer and Hasidic teacher, who offered a joyful version of Jewish holiness. He believed that Torah study and obedience to the letter of the law were not superior to deep-felt, pure-hearted prayer; everyone is capable of the highest enlightenment. He asserted that the divine could be found everywhere, in the present, thereby de-emphasizing the perennial waiting for a future Messiah. “Leave sorrow and sadness,” he cried, “man must live in joy and content- ment, always rejoicing in his lot.”20 Followers of the Baal Shem Tov worshiped through joyous songs and ecstatic, swaying prayer, and found God in the midst of oppression.

As the hand held before the eye conceals the greatest mountain, so the little earthly life hides from the glance the enormous lights and mysteries of which the world is full, and he who can draw it away from before his eyes, as one draws away a hand, beholds the great shining of the inner worlds.

Attributed to Reb Nachman of Bratislava

The spread of Hasidism was swift. Soon an estimated half of all eastern European Jews were followers of the Hasidic path. Spread of the teachings is credited to Dov Ber, who emphasized the importance of the tzaddik, or enlight- ened saint and teacher, called rebbe (or Reb) when ordained as a Hasidic spiritual guide. Dov Ber urged Hasidim to take spiritual shelter with a tzaddik, whose prayers and wisdom would be more powerful than their own because of the tzaddik’s personal relationship with God. This idea stirred enormous opposition from non-Hasidic leaders, who believed that each Jew should be his or her own

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tzaddik. While the position of tzaddik became hereditary and was sometimes subject to exploitation by less-than-holy lineage carriers, such charismatic lead- ership remains a central element and perhaps one of the enduring attractions of modern Hasidism.

Judaism and modernity

In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the great majority of Jews lived in eastern European countries such as Poland and Russia, which were little affected by the eighteenth-century European Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, however, provided new opportunities and better conditions for the Jews in western Europe. In such a rational atmosphere of tolerance, rea- son, and material progress, restrictions on Jews began to decrease. The French Revolution (1789–1799) brought equality for the masses, including Jews living in France, and in the nineteenth century this trend spread to other European nations. Ghettos were torn down, and some Jews ascended to positions of prom- inence in western European society. The Rothschild family, for instance, became international financiers, benefactors, and patrons of the arts.

Inspired by Enlightenment views and liberated from the social restrictions that had kept them isolated as a religious community, some European Jews also embarked on a path of secularization and acculturation that has brought a sea change in Judaism in the modern world. This path was called the Jewish Enlightenment, or Haskalah, from a Hebrew word for “reason.” Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786) was considered the father of the Haskalah. He urged his fellow Jews to learn German, the language of scholars, and to be open to change and modern secular education. Talmud study was de-emphasized, in favor of secular knowledge and practical training that would help integrate Jews into their surrounding cultures. Opponents of these trends warned that in the name of Enlightenment, Judaism could lose its distinctive position at the center of Jewish life, and that in adapting to the surrounding culture, Jews would inevitably cease to observe their traditional rituals. In the face of this threat to the integrity of their received religious traditions, some scholars and rabbis encouraged Jews not only to live by halakhah but also to segregate themselves from non-Jewish secular culture. This position led to what came to be called Orthodox Judaism. One of its staunchest advocates was Moses Sofer (1762–1839), the leader of central European traditional Judaism. His testament is still read by today’s ultra-Orthodox Jews. In part:

Be warned not to change your Jewish names, speech, and clothing—God forbid. … Never say: “Times have changed!” We have an old Father—praised be His name—who has never changed and never will change.21

Meanwhile, the movements to reform Jewish religious practice—which would eventually coalesce as Reform Judaism—were moving farther and far- ther away from their traditional moorings. They adopted changes such as hymns and sermons in the vernacular instead of Hebrew, a shorter version of the litur- gy, emphasis on the weekly Saturday service rather than the traditional prayers three times every weekday, choirs and organ music as in Christian Churches, and a new prayerbook omitting references to Jews’ longing for a personal Messiah and return to Zion.

Judaism was also evolving in the Americas. In 1654 a small group of Sephardic Jews who had emigrated to Brazil sought to enter the colony of New Amsterdam as refugees. In Brazil the emigrants had enjoyed a period of legal equality and economic freedom. In the New Amsterdam colony as well, they were protected by a directive from the Dutch West India Company that the colony should allow people to pursue their own religions, so long as they did not cause any trouble.

With the independence of the United States and the framing of its Constitution, Jews as well as other minorities were automatically granted equal rights, under the ideals of equality of all humans and separation of Church and state. George

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Washington wrote a famous letter to the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island, affirming the ideal of freedom of religion with the words:

The Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.22

As the new country became a haven for persecuted minorities and was perceived as a land of economic opportunity as well as religious freedom, sub- stantial Jewish immigration to the United States began in the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the United States, with approximately six million Jews, has the largest Jewish population in the world.

The Holocaust

For many Jews the defining event of the twentieth century and the overwhelm- ingly tragic event of Jewish history was the Holocaust, the murder of almost six million European Jews by the Nazi leadership of Germany during World War II. These Jews constituted more than a third of the Jewish people in the world and half of all Jews in Europe.

Anti-Judaism had been part of Greco–Roman culture, and had been present in Europe since the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as its state religion in the fourth century CE. Anti-Judaism re-emerged in western Europe at the end of the nineteenth century as anti-Semitism, with the idea that there is a racial, ethnic, genetic component of Judaism. Racist theories spread that those of “pure” Nordic blood were genetically ideal, while Jews were a dangerous “mongrel” race.

Reactionary anti-Jewish feelings also resurfaced late in the nineteenth cen- tury in Russia and in eastern Europe, where Jews formed a sizable minority of the population and where they were accumulating wealth and establishing a presence in higher educational circles. Jews were increasingly associated with left-wing movements pushing for social change, even though many Jewish socialists such as Leon Trotsky were nonobservant Jews. Trotsky’s leadership in the violent Bolshevik Revolution and the Red Army brought terrible reprisals against Jewish communities by White Russians in the civil war. Up to 70,000 Jews were killed by unrestrained rioting mobs.

Many Jewish families left their homes in Europe and Russia as anti-Jewish violence increased (Maurycy Minkowski, After the Pogrom, 1910.)

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In the aftermath of Germany’s defeat in World War I and the desperate eco- nomic conditions that followed, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party bolstered its popular support by blaming the Jews for all of Germany’s problems. Germany, the Nazis claimed, could not regain its health until all Jews were stripped of their positions in German life or driven out of the country. Demands to eliminate the Jews for the sake of “racial hygiene” were openly circulated. Seeing the writing on the wall, many Jews, including eminent professionals, managed to emigrate, leav- ing their homes, their livelihoods, and most of their possessions behind. Others stayed, hoping that the terrifying signs would prove to be short-lived.

As Hitler rose to power, the Nazis instigated acts of violence against Jews in Germany and passed laws that separated Jews from the rest of the population and deprived them of their legal and economic rights. When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938 and then invaded Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Holland, and France, several million more Jews fell under Nazi control.

Systematic oppression started, with orders to all Polish Jews to move into the towns, where walled ghettos were created to confine them. Jews were made to wear a badge with the Star of David on it to reveal their stigmatized status, and since all other jobs were taken away from them, they could do only menial labor.

Along the Russian front, special “action groups” were assigned to slaughter Jews, Gypsies, and heads of government departments as the German troops advanced, and to incite the local militias to do the same. One cannot compre- hend the numbers of men, women, and children killed in these mass mur- ders—34,000 at Babi Yar, 26,000 at Odessa, 32,000 at Vilna—probably totaling hundreds of thousands.

By 1942, large-scale death camps had been set up by the Nazis to facilitate the “final solution”—the total extermination of all Jews in Europe. From the ghettos Jews were transported by cattle cars (in which many died) from all over Europe to concentration camps. There they were starved, worked to death as slaves, tortured, and “experimented” on. Many were then shipped to extermina- tion camps, where industrial-scale gas chambers were used as the most efficient means of killing.

The governments of some countries tried to protect their Jews; also some indi- viduals, at great personal risk, hid Jews or tried to help them escape. For exam- ple, Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat, managed to issue Japanese transit

The anguish of the Holocaust, suggested in a sculpture in Miami, Florida, by Kenneth Treister.

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visas to some 10,000 Jews, ignoring all risks to himself in order to help them quickly escape from danger. But there was little outcry from the outside world. In hindsight, many historians have concluded that Hitler’s genocidal actions could have been slowed by determined resistance from free Allied countries.

No modern Jewish thinker can ignore the challenge that the Holocaust poses to traditional Jewish beliefs of an omnipotent and caring God. Elie Wiesel (b. 1928), who as a boy survived a Nazi death camp in Poland but lost all his other family members and suffered great atrocities, writes of a bitterness so deep that it could prevent him from uttering the traditional prayers to God:

Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night, including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: “Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, end up in the furnaces?”23

Wiesel says that we cannot turn away from the questions about how it could happen, for genocidal actions are being undertaken against other minority groups in our times as well.

Zionism and contemporary Israel

The horrors of the Holocaust brought increased attention to the cause of Zionism, the Jewish movement dedicated to the establishment of a political- ly viable, internationally recognized Jewish state in the biblical land of Israel. While political Zionism was a reaction to increasing anti-Semitism in Europe in the late nineteenth century, it is a movement with deep roots in Judaism and

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Number of Jews on eve of Holocaust (in thousands)

Number of Jews who survived (in thousands)

Borders in 1939

Border of the Nazi conquest

Hitler’s final solution was to herd Jews into concentration camps throughout Nazi-occupied Europe and then ship the survivors east into extermination camps in Poland. The pie charts show the number of Jews in each country who were left after the Holocaust, compared to their previous populations.

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Jewish culture. The desire to end the centuries-long exile from Zion (the site of the Jerusalem Temples) was a central theme in all Jewish prayer and in many religious customs. Jewish messianism is focused around a descendant of King David who will return his united people to the land of Israel, where Jewish sovereignty will be eternally re-established in an atmosphere of universal peace. Professor Aviezer Ravitzky describes the Zionist ideal:

It was a dream of utter perfection: the day would come when the entire Jewish people, the whole Congregation of Israel, would reassemble as one in an undivided Land of Israel, reconstituting its life there according to the Torah in all its aspects. The Jewish people would free itself completely from its subjugation to the great powers. It would then be a source of blessing for all nations, for its redemption would bring about the redemption of the world as a whole.24

Zionism became an organized international political movement under the leadership of the journalist Theodor Herzl (1860–1904), who believed that the Jews could never defend themselves against anti-Semitism until they had their own nation. Herzl worked to provide political guarantees for the Jewish settle- ment that existed in Palestine through the nearly 2,000 years of exile and to offer institutional support to encourage Jews from around the world to immi- grate to Palestine. Simultaneously, pioneers, mainly secular Jews from eastern Europe, began increasing the Jewish presence on the land. In 1917, as the Allies prepared to carve up the former Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Great Britain’s foreign secretary, Lord Balfour, sent a letter to Lord Rothschild, a leader of the British Jewish community, advising him that the British govern- ment would support the creation in Palestine of a “national home for the Jewish people…, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” The existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine at the time were primarily Muslims, plus some Christians. Out of Palestine’s total estimated pop- ulation of 600,000, some 85,000 to 100,000 were Jews living there25 when Lord Balfour wrote this brief note, which ultimately had a tremendous impact on the history of West Asia. It became known as the Balfour Declaration. Its language was replicated in a 1922 League of Nations mandate giving the United Kingdom administrative control of Palestine. Neither document offered any clarity about how the rights of Arabs living in Palestine were to be protected.

Zionist leader Henrietta Szold discusses plans with pioneers of the kibbutz system in about 1940.

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In the period before the Holocaust, not all Jews supported the Zionist move- ment. Most Reform Jews of that time believed the destiny of Jews was to be lived out among the Gentiles, where the Enlightenment had fueled hopes of a freer future. Some support for Zionism came from traditional Orthodox Jews, but not all of the traditional community embraced the idea. Many felt it was God who had punished the people for their unfaithfulness by sending them away from the promised land and that only God would end the exile.

Nonetheless, by a United Nations decision in 1947 after World War II, Palestine was partitioned into two areas, one to be governed by Jews and the other by Arabs, with Jerusalem an international zone. The Jews accepted the plan, and in 1948 declared Israel an independent Jewish state with full rights for minorities. However, the Arabs did not accept the partition and as soon as British troops moved out, Israel was attacked by its Arab neighbors—Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Outnumbered, Israel nonetheless managed to gain control of a larger area than was allotted to it in the partition plan, thus bringing many Arabs under its rule. Those Arabs who fled to avoid violence were not allowed into the surrounding countries; they were instead kept in refugee camps, in which for generations people have continued to live in distress and with grow- ing hatred for Israel. Egypt and Jordan kept sending guerrilla troops, known as “fedayeen,” to attack the Israelis, whose sovereignty they refused to recognize.

When an attack by Arab neighbors and Palestinians seemed imminent in 1967, Israel launched a stunningly successful pre-emptive strike—the Six-Day War. Nevertheless, the Arab countries still refused to recognize Israel’s nation- hood and Palestinian resistance grew. Despair over attaining any lasting peace with the surrounding Arabs brought hardliners to the fore in Israeli politics. They saw in expanded settlements a fulfilment of biblical prophecy and a defense against Palestinian terrorism.

From time to time, a negotiated peace has seemed almost possible, but it has not yet happened. Frameworks for Palestinian–Israeli settlement have offered some hope of decreasing hostilities in the region by creating two independent states of Palestine and Israel, but they have not satisfactorily dealt with major sticking points. One of these is the “right of return” sought by Palestinian refu- gees from the 1948–1949 war and their descendants. Countering this demand, some Jews point out that more than one million Jews had to flee Arab lands before and after the creation of Israel because of severe persecution. There is also Palestinian concern that the new state of Palestine would consist only of isolat- ed, dependent enclaves under Israeli control. Yet another problem is control of, and access to, sites that are holy to both Muslims and Jews, such as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, known to Muslims as the place from which the Prophet Muhammad began his Night Journey to the seven heavens but also the most sacred place in Judaism, as the site of the former Temples.

One attempt of Jews to protect themselves from Palestinian terrorist attacks has been the building of massive security fences and walls up to 25 feet (7.6 meters) high that impede the mixing of the two communities in some particu- larly sensitive areas, such as the West Bank, where colonies of Israeli settlers are occupying areas of Jordan taken over by Israel during the Six-Day War. Palestinian communities in those areas may thus live in isolated cages in which farmers are cut off from their own land and water, and in some cases, even from the other side of their now-divided villages. However, efforts persist to keep person-to-person contacts open between Israeli Jews and those who have been historically pitted as their opponents. Joint Arab–Jewish initiatives are proliferating, as citizens from both communities attempt to meet, understand, and co-operate with each other on a local basis. More than 150 organizations are now involved in this work. For instance, the International Center for Conciliation and Ossim Shalom (Social Workers for Peace and Social Welfare) have organized many workshops that are designed to help participants under- stand and relate to the others’ fears and concerns by developing empathy toward others’ “pained memories” stretching back several generations.

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Rabbi Hillel Levine, president of the International Center for Conciliation, observes that throughout the centuries there were some Jews living in the his- toric Land of Israel but even more Jews remembering why they were no longer actual residents of their homeland. In their yearning to return, he says, they saw it as their task to repent for violations of their covenant with God:

We are custodians of the land. … Essentially, the Lord provides the earth to humanity on a long-term lease, full of contingencies but the earth is the Lord’s. Jews, in their attachment to the Land of Israel, lived with this sense of contingency and responsibility. They knew that it was not a one-time grant based on the merit of their Father Abraham. … He left his homeland, with all of its comforts, with little more than God’s assurance of “the place that I shall show you.” That place was a very special rim that rises out of the Mediterranean and the West reaching to Mount Zion and Jerusalem and then slopes down to the deserts of the East. It is at the center of the world and provided the Jewish people with special opportunities. It is also a place that other nations so often sought. The biblical covenant making it the land of the Jews makes all entitlements contingent upon behavior. It’s not a free gift by any means. To keep the land we have to behave in a certain way. … Security, particularly after the Holocaust, is of paramount value. But that security must include spiritual security, moral security, and that which secures our identity as a people who strive for holiness and justice.26

Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom, a leader in many Israeli peace initiatives, points out that in the first century CE Hillel the Elder summarized the Torah’s central mes- sage thus:

“That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your comrade ... I am YHWH: Let your love for Me overcome your hatred for him, and keep you from taking revenge; in this way love vanquishes hatred, and peace will come between you.” This is the way of the Torah, “whose ways are pleasant, and all of whose paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17).27

In addition to Israeli-Palestinian political tensions, tensions also exist within the Jewish community in Israel. Jews have come to Israel from many divergent backgrounds. Those who are of eastern European origin—the Ashkenazi who founded the state—tend to regard themselves as superior to Jewish Israelis from

Arab and Jewish parents and board members of an ethnically mixed school in Beersheva after collectively exploring their pains, fears, needs, and hopes at an intensive weekend retreat sponsored by the International Center for Conciliation and Ossim Shalom.

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RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE

Rabbi Michael Melchior

Rabbi Michael Melchior was born in 1954 into a Danish family that had served as chief rabbis of Denmark for seven generations. After his ordination as a rabbi, he became the Chief Rabbi of Norway, and then moved to Israel. There he has held many political positions as leader of the

left-wing religious party Meimad, including ten years as a Knesset member and minister holding various posts. He is deeply committed to the peace process and helped to found the Mosaica Center, which is promoting Jewish–Muslim dialogue in West Asia. Of the importance of Jerusalem in his life, Rabbi Melchior says:

I grew up in Denmark in a family with deep Jewish traditions and deep Danish traditions. As a young teenager, I had my first visit to Jerusalem—I was at that time just turned fifteen. Three times a day we had turned to Jerusalem in prayer and talked about its holiness, but I didn’t have a clue what it was. Three years later I moved to Jerusalem, where I studied in a yeshiva—institute of Jewish learning—in the Old City. It was a short time after the Six-Day War, when Jerusalem had become unified and open for the first time to all peoples and all religions. For me, the Old City was a very, very special place to live—among the different Jewish populations, who were just as much at strife as are ... the Jewish and non-Jewish, Christians and Armenians and Muslims. In the very first lecture which I heard in my yeshiva the head rabbi said something which stayed with me a long time. He said, “This place where we are now: It’s a square kilometer, not even a square mile. They will be able to solve everything, all the conflicts of the world, but this square kilometer they will never be able to solve.” I decided to devote my life to prove him wrong, because I feel that cannot be true. It is the most holy place for the Jewish religion, maybe the only holy place where there is a permanent holiness. It cannot be that that sanctification of that place should only result in people’s fearing each other, despising each other, hating each other, and crushing the image of each other.28

In a statement made to a conference against racism and intolerance in 2001, Rabbi Melchior explains the aspirations of the State of Israel in terms of equality and freedom:

The twentieth century which witnessed the atrocities of the Holocaust also witnessed the fulfillment of the Zionist dream, the reestablishment of a Jewish state in Israel’s historic land. For Zionism is quite simply that— the national movement of the Jewish people, based on an unbroken connection, going back from 4,000 years, between the People of the Book and the Land of the

Bible. It has strived continually to establish a society which reflects highest ideals of democracy and justice for all its inhabitants, in which Jew and Arab can live together, in which women and men have equal rights, in which there is freedom of thought and of expression, and in which all have access to the judicial process to ensure these rights are protected. The aspiration to build such a society was enshrined from the outset in Israel’s Declaration of Independence: “The State of Israel ... will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants, irrespective of creed, race or gender; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.” It is a tall task. It is a constant struggle, and we do not always succeed. But even in the face of the open hostility of its neighbors and continued threats to its existence, there are few countries that have made such efforts to realize such a vision.29

For the peace process in the Middle East to succeed, Rabbi Melchior believes that the role of religion should not be ignored. He states:

When we look at the successes and failures in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East, we can see that there has been a failure to integrate religion and interreligious dialogue. The repeated attempts to ignore religion’s critical role in the search for peace have been wrong. This is the century of religion, with both its positive and negative consequences. There is a dominant view among left-wing Israeli and Palestinian policy-makers that peace is a vehicle to secularizing society and that if there were no conflict, people wouldn’t need religion. This attitude has emptied the peace process of its soul. Although there are religious components to the conflict, it is a national conflict between two peoples claiming the same piece of land. However, because religion was excluded from the solution, it became an ever-growing part of the problem. It was filled by extremist elements who tried to turn the conflict into a religious one—a conflict between “my God” and “your God” where there can be no compromise and no solution. If it can be proven that religion can facilitate cooperation and peacemaking, that Islam is willing to live with the State of Israel in the midst of the Islamic world, Israelis would be much more open to the peace process, and it would restore hope for real progress. Likewise if the Palestinians would see that Israelis are not here to spearhead the clash of civilizations or to wipe out their national-religious aspiration, the Muslim world would be much more open to creating a different future together with Israelis. We who look toward religion as our main source of identity can find a world not only of common interests but also of common values.30

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other areas. Ultra-Orthodox religious authorities insist on strict observance of religious rituals, assert considerable control over education and politics in the nation, and claim that converts consecrated by Reform and Conservative rabbis in the United States are not really Jews. The Orthodox rabbis gener- ally favor hardline political policies in Israel, and yet Ultra-Orthodox Jews who claimed to be studying “day and night” in yeshiva (traditional schools devoted mostly to study of rabbinic literature and Talmud) were exempted from military service until 2014, when a controversial law was passed ordering gradual conscription of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men. The Orthodox rabbis do not represent the majority of Israeli citizens in religious terms either, for only an estimated fifteen percent of Israelis claim to live completely according to religious laws. The majority are non-Orthodox or not religiously observant. Nevertheless, Israel is a country in which businesses close and buses stop run- ning on the Jewish Sabbath, Jewish holidays are national holidays, and most people celebrate Passover, marry other Jews, and light the Hanukkah menorah if not the Sabbath candles. There is also internal dissension over relationships with the Palestinians. Many Israeli Jews sympathize with the Palestinians’ situation, even as Religious Zionists believe that the land has been promised to them by God for the redemption of the Jewish people and eventually the entire world.

Although the dream of a sovereign Torah-based nation or a peaceful two- state solution is still elusive, Israel is nonetheless a unique home or place of pilgrimage for Jews, and many immigrants are still arriving from countries such as India, Yemen, Morocco, Ethiopia, and the former Soviet Union. According to the Law of Return passed in 1950, any Jew is granted automatic citizenship in Israel. Some new immigrants from West Asia and North Africa are Jews from Arabic cultures and thus have mixed cultural identities. From Israel, where they are known as “Mizrahi” Jews, a group of these young second- and third-gen- eration Arabic Jewish immigrants have stated their desire to be peacemakers in the troubled region:

We now express the hope that our generation—throughout the Arab, Muslim, and Jewish world—will be a generation of renewed bridges that will leap over the walls and hostility created by previous generations.31

Torah What are the key tenets of the Jewish faith?

It is difficult to outline the tenets of the Jewish faith. As we have seen, Jewish spiritual understanding has changed repeatedly through history. Rationalists and mystics have often differed. Since the nineteenth century, there has been disagreement between liberal and traditional Jews, to be discussed later.

Nevertheless, there are certain major themes that can be extricated from the vast history and literature of Judaism. Jewish teachings are known as the Torah. In its narrowest sense, the Torah refers to the “five books of Moses.” On the next level, it means the entire Hebrew Bible and the Talmud, the written and the oral law. For some, “Torah” can refer to all sacred Jewish literature and observance. At the highest level, Torah is God’s will, God’s wisdom.

The one God

The central Jewish belief is monotheism. It has been stated in different ways in response to different cultural settings (emphasizing the divine unity when Christians developed the concept of the Holy Trinity, for instance, and empha- sizing that God is formless and ultimate holiness in opposition to the earthly local gods). But the central theme is that there is one Creator God, the “cause of all existent things.”32

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God is everywhere, even in the darkness, as David sings in Psalms:

Where can I escape from Your spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to Heaven, You are there: if I descend to Sheol [the underworld], You are there too.

If I take wing with the dawn to come to rest on the western horizon, even there Your hand will be guiding me, Your right hand will be holding me fast.

Psalm 139:7–14

This metaphysical understanding of God’s oneness is difficult to explain in linear language, which refers to the individual objects perceived by the senses. As the eleventh-century Spanish poet and mystical philosopher Ibn Gabirol put it, “None can penetrate ... the mystery of Thy unfathomable unity.”33

One of the most elegant attempts to “explain” God’s oneness has been offered by the great twentieth-century thinker Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972). He linked the idea of unity to eternity, explaining that in eternity, “past and future are not apart; here is everywhere, and now goes on forever.” Time as we know it is only a fragment, “eternity broken in space.” According to Heschel:

The craving for unity and coherence is the predominant feature of a mature mind. All science, all philosophy, all art are a search after it. But unity is a task, not a condition. The world lies in strife, in discord, in divergence. Unity is beyond, not within, reality. … The world is not one with God, and this is why his power does not surge unhampered throughout all stages of being. Creature is detached from the Creator, and the universe is in a state of spiritual disorder. Yet God has not withdrawn entirely from this world. The spirit of this unity hovers over the face of all plurality, and the major trend of all our thinking and striving is its mighty intimation. The goal of all efforts is to bring about the restitution of the unity of God and world.34

Plurality is incompatible with the sense of the ineffable. You cannot ask in regard to the divine: Which one? There is only one synonym for God: One.

Abraham Joshua Heschel35

In traditional Judaism, God is often perceived as a loving Father who is none- theless infinitely majestic, sometimes revealing divine power when the children need chastising.

Love for God

The essential commandment to humans is to love God. The central recitation in a Jewish religious service and the inscription on the mezuza at the doorpost of every traditional Jewish home is the Shema Israel:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:4–9

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Even Maimonides, the great proponent of reason and study, asserted the pri- macy of love for God. He emphasized that one should not love God from selfish or fearful motivations, such as receiving earthly blessings or avoiding problems in the life after death. One should study the Torah and fulfill the commandments out of sheer love of God.

The sacredness of human life

Humans are the pinnacle of creation, created in the “image” of God, according to the account of Creation in Genesis 1. Jews do not take this passage to mean that God literally looks like a human. It is often interpreted in an ethical sense: That humans are so wonderfully endowed that they can mirror God’s qualities, such as justice, wisdom, righteousness, and love.

All people are potentially equal; they are said to be common descendants of the first man and woman. But they are also potentially perfectible, and in rais- ing themselves they uplift the world. God limited the divine power by giving humans free will, involving them in the responsibility for the world’s condition, and their own.

The German scholar Martin Buber (1878–1965) described the relationship between God and humans as reciprocal:

You know always in your heart that you need God more than everything; but do you not know too that God needs you—in the fulness of His eternity needs you? How would man exist, how would you exist, if God did not need him, did not need you? You need God, in order to be—and God needs you, for the very meaning of your life. … We take part in creation, meet the Creator, reach out to him, helpers and companions.36

Human life is sacred, rather than lowly and loathsome; Judaism celebrates the body. Sexuality within marriage is holy, and the body is honored as the instru- ment through which the soul is manifested on earth. Indeed, according to some thinkers, body and soul are an inseparable totality.

I praise You, for I am awesomely, wondrously made.

Psalm 139:14

Law

Because of the great responsibility of humankind, traditional Jews give thanks that God has revealed in the written and oral Torah the laws by which they can be faithful to the divine will and fulfill the purposes of Creation by establishing a Kingdom of God here on earth, in which all creatures can live in peace and fellowship. In the words of the biblical prophet Isaiah, speaking for God:

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, And the lion shall eat straw like the ox, And the serpent’s food shall be earth. In all my sacred mount Nothing evil or vile shall be done.37

To the extent that traditional Jews act according to the Torah, they feel they are upholding their part of the ancient covenant with God.

The Torah, as indicated through rabbinic literature, is said to contain 613 com- mandments, or mitzvot (singular: mitzvah). Jewish law does not differentiate between sacred and secular life, so these include general ethical guidelines such as the Ten Commandments and the famous saying in Leviticus 19:18—“Love your fellow as yourself”—plus detailed laws concerning all aspects of life, such as land ownership, civil and criminal procedure, family law, sacred observances,

Jewish theology has been shaped by the most compelling thinkers of each era. In the 20th century, Martin Buber described the cherished human– divine encounter as an I–Thou relationship, in which the self experiences its wholeness.

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LIVING JUDAISM

An Interview with Eli Epstein

Eli Epstein, an Orthodox Jew, is a successful international businessman living in New York. In accordance with the teaching of his ancestors, he is also a philanthropist. His particular interest is in promoting interfaith understanding, having

noted surprising similarities between Judaism and Islam during his many trips to West Asia. One of the projects he has initiated and supported is “Children of Abraham,” which he co-directs with a Muslim philanthropist, to develop dialogue between Jewish and Muslim teenagers through the Internet. He explains the attitude toward giving that he has been taught:

Jewish philanthropy has its antecedents in scripture. The Torah speaks about the fact that the farmers, for example, have to leave some of their crop for the poor to be able to take the droppings and the things that are extra. It has been inculcated into our tradition, to every home and every family. It gives us firstly the sense that what we have is not necessarily our own. And if we are blessed with things that are beyond our own needs, it is because God wants us to effectively be his partner in helping the world, in repairing the world, and in improving the condition of people and civilization around us, Jewish and non-Jewish. Jewish people who believe in the giving of charity, which is called tzedakah, know that it is based on the word meaning “justice.” So it’s not something we do out of the amazing ability of our hearts. It’s because God says it’s a form of justice, to equal out to people around us that which they can’t do for themselves, for reasons which we never really understand. We don’t have to ask why God gave us more than we need. But when we do have it, we shouldn’t be attached to it. We should feel like it’s an important thing to do, just to give. In fact, the sages say that the more you give, the more you will be blessed with being able to give more afterwards.

We want to be able to give with an open heart, to everyone who comes and asks. Sometimes you do more, sometimes you do less. But the notion of giving is very much part of our lives and in fact, almost all Jewish homes will have something which is called a “charity box” in English. We will use it even for small coins. So we show our young children that giving is very much part of our lives. [In our family life], there was almost no occasion in which you wouldn’t give. Even in families such as mine which comes from eastern Poland, which was very poor and impoverished, the poor people themselves gave. It’s almost as if nobody was excused from giving. The truth is that beggars have the responsibility to give as well. These people who were asking for money because they don’t have enough to even feed themselves are responsible to give. It’s not always in the form of money. You can give of your time and your efforts. You should give all different kinds and forms. The highest form is when you give a person a job, so you’re not giving him anything but his own dignity. And the most perfect form of charity is when you clean a body before burial. It’s called in Hebrew “chesed shel emet.” Chesed means “kindness,” emet being “of truth.” It is the most pristine form of giving, because there is no one who will say, “Thank you.” So when you are cleaning the body of nobody you will ever see again, you wash it, you purify it, you dress it in shrouds. Even when you finish that act of ultimate kindness, you can’t even tell people you did it, because in the acknowledgment that you did it, they will see you as a higher person, and you can’t even have that. The family can’t pay you, the family can’t thank you. You just walk away. You don’t even say “Good night” to the person you worked with, because “Good night” is a blessing. So you say, “You should be worthy of doing more acts of kindness,” and you walk away.”38

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diet, and ritual slaughter. The biblical Book of Genesis also sets forth what is called the Noahide Code of seven universal principles for a moral and spiritual life, prohibiting idolatry (worshiping many gods or images of God), blasphemy against God, murder, theft, sexual behaviors outside of marriage, and cruelty to animals, and affirming the rule of law and justice in society. From the time of its final editing in Babylonia in the mid-sixth century CE, the Talmud, together with its later commentaries, has served as a blueprint for Jewish social, com- munal, and religious life. Through the rabbinic tradition, law became the main category of Orthodox Jewish thought and practice, and learned study of God’s commandments one of the central expressions of faith.

From a contemporary point of view, Ismar Schorsch notes that many of the ancient commandments are ecologically useful, for they restrain humanity’s ways of using the natural environment. They are addressed to humans not as wise masters of the earth, as envisioned in the first account of Creation in Genesis, but as the Adam and Eve of the second Creation story, who are disobe- dient and must be saved from themselves lest they destroy the planet, “for as the Bible so often avers: the land ultimately belongs to its Creator and we mortals are but His tenants.”39

A Sabbath prayer, Ahavat Olam, expresses Jews’ profound gratitude for God’s laws:

With everlasting love You have loved Your people Israel. You have taught us the Torah and its Mitzvot. You have instructed us in its laws and judgments. Therefore, O Lord our God, when we lie down and when we rise up we shall speak of Your commandments and rejoice in Your Torah and Mitzvot. For they are our life and the length of our days; on them we will meditate day and night.40

Suffering and faith

Jewish tradition depicts the universe as being governed by an all-powerful, personal God who intervenes in history to reward the righteous and punish the unjust. Within this context, Jews have had considerable difficulty in answering the eternal question: Why must the innocent suffer? This question has been particularly poignant since the Holocaust.

The Hebrew Bible itself brings up the issue with the challenging parable of Job, a blameless, God-fearing, and wealthy man. The story includes the only mention of Satan as a personified character in the Tanakh. Here he is a partici- pant in God’s court, who, in a conversation with God, predicts that Job will sure- ly drop his faith and blaspheme the Lord if he is stripped of all his possessions. With God’s assent, Satan tests Job by destroying all that Job has, including his children and his health. On hearing the news of his children’s deaths:

Job arose, tore his robe, cut off his hair, and threw himself on the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”41

Later, however, with an itchy skin affliction covering him from head to foot, Job begins to curse his life and to question God’s justice. In the end, Job acknowledges not only God’s power to control the world but also his inscrutable wisdom, which is beyond human understanding. God then rewards him with long life and even greater riches than he had before the test.

Debate over the meanings of this ancient story has continued over the cen- turies. One rabbinical interpretation is that Satan was co-operating with God in helping Job grow from fear of God to love of God. Another is that faith in God will finally be rewarded in this life, no matter how severe the temporary trials. Another is that those who truly desire to grow toward God will be asked to suffer more, that their sins will be expiated in this life so that they can enjoy the divine

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bliss in the life to come. Such interpretations assume a personal, all-powerful, loving God doing what is best for the people, even when they cannot understand God’s ways. In such belief, God is seen as always available, like a shepherd caring for his sheep, no matter how dark the outer circumstances.

Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness, I fear no harm, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

On the other hand, oppression and then the Holocaust have led some Jews to cry out to God in anguish. They, too, feel close to God, but in a way that allows them to scream at God, as it were. In questioning the justice of history, they hold God responsible for what is inexplicably monstrous. But even in the Holocaust, there were those who held fast to hope for better times. As they walked to their death in Nazi gas chambers, some were reciting the hymn Ani maamin: “I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he will come.”42

Sacred practices Which sacred practices do traditional Jews observe?

Since the rabbinic period began, a major Jewish spiritual practice has been daily scriptural study. Boys were traditionally taught how to read and write ancient Hebrew and how to interpret scripture through the process of exegesis, by means of the oral Torah. This required extensive knowledge of the scriptures and concentrated intellectual effort. This classical pattern continues today even in the diaspora, where some children continue to attend yeshivot, or Jewish day schools, where they are trained in the study of Torah and encouraged to learn and obey the commandments but also through rational analysis to delve into deeper understanding of truth.

In addition to study, a Jew is urged to remember God in all aspects of life, through prayer and observance of the commandments. These commandments are not otherworldly. Many are rooted in the body, and spiritual practices often engage all the senses in awareness of God.

Boys are ritually circumcised in the brit milah ceremony when they are eight days old, to honor the seal of God’s commandment to Abraham. Orthodox Jews consider women ritually impure during their menstrual periods and for seven blood-free days afterwards, during which time they and their husbands are prohibited from having sexual intercourse with each other. At the end of this forbidden period Orthodox Jewish women undertake complete immersion in a mikveh, a special deep bath structure, symbolizing their altered state. Marital sex is sacred, with the Sabbath night the holiest time for making love. By contrast, adultery is strictly forbidden as one of the worst sins against God, for Jewish tradition is extremely concerned with maintaining pure lines of descent.

What one eats is also of cosmic significance, for according to the Torah some foods are definitely unclean. For example, the only kosher (ritually acceptable) meats are those from warmblooded animals with cloven hoofs that chew their cuds—such as cows, goats, and sheep—and poultry. Pork is not kosher, nor is shellfish. Meat is kosher only if it has been butchered in the traditional way, with an extremely sharp, smooth knife by an authorized Jewish slaughterer. Great pains are taken to avoid eating blood; meat must be soaked in water and then drained on a salted board before cooking. Meat and milk cannot be eaten together, and separate dishes are maintained for their preparation and serving.

The rudiments of these dietary instructions are laid out in the biblical Book of

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Leviticus, which quotes God as saying to Moses and Aaron, “For I the Lord am He who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God: you shall be holy, for I am holy.”43 The rules of diet, if strictly followed, give Jews a feeling of sacred identity and community and link them to the eternal authority of the Torah.

Some contemporary Jews feel that consciousness about what they eat should be extended to environmental considerations. To them, the styrofoam box in which a cheeseburger is sold at fast-food places is as much a problem as the mixing of meat and milk. Nuclear-generated electricity used for cooking might itself be non-kosher, if there is no safe provision for disposing of nuclear waste.

For traditional observant Jews, the morning begins with a prayer before they open their eyes to thank God for restoring the soul. The hands must then be washed before reciting blessings and, for all traditional male Jews, putting on a special fringed garment, a rectangle of cloth called a tallit katan. It is usually worn under a man’s shirt as a reminder of the privilege of being given divine commandments. During weekday morning prayers men also put tefillin, or phy- lacteries, small leather boxes containing biblical verses about the covenant with God, on the forehead and the upper arm, held against the heart, in fulfillment of the Shema commandment, as literally understood: “Bind them [the Shema’s words about the primacy of love for God] as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead.” Traditional Jewish men also keep their heads covered at all times, if possible.

In addition to prayers recited on waking and at bedtime, three prayer services are chanted daily in a synagogue by men if there is a minyan (quorum of ten). Women can say them also, but they are excused from rigid schedules partly because of their household responsibilities, and partly because of the belief that women have a more intuitive sense of spirituality.

Jews are also expected to give thanks continually. Tradition holds that one should recite a hundred benedictions to God every day. To this end, there is a blessing to be said every time one takes a drink of water. There is even a blessing to be recited after using the toilet:

Blessed art thou, our God, Ruler of the universe, who hast formed (human) beings in wisdom, and created in them a system of ducts and tubes. It is well known before thy glorious throne that if but one of these be opened, or if one of those be closed, it would be impossible to exist in thy presence. Blessed art thou, O God, who healest all creatures and doest wonders.44

During morning prayers, traditional Jewish men bind tefillin to their arms and foreheads in remembrance of their covenant with God. Here a father is training his son in their use as part of his Bar Mitzvah ceremony: They are also wearing traditional prayer shawls.

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The Jewish Sabbath is observed as an eternal sign of the covenant between the Jews and God. The Sabbath runs from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night, because the Jewish “day” begins with nightfall. The Friday night service welcomes the Sabbath as a bride and is often considered an opportunity to drop away the cares of the previous week so as to be in a peaceful state for the day of rest. Just as God is said to have created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh, all work is to cease when the Sabbath begins. Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin explains Sabbath as:

a magical, holy place that opens its doors to us once a week. … Shabbat is a weekly dose, a megadose, of holiness. For on Shabbat, we are invited to enter God’s dream for our world, a place of wholeness and fullness, a place of caring and peace. We wish each other Shabbat shalom, a day full of the peace we hope one day to find.45

Ruth Gan Kagan describes the Sabbath experience:

I am aware of a wave of peace flooding my heart and that transparent veils of tranquility are covering the World around me. A moment before I would probably be rushing around trying to finish all the preparations, … but all this tension and rush vanishes when the fixed moment arrives. … The moment I light the Sabbath candles and usher in the Sabbath spirit everything undergoes a magical transformation. The Queen has arrived. In Her presence there are not even talks of weekday matters. The mind quiets down leaving business, plans and worries behind as one quietly walks to the synagogue for services; the sky is aglow with the colours of sunset; the bird-song is suddenly more present; the people of the congregation gather to welcome in the Sabbath in song, prayer and silence. Coming home, the stars are out; in a religious neighborhood, no traveling cars break the descended peace; children are holding their parents’ hands, walking in the middle of the road without fear of death.46

The Saturday morning service incorporates public and private prayers, singing, and the reading of passages from the Torah scrolls, which are kept in a curtained ark on the wall facing Jerusalem. These are treated with great reverence, and it is a great honor to be “called up” to read from or recite blessings over them.

More liberal congregations may place emphasis on an in-depth discussion of the passage read. Often it is examined not only from an abstract philosophical perspective but also from the point of view of its relevance to political events and everyday attempts to live a just and humane life. Torah and Talmud study is highly valued as a form of prayer in itself, and synagogues usually have libraries

for this purpose. In Hasidic congregations, the emphasis falls

on the intensity of praying, or davening, even in saying fixed prayers from the prayer book. Some sway their bodies to induce the self- forgetful state of ecstatic communion with the Loved One. The rabbinical tradition states the ideal in prayer: “A person should always see himself as if the Shekhinah is confronting him.”47

In addition to, or instead of, going to a ser- vice welcoming the Sabbath, observant families usually begin the Sabbath eve with a special Friday-night dinner. The mother lights candles to bring in the Sabbath light; the father recites a blessing over the wine. Special braided bread, challah, is shared as a symbol of the double portions of manna in the desert. The rituals help to set a different tone for the day of rest, as do commandments against working, handling

Boys praying in a synagogue in Neve Michael, Israel.

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money, traveling except by foot, lighting a fire, cooking, and the like. The Sabbath day is set aside for public prayer, study, thought, friendship, and family closeness, with the hope that this renewed life of the spirit will then carry through the week to come.

It is customary to recognize coming of age in the ceremony of Bar Mitzvah (for Jewish boys at the age of thirteen) and Bat Mitzvah (for girls at the age of twelve, in non-Orthodox and even some Orthodox Jewish communities). The boy or girl cel- ebrating the Bar or Bat Mitzvah has usu- ally undertaken some religious instruction, including learning to pronounce Hebrew, if not always to understand it. He or she is called up to read a portion from the Torah scroll and recite a passage from one of the books of the Prophets, in Hebrew, and then perhaps to give a short teaching about a topic from the reading. Afterwards there may be a simple celebration with blessing of wine and sweet bread or cake, though a big party is more likely.

Holy days How are the High Holy Days and festivals celebrated?

Judaism follows an ancient lunar calendar of annual holidays and memorials linked to special events in history. The spiritual year begins with the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day) is a time of spiritual renewal in remembrance of the original creation of the world. It is celebrated on the first two days of the seventh month (around the fall equi- nox). For thirty days prior to Rosh Hashanah, each morning synagogue service brings the blowing of the shofar (a ram’s horn that produces an eerie, unearthly

An American Jewish family reciting the blessing over the challah before the Sabbath meal.

Rosh Hashanah includes the blowing of the shofar in a note of alarm, three wails, and nine sobbing blasts of contrition.

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blast) to remind the people that they stand before God. At the service on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, a prayer is recited asking that all humanity will remember what God has done, that there will be honor and joy for God’s people, and that righteousness will triumph while “all wickedness vanishes like smoke.”48

The ten Days of Awe follow Rosh Hashanah. People are encouraged to change inwardly, by looking at their mistakes of the past year. It is said that during this period God makes it easier for a person to be repentant, and is also more likely to accept repentance.

Yom Kippur completes the High Holy Days, renewing the sacred covenant with God in a spirit of atonement and cleansing. Historically, this was the only time when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Jerusalem, and the only time that he would pronounce the sacred name of the Lord, YHWH, in order to ask for forgiveness of the people’s sins. Today, there is an attempt at personal inner cleansing, and individuals must ask pardon from everyone they may have wronged during the past year. If necessary, restitution for damages should be made. Congregations also confess their sins communally, ask that their negligence be forgiven, and pray for their reconciliation to God in a new year of divine pardon and grace.

Sukkot is a Fall harvest festival. A simple outdoor booth (a sukkah) is built and decorated as a dwelling place of sorts for seven days. Usually this is done as a ritual act, but, seeking a deeper experience of the meaning of Sukkot, some contemporary Jews are actually attempting to live in the sukkah they construct. The fragile home reminds the faithful that their real home is in God, who shel- tered their ancestors on the way from Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Participants hold the lulav (a bundle made of a palm branch, myrtle twigs, and willow twigs) in one hand and the etrog (a citrus fruit) in the other and wave them together toward the four compass directions and to earth and sky, praising God and acknowledging him as the unmoving center of creation. Traditionally there was an offering of water, precious in the desert lands of the patriarchs, and great merrymaking. During the Second Temple days, later rabbis claimed, the ecstatic celebration even included burning of the priests’ old underclothes. The day after the seven-day Sukkot festival is Simhat Torah (Joy in Torah), ending the yearly cycle of Torah readings, from Creation to the death of Moses, and beginning again.

Near the winter solstice, the darkest time of the year, comes Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. Each night for eight nights, another candle is lit on a

Simhat Torah is a joyous celebration of the Torah, with dancing and singing. Here the Torah scrolls are being carried in a celebration in Tel Aviv.

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Hanukkah menorah (candle stand). The amount of light gradually increases like the lengthening of sunlight. Historically, Hanukkah was a celebration of the victory of the Maccabean rebellion against the attempt by Antiochus to force non-Jewish practices on the Jewish people. According to legend, when the Jews regained access to the Temple, they found only one jar of oil left undefiled, still sealed by the high priest. It was enough to stay alight for only one day, but by a miracle the oil stayed burning for eight days. Many Jewish families also observe the time by nightly gift-giving. The children have their own special Hanukkah pastimes, such as spinning the dreidel, a top with four letters on its sides as an abbreviation of the sentence “A great miracle happened there.”

As the winter rainy season begins to diminish in Israel, some Jews celebrate the reawakening of nature on Tu B’shvat. Observances lavish appreciation on a variety of fruits and plants. In Israel, eco-minded Jewish communities now mark the time by planting trees to help restore life to the desert.

On the full moon of the month before spring comes Purim. It commem- orates the legend of Esther, queen of Persia, and Mordecai, who saved their fellow Jews from destruction by the evil viceroy Haman. It has been linked to Mesopotamian mythology about the goddess Ishtar, whose spring return brings joy and fertility. Purim is a bawdy time of dressing in costumes and mocking life’s seriousness, and the jokes frequently poke fun at sacred Jewish practices. As the story of Esther is read from an ornate scroll, the congregation responds with noisy stomping, rattles, horns, and whistles whenever Haman’s name is read. Purim is also celebrated with gifts of money to the poor and gifts of food to friends and family.

The next major festival is Pesach, or Passover, celebrated by more Jews than any other ritual. This much-loved celebration honors the liberation from bond- age in Egypt and the springtime advent of new life. At the time of the tenth plague, death to all firstborn sons of the Egyptians, the Israelites were warned to slaughter a lamb for each family and mark their doors with its blood so that the angel of death would pass over them. They were to roast the lamb and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. So quickly did they depart that they did not even have time to bake the bread, which is said to have baked in the sun as they carried it. The beginning of Pesach is marked by a Seder dinner, with the eating of unleavened bread (matzah) to remember the urgency of the departure, and bitter herbs as a reminder of slavery, so that they would never

Some of the 80 women who gathered in Dati-Leumi Synagogue in Jerusalem to celebrate Purim by reading the Book of Esther aloud together. The funny hats are part of the celebration.

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impose it on other peoples. Also on the table are charoset (a sweet fruit and nut mixture, a reminder of the mortar that the enslaved Israelites molded into bricks) and salt water (a reminder of the tears of the slaves) into which parsley or some other plant (a reminder of spring life) is dipped and eaten. Children ask ritual questions about why these things are done, as basic religious instruc- tion. A movement for contemporary liturgical renewal has yielded countless new Haggadahs, scripts for the Seder— such as special Haggadahs for children, feminists, LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Jews, secular Zionists, secular humanists, victims of domestic violence, and co-celebration of Pesach

with Muslims. Since the Seder is often celebrated at home, people are free to choose or put together their own Haggadah liturgy and post it on the Internet to share with others.

A new holy day may be observed in April or May: Holocaust Remembrance Day. Observances often include the singing in Yiddish of a song from the Jewish Resistance Movement. In part:

Never say that you are going your last way, though leaden skies blot out the blue of day. The hour for which we long will certainly appear.49

In Israel, Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed with a countrywide minute of silence, in which all traffic, speaking, and movement stop entirely. This is a powerful secular ritual that enables secular and religious Jews to remember the Holocaust together.

Early summer brings Shavuot, traditionally identified with the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai and the people hearing the voice of God. It is likely that Shavuot was initially a summer harvest festival that later was linked with the revelation of the Torah. In Israeli kibbutzim, the old practice of bring- ing the first fruits to God has been revived. Elsewhere, the focus is on reading the Ten Commandments and on presenting the Torah as a marriage contract between God and Israel.

Then come three weeks of mourning for the Temples of Jerusalem, both of which were destroyed on the ninth day of the month of Av (July or August), Tisha Be-av. This is traditionally a time of fasting and avoidance of joyous activities. Some feel that there is no longer cause for mourning because even though the Temples have not been rebuilt, the old city of Jerusalem has been recaptured. Others feel that they are all still in exile from the state of perfection.

Contemporary Judaism How do the major branches of contemporary Judaism differ?

Within the extended family of Judaism, there are many groups, many different focuses, and many areas of disagreement. Currently disputed issues include the degree of adherence to the Torah and Talmud, requirements for conversion to Judaism, the extent of the use of Hebrew in prayer, and the full participation of women.

Family Seders involve people of all generations in reading scripts explaining the symbolic significance of the special foods.

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Major branches today

To a certain extent, contemporary Jews may be divided along historic ethnic lines. The majority—at least sixty-five percent—are descendants of the Ashkenazim, who originally migrated to Italy from West Asia during the first and second centuries CE, and then spread through central and eastern Europe, and thence to the Americas. The second largest grouping is the Sephardim, descendants of those who migrated to Spain from West Asia in the eighth and ninth centuries, and thence to North Africa, the Americas, and back to West Asia. As indicated earlier, Mizrahi Jews from Arab lands comprise a third category.

Other distinctions among Jews who are religiously observant have devel- oped as Judaism has encountered the modern world. Judaism, like all modern religions, has struggled to meet the challenge of secularization: the idealization of science, rationalism, industrialization, and materialism. The response of the Orthodox has been to stand by the Torah as the revealed word of God and the Talmud as the legitimate oral law. Orthodox Jews feel that they are bound by the traditional rabbinical halakhah, as a way of achieving closeness to God. But within this framework there are great individual differences, with no central authority figure or governing body. Orthodoxy includes mystics and rationalists, Zionists and anti-Zionists. The Orthodox also differ greatly in their tolerance for other Jewish groups and in their degree of accommodation of the surrounding

Caption

Major Branches of Judaism Today*

Orthodox (Traditional Judaism)

Reform (“Liberal,”

“Progressive”)

(early 19th-century

Germany)

Conservative (“Masorti”)

(late 1880s USA)

Reconstructionist (1922 USA—

independent offshoot of

Conservative)

Ultra-Orthodox

(Haredim)

(18th-century central

and eastern Europe)

Hasidim

(18th-century

Poland)

Mitnaggedim

(18th-century

Lithuania)

Modern (Centrist)

Orthodox

(19th-century

Germany)

* Places and approximate dates of origin are indicated. In Israel, most of the fifteen percent who consider themselves religiously observant

are either the equivalent of Modern Orthodox or identify themselves as Haredim. The Haredim (Strict or Ultra-Orthodox) remain divided

over worship, with the Hasidim following Isaac Luria’s mostly Sephardi prayerbook, and the Mitnaggedim using the traditional Ashkenazi

Polish rites. The Masorti (traditional) movement in Israel is most closely related to the American Conservative movement. The Progressive

movement in Israel is related to the American Reform movement.

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secular environment. Modern Orthodoxy values secular knowledge and integration with non-Jewish society so that its members can interact with the modern world and also help to uplift it. At the same time, Modern Orthodoxy, which first developed in nineteenth-century western Europe, is dedicated to the national and religious significance of Israel and to Jewish law as divinely given. Religious Zionism, which is based on the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1864–1935), places central emphasis on resettlement of the Jewish people in Israel as the working out of a divine plan for the salvation not only of Jews but also for the whole world. Involvement with secular society is permissible only when such involvement is beneficial for the state of Israel. Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) Judaism—which may overlap with Religious Zionism, especially in Israel—is generally in favor of a degree of detach-

ment from non-Jewish culture, so that the community can focus on study of the Torah. Some Haredi groups practice complete withdrawal from the secular world and the rest of the Jewish community, while others, such as the Lubavich Hasidim (originally from Lithuania, with strong communities in many coun- tries), are devoted to extending their message to as many Jews as possible, using all the tools of modern technology for their sacred purpose. The Lubavich or Chabad movement, which offers highly structured and nurturing communities in which male–female roles are strictly defined and an all-embracing piety and devotion to a charismatic leader are universally shared, has had considerable success in attracting young Jews to this way of life.

The Reform (or Liberal) movement, at the other end of the spectrum, began in nineteenth-century Germany as an attempt to help modern Jews value their religion and find a place for it in contemporary society, instead of regarding it as static and antiquated. In imitation of Christian churches, synagogues were redefined as places for spiritual elevation, with choirs added for effect, and the Sabbath service was shortened and translated into the vernacular. The liturgy was also changed to eliminate references to the hope of return to Zion and ani- mal sacrifices in the temple. Women and men were allowed to sit together in the

Orthodox men wearing their traditional dress in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, which also has a Christian Quarter, a Muslim Quarter, and an Armenian Quarter, plus the Temple Mount.

Lubavich Hasidim have built Chabad community centers around the world, like this one in Jerusalem offering Torah classes, synagogue services, and help with Jewish education and practice.

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synagogue, in contrast to their traditional separation. Halakhic observances were re-evaluated for their relevance to modern needs, and Judaism was understood as an evolving, open-ended religion rather than one fixed forever by the Torah. Reform congregations are numerous in North America, where they are contin- ually engaged in a “creative confrontation with modernity.” Rather than exclu- sivism, Reform rabbis cultivate a sense of the universalism of Jewish values.

Given this approach, it is not surprising that Reform Judaism, particularly in North America, has been at the forefront in the establishment of interfaith dia- logue and faith-based social activism, in co-operation with non-Jewish groups. Rabbi Maria Feldman of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism affirms:

To be a Reform Jew is to hear the voice of the prophets in our head; to be engaged in the ongoing work of tikkun olam; to strive to improve the world in which we live. The passion for social justice is reflected in the ancient words of our prophets and sages and in the declarations of our Movement’s leaders throughout its history. The ancient command “Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof! Justice, justice shall you seek!” constantly reverberates in our ears.47

Reform Judaism is not fully accepted in Israel, where the Israeli rabbinate does not recognize the authority of non-Orthodox rabbis.

The liberalization process has also given birth to other groups with interme- diate positions. With roots in mid-nineteenth-century Germany, Conservative Judaism seeks to maintain, or conserve, traditional Jewish laws and practices while also using modern means of historical scholarship, sponsoring critical studies of Jewish texts from all periods. In the United States, Conservative Judaism received a great boost in 1902 when the famous scholar Solomon Schechter became President of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which thence- forth became one of the major centers of Jewish scholarship. Conservative Jews believe that Jews have always searched and added to their laws, liturgy, Midrash, and beliefs to keep them relevant and meaningful in changing times. Conservative women have long served as cantors and have been ordained as rabbis since 1985.

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, an influential American thinker who died in 1983, branched off from Conservatism and founded a movement called Reconstructionism. Kaplan held that the Enlightenment had changed everything and that strong measures were needed to preserve Judaism in the face of ration- alism. Kaplan asserted that “as long as Jews adhered to the traditional concep- tion of the Torah as supernaturally revealed, they would not be amenable to any constructive adjustment of Judaism that was needed to render it viable in a non-Jewish environment.”51 He defined Judaism as an “evolving religious civi- lization,” both cultural and spiritual, and asserted that the Jewish people are the heart of Judaism. The traditions exist for the people, and not vice versa, he said. Kaplan rejected the idea that the Jewish people were specially chosen by God, an exclusivist idea. Rather, they had chosen to try to become a people of God. Kaplan created a new prayer book, deleting traditional portions he and others found offensive, such as derogatory references to women and Gentiles, referenc- es to physical resurrection of the body, and passages describing God as rewarding or punishing Israel by manipulating natural phenomena. Two of Kaplan’s ideals became common in American Jewish life: promotion of Jewish culture (dance, food, music, arts) and of synagogues as multipurpose community centers with recreational, educational, and cultural as well as religious activities.

In addition to those who are affiliated with a religious movement, there are many Jews who identify themselves as secular Jews, affirming their Jewish origins and maintaining various Jewish cultural traditions while eschewing religious practice. There are also significant numbers of people of Jewish birth, particularly in North America and western Europe, whose Jewish identity is vestigial at best, and unlikely to survive in future generations. The possibilities for total assimilation into Western culture are evident in statistics indicating that more than fifty percent of Western Jews marry non-Jews. In most cases,

Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994) developed a worldwide mission to bring Jews back to Jewish traditions, radiating from his Lubavich Hasidic headquarters in Brooklyn, New York.

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neither spouse in such a marriage converts, and research indicates that it is highly unlikely that their children will identify as Jews. Thus, one of the great ironies of the liberty offered to the Jewish people by democratic secular societies is the freedom to leave Judaism as well as to affirm it.

Jewish feminism

In contrast to the option of leaving Judaism, some feminists are coming back to religious observance, but not in the traditional mold, which they regard as patriarchal and sexist. Since the mid-twentieth century, women have taken an active role in claiming their rights to full religious participation. They are also redefining Judaism from a feminist perspective. Part of this effort involves try- ing to reconstruct the history of significant biblical women, for the Torah was written down by men who devoted far more space to the doings of men than of women. There are hints, for instance, that there were powerful prophetesses, such as Miriam and Huldah, but little information is given about them. There have also been post-biblical women scholars, writers, and teachers, women who supported synagogues and Jewish publications from their earnings as business- women, and women who were active in social reform, and their stories and names are being uncovered.

In the past half-century, Jewish feminists have also tackled liturgical issues, changing language to gender-neutral and gender-inclusive terms for worshipers and for God. The Hebrew scriptures describe God in both masculine and fem- inine terms, validating translations from the Hebrew that use gender-neutral language. There was initial resistance and even shock over feminists’ attempts to replace references to God as “He” or “King.” But decades after these initial attempts, Rabbi Karyn D. Kedar proposes:

As Jewish feminists, the greatest service we can give is to call upon the poets of our generation to teach us once again that metaphor is symbolic, that God is beyond reach and can only be understood in whispers of meaning through images, and in pictures that are diverse and rich. God is “like” father and “like” mother. God is “like” king and “like” the womb. Above all, God is none of these. And beyond the metaphor of gender, God is my light, Adonai ori (Psalms 27:1), and God is wind, ruach Elohim merachefet (Genesis 1:2), and God is a silent whisper, kol damma daka (1 Kings 19:12), and God is the shadow beneath the wings, b’tzel kanfefecha (Psalms 63:8).52

As a result of feminist efforts, gender-neutral liturgy and women’s partic- ipation in synagogue worship have become quite common in contemporary Judaism. In Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist synagogues, women are counted in the minyan and called up to recite blessings and read from the Torah. Women make up large proportions of the student populations in rab- binical seminaries; women rabbis are no longer the exception to the rule in most Jewish settings. Women have also been invested as cantors who lead the prayer service, and installed as presidents of synagogues as well as heads of philanthropical organizations. Many liberal congregations use prayer books with gender-neutral language. Many couples are making egalitarian commitments to each other in their wedding vows, as in this contemporary sample:

In the spirit of Jewish tradition, I will be your loving friend as you are mine. … I will respect you and the divine image within you. May our hearts be united forever in faith and hope. Let our home be built on Torah and loving-kindness, rich in wisdom and reverence. May we always keep these words in our hearts as a symbol of our eternal commitment to each other: I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.53

Reform and Conservative denominations in the United States now allow their rabbis to officiate at same-sex weddings. Even in Orthodox congrega- tions, the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance is serving as a resource “for a

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community constantly balancing tradition and modernity, … guided by the principle that halakhic Judaism offers many opportunities for observant Jewish women to enhance their ritual observance and to increase their participation in communal leadership.”54 Yeshivat Maharat in New York is now training Orthodox women in Jewish law and spirituality so that they can serve as legal and spiritual authorities.

Having achieved considerable success in bringing about these changes, Jewish feminists are now expanding their perspective to consider global problems such as the threats of terrorist violence and ecological disaster. Since solutions to such problems will require a change in human thinking, some Jewish feminists have turned to the ongoing process of Midrash—interpretation of the deeper meanings of traditional texts. Rabbi Tirzah Firestone reports:

I am a teacher of Jewish texts—Tanach, Chasidut, Zohar—that have a unique power to engage and call us into discovery and wisdom. Rarely have I witnessed more eagerness and excitement than when I invite women to enter the text itself. … With more aplomb than ever before, today’s women are entering the stories and changing them, breaking them open to reveal the places of both wounds and opportunity. They are seizing the chance to transform the stories that guide our lives, and in so doing, they are rewriting the maps that determine the paths we will travel.55

An example of new feminist Midrash revolves around the inter-woven stories of Sarah and Hagar, the mothers of the sons of Abraham who are said to be the founders of Judaism and Islam respectively. Rabbi Firestone explains:

The story of Hagar and Sarah and their sons lies deep in our collective unconscious and affects our beliefs about the entrenched relationship with our Arab cousins. To change the rigid story lines requires that we first collectively re- vision and humanize the story of these two women. Many female midrashists have taken up the task of plumbing their relationship. … [In a musical exploration by Linda Hirschhorn] they understand that to survive they must finally speak each other’s name, hear each other’s prayers, share each other’s dream of a homeland. I have witnessed hundreds of people weeping as they hear this musical midrash, the reaching out in longing and regret of Sarah and Hagar becoming their own, the pain of the centuries and the possibility for healing alive, palpable, urgent.56

There is also a feminist critique of women’s position in the state of Israel. Feminists among the early Zionist settlers envisioned a society in which men and women would work side by side and each apply their full capabilities to the creation of a new society. Nevertheless, traditional sexual divisions of labor were perpetuated, especially once the Orthodox parties took a major role in the formation and governance of the state. However, some progress toward wom- en’s equality and empowerment is occurring within all denominations in Israel, including Orthodoxy. In 2013, the Jerusalem District Court upheld the right of Women of the Wall to wear prayer shawls and tefillin and read from the Torah at the Western Wall, despite great protests from Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

LGBT Jews

In all cultures and religions, same-sex orientations have always existed. But biblical teachings restrict sexual expression to heterosexual marriage, with emphasis on procreation. Many modern Jews ignored most of the traditional

Worship at the Western Wall in Jerusalem is divided by gender, and only on the men’s side are groups permitted to gather in worship, using ritual Torah scrolls. The activist group Women of the Wall protests this inequity by holding services in the women’s section each month to celebrate Rosh Hodesh, a holiday traditionally associated with women’s religious devotion.

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RELIGION IN PRACTICE

Inclusiveness

Judaism has developed in many directions, all still linked to its ancient origins. Contemporary practice of Judaism ranges from Ultra-Orthodox to liberal manifestations. Many of these adaptations have developed to include modern understandings of human rights, such as welcoming people of various sexual orientations. Sarah Meytin was ordained as a rabbi in 2004, has worked as Assistant Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and Assistant Director of a Jewish preschool program, leads workshops for preschool teachers on welcoming gender non-conforming children, and founded Rockville Open House in 2009 as a safe space for LGBTQ* Jewish teenagers and their allies. In 2003 she and Rachel Meytin married each other in a Jewish wedding ceremony, complete with all their friends and family. Rachel works with Jewish teenagers and professionals through BBYO, an international youth movement which for almost one hundred years has been offering meaningful Jewish experiences for hundreds of thousands of Jewish teenagers. They have two children, Coby and Ruthie. Sarah explains the process by which she became so active in the Jewish community:

I grew up in a family that belonged to a Reform synagogue and sent me to “Sunday school” from the time I was in kindergarten. I hated it. My family observed Passover and the High Holy Days as family gathering days; they were not otherwise particularly religious. I had no interest in Judaism or being part of the Jewish community. When I was in ninth grade, I agreed to go to a Jewish youth group sleepover with a friend. I went to support her, not because I was interested. But I had so much fun that I immediately

got more involved. A year later, I had a love of Judaism and Jewish community, and knew I wanted Judaism to be central in whatever work I did later in life. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to be a congregational rabbi, so I went to graduate school in Social Work while I figured out what would come next. The intersection of Judaism and social justice was what turned me on, and that led me to rabbinic school. I have always felt very blessed to have a wonderful, supportive, loving family, but witnessed friends when I was growing up who were not so lucky. I always knew I wanted to help children to feel that same love, support, and affirmation that I had. Starting Rockville Open House was part of trying to ‘give back’ and give other kids this kind of acceptance and affirmation. As a rabbi, and a queer-identified adult, I am very aware of how religion has been, and continues to be, one of the major sources of intolerance and pain inflicted on queer kids. It is important to me that these teens know there is a space for them in the Jewish community—and a way for them to affirm both their queer and their Jewish identities without their feeling that they have to be in conflict. The Jewish roots of this work are plentiful: 1) All people are made in God’s image. 2) God made humankind male and female in one. 3) Another’s dignity should be as precious to us as our own. 4) Sexuality existed, according to Judaism, in the Garden of Eden. Sex is not the result of a “fall” or “sin,” and is a natural, healthy part of who we are as adults/in adult relationships. 5) There are at least six “gender” categories mentioned in the Talmud. 6) Loving others as we love ourselves. 7) Human dignity is so important that it can even supersede a negative biblical commandment. I could go on listing all of the “justice”

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*”Q” is for “queer,” a previously pejorative term reappropriated

by some as a positive label for unspecified non-heterosexual

gender identity.

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texts and the Rabbinic “fixes” over the millennia that prove that when there is a Rabbinic will, there is always a halakhic way. It’s important to me that these kids know the tradition can and does see them, and affirms them, even if there will always remain pockets of the community that may never accept them. For the preschoolers, it’s about wanting to give the young kids everything they need to grow up to be the best themselves they can be, for all the same reasons.57

Rachel also speaks of the importance of helping teenagers find and live by their truths:

The teen years are full of mixed signals, testing out different roles, discarding all sorts of identities, and seeing how the different parts of ourselves—the inside ones and the outside ones—might fit together. … Then when teens are ready to tackle their community’s largest issues, we can help them focus on issues that align most closely with their understanding of Judaism’s commitment to social justice. We can make explicit to teens the increased power that their individual selves have when they come together in community, to serve and support each other.58

Rachel grew up in a family that quietly embraced Judaism in a small town, and she recalls even liking attending Hebrew school. Still, she didn’t anticipate a professional career as a Jewish educator, but stumbled upon it accidentally.

I was a substitute Sunday school teacher for a few weeks and realized I really enjoyed both teaching and showing my students the positive challenges that Judaism offers. Judaism isn’t passive; you can’t just believe, you have to do. You have to argue and debate the text to really understand it. You have to take responsibility. I appreciate those aspects of Judaism and love sharing them with others.

Sarah and Rachel have created a home life that is infused with Judaism and Jewish values. They frame family decisions and rules in Jewish language and are trying to make sure their children have a positive relationship with Judaism. By weaving Judaism and its social action values into daily life, they’re hoping to set up Coby and Ruthie to be social-change agents with strong Jewish values.

Rachel (left) and Sarah (right) Meytin with their children.

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restrictions on sexuality outside of marriage, but same-sex relationships were nonetheless usually hidden to avoid social ostracism. Heterosexuality was the assumed norm. Other orientations remained largely invisible. During the twen- tieth century, this situation began to change in many Jewish communities in the United States as the feminist movement, gay liberation movement, and Jewish renewal developed and began to converge. LGBT Jews found social support groups and courage to come out about their sexual orientations. Orthodoxy has been the last bastion of traditional sexual norms. Media portrayals such as the award-winning 2001 documentary “Trembling Before G-d” poignantly brought to public awareness the dilemmas of Orthodox LGBT Jews who were struggling to reconcile their sexual and religious identities. Jewish communities across the board have now become more inclusive and welcoming of LGBT Jews. The Reconstructionist movement had welcomed LGBT Jews even earlier. Gay mar- riage is now accepted in Reconstructionist, Reform, and Conservative Judaism (with some limitations), and gay rabbis are found in all the denominations, though rare and not accepted in many Orthodox circles.

Many new inclusive rituals and liturgies have been created for lesbian, gay, and transgender Jews. Feminist scholar Susannah Heschel, for instance, has added an orange to the Passover Seder plate to signify solidarity with all those who felt marginalized by traditional Judaism, including widows as well as lesbi- ans and gay men. She explains that it symbolizes:

the fruitfulness for all Jews when lesbians and gay men are contributing and active members of Jewish life. In addition, each orange segment had a few seeds that had to be spit out—a gesture of spitting out, repudiating the homophobia that poisons too many Jews.59

Jewish renewal

Both men and women from varied backgrounds are being attracted to newly revitalized expressions of Jewish spirituality, and conversions to Judaism seem to be increasing. Many young adults whose parents were nonobservant Jews are now coming back to their roots and taking great interest in the traditions. Many Jewish people have become baal teshuvah—that is, taking on halakhic responsibilities with regard to dietary practice, Sabbaths, holidays, and other aspects of daily life.

In Russia, where under Stalin Jews had been so persecuted that only a few rabbis remained in all of Russia, there are now Jewish seminaries and universi- ties, schools, and kindergartens. In 2011, eighty Jewish and Muslim leaders from throughout Russia and Ukraine held a conference entitled “Muslims and Jews United Against Hatred and Extremism” to jointly counteract extremism, dis- crimination, and abuse, whether in the form of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia.

Contemporary Jewish renewal is an active search for personal meaning in the ancient rituals and scriptures, and the creation of new rituals for our times. The Jewish Renewal Movement provides many Jewish people with hands-on engagement with their tradition, often in an egalitarian and ecologically sensi- tive setting. Many organizations are welcoming Jews to creative, fun, and mean- ingful ways of learning about Jewish traditions, including special workshops and retreats for post-Bar and Bat Mitzvah teenagers and college students. Even the ritual bath for women—mikveh—is now carried on in pleasant spaces, surround- ed by community-building and celebratory activities.

In addition to outreach by Reform and Conservative congregations to for- merly secular Jews, Lubavich Hasidism and the newer Aish HaTorah movement have had great impacts on Jewish return to halakhic observance. Aish HaTorah is an Orthodox organization that encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and become connected to the land and its history. Its yeshiva in Jerusalem teaches the Torah as wisdom to live by, for a more successful and happy life. Jerusalem is also home to organizations that are pushing the boundaries of Orthodox

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religious observance, such as Shira Hadasha (“a new song”), which offers egal- itarian worship jointly conducted by women and men without a rabbi. There are also numerous small havurot, communities of “post-denominational” Jews who are not affiliated with any formal group but get together on a regular basis to worship and celebrate the traditions. They favor a democratic organization and personal experience, choosing what parts of the traditions to use and how. Some incorporate study groups, continuing the ancient intellectual tradition of grappling with the ethical, philosophical, and spiritual meanings of the texts. Some are bringing fresh ideas to traditional celebrations, so that they are actively transformational rather than simply matters of habit.

From highly conservative to highly liberal quarters, there are now many attempts to renew the ancient messianic ideal of Judaism, that by its practice the world might be healed.

From a Jewish point of view, we are living in the worst of all possible worlds, in which there is still hope.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz60

Key terms anti-Semitism A nineteenth-century term referring to expressions of hatred toward

and fear of Jews, not to “Semites” (including Arabs and other people) more generally.

apocalypse A narrative account of the predetermined history of humanity, often with emphasis on its dramatic final end in the present day.

Ashkenazim An ethnic grouping of the Jews with origins in Italy, France, and Germany.

diaspora The dispersal of the Jews after the Babylonian exile. ghetto An urban area occupied by those rejected by a society, such as quarters for Jews

in some European cities. haggadah The nonlegal part of the Talmud and Midrash; Haggadah, the Seder text. halakhah Jewish legal decision and the parts of the Talmud dealing with laws. Hasidism Ecstatic Jewish piety, dating from eighteenth-century Poland.

Celebrations of life-cycle events, such as this naming ceremony for a girl child, are bringing many Jews back to Jewish practice.

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Kabbalah The Jewish mystical tradition. kosher Ritually acceptable according to Jewish tradition. Applied predominantly to

food, but also to ritual objects and practices. Messiah The “anointed,” the expected king and deliverer of the Jews; a term later

applied by Christians to Jesus. Midrash “Seeking,” “searching,” a reference to rabbinic biblical interpretation and the

larger rabbinic attitude toward scriptural tradition. minyan The quorum of ten adult Jews (traditionally, adult men) required for the

recitation of certain communal prayers. mitzvah (plural: mitzvot) In Judaism, a divine commandment or sacred deed in

fulfillment of a commandment. oral Torah The rabbinic tradition, including the Mishnan, Talmud, and other texts,

whose origins the rabbis assign to the covenant at Mount Sinai. Orthodox Judaism A modern Jewish movement that emphasizes traditional rabbinic

authority and halakhah. Pentateuch The five books of Moses; the first section of the three-part Jewish Bible. rabbi Teacher; an ordained religious authority, who may serve as a teacher, a legal

decision-maker, or the spiritual leader of a Jewish congregation. Reform or Liberal Judaism A modern Jewish movement whose emphasis is on the

relevance of Judaism for present and future Jews, rather than the halakhic tradition. Sabbath The day of the week set aside for rest and worship; in Judaism running from

sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night. Sephardim An ethnic grouping of the Jews with origins in Spain and North Africa. Shekhinah The presence of God in the world, especially emphasized in Jewish mystical

circles. synagogue Meeting place for Jewish study and worship. Talmud One of two collections of Jewish law and tradition, compiled in the fifth

century CE in Palestine and the sixth century CE in Babylonia. Tanakh The Jewish Bible, made up of the Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), and Kethuvim

(Writings). Torah “Law” or “teaching.” The first five books of the Jewish Bible. Can also refer to

Jewish teaching or tradition more generally. Zionism Movement dedicated to the establishment of a politically viable,

internationally recognized Jewish state in the biblical land of Israel.

Suggested reading Baskin, Judith R., ed., Jewish Women in Historical Perspective, Detroit: Wayne State

University Press, second edition, 1998. Fifteen pioneering essays by modern scholars explore Jewish women and their activities in a variety of times and places.

Berger, Alan L., ed., Judaism in the Modern World, New York: New York University Press, 1994. Articles by leading contemporary Jewish scholars on facets of the changing identities and paradoxes of modern Jewry.

Berlin, Adele, with Maxine Grossman, eds, The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Concise discussion of major events, personalities, practices, and cultural formations within Jewish religious history.

Cardin, Rabbi Nina Beth, The Tapestry of Jewish Time, Springfield, New Jersey: Behrman House, 2000. Material about Jewish festivals and life-cycle celebrations.

Encyclopedia Judaica, New York: Macmillan Press, 2006. The authoritative, multivolume reference on all aspects of Judaism, as seen from a broad spectrum of points of view.

Freedman, Samuel G., Jew vs. Jew: The Struggle for the Soul of American Jewry, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2000. An exploration of religious tensions in contemporary American Jewish communities, with important speculation on the future of American Judaism.

Goldstein, Rabbi Elyse, ed., New Jewish Feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future, Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2009. An anthology of contemporary feminist writings from many different denominations, assessing the past and future of Jewish feminist theology, rituals, Torah interpretation, religious leadership, and gender, age, and social justice issues.

Goldstein, Rabbi Elyse, ed., The Women’s Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions, Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000. Scholarship and Midrash about portions of the Five Books of Moses drawing

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on women’s personal perspectives. Greenburg, Blu, On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition, Philadelphia: The Jewish

Publication Society of America, 1998. An intimate personal attempt to reconcile Jewish feminism and the practice of Orthodox Judaism.

Grossman, Susan and Rivka Haut, eds, Daughters of the King: Women and the Synagogue, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1992. An excellent anthology of history, halakhah, and contemporary testimonies concerning women and synagogue participation.

Henry, Sondra and Emily Taitz, Written out of History: Our Jewish Foremothers, New York: Biblio Press, 1990. The stories of significant Jewish women rediscovered and placed within their historical context.

Heschel, Abraham J., compiled by Fritz A. Rothschild, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism, New York: The Free Press, 1959. An intimate exploration of the relevance of traditional Judaism for today’s world, by a great twentieth-century theologian.

Holtz, Barry, Back to the Sources, New York: Schocken Books, 1984. Excellent introduction to classical Jewish religious texts. Each chapter takes the reader through a step-by-step approach on how to read representative selections of the Bible, Talmud, Midrash, the Zohar, liturgical texts, and others.

Jacobs, Jill, Where Justice Dwells: A Hands-On Guide to Doing Social Justice in Your Jewish Community, Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011. Philosophical engagement with Jewish theology and pragmatic attention to the practice of working for social justice in contemporary American Jewish communities.

Kamenetz, Rodger, The Jew in the Lotus: A Poet’s Rediscovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist India, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994. The visit of a diverse group of Jewish leaders to the Dalai Lama provides the opportunity to explore fundamental questions of contemporary Jewish identity and community.

Lerner, Michael, Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation, New York: HarperCollins, 1994. Profound and moving analyses of why Jews left Judaism and the revitalization that is drawing them back to faith.

Levine, Hillel, Economic Origins of Antisemitism: Poland and its Jews in the Early Modern Period, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991. Brilliant insights into the relationships between anti-Semitic trends and failed modernization in Poland when it was home to half of the world’s Jews.

Liebman, Charles S., Religion, Democracy and Israeli Society, The Netherlands: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997. A case study of Israel with reference to the problems of trying to manifest the vision of a religious state, and the problems raised by religious fundamentalism in a democratic society.

Mendes-Flohr, Paul and Jehuda Reinharz, The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History, second edition, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. A wealth of historical documents from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries tracing the many facets of Judaism as it encountered modernity.

Ochs, Vanessa L., Inventing Jewish Ritual, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2007. Exploration of new forms of ritual appearing in popular culture in twenty-first century America.

Plaskow, Judith, Standing Again at Sinai: Judaism from a Feminist Perspective, San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. Studies of all aspects of Jewish feminism, including the reconstruction of women’s history, women in Israel, gender-equal God-language, sexuality in feminist religious context, and women’s role in the repair of the world.

Ravitzky, Aviezer, Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Extensive analysis of varying Orthodox religious responses to Jewish statehood in Israel.

Robinson, George, Essential Judaism, New York: Pocket Books, 2000. Concise guide to Jewish beliefs, customs, and rituals.

Sarna, Jonathan D., American Judaism, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. Detailed history of the development of Judaism in the United States as the largest Jewish community in the world.

Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman, with Donald Gropman, The First Step: A Guide for the New Jewish Spirit, New York: Bantam Books, 1983. A modern explanation of the essence of Judaism, of special interest to nonobservant Jews who want to find their way back into the faith.

Schiffman, Lawrence H., Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls: Their True Meaning for Judaism

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and Christianity, New York: Doubleday, 1995. Re-examination of the Dead Sea Scrolls as clues to Jewish history.

Scholem, Gershom G., Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, New York: Schocken Books, 1974.The classic scholarly work on the development of mystical Judaism.

Shneer, David and Caryn Aviv, eds, Queer Jews, New York: Routledge, 2002. First- person discussions of Jewish identity across a spectrum of LGBT perspectives.

Strassfeld, Michael, A Book of life: Embracing Judaism as a Spiritual Practice, Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002. Jewish life presented as everyday possibilities for connecting with the sacred.

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1988. The preferred translation of the Hebrew scriptures, in graceful and spiritually sensitive modern English.

Umansky, Ellen M. and Dianne Ashton, Four Centuries of Jewish Women’s Spirituality: A Sourcebook, Boston: Beacon Press, 1992. Firsthand accounts of the spiritual lives of a great variety of Jewish women.

Wiesel, Elie, Night, New York: Bantam, 1960. Short, searing memoir of a teenage boy’s Holocaust experience.

8.1 Contrast biblical Judaism with rabbinic Judaism Jewish sense of religious history begins with the stories recounted in the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, starting with the creation of the world by a supreme deity, or God, and progressing through the patriarchs and matriarchs, Moses, and the prophets, who spoke with God and instructed the people according to God’s commandments. Jews were taught that they had a special covenantal relation- ship with God, tested through many times of trial.

Jewish history does not end where the stories of the Tanakh end, about the second century BCE. After the holy center of Judaism, the Temple of Jerusalem, was conquered and destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, new forms of Judaism developed under the leadership of the rabbinic movement. Centers of rabbinic Judaism were found in synagogues and study houses, where people worshiped communally, prayed directly to God, and studied the Torah. The rabbis inter- preted the Hebrew Scriptures through a process of study known as Midrash, and they formulated an oral law, which was compiled in the Talmud by the sixth century CE.

8.2 Examine the role the European Enlightenment played in the development of Judaism

In the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Enlightenment provided new opportunities and better conditions for the Jews in western Europe. Here restrictions on Jews began to decrease thanks to the more rational atmosphere of tolerance, reason, and material progress. The French Revolution (1789–99) brought equality for the masses, including Jews living in France, and this trend spread to other European nations.

Inspired by Enlightenment views and liberated from the social restrictions that had kept them isolated as a religious community, some European Jews also embarked on a path of secularization and acculturation—called the Jewish Enlightenment (or Haskalah)—that has brought a sea change in Judaism in the modern world. Talmud study was de-emphasized in favor of secular knowledge and practical training that would help integrate Jews into their surrounding cultures. Opponents of these trends warned that in adapting to the surrounding culture, Jews would inevitably cease to observe their traditional rituals. In the face of this threat to the integrity of their received religious traditions, some scholars and rabbis encouraged Jews not only to live by halakhah (Jewish legal decision) but also to segregate themselves from non-Jewish secular culture. This position led to what came to be called Orthodox Judaism.

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8.3 Identify the key tenets of the Jewish faith

Jewish spiritual understanding has changed repeatedly throughout history and it is difficult to outline the tenets of the Jewish faith. There are, however, cer- tain major themes that can be extracted from the vast history and literature of Judaism.

The central Jewish belief is monotheism—the belief that only one God is real, and all other gods are false—and the essential commandment to humans is to love God. Jews also believe that God gave humans free will, involving them in the responsibility for the world’s condition and their own. Traditional Jews give thanks that in the written and oral Torah God has revealed the laws (com- mandments, or mitzvot) by which they can be faithful to the divine will and establish a Kingdom of God on earth, in which all creatures can live in peace and fellowship.

8.4 Summarize the main sacred practices

In addition to daily scriptural study, Jews are urged to remember God in all aspects of life, through prayer and observance of the commandments, and to give thanks continually. For traditional observant Jews, prayers are recited on waking and at bedtime. Three prayer services are chanted daily in a synagogue by men if there is a minyan (quorum of ten).

Boys are ritually circumcised in the brit milah ceremony when they are eight days old. It is customary to recognize coming of age in the ceremony of Bar Mitzvah (at the age of thirteen for Jewish boys) and Bat Mitzvah (at the age of twelve for girls, in non-Orthodox and even some Orthodox Jewish communi- ties).

What Jews eat is of cosmic significance, and the only kosher (ritually accept- able) meats are those from warmblooded animals with cloven hoofs that chew their cud. Meat is kosher only if it has been butchered in the traditional way. Meat and milk cannot be eaten together.

The Jewish Sabbath is observed as an eternal sign of the covenant between the Jews and God. The Sabbath runs from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night. A special Friday-night dinner may be served in addition to, or instead of, going to a service. The Saturday morning service incorporates public and private prayers, singing, and the reading of passages from the Torah scrolls.

8.5 Describe the High Holy Days and key festivals in the Jewish calendar

Judaism follows an ancient lunar calendar of annual holidays and memori- als linked to special events in history. The spiritual year begins with the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (New Year’s Day), a time of spiritual renewal in remembrance of the original creation of the world, and Yom Kippur, in which the sacred covenant with God is renewed in a spirit of atonement and cleansing.

Sukkot is a harvest festival in fall and the day after it is Simhat Torah, ending the yearly cycle of Torah readings. Near the winter solstice comes Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication. Each night for eight nights, another candle is lit on a special candle holder. On the full moon of the month before spring comes Purim which commemorates the legend of Esther. Purim is a boisterous reading of the book of Esther and is also celebrated with gifts of money to the poor and gifts of food to friends and family. The next major festival is Pesach, or Passover, which cel- ebrates the liberation from bondage in Egypt and the springtime advent of new life. The beginning of Pesach is still marked by a Seder dinner, with the eating of unleavened bread to remember the urgency of the departure.

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8.6 Differentiate between the major branches of contemporary Judaism

Orthodox Jews stand by the Torah as the revealed word of God and the Talmud as the legitimate oral law. They feel that they are bound by the traditional rab- binical halakhah as a way of achieving closeness to God. However, within this framework there are great individual differences, with no central authority figure or governing body. The Orthodox branches also differ greatly in their tolerance for other Jewish groups and in their degree of accommodation of the surrounding secular environment.

The Reform (or Liberal) movement began in the nineteenth-century as a way of modernizing the religion and making it an evolving, open-ended religion rather than one fixed forever by the Torah. In addition to changes to the Sabbath service and the liturgy, men and women were also allowed to sit together in the synagogue. Halakhic observances were re-evaluated for their relevance to modern needs. Rather than exclusivism, Reform rabbis cultivate a sense of the universalism of Jewish values.

Conservative Judaism, which has its roots in mid-nineteenth century Germany, seeks to conserve traditional Jewish laws and practices while also using modern means of historical scholarship, sponsoring critical studies of Jewish texts from all periods. Conservative Jews believe that Jews have always searched and added to their laws, liturgy, Midrash, and beliefs to keep them rel- evant and meaningful in changing times. Conservative women have long served as cantors and have been ordained as rabbis since 1985.

Reconstructionism was founded in the twentieth century by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, an influential American thinker. He held that the Enlightenment had changed everything and that strong measures were needed to preserve Judaism in the face of rationalism. He defined Judaism as an “evolving religious civili- zation.”

In addition to those who are affiliated with a religious movement, there are many Jews who identify themselves as secular Jews, affirming their Jewish origins and maintaining various Jewish cultural traditions while eschewing religious practice.

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C H A P T E R 1 0

ISLAM “If you at least help one person seriously in your life,

then you have learned something in your life. You

can show your face to God, that you have helped one

of his creatures who was suffering. Otherwise what is

life? It won’t make any sense.” Dr. Syed M. Hussain1

10.1 Describe pre-Islamic Arabia

10.2 Explain how the revelations given to Muhammad influenced Islamic belief

10.3 Outline the role of the Qur’an in Islam

10.4 Summarize the central teachings of Islam

10.5 Identify the Five Pillars of Islam

10.6 Distinguish between Sunni and Shi’a Islam

10.7 Define shari’ah

10.8 Describe the key aspects of Sufism

10.9 Analyze the reasons for the successful expansion of Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries

10.10 Explain the spread of Islam in the West

10.11 Discuss the main issues facing contemporary Islam

In about 570 CE, a new prophet was born. This man, Muhammad, is considered by Muslims to be the last of a continuing chain of prophets who have come to restore the true religion. They regard the way revealed to him, Islam, not as a new religion but as the original path of monotheism, which also developed into Judaism and Christianity.

After carrying the torch of civilization in the West while Europe was in its Dark Ages, in the twentieth century Islam began a great resurgence. It is now the religion of nearly one-fifth of the world’s people. Its monotheistic creed is simple: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his Messenger.” Its requirements of the faithful are straightforward. But beneath them lie profun- dities and subtleties of which non-Muslims are largely unaware. In fact, igno- rance about Islam and perceived targeting of Muslims in general by the U.S.-led “war on terrorism” have exacerbated a dangerous and growing divide between Muslims and non-Muslims in the contemporary world. Therefore it is extremely

{Place symbol at start of chapter}

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important to study the origins, teachings, and modern history of this major world religion carefully.

Pre-Islamic Arabia What was life like in pre-Islamic Arabia?

Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, traces its ancestry to the patri- arch Abraham (whom Muslims know as Ibrahim). He is said to have fathered two sons. The first was Isma’il, son of Hagar, an Egyptian slave whom Muslims regard as his wife. The second was Isaac, son of his wife Sarah. When Isaac was born, Abraham reportedly took Isma’il and Hagar to the desert valley of Mecca (Makkah) in a moun- tainous area of Arabia, to establish and maintain prayer to God. According to the Holy Qur’an, the sacred book of Islam, Abraham and Isma’il together built the holiest sanctuary in Islam, the Ka’bah. It was thought to be the site of Adam’s original place of worship; part of the cubic stone building is a venerated black meteorite. According to the Qur’an, God told Abraham that the Ka’bah should be a place of pilgrimage. It was regarded as a holy place by the Arabian tribes.

According to Islamic tradition, the region sank into historical oblivion as it turned away from Abraham’s monotheism. For many centuries, the events of the rest of the world passed it by, aside from contact through trading caravans. The Arabs of the area were mostly nomadic cattle-breeders, shifting their herds through the desert in search of areas that had some greenery. Robbing caravans and settlements also helped them to sustain themselves, except during three months of the lunar year when raids were forbidden according to tribal religion. Drinking, gambling, and prostitution seemingly were commonplace activities. Mecca was situated along trade routes and was a trading center, but apparently it consisted only of simple palm-branch huts.

The most powerful of the tribes there were the Quraysh, comprising approx- imately a dozen clans who lived as merchants. Nomadic tribal rules mandated that clan chiefs should take care of their weaker and poorer clan members, but this social rule was not necessarily followed by the merchant clans.

Because of their nomadic traveling, the Arabic tribes were in contact with each other and had a relatively uniform culture and a common language. They worshiped many deities and believed that people’s lives were controlled by an impersonal force, called Fate or Time. Their tribal code of ethics held an entire clan responsible for its members’ misdoings, and often took a life for a life. Long- lasting blood feuds were therefore common. But violence was prohibited within a large area surrounding the Ka’bah. Before Islam, the Ka’bah is thought to have contained 360 idols of Arabian tribal deities, perhaps including the Daughters of God and Hubal, one of the primary deities worshiped by the Quraysh. Statues of Jesus and Mary were also enshrined there. Pilgrimage to Mecca to honor these deities was an important part of the economy of the city.

The Prophet Muhammad How did Muhammad’s life influence aspects of Islamic belief and practice? In this unpromising pre-Islamic setting, which Muslims call “the age of igno- rance,” a child named Muhammad (the praised one) was born into the Hashim clan of the Quraysh tribe. His great-grandfather had been the clan chief and caretaker of the Ka’bah. He was highly respected for organizing large trading caravans with concessions from the Byzantine and Ethiopian emperors and guarantees of safety from surrounding tribes. He was also appreciated for his

The Ka’bah in Mecca is Islam’s holiest place of worship.

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TIMELINE

Islam

CE c. 570 Birth of Prophet Muhammad

c. 610 Revelation of the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad begins

622 The hijrah (migration) from Mecca to Medina

630 Prophet Muhammad’s triumphant return to Mecca

632 Death of Prophet Muhammad; election of Abu Bakr as first caliph

633 Spread of Islam begins

650 Written text of the Qur’an established

661–750 Umayyad dynasty

680 Karbala massacre of Husayn, grandson of the Prophet, and his relatives

691 Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

732 European advance of Islam stopped at battle of Tours

750–1258 Islam reaches its cultural peak under Abbasid caliphs

922 al-Hallaj killed

1058–1111 Life of al-Ghazali, leading mystical philosopher

1126–98 Ibn Rushd (Averroes), philosopher of “two truths”—revelation and reason

1187 Salah-al-Din recaptures Jerusalem from crusaders

1300s–1400s Christians reconquer Spain

1453 Turks conquer Constantinople, renaming it Istanbul

1478–1834 Spanish Inquisition

1492 Surrender of Granada, last foothold of Islam in Spain

1556 Akbar becomes Mughal emperor in India

1800s–mid-1900s Muslim areas fall under European domination

1947 Partition of Muslim Pakistan from Hindu India

1970s Oil-rich Muslim states join OPEC and Muslim resurgence begins

2001 Al Qaeda terrorists fly aircraft into U.S. buildings

2003 United States and allies invade Iraq

2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings bring down several governments in Muslim- majority countries

2014 Islamic State declares itself a new caliphate

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benevolent care of pilgrims to the Ka’bah. Once, it is said, he prevented starva- tion from a great famine in Mecca by buying flour and bread in Syria and then killing his own camels to feed the whole tribe daily until the famine ended. Muhammad’s grandfather was also renowned for providing food and water to pilgrims to the Ka’bah and for re-digging the well of Zam-Zam, the spring that God is said to have provided for Hagar when she and Isma’il were left alone in the desert. But Muhammad’s family fell on hard times, for his father died during a trading journey before he was born. When Muhammad was sent to a Bedouin tribe to be wet-nursed, as was the custom, only a very poor woman took him in. The Prophet therefore grew up amidst poverty, and was always deeply sym- pathetic with the poor and underprivileged.

Muhammad’s mother also died when he was six, and then his grandfather, who had assumed the position of clan chief. Muhammad became the ward of his uncle, who put him to work as a shepherd.

Although Muhammad is not to be worshiped by Muslims, whose faith resides only in God, his life story is considered important as a model. Even in his youth, he was known for his thoughtful and trustworthy character. The stories of Muhammad’s life and his sayings are preserved in literature called the Hadith, reports of the Prophet’s sayings and exemplary actions (Sunnah). These are of varying authenticity; the Hadith considered most reliable in the Sunni tradition are those carefully collected by Imam Bukhari (d. 870) and by his student, Imam Muslim (d. 875).

As a young man, Muhammad managed caravans for a beautiful, intelligent, and wealthy woman named Khadijah. When Muhammad was twenty-five, she appreciated his good qualities and offered to marry him. Khadijah became Muhammad’s strongest supporter during the difficult and discouraging years of his early mission.

With Khadijah’s understanding of his spiritual propensities, Muhammad began to spend periods of time in solitary retreat. These retreats provided oppor- tunities for contemplation, away from the world.

When Muhammad was forty years old, he made a spiritual retreat during the month called Ramadan. An angel in human-like form, Gabriel, reportedly came to him and insisted that he recite. Three times Muhammad demurred that he could not, for he was unlettered, and three times the angel forcefully command- ed him. In desperation, Muhammad at last cried out, “What shall I recite?” and the angel began dictating the first words of what became the Qur’an:

According to tradition, Muhammad undertook spiritual retreats in this cave on Mount Hira outside Mecca. It was here that he received the first revelations of the Qur’an.

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Read in and with the Name of your Lord, Who has created— Created human from a clot clinging (to the wall of the womb). Read, and your Lord is the All-Munificent, Who has taught (human) by the pen— Taught human what he did not know.2

Muhammad returned home, deeply shaken and overwhelmed by the pro- found experience of communion with God. Khadijah comforted and encouraged him. The revelations continued intermittently, asserting the theme that it was the One God who spoke and who called people to Islam (which means com- plete, trusting surrender to God), emphasizing that they were accountable to God and not their tribes. The revelations in Mecca included other subjects such as rejection of polytheism in favor of pure monotheism, evidence of God in the Creation, belief, repentance, the Last Judgment, social justice, and acceptance of the revelations given through Muhammad as a messenger of God. One of the revelations explained:

When Our Revelations, clear as evidence and in meaning are recited (and conveyed) to them, those who have no expectations to meet Us say (in response to Our Messenger): “Either bring a Qur’an other than this or alter it.” Say: “It is not for me to alter it of my own accord. I only follow what is revealed to me…” Say (also): “If God had so willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have brought it to your knowledge. I lived among you a whole life time before it (began to be revealed to me). Will you not reason and understand?”3

The Prophet shared these revelations with the few people who believed him: his wife, Khadijah; his young cousin, ’Ali; his friend, the trader Abu Bakr; Khadijah’s Christian cousin Waraqah; and his loyal freed slave, Zayd.

After three years, Muhammad was instructed by the revelations to preach publicly. He was ridiculed and defamed by the Qurayshites, who operated the Ka’bah as a polytheistic pilgrimage center and organized profitable trading caravans through Mecca. While Muhammad was somewhat protected by the influence of his uncle, his followers were subject to persecution. A dark-skinned Abyssinian slave named Bilal, who was among the first converts, was impris- oned and brought out daily under the hot sun, pinned to the ground with a heavy stone on his chest, and ordered to deny the Prophet and worship the old gods. He staunchly refused, saying, “One, one.” Once bought by the Prophet’s friend Abu Bakr, Bilal became the first muezzin (one who calls the people to prayer from a high place), illustrating the Prophet’s discarding of racial and social

Faithful Muslims pray five times a day, no matter where they are. The prayer rug provides a sacred precinct from which one can turn toward Mecca, the center of the faith.

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class distinctions. Finally, according to some accounts, Muhammad and his followers were banished for three years to a desolate place where they struggled to sur- vive by eating wild foods such as tree leaves.

The band of Muslims was asked to return to Mecca, but the persecution by the Qurayshites continued. Muhammad’s fiftieth year, the “Year of Sorrows,” was the worst of all: He lost his beloved wife Khadijah and his protective uncle. With his strongest backers gone, persecution of the Prophet increased.

According to tradition, at the height of his trials Muhammad experienced the Night of Ascension. He is said to have ascended through the seven heavens to the far limits of the cosmos, and thence into the Divine Proximity. There he met former prophets and teachers from Adam to Jesus, saw paradise and hell, and received the great blessings of the Divine Presence. The Night of Ascension is seen as a confirmation of Muhammad’s mission, and also demonstrates Islam’s connections to Jewish and Christian tradition.

Pilgrims to Mecca from Yathrib, an oasis to the north, recognized Muhammad as a prophet. They invited him to come to their city to help solve its social and political problems. Still despised by the Qurayshites as a potential threat, Muhammad and his followers left Mecca secretly. Their move to Yathrib, later called al-Medina (The City [of the Prophet]), was not easy. The Prophet left last, accompanied (according to some traditions) by his old friend Abu Bakr. To hide from the pursuing Meccans, it is said that they took refuge in a cave, where the Prophet taught his friend the secret practice of the silent remembrance of God.

This hijrah (migration) of Muslims from Mecca to Medina took place in 622 CE. The Muslim era is calculated from the beginning of the year in which this event took place, for it marked the change from persecution to appreciation of the Prophet’s message.

In Medina, Muhammad drew up a constitution for the city of Yathrib/Medina that later served as a model for Islamic social administration; the constitution acknowledged the different religious communities in the city. The departure of Muslims from Mecca was viewed with hostility and suspicion by the leaders of Mecca. Their assumption was that Medina had become a rallying point for enemies of the Meccans who, under Muhammad’s leadership, would eventually attack and destroy Mecca. To forestall this, Mecca declared war on Medina, and a period of open conflict between the two cities followed.

Muhammad himself directed the first raid against a Meccan caravan. The bat- tle between Muslim emigrants and Meccans took place at Badr near Medina; the small group of Muslims was victorious. According to the Qur’anic revelations, God had sent thousands of angels to help Muhammad. Enraged by the Islamic victory, Mecca made a surprise attack against Medina and routed the Muslims, injuring Muhammad and scattering his forces. Within two years, Mecca had mounted a much larger force, including cavalry and numerous archers, for a siege intended to subdue Medina permanently. Warned by spies, the Muslims defended Medina with a large trench encircling the city. The Meccans were forced to retreat, but rather than continue hostilities Muhammad negotiated a truce between the two warring cities.

In 630 CE the Prophet returned triumphant to Mecca with such a large band of followers that the Meccans did not resist. Reportedly, only thirty people were killed in the historic conquest of Mecca. The Ka’bah was purged of its

{Place painting of the Ascension of the Prophet near here}

Representations of humans, including himself, were discouraged by the Prophet to avoid idolatry, but Persian artists later gave imaginative expression to stories such as the Miraj, or Ascension, of the Prophet.

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idols, and from that time it has been the center of Muslim piety. Acquiescing to Muhammad’s political power and the Qur’anic warnings about the dire fate of those who tried to thwart God’s prophets, many Meccans converted to Islam. Muhammad declared a general amnesty. Contrary to tribal customs of revenge, the Prophet showed his unusual gentleness by forgiving those who had been his opponents.

The Prophet then returned to Medina, which he kept as the spiritual and political center of Islam. From there, a number of campaigns were undertaken. In addition to northern Africa, the Persian states of Yemen, Oman, and Bahrain came into the fold. As the multicultural, multiracial embrace of Islam evolved, the Prophet declared that the community of the faithful was more important than the older tribal identities that had divided people. The new ideal was a global family, under God. In his “Farewell Sermon,” Muhammad stated, “You must know that a Muslim is the brother of a Muslim and the Muslims are one brotherhood.”4 Distinctions between Arabs and non-Arabs, black and white, were no longer valid.

In the eleventh year of the Muslim era, Muhammad made a final pilgrimage to the Ka’bah in Mecca to demonstrate to the faithful the rites that were to be followed thenceforth. After his return to Medina, he became very ill. As he rec- ognized that the end was near, he gave final instructions to his followers, prom- ising to meet them at “the Fountain” in paradise. Muhammad died in 632 CE. In the circumstances that followed Muhammad’s death, his steadfast friend Abu Bakr was elected the first caliph (successor to the Prophet). Another possible successor was the trustworthy and courageous ’Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and husband of his favorite daughter, Fatima. One tradition has it that the Prophet Muhammad actually transferred his spiritual light to Fatima before his death, but that in the midst of funeral arrangements, neither she nor ’Ali participat- ed in the selection of the first caliph. The Shi’ites would later claim ’Ali as the legitimate heir.

Muhammad’s own life has continued to be very precious to Muslims, and it is his qualities that a good Muslim tries to emulate. He always denied having any superhuman powers, and the Qur’an called him “a human being like you,” just “a servant to whom revelation has come,” and “a warner.”5 The only miracle he ever claimed was that, though unlettered, he had received the Qur’anic revela- tions in extraordinarily eloquent and pure Arabic. He did not even claim to be a teacher—“God guides those whom He will,”6 he was instructed to say—although Muslims consider the Prophet the greatest of teachers.

Nevertheless, all who saw the Prophet remarked on his touching physical beauty, his nobility of character, the fragrance of his presence, his humility, and his kindness. Many stories are told of his affectionate compassion toward ani- mals, children, women, widows, and orphans, contrary to prevailing customs. When asked the short cut to heaven, he reportedly said that Paradise lies under the feet of the mother. In his devotion to God, he quietly endured poverty so extreme that he tied a stone over his stomach to suppress the pangs of hun- ger. He explained, “I eat as a slave eats, and sit as a slave sits, for I am a slave (of God).” Although the Qur’an says that the Prophet is the perfect model for humanity, the purest vehicle for God’s message, he himself perpetually prayed for God’s forgiveness. When he was asked how best to practice Islam, he said, “The best Islam is that you feed the hungry and spread peace among people you know and those you do not know.”7

Muhammad’s mystical experiences of the divine had not led him to forsake the world as a contemplative. Rather, according to the Qur’an, the mission of Islam is to reform society, to actively combat oppression and corruption, “inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding all that is wrong.”8 The Prophet’s task—which Muslims feel was also undertaken by such earlier prophets as Moses and Abraham—is not only to call people back to faith but also to create a just moral order in the world as the embodiment of God’s commandments.

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The Qur’an Why is the Qur’an important in Islam?

The heart of Islam is not the Prophet but the revelations he received, which are revered as the Word of God. Collectively they are called the Qur’an (meaning “reading” or “reciting”). Muhammad received the messages over a period of twenty-three years, with some later messages replacing earlier ones. At first they were striking affirmations of the unity of God and the woe of those who did not heed God’s message. Later messages also addressed the organizational needs and social lives of the Muslim community.

After the hijrah, Muhammad heard the revelations and dictated them to a scribe; many of his companions then memorized them. They are said to have been carefully safeguarded against changes and omissions. Recited, the passages have a lyrical beauty and power that Muslims believe to be unsurpassed; these qualities cannot be translated. The recitation is to be rendered in what is some- times described as a serious, subdued tone, because the messages concern God’s sadness at the waywardness of the people. Muhammad said, “Weep, therefore, when you recite it.”9

Recitation of the Qur’an is thought to have a healing, soothing effect, but can also bring protection, guidance, and knowledge, according to Islamic tradition. It is critical that one recite the Qur’an only in a purified state, for the words are so powerful that the one who recites it takes on a great responsibility. Ideally, one learns the Qur’an as a child, when memorization is easiest and when the power of the words will help to shape one’s life. Muslim men who have memorized the Qur’an may use the title “Hafiz’; for women, the title is “Hafiza.”

During the life of the Prophet, his followers attempted to preserve the oral tradition in writing as an additional way of safeguarding it from loss. The early caliphs continued this effort until a council was convened by the third caliph around 650 CE to establish a single authoritative written text. This is the one still used. It is divided into 114 surahs (chapters). The first is the Fatiha, the opening surah, which reveals the essence of the Qur’an:

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, The Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds; Most Gracious, Most Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment.

Reading the Qur’an in Java.

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Thee do we worship, And Thine aid we seek. Show us the straight way, The way of those on whom Thou has bestowed Thy Grace Those whose portion Is not wrath, And, who go not astray.10

The verses of the Qur’an are terse, but are thought to have multiple levels of meaning. These may not survive translation into other languages, particularly in the case of idiomatic expressions, subtle implications of Arabic grammatical structures, and historic references, unless there are extensive footnotes or brack- eted explanations. Furthermore, there are often three layers: (1) a reference to a particular person or situation; (2) a spiritual lesson; and (3) a deeper mystical significance. Some faithful Muslims feel that the mystical level cannot be under- stood by most people. For instance, noted twentieth-century Iranian scholar Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai asserted:

The whole of the Quran possesses the sense of tawil, of esoteric meaning, which cannot be comprehended directly through human thought alone. Only the Prophets and the pure among the Saints of God who are free from the dross of human imperfection can contemplate these meanings while living on the present plane of existence.11

The Qur’an makes frequent mention of figures and stories from Jewish and Christian sacred history, all of which Muslims consider part of the fabric of

Abstaining from pictorial representation, Muslim artists lavished great devotion on elaborate calligraphy and decoration for the word of God, revealed in the Holy Qur’an. The illuminations express the luminous flowing outward from the Sacred Word.

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Islam. Islam is the original religion, according to the Qur’an. Surrender to God has existed as long as there have been humans willing to do so. Adam was the first prophet. Abraham was not exclusively a Jew nor a Christian; he was a monotheistic, upright person who had surrendered to God. Jesus was a very great prophet.

Muslims believe that the Jewish prophets and Jesus all brought the same mes- sages from God. However, the Qur’an teaches that God’s original messages have been added to and distorted by humans. For instance, Muslims do not accept the idea developed historically in Christianity that Jesus has the authority to pardon or atone for our sins. The belief that this power lies with anyone except God is considered a blasphemous human interpolation into what Muslims understand as the basic and true teachings of all prophets of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition: belief in one God and in our personal moral accountability before God on the Day of Judgment. In the Islamic view, the Qur’an was sent as a final corrective in the continuing monotheistic tradition. Muslims, citing John 14:16 and 14:26 from the Christian New Testament, believe that Jesus prophesied the coming of Muhammad when he promised that the Paraclete (advocate) would come to assist humanity after him.

The Qur’an revealed to Muhammad is understood as a final and complete reminder of the prophets’ teachings, which all refer to the same one God, known in Arabic as Allah (The God). For example, in Surah 42, Muhammad is told:

Say: “I believe in whatever Book Allah has sent down; and I am commanded to judge justly between you. Allah is our Lord and your Lord! For us is the responsibility for our deeds, and for you for your deeds. There is no contention between us and you. Allah will bring us together, and to Him is our final goal.”12

The central teachings What are the central teachings of Islam?

On the surface, Islam is a very straightforward religion. The word “Islam” means peace, voluntary surrender to the will of God, and obedience to God’s law. It comprises a number of articles of faith.

The Oneness of God and of humanity

The first sentence chanted in the ear of a traditional Muslim infant is the Shahadah—“La ilaha illa Allah Muhammad-un Rasul Allah” (“There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”). Exoterically, the Shahadah supports absolute monotheism. As the Qur’an reveals in Surah 2:163:

Your God is One God: There is no god but He, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.13

Esoterically, the Shahadah means that ultimately there is only one Absolute Reality; the underlying essence of life is eternal unity rather than the apparent separateness of things in the physical world. Muslims think that the Oneness of God is the primordial religion taught by all prophets of all faiths. Muhammad merely reminded people of it.

It has been estimated that more than ninety percent of Muslim theology deals with the implications of Unity. God, while One, is referred to by ninety-nine names. These are each considered attributes of the One Being, such as al-Ali (The Most High) and ar-Raqib (The Watchful). Allah is the name of God that encom- passes all the attributes. Each of the names refers to the totality, the One Being.

Unity applies not only to the conceptualization of God, but also to every aspect of life. In the life of the individual, every thought and action should spring

Muslims express their belief in the Oneness of the divine by saying the Shahadah (“There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”), the sentence emblazoned on this Turkish plaque.

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from a heart and mind intimately integrated with the divine. Muslims theoreti- cally reject any divisions within the Islamic community; all Muslims around the globe are supposed to embrace as one family. All humans, for that matter, are a global family; there is no one “chosen people,” for all are invited into a direct relationship with God. Science, art, and politics are not separate from religion in Islam, for ideally they should all involve consciousness of God. Individuals should never forget Allah; the Oneness should permeate their thoughts and actions. Abu Hashim Madani, an Indian Sufi sage, is said to have taught: “There is only one thing to be gained in life, and that is to remember God with each breath; and there is only one loss in life, and that is the breath drawn without the remembrance of God.”14

The “remembrance of God” is like breathing deeply in the solitude of high mountains: here the morning air, filled with purity of the eternal snows, dilates the breast; it becomes space and heaven enters our heart.

Frithjof Schuon15

Prophethood and the compass of Islam

Devout Muslims believe that Islam encompasses all religions. Islam honors all prophets as messengers from the one God:

Say ye: We believe In God, and the revelation Given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, And the Tribes, and that given To Moses and Jesus, and that given To (all) Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference Between one and another of them: And we bow to God in surrender.16

Muslims believe that the original religion was monotheism, but that God sent prophets from time to time as religions decayed into polytheism. Each prophet came to renew the message, in a way specifically designed for his culture and time. The Qur’anic revelations declared Muhammad to be the “Seal of the Prophets,” the last and ultimate authority in the continuing prophetic tradition. The prophets are mere humans, although spiritually powerful and morally per- fected; none of them is divine, for there is only one Divinity.

Islam is thought to be the universal religion in its pure form. All scriptures of all traditions are also honored, but only the Qur’an is considered fully authentic, because it is the direct, unchanged, untranslated word of God. Whatever exists in other religions that agrees with the Qur’an is divine truth.

Throughout the history of Islam, Muslims have honored and venerated the prophet Muhammad. Some Muslims, for example, celebrate his birthday, though it is not an obligatory celebration. There are rich traditions of poetry and other writings blessing and honoring Muhammad, and recounting the details of his biography.

Human relationship to the divine

We are nearer to [a person] than his jugular vein.

The Holy Qur’an, Surah 50:16

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In Muslim belief, God is all-knowing and has intelligently created everything for a divine purpose, governed by laws that assure the harmonious and wondrous working of all creation. Humans will find peace only if they know these laws and live by them. They have been revealed by the prophets, but the people often have not believed. To believe is to surrender totally to God. As the Qur’an states:

None believes in Our revelations save those who, when reminded of them, prostrate themselves in adoration and give glory to their Lord in all humility; who forsake their beds to pray to their Lord in fear and hope; who give in charity of that which We have bestowed on them. No mortal knows what bliss is in store for these as a reward for their labors.17

The Qur’an indicates that human history provides many “signs” of the hand of God at work bestowing mercy and protection on believers. Signs such as the great flood, which was thought to have occurred at the time of Noah, illustrate that evildoers ultimately experience great misfortune in this life or the afterlife. None is punished without first being warned by a messenger of God to mend his or her ways. Creation itself is a sign of God’s compassion, as well as of God’s omnipotent will.

According to Islam, the two major human sins involve one’s relationship to God. One is shirk (associating anything else with divinity except the one God). The Qur’an instructs, with reference to People of the Book (Jews and Christians, who are also believed to have received revealed scriptures):

Say: “Oh People of the book! Come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; That we associate no partners with Him; That we erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than Allah.”18

In other words, in Islam’s pure monotheism one is enjoined not to worship anything but God—not natural forces, or mountains, or stones, or incarnations of God, or lesser deities, or human rulers. Idol worship is vigorously denounced, as is worship of natural phenomena: “Adore not the sun nor the moon, but adore Allah Who created them.”19

The other major sin is kufr (ungratefulness to God, unbelief, atheism). Furthermore, humans tend to forget God. God has mercifully sent us revelations as reminders. The veils that separate us from God come from us, not from God; Muslims feel that it is ours to remove the veils by seeking God and acknowl- edging the omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence of the divine. Aware that God knows everything and is all-powerful, one wants to do everything one can to please God, out of both love and fear. This paradox was given dramatic expression by the Caliph ’Umar ibn al-Khattab:

If God declared on the Day of Judgment that all people would go to paradise except one unfortunate person, out of His fear I would think that I am that person. And if God declared that all people would go to hell except one fortunate person, out of my hope in His Mercy I would think that I am that fortunate person.20

The unseen life

Muslims believe that our senses do not reveal all of reality. In particular, they believe in the angels of God. These are nonphysical beings of light who serve and praise God day and night. They are numerous, and each has a specific respon- sibility. For instance, certain angels are always with each of us, recording our good and bad deeds. The Qur’an also mentions archangels, including Gabriel, highest of the angelic beings, whose main responsibility is to bring revelations to the prophets from God. But neither he nor any other angel is to be worshiped,

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according to strict monotheistic interpre- tation of Islam, for the angels are simply utterly submissive servants of God. By con- trast, according to Islamic belief, there is a nonsubmissive being called Satan. He was originally one of the jinn—immaterial beings of fire, whose nature is between that of humans and angels. He proudly refused to bow before Adam and was therefore cursed to live by tempting Adam’s descendants—all of humanity, in other words—to follow him rather than God. According to the Qur’an, those who fall prey to Satan’s devices will ultimately go to hell.

Popular Muslim piety also developed a cult of saints. The tombs of mystics known to have had special spiritual powers have become places of pilgrimage. Many people

visit them out of devotion and desire for the blessings of the spirit, which is thought to remain in the area. This practice is frowned upon by some reform- ers, who assert that Muslim tradition clearly forbids worship of any being other than God.

The Last Judgment

In the polytheistic religion practiced by Arabs before Muhammad, the afterlife was only a shadow, without rewards or punishments. People had little religious incentive to be morally accountable. By contrast, the Qur’an emphasizes that after a period of repose in the grave, all humans will be bodily resurrected and assembled for a final accounting of their deeds. At that unknown time of the Final Judgment, the world will end cataclysmically: “The earth will shake and the mountains crumble into heaps of shifting sand” (Surah 73:14). Then comes the terrible confrontation with one’s own life:

The works of each person We have bound about his neck. On the Day of Resurrection, We shall confront him with a book spread wide open, saying, “Read your book.”21

Hell is the grievous destiny of unrepentant nonbelievers—those who have rejected faith in and obedience to God and His Messenger, who are unjust and who do not forbid evil. Hell also awaits the hypocrites who even after making a covenant with God have turned away from their promise to give in charity and to pray regularly:

It is a flaming Fire. It drags them down by their scalps; and it shall call him who turned his back and amassed riches and covetously hoarded them.22

Muslim piety is ever informed by this belief in God’s merciful judgment of one’s actions, and of one’s responsibility to remind others of the fate that may await them.

Muslim thought says that what we experience in the afterlife is a revealing of our tendencies in this life. We awaken to our true nature, for it is displayed before us. For the just and merciful, the state after death is a Garden of Bliss. The desire of the purified souls will be for closeness to God, and their spirits will live in different levels of this closeness. For them, there will be castles, couch- es, fruits, sweetmeats, honey, houris (beautiful virgin women), and immortal youths serving from goblets and golden platters. Such delights promised by the Qur’an are interpreted metaphorically to mean that human nature will be transformed in the next life to such an extent that the disturbing factors of this physical existence will no longer have any effect.

According to Muslim belief, angels are everywhere; they come to our help in every thought and action. A group of angels is here shown helping the 8th-century Sufi ascetic, Ibrahim ibn Adham.

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People are asleep, but when they die, they wake up.

Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad

By contrast, sinners and evildoers will experience the torments of hell, fire fueled by humans, boiling water, pus, chains, searing winds, food that chokes, and so forth. It is they who condemn themselves; their very bodies turn against them “on the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear wit- ness against them as to their actions” (Surah 24:24). The great medieval mystic al-Ghazali speaks of spiritual torments of the soul as well: the agony of being separated from worldly pleasures, burning shame at seeing one’s life project- ed, and terrible regret at being barred from the vision of God. Muslims do not believe that hell can last forever for any believer, though. Only the evildoers will be left there; the others will eventually be lifted to paradise, for God is far more merciful than wrathful.

The Five Pillars What are the basic spiritual practices incumbent on all Muslims?

The Five Pillars of Islam are the basic spiritual practices incumbent on all Muslims. They were specified by theologians after the death of the Prophet Muhammad as the actions that define what it means to be a member of the Muslim community. The intention with which a Muslim undertakes each prac- tice is of prime importance. The pillars are not prescribed simply as outer rituals.

Belief and witness

The first pillar of Islam (the Shahadah) is believing and professing the unity of God and the messengership of Muhammad: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God,” to which Shi’ites add “and ’Ali is the Friend of God.” The Qur’an requires the faithful to tell others about Islam and to demonstrate Islam through their character, so that non-Muslims will have the information they need to make an intelligent choice. However, it rules out the use of coercion in spreading the message:

Let there be [or: There is] no compulsion In religion: Truth stands out Clear from Error: whoever Rejects Evil and believes In God hath grasped The most trustworthy Hand-hold, that never breaks.23

The Qur’an insists on respect for all prophets and all revealed scriptures.

Daily prayers

The second pillar is the performance of a continual round of prayers (salat). Five times a day, the faithful are to perform ablutions with water (or sand or earth if there is no water), face in the direction of Mecca, and recite a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an, bowing and kneeling. Around the world, this communal facing of Mecca for prayer unites all Muslims into a sin- gle world family. When the prayers are recited by a congregation, all stand and bow shoulder to shoulder, with no social distinctions. In a mosque, women and men usually pray separately, with the women in rows behind the men, or in a separate area. There may be an imam, or prayer-leader, but no priest stands

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RELIGION IN PRACTICE

Salat

The practice of salat (formal prayer) varies somewhat between men and women and by local custom, but nonetheless follows rather standard patterns around the world. No matter what the local language, salat is always performed in Arabic. According to references in the Holy Qur’an, the five obligatory daily prayer times are usually understood to be: (1) early morning after dawn and before sunrise; (2) early afternoon; (3) late afternoon; (4) immediately after sunset; and (5) night before going to bed. Each consists of a certain number of rak’ahs, or complete acts of devotion, some of which are congregational (fardz) and some of which are individual (sunnah). The morning prayer, for instance, consists of two individual rak’ahs and then two congregational rak’ahs. During the congregational rak’ahs, the whole congregation prays side by side, with their movements matching each other, but during the individual rak’ahs, people may be praying at their own pace. There are four parts to each rak’ah. The first part is done in standing position, facing the Ka’bah in Mecca. Hands are first raised with open palms, thumbs touching the edge of the ears, and then folded reverently over the waist or breast, with the right hand covering the left. Inwardly, the person should feel that he or she is standing before the Divine Presence. The open palms mean, “I have come empty-handed into this world and I shall leave empty-handed.” Hands crossed over the breast or waist may be understood as a gesture to subdue desires and worldly thoughts, so that all attention can be given to God. The worshiper utters “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great,” or “God is the greatest”), followed by the Fatiha, and perhaps a traditional prayer and a passage chosen from the Qur’an, all recited softly to avoid disturbing others, who may be reciting different passages at their own speed. In the congregational part of the prayer, however, the imam who leads the prayers recites any passage from the Qur’an audibly while the others listen and perhaps quietly praise or make requests to God according to the content of the passage.

For the second part of each rak’ah, the worshiper bows over, standing with hands on knees and praises the glory of the divine by a phrase such as “Subhana Rabbiy-al-Azim” (“Glory to my Lord, the Great”), repeated three times. A prayer may also be added thereafter. In the third part of each rak’ah, the worshiper first rises up to standing position with hands hanging down freely, while saying “Sami’ Allahu li-man hamidah” (“Allah listens to him who praises Him”) and “Rabbana wa la-k-al-hamd” (Our Lord! All praise is due to Thee”). Then the worshiper drops down to his knees in humble prostration with forehead touching the ground while saying “Allahu Akbar.” Rising briefly to sitting position, he then prostrates himself again in a gesture of surrender. The fourth part is a period of sitting with feet tucked under, a posture assumed after two rak’ahs have been completed. In this position, the worshiper utters several prayers, such as the following: “My Lord! Make me and my offspring keep up prayer, our Lord! And accept my prayer, our Lord! Grant protection to me and my parents and the believers on the day when the reckoning will take place.” Turning their head to the right and then the left, the person then says to the angels on each shoulder, “As-salamu ’ali-kum wa rahmatu-llah” (“Peace be on you and the mercy of Allah”). The final prayers usually include the famous Ayat al-Kursi (Verse of the Throne) from Surah 2:255, “Allah! There is no god but He: the Living, the Self- subsisting, Supporter of all.” The worshiper may also repeat “subhan-Allah” (“Glory be to Allah”), “al-hamduli- ilah” (“Praise be to Allah”), and “Allahu Akbar” (“God is the greatest”) several times. Variations in choice of prayers and utterances of praises during the individual rak’ahs allow the worshiper to express inner feelings of reverence and submission, while the congregational rak’ahs uttered together give a powerful feeling of unity with the global Muslim community.

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between the worshiper and God. On Friday noon, there is usually a special prayer service in the mosque. Remembrance of God is an everyday obligation.

Prayer is thought to strengthen one’s belief in God’s existence and goodness and to carry this belief into every aspect of external life. Praying thus is also expected to purify the heart, develop the mind and the conscience, comfort the soul, encourage the good and suppress the evil in the person, and awak- en the innate sense of higher morality and higher aspirations. The words of praise and the bowing express continual gratefulness and surrender to God. During the prayers, one turns to the two recording angels on one’s shoulders to say the traditional Muslim greeting—“Assalamu Alaykum” (“Peace be on you”)—and another phrase adding the blessing, “and mercy of God.”

While mouthing the words and performing the outer actions, one should be concentrating on the inner prayer of the heart. The Prophet reportedly said, “Prayer without the Presence of the Lord in the heart is not prayer at all.”24

In addition to the obligatory prayers five times a day, one may do additional supererogatory prayers, the most valuable of which is prayer offered during the middle of the night. The Prophet reportedly used to stand in prayer so long at night that his feet were swollen. Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani explains:

This is the time when the world is asleep, but the lovers and seekers of God (al-‘ibad) are awake and traveling toward reality and their divine destinations. It is under the veil of the night that the plane of consciousness is clear from the chaos of worldly affairs, for it is a time when the mind and heart operate most effectively.25

Ideally, in Islamic spirituality, one should be constantly remembering God inwardly, and one’s whole life should become a means of worship.

Women usually pray separately from men. In this portion of the women’s prayer hall in the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, women are saying their prayers privately rather than participating in communal prayer at a specified time.

Congregational prayer ends with private prayer requests, as in this scene from Namaz at Nur-ih- illahi Mosque, Gobind Sadan, India.

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Zakat

The Qur’an links prayer with zakat, charity or almsgiving, the third pillar. One’s prayer is accepted only if one also shares with others. Accordingly, at the end of the year, all Muslims must donate at least two and a half percent of their accu- mulated wealth to needy Muslims. This provision is designed to help decrease inequalities in wealth and to prevent personal greed. Its literal meaning is “purity,” for it purifies the distribution of money, helping to keep it in healthy circulation.

Saudi Arabia devotes fifteen percent of its kingdom’s GDP to development and relief projects throughout the world. The Islamic Relief Organization that it funds makes a point of helping people of all religions, without discrimination, where there is great need following disasters. Many stories from the life of the Prophet Muhammad teach that one should help others whether or not they are Muslims. For example, the Prophet’s neighbor was a non-Muslim. The Prophet reportedly gave him a gift every day, even though the neighbor daily left gar- bage at his door. Once the neighbor was sick, and the Prophet visited him. The neighbor asked, “Who are you to help me?” The Prophet replied, “You are my brother. I must help you.”

Fasting

The fourth pillar is fasting. Frequent fasts are recommended to Muslims, but the only one that is obligatory is the fast during Ramadan, commemorating the first revelations of the Qur’an to Muhammad. For all who are beyond puberty, but not infirm, sick, menstruating, pregnant, or nursing children, a dawn-to-sunset abstention from food, drink, sexual intercourse, and smoking is required for the whole month of Ramadan. The fasting also extends to abstaining from negative emotions such as anger.

Because Muslims use a lunar calendar of 354 days, the month of Ramadan gradually moves through all the seasons. When it falls in the summer, the peri- od of fasting is much longer than in the shortest days of winter. The hardship of abstaining even from drinking water during these long and hot days is an unselfish surrender to God’s commandment and an assertion of control over the lower desires. The knowledge that Muslims all over the world are making these sacrifices at the same time builds a special bond between haves and have-nots, helping the haves to experience what it is to be hungry, to share in the condition

Celebrating the end of Ramadan with a communal meal in Houzhou, Anhui Province in eastern China.

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LIVING ISLAM

An Interview with Dr. Syed M. Hussain

Dr. Syed M. Hussain is a nephrologist —a specialist in kidney disorders, dialysis, and kidney transplants—at a major hospital in New Delhi. His manner with patients is very kind and concerned. He may be called for emergencies at any time, night

or day, and yet he also observes the rules of fasting, particularly during Ramadan. He explains:

Ramadan is a very holy month in the Muslim calendar, because the Holy Qur’an was sent to the Prophet Muhammad during this month. It is a ritual for Muslims to fast during this month so that you become a little more spiritual and healthier. At the same time, you also have the pinch of hunger. Many people in their lifetime who are very wealthy will never experience what is hunger and what is thirst. A king, for instance, will never experience hunger and thirst. Fasting will make you understand what a hungry person is going through. Altogether, such sacrifices make you closer to life. You see that God has given you such beautiful things. Whether you have a penny or not, you are still able to enjoy those things—you see how valuable they are for life. During this holy month of Ramadan, Muslims usually take something in the morning between 4 and 4.30 a.m., and after that, they say their morning prayer at 5 to 5.30 a.m. They will fast until sunset, and then they will have their meal. The logic is that if 100,000 people are missing one or two meals, then 100,000 people are receiving their meals [when that money is given in charity]. This is also a philosophy of equality. Many people misunderstand Islam, but the religion is not bad. It gives you very good values. It is people who sometimes misuse and misunderstand it. As a doctor I myself practice, and I see that if you are fasting your system gets toned up. Your physical fitness increases and you become healthier. Your mental alertness rises. When I fast during Ramadan my mind becomes very, very clear. I am relieved of bad thoughts, and when I see patients I feel closer to them. If a patient is not able to take his meal because of sickness you feel closer to him and try your best to see that he is being helped in all respects. When you see someone who suffers you recognize what he is going through. Then you cannot be cruel. If you are cruel, you are not doing religious practice from the bottom of your heart—you

are doing it just for show. There is no place for such things in any religion. If you fast for some time your digestive tract—which otherwise produces so many secretions all the time—gets a rest. When you give a rest to your digestive system, you also give rest to your brain and heart. If you are fasting, you are giving a rest to your entire system. Your system gets lightened, and if you do it on a spiritual level there is more strength. More natural rays come within the body so you become not only more fit and healthy but also more compassionate and more softhearted. If you are not taking a meal, your metabolism will be low and you will not have anger; you will not fight or be cruel. If other people are eating when I am fasting, I feel nothing. In the hospital some of my colleagues will say, “You are fasting, so let me hide and take my food.” I say, “Don’t worry—if I get upset when I see food, then my motive is defeated. Instead, you should get all the best food which I like, and I’ll be happier, because that will give me more strength to control my nafs (inner passions).” That makes me a better person. All religions are religions of sacrifice. The more you sacrifice, the more you become a better person in all respects. People used to trouble the Prophet Muhammad, but when he heard that one of those people was sick he would go to his house and serve him in every way. He would even help him go to the toilet. After that, the person would become a changed person. You can’t win a person by fighting. He may be stronger than you, but with love you can capture anybody. In modern times I don’t know what is going on that people are becoming so aggressive. I don’t think any religion has any place for fighting and killing. No religion has a place for terrorist actions. Many people think that Islam is a fundamentalist religion, but no. Look at the basics in the Book. If ten people are practicing the wrong things, that doesn’t make the system wrong. The system is right. Some people may have deviated, but if you practice from the heart, then you are compassionate, you are soft, you are helping, and you are generous to all the people around you, whatever little you can do during your lifetime. If you at least help one person seriously in your life, then you have learned something in your life. You can show your face to God, that you have helped one of his creatures who was suffering. Otherwise what is life? It won’t make any sense.26

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of the poor. Those who have are encouraged to be especially generous in their almsgiving during Ramadan.

Fasting is thought to bring great spiritual rewards. The great mystic poet Jalal al-Din Rumi (1207–1273) wrote:

There’s hidden sweetness in the stomach’s emptiness. We are lutes, no more, no less. If the soundbox is stuffed full of anything, no music. If the brain and the belly are burning clean with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire. The fog clears, and new energy makes you run up the steps in front of you. Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry. Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen. ... When you fast, good habits gather like friends who want to help. ... A table descends to your tents, Jesus’ table. Expect to see it, when you fast, this table spread with other food, better than the broth of cabbages.27

Many people indeed feel that they are spiritually more sensitive and phys- ically more healthy during Ramadan fasting. Fasting liberates a person’s body from the heaviness of food and it is also a lesson for the soul, teaching it not to allow anything into the mind and heart that would distract one from God. It is believed that control of the body’s desires builds the patience and mastery need- ed to control the lower emotions, such as anger and jealousy. Fasting can also help a person develop humility. The mystic teacher Abu Madyan (1126–1198) of Algeria emphasized this ascetic practice because “One who is hungry becomes humble, one who becomes humble begs, and one who begs attains God.”28

The holiday of Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the month of fasting. It begins with a special prayer, and then is typically celebrated with gift-giving, charity, and visits to family and friends.

Hajj

The fifth pillar is hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca. All Muslims who are physically and financially able to do so are expected to make the pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime. It involves a series of symbolic rituals designed to bring the faithful as close as possible to God. Male pilgrims wrap themselves in a special garment of unsewn cloths, rendering them all alike, with no class distinctions. The garment is like a burial shroud, for by dying to their earthly life they can devote all their attention to God. Women who perform hajj are not required to wear unsewn cloth, but their dress should be modest. For all pilgrims, it is a time for dhikr, the constant repetition of the Shahadah, the remembrance that there is no god but God.

The Prophet’s Mosque in Medina has been enlarged to allow room for more than one million praying pilgrims.

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1 Pilgrimage to Mecca

The Ka’bah is a black cubic structure !fty feet (!fteen meters) high, draped in black silk, embroidered in gold thread with the sacred names of Allah. Pilgrims walk around it seven times until they reach the center and touch the Ka’bah itself

The Great Mosque

Seven minarets, 300 feet (ninety meters) tall

The Great Mosque can hold up to three million pilgrims at a time

1 Pilgrimage begins at the Great Mosque, with seven circumambulations of the Ka’bah

2 Pilgrims stop at Mina

They pray from noon to evening in the Arafat valley. The Prophet Muhammad gave his last talk here

3

4 Pilgrims gather forty-nine stones

They throw their stones at three pillars which represent the devil. Three days of ritual sacri!ce begin

5

6 They return to the Great Mosque and again circle the Ka’bah seven times

7 Pilgrims walk seven times between hills near the Great Mosque and then drink from the sacred spring Zam-Zam

1

2

3

4 5

7

Mecca

Mina

Arafat

6

The pilgrimage to Mecca.

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Pilgrims walk around the ancient Ka’bah seven times, like the continual rotation around the One by the angels and all of creation, to the seventh heav- en. Their hearts should be filled only with remembrance of God. Pilgrims also run between two hills near the Ka’bah to commemorate the time when Hagar, Abraham’s wife, ran in search of water for her son Isma’il; the angel Gabriel appeared, touched the ground, and water appeared at the site now known as the well of Zam-Zam.

Another sacred site on the pilgrimage is the field of Arafat. It is said to be the place where Adam and Eve were taught that humans were created solely for the worship of God. Here pilgrims pray from noon to sunset to be forgiven of anything that has separated them from the Beloved. In addition, pilgrims carry out other symbolic gestures, such as sacrificing an animal and throwing stones at the devil, represented by pillars. The animal sacrifice reminds the hajjis of Abraham’s willingness to surrender to God that which was most dear to him, his own son, even though in God’s mercy a ram was substituted for the sacrifice. Most of the meat is distributed to the needy, a service for which Saudi Arabia has had to develop huge preservation and distribution facilities.

Hajj draws together Muslims from all corners of the earth for this intense spiritual experience. Because Islam is practiced on every continent, it is truly an international gathering. The crowds are enormous. The Ka’bah has been expanded to the point that three million people can worship at a time within in it. To help handle the crowds, the Saudi government has built the immense King Abdul Aziz International Airport near Jedda. The journey was once so hazard- ous that many people and camels died trying to cross the desert in fulfillment of their sacred obligation. Now, there are other challenges associated with the large number of pilgrims. The Saudi government has worked hard to ensure that the hajj proceeds smoothly, but there is some controversy among Muslims that new development and construction in the area around the Ka’bah has led to the destruction of important historical sites.

Though considerably modernized now, hajj is still the vibrant core of the global Muslim community. To be a hajji is as much as ever a badge of pride.

During hajj, huge numbers of pilgrims sort themselves out into orderly rows as circumambulation of the Ka’bah takes place.

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Throughout Muslim history, hajj has brought widely diverse people together, consolidating the center of Islam, spreading information and ideas across cul- tures, and sending pilgrims back into their communities with fresh inspiration. Hajji Ibrahim Keskin Hafiz, a fisherman from Turkey, says:

When you reach the holy places, you feel as though you are just in front of God. When you change your clothes and put on the white sheet (ehraam), your identity changes. In those huge crowded places, you feel as though everyone has collected and you are waiting for the Judgement. When I visited those places we knew from Islamic history, I was just crying. Whatever we learned from our parents, whatever we learned from books—we are seeing all those things. Wherever you go, you have to try to identify yourself with those historic people. When you are standing near the well of Zam-Zam, you have to identify yourself with Hagar and her son Isma’il. She was trying to take care of her son in the desert. And you think of the Prophet Abraham; you remember his good qualities and think how you can follow his good example. At the Hira cave, we remember our Prophet. We go there by buses now, but he was alone. He was walking on that hill, and he had so many enemies around him. Islam started in those conditions, and now it has very huge crowds of followers. When you enter the Ka’bah, you become very emotional and enthusiastic. In one of the prayers there, you say, “Oh Lord, we are in front of you. We have promised that we are going to follow Your rules. Whatever mistakes we made, we are ready to leave all of them, and we are not going to repeat the same mistakes again and again.”29

One of the most important holidays for Muslims, Eid al-Adha or “The Feast of Sacrifice” occurs during the month in which pilgrims undertake the hajj. This holiday commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isma’il. Because God provided a sheep to sacrifice in place of his son, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha by sacrificing a sheep or other animal and giving some of the meat to the poor.

Sunni and Shi’a How do the Sunni and Shi’a groups differ?

The preceding pages describe beliefs and practices of all Muslims, although vary- ing interpretations of the beliefs have always existed. Groups within Islam differ somewhat on other issues. After Muhammad’s death, disagreements over the issue of his succession began to divide the Muslim community. The two main groups have come to be known as the Sunni, who now comprise about eighty percent of all Muslims worldwide, and the Shi’a (adj. Shi’ite).

To decide who would be successor, there were two customs of the times: A hereditary leader was chosen for general purposes, but a designated leader might be preferred in times of crisis or necessary action. As discussed earlier, designa- tion was used at first after Muhammad’s death: A caliph was elected to lead the Muslim community. The office of caliph became a lifetime appointment. The first three caliphs, Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, were elected from among the Prophet’s closest companions. The fourth caliph was ’Ali, the Prophet’s closest male relative, as his cousin and son-in-law. The Shi’a think that Ali should have been the first caliph. Not only was he the most appropriate hereditary successor, but also he was known for his holy and chivalrous qualities. Nevertheless, the dynasty of Umayyads never accepted him as their leader, and he was assassinat- ed by a member of his own party. ’Ali’s son Husayn, grandson of the Prophet, challenged the legitimacy of the fifth caliph, the Umayyad Mu’awiyya. When Mu’awiyya designated his son Yazid as his successor, Husayn rebelled and was massacred in 680 C.E. by Yazid’s troops in the desert of Karbala along with many of his relatives, who were also members of the Prophet’s own family. This mar- tyrdom unified Shi’ite opposition to the elected successors and they broke away, claiming their own legitimate line of succession through the direct descendants

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of the Prophet, beginning with ’Ali. The two groups are still separate. While Sunni Muslims are in the majority in most Islamic countries, Syria and Iraq have more mixed populations of Sunnis and Shi’as. The major Shi’a-majority country is Iran.

Sunnis

Those who follow the elected caliphs are “the people of the Sunnah” (the sayings and practices of the Prophet, as collected under the Sunni caliphs). They con- sider themselves traditionalists, and they emphasize the authority of the Qur’an and the secondary authority of the Hadith. They believe that Muhammad died without appointing a successor and left the matter of successors to the ummah, the Muslim community. They look to the time of the first four “rightly guided caliphs” (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and ’Ali) as the golden age of Islam. Sunnis regard not only the life of the Prophet but also the lives of the rightly guided caliphs—who had heard the revelations of the Prophet firsthand and been inspired by his personal example—and a few other close companions of the Prophet as the models for the ideal Muslim. The line of caliphs as temporal rul- ers nonetheless continued until the end of the Ottoman Empire, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk disbanded the institution in creating a secular state.

Shi’a

The initial difference between Sunnis and Shi’a occurred over the issue of leadership. The Shi’a believe that ’Ali was the rightful original successor to the Prophet Muhammad. Several weeks before his death, the Prophet reportedly took ’Ali’s hand and said, “Whoever I protect, ’Ali is also his protector. O God, be a friend to whoever is his friend and an enemy to whoever is his enemy.” This is construed by the Shi’a as a veiled way of designating ’Ali as his successor. They believe that spiritual power was passed on to ’Ali, and that the caliphate is based on this spiritual as well as temporal authority. They are ardently devot- ed to the memory of Muhammad’s close relatives: ’Ali, Fatima (the Prophet’s beloved daughter), and their sons Hasan and Husayn. The martyrdom of Husayn at Karbala in his protest against the alleged tyranny, oppression, and injustice of the Umayyad caliphs is held up as a symbol of the struggle against human oppression. It is commemorated yearly as ’Ashura, a memorial on the tenth day of the month of Muharram. Participants in mourning processions cry and beat their chests or, in some areas, offer cooling drinks to the populace in memory of the martyred Husayn. Shi’ite piety places great emphasis on the touching stories told of ’Ali and Husayn’s dedication to truth and integrity, even if it leads to personal suffering, in contrast to the selfish power politics ascribed to their opponents.

Rather than recognize the Sunni caliphs, the Shi’a pay allegiance to a suc- cession of seven or twelve Imams (leaders, guides). The first three were ’Ali, Hasan, and Husayn. According to a saying of the Prophet acknowledged by both Sunni and Shi’a:

I leave two great and precious things among you: the Book of Allah and my Household. If you keep hold of both of them, you will never go astray after me.30

“Twelver” Shi’a believe that there were a total of twelve Imams, legitimate hereditary successors to Muhammad. The twelfth Imam, they believe, was com- manded by God to go into an occult hidden state to continue to guide the people and return publicly at the Day of Resurrection as the Mahdi. A minority of the Shi’a, the Nizari Isma’ilis, recognize a different person as the seventh Imam. This line of Imams has continued to the present forty-ninth Imam, HRH Prince Karim Aga Khan IV.

THE TWELVER SHI’A IMAMS:

1. ’Ali (600–661) 2. Hasan (625–669) 3. Husayn (626–

680) 4. ’Ali ibn Husayn

(Zayna’l- abeeden) (658– 713)

5. Muhammad ibn ’Ali (676–743)

6. Ja’far ibn Muhammad (703–765)

7. Musa ibn Ja’far (745–799)

8. ’Ali ibn Musa (765–818)

9. Muhammad ibn ’Ali (810–835)

10. ’Ali ibn Muhammad (827–868)

11. Hasan ibn ’Ali (846–874)

12. Muhammad ibn Hasan (868–[?])

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Unlike the Sunni caliph, the Imam combines political leadership (if possible) with continuing the transmission of Divine Guidance. This esoteric religious knowledge was given by God to Muhammad, from him to ’Ali, and thence from each Imam to the successor he designated from ’Ali’s lineage. It includes both the outer and inner meanings of the Qur’an.

Shari’ah: Islamic law and ethics What role has shari’ah played in Muslim communities?

In the second century of Islam, when the Abbasid dynasty replaced the Umayyads, there was a great concern for purifying and regulating social and political life in accord with Islamic spiritual tradition. Mechanisms for establish- ing the shari’ah, which incorporates both law and ethics, were developed. The shari’ah is based chiefly on the Qur’an and Sunnah of Muhammad, who was the first to apply the generalizations of the Qur’an to specific life situations. Muslims also developed fiqh, or jurisprudence, the process of understanding, interpreting and implementing the shari’ah. Fiqh may incorporate different forms of reason- ing such as analogy in determining shariah-compliant norms. Shari’ah may be understood as divine guidelines for how Muslims ought to live their lives, and fiqh as the human attempt to know this.

Shari’ah pertains to many areas of life. For example, it specifies patterns for worship (instructions pertaining to the Five Pillars of Islam) as well as detailed prescriptions for social conduct, to bring remembrance of God into every aspect of daily life and practical ethics into the fabric of society. These prescriptions include injunctions against drinking intoxicating beverages; eating certain meats; gambling and vain sports; sexual relations outside of marriage; and sex- ually provocative dress, talk, or actions. They also include positive measures, commanding justice, kindness, and charity. Women are given many legal rights, including the right to own property, to divorce (according to certain schools of law), to inherit, and to make a will. These rights, divinely decreed during the time of the Prophet 1,400 years ago, were not available to women in the West until the nineteenth century. Polygyny is allowed for men who have the means to support several wives, to bring all women under the protection of a husband. Women are allowed to inherit only half as much as men because men have the obligation to support women financially. The faithful are enjoined to exercise justice and honesty in their relationships and business interactions, to manage their wealth carefully, and to avoid arrogance.

The shari’ah is said to have had a transformative effect on Muhammad’s community. As we have seen, before Muhammad, the people’s highest loyalty was to their tribe. Tribes made war on each other with few restraints. Women had few rights. Children were often killed at birth either because of poverty or because they were females in a male-dominated culture. People differed widely in wealth. Drunkenness and gambling were commonplace. Within a short time, Islam altered these traditions, shaping tribes into a spiritual and political unity with a high sense of ethics.

Different schools of fiqh (jurisprudence) developed as Islam spread beyond Arabia. Within Sunni Islam, there are four major schools of fiqh, and there are several Shi’a schools. The schools, which developed in different geographical regions, have different views on how best to exercise reason and analogy in reaching legal decisions, particularly when a specific issue is not addressed with- in the Qur’an or Sunnah. Thus in actual practice there may be multiple legal opinions on a particular question, although contemporary media accounts of shari’ah in the West may portray it as monolithic and unchanging.

Sunnis have felt that as life circumstances change, laws in the Qur’an, Hadith, and Sunnah should be continually interpreted by a consensus of opinion and the wisdom of learned people and jurists. For instance, divorce has always been addressed by the shari’ah. Traditionally, men have possessed the sole

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prerogative to initiate divorce, but in recent times, the conditions for divorce have been reconsidered so that women, too, are accorded similar rights. For Shi’a, the shari’ah is interpreted by the jurists.

Careful study of the Qur’an and Sunnah as the basis for legal opinions is undertaken by the ulama, scholars who devote their lifetimes to developing this knowledge. The most renowned school for the training of the ulama is al-Azhar in Cairo. Founded in the tenth century, it is the world’s oldest university. A fatwa, or legal opinion, from the scholars of al-Azhar is considered authoritative (but not binding, since fatwas are generally not enforced) by Sunni Muslims around the world. There are also now fatwa websites on which Muslims may seek guidance on questions pertaining to shari’ah.

Sufism What are the key aspects of Sufism?

In addition to the two orthodox traditions within Islam—Sunni and Shi’a— there is also an esoteric tradition, which is said to date back to the time of the Prophet. He himself was at once a political leader and a contemplative with a deep prayer life. Around him were gathered a group of about seventy people. They lived in his Medina mosque in voluntary poverty, detached from worldly concerns, praying night and day.

After the time of the first four caliphs, Muslims of this deep faith and piety, both Sunni and Shi’a, were distressed by the increasingly secular, dynastic, wealth-oriented characteristics of Muhammad’s Umayyad successors. The mysti- cal inner tradition of Islam, called Sufism (Arabic: tasawwuf), also involved resist- ance to the legalistic, intellectual trends within Islam in its early development.

Sufis have typically understood their way as a corrective supplement to orthodoxy. Rather than rejecting Islamic law, Sufism has added to and deepened adherence to the law. Sufis consider their way a path to God that is motivated by longing for the One. In addition to studying the Qur’an, Sufis feel that the world is a book filled with “signs”—divine symbols and elements of beauty that speak to those who understand. The intense personal journeys of Sufis and the insights that have resulted from their truth-seeking have periodically refreshed Islam from within. Much of the allegorical interpretation of the Qur’an and devotional literature of Islam is derived from Sufism.

The early Sufis turned to asceticism as a way of deepening their piety. The Prophet had said: “If ye had trust in God as ye ought He would feed you even as He feeds the birds.”31 Muhammad himself had lived in poverty, reportedly gladly so. Complete trust in and surrender to God became an essential step in the jour- ney. Dervishes (poor mendicant mystics) with no possessions, no attachments in the world, were considered holy people, like Hindu sannyasins. But Sufi asceticism is based more on inner detachment than on withdrawal from the world; the ideal is to live with feet on the ground, head in the heavens.

To this early asceticism was added fervent, selfless love. Its greatest exponent was Rabi’a (c. 713–801). A famous mystic of Iraq, she scorned a rich man’s offer of marriage, saying that she did not want to be distracted for a moment from God. All her attention was placed on the Beloved, which became a favorite Sufi name for God. Rabi’a emphasized disinterested love, with no selfish motives of hope for paradise or fear of hell. “I have served Him only for the love of Him and desire for Him.”32 When no veils of self exist, the mystic dissolves into the One she loves.

The Beloved is all, the lover just a veil. The Beloved is living, the lover a dead thing.

Jalal al-Din Rumi33

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In absolute devotion, the lover desires fana, total annihilation in the Beloved. This Sufi ideal was articulated in the ninth century CE by the Persian Abu Yazid al-Bistami. He is said to have fainted while saying the Muslim call to prayer. When he awoke, he observed that it is a wonder that some people do not die when saying it, overwhelmed by pronouncing the name Allah with the awe that is due to the One. In his desire to be annihilated in God, al-Bistami so lost himself that he is said to have uttered pronouncements such as “Under my garment there is nothing but God,”34 and “Glory be to Me! How great is My Majesty!”

The authorities were understandably disturbed by such potentially blasphemous statements. Sufis themselves knew the dangers of egotis- tical delusions inherent in the mystical path. There was strict insistence on testing and training by a sufficiently trained, tested, and illumined murshid (teacher) or shaykh (spiritual master). Advanced practices were taught only to higher initiates. It was through the shaykh that the barakah (blessing, sacred power) was passed down, from the shaykh of the shaykh, and so on, in a chain reaching back to Muhammad, who is said to have transmitted the barakah to ’Ali.

A number of tariqas (esoteric orders) evolved, one of which traced its spiritual lineage back to Junayd of Baghdad (who died in 910 CE). He knew that it was dangerous to speak openly of one’s mystical understandings; the exoteric-minded might find them blasphemous, and those who had not had such experiences would only interpret them literally and thus mistakenly. He counseled veiled speech, and much Sufi literature after his time is couched in metaphors accessible only to mystics.

Despite such warnings, the God-intoxicated cared little for their physical safe- ty and exposed themselves and Sufism to opposition. The most famous case is that of Mansur al-Hallaj (c. 858–922). After undergoing severe ascetic practices, he is said to have visited Junayd. When the master asked, “Who is there?”, his disciple answered, “ana’l-Haqq” (“I am the Absolute Truth,” i.e., “I am God”). After Junayd denounced him, al-Hallaj traveled to India and throughout the Middle East, trying to open hearts to God. He introduced into the poetry of divine love the simile of the moth that flies ecstatic into the flame and, as it is burned up, realizes Reality.

Authorities imprisoned and finally killed al-Hallaj. Now, however, al-Hallaj is considered by many to be one of the greatest Muslim saints, for it is under- stood that he was not speaking in his limited person. Like the Prophet, who had reportedly said, “Die before ye die,”35 al-Hallaj had already died to himself so that nothing remained but the One.

What’s in your head—toss it away! What’s in your hand—give it up! Whatever happens—don’t turn away from it. … Sufism is the heart standing with God, with nothing in between.

Abu Sa’id Abu al-Khayr36

A more moderate Sufism began to make its way into Sunni orthodoxy through Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111). He had been a prominent theo- logian but felt compelled to leave his prestigious position for a life of spiritual devotion. Turning within, he discovered mystical truths, which saved him from his growing scepticism about the validity of religion. Like mystics of all religions, he urged awareness of the certainty of death as an antidote to entanglements in worldly concerns:

Death does not come upon us at a specified time or in a specified way or at a specified age; but come upon us he does, and so preparation for death is better than preparation for this world. You know that you remain here for only a brief

Hajji Waris Ali Shah (1819– 1905) of Deva Sharif near Lucknow, India, was a great shaykh revered by people of all religions. Understanding Islam as ideally encompassing every religion, he said, “All are equals in my eyes.”

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space—perhaps there remains but a single day in your allotted span, perhaps but a single breath. Imagine this in your heart every day and impose upon yourself patience in obeying God daily.37

Al-Ghazali’s persuasive writings combined accepted Muslim theology, law, and ethics with the assertion that Sufism is needed to keep the mystical heart alive within the tradition. By the fourteenth century, mysticism was generally accepted by the orthodoxy as one of the sciences of religion, along with theology and jurisprudence.

Over the centuries, other elements have been added to Sufism. Some Sufis have embraced teachings from various religions, emphasizing that the Qur’an clearly states that the same Voice has spoken through all prophets. Shihabuddin Suhrawardi (1153–1191), for instance, combined many currents of Islam with spiritual ideas from the Zoroastrians of ancient Iran and the Hermetic tradition from ancient Egypt. His writings are full of references to the divine light and hierarchies of angels. We humans have descended from the angels and realms of light, he wrote; we are in exile here on earth, longing for our true home, search- ing for that radiant purity, dimly remembered, in this dark world of matter.

Although Sufi teachings and practices have been somewhat systematized over time, they resist doctrinal, linear specification. They come from the heart of mystical experiences that defy ordinary logic. Paradox, metaphor, the world of creative imagination, of an expanded sense of reality—these characteristics of Sufi thought are better expressed through poetry and stories. A favorite charac- ter in Sufi teaching tales is Mulla Nasrudin, the wise fool. An example, as told by Idries Shah:

One day Nasrudin entered a teahouse and declaimed, “The moon is more useful than the sun.” Someone asked him why. “Because at night we need the light more.”38

These “jokes” boggle the mind, revealing the limitations of ordinary thinking at the same time that they offer flashes of metaphysical illumination for those who ponder their deeper significances.

Poetry has been used by Sufis as a vehicle for expressing the profundities and perplexities of relationship with the divine. The Turkish dervish Jalal al-Din

Pilgrimage to the tombs of Sufi saints is a popular form of piety. People of all religions pay their respects at the tomb of the revered Indian Sufi saint, Nizamuddin Aulia.

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Rumi (c. 1207–1273), by whose inspiration was founded the Mevlevi Dervish Order in Turkey (famous for its “Whirling Dervishes” whose dances lead to transcendent rapture), was a master of mystical poetry. He tells the story of a devotee whose cries of “O Allah!” were finally answered by God:

Was it not I that summoned thee to service? Did not I make thee busy with My name? Thy calling “Allah!” was My “Here am I,” Thy yearning pain My messenger to thee. Of all those tears and cries and supplications I was the magnet, and I gave them wings.39

The aim of Sufism is to become so purified of self that one is a perfect mirror for the divine attributes. The central practice is called dhikr, or “remembrance,” in which the Sufi recites, sings, or sometimes dances while repeating a prayer over and over, such as the phrase “la ilaha illa Allah.” Sufis understand this phrase in its esoteric sense: “There is nothing except God.” Nothing in this ephemeral world is real except the Creator; nothing else will last. As the seventy thousand veils of self—illusion, expectation, attachment, resentment, egocen- trism, discontent, arrogance—drop away over the years, this becomes one’s truth, and only God is left to experience it.

The development of Islam Which factors contributed to the successful expansion of Islam?

In the time of Muhammad, Islam combined spiritual and secular power under one ruler. This tradition, which helped to unify the warring tribes of the area, was continued under his successors. Islam expanded phenomenally during the centuries after the Prophet’s death, contributing to the rise of many great civili- zations. The ummah became a community that spread from Africa to Indonesia. Islam was not usually spread by the sword. The Qur’an forbids coercion in reli- gion, recommending instead that Muslims invite others to the Way by their wis- dom, beautiful teaching, and personal example. Islam spread mostly by personal contacts: trade, attraction to charismatic Sufi saints, appeals to Muslims from those feeling oppressed by Byzantine and Persian rule, and unforced conver- sions. There were some military battles conducted by Muslims over the centu- ries, but they were not necessarily for the purpose of spreading Islam, and many Muslims believe that wars of aggression violate Muslim principles. Non-Muslim citizens of newly entered territories were asked to pay a poll tax entitling them

Sufi dancers and musicians in Gaza City.

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to Muslim defense against enemies and exempting them from military service. Muhammad’s nonviolent takeover of Mecca occurred only two years before

he died. It was under his successors that Islam spread through West Asia and far beyond. Only a year after Muhammad died, a newly converted Qurayshite, Khalid ibn al-Walid (d. 642), commanded a series of campaigns that within seven years had claimed the entire Arabian peninsula and Syria for Islam. Newly Islamic Arab armies quickly swept through the Sassanian Persian Empire, which had stood for twelve centuries. Defeated in battle in 637 CE, the Persian emperor fled, leaving the capital in Arab hands. Within ten years of the Prophet’s death, a mere 4,000 horsemen commanded by Amr ibn al-As took the major cities of Egypt, centers of the Byzantine Empire. Another wave of conquest soon pen- etrated into Turkey and Central Asia, North Africa, and north through Spain, to be stopped in 732 CE in France at the battle of Tours. At this point, only 100 years after Muhammad died, the Muslim ummah under the Umayyad caliphs was larger than the Roman Empire had ever been.

Muslims cite the power of the divine will to establish a peaceful, God- conscious society as the reason why this happened. By contrast with their strong convictions, the populations they approached were often demoralized by border fighting among themselves and by grievances against their rulers. Many welcomed them without a fight. For example, the Christians of Damascus expected Muslim rule to be more bearable than Byzantine rule, so they opened the city gates to the Muslim armies. Jerusalem and Egypt accepted the Muslims in similar fashion. Syrian Christians at Shayzar under Byzantine rule reportedly went out to meet the Muslim commander and accompanied him to their city, singing and playing tambourines. In Spain, Visigoth rule and taxation had been oppressive; the persecuted Jews were especially glad to help Islam take over. Both Christians and Jews often converted to Islam.

Some historians cite economic factors as an underlying motive for Arabs’ expansion beyond their original territory. However, although Islamic civilization did become quite opulent, the central leadership did not always support the

SPAIN

ARABIA

EGYPT

IRAN

INDIA

INDONESIA

Life of Muhammad 622–632 CE

Expansion 632–661 CE

Expansion 661–750 CE

The spread of Islam to 1500 CE

Only 100 years after Muhammad’s death, Islam had spread around the Mediterranean. Its diffusion continued for centuries and the numbers of converts are still increasing, making Islam the fastest-growing religion today. Of areas previously converted to Islam, all remain Muslim except Spain, Greece, and the Mediterranean islands.

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far-reaching adventures. The conquered peoples were generally dealt with in the humane ways specified in the Qur’an and modeled by Muhammad in his negotiations with tribes newly subjected to Muslim authority. The terms offered by Khalid to the besieged Damascans were these:

In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate. This is what Khalid would grant the inhabitants of Damascus when he enters it. He shall grant them security for their lives, properties and churches. Their city wall shall not be demolished, neither shall any Moslem be quartered in their homes. Thereunto we give them the pact of God and the protection (dhimmah) of His Messenger, upon whom be God’s blessing and peace, the caliphs and the Believers. So long as they pay poll- tax nothing but good shall befall them.40

Monotheistic followers of revealed traditions, Christians and Jews, who like Muslims were “People of the Book,” were treated as dhimmis, or protected peo- ple. They were allowed to maintain their own faith, but not to try to convert others to it. The Dome of the Rock was built on the site of the old temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, honoring Abraham as well as Muhammad in the city that is still sacred to three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The Umayyad caliphs had their hands full administering this huge ummah from Damascus, which they had made its capital. They tended to focus more on organizational matters than on the spiritual life. Some were also quite worldly; Walid II, for example, is said to have enjoyed a pool filled with wine so that he could swim and drink at the same time. In 747 CE a rival to the caliphate is said

TEACHING STORY

Transformation by Islam

From the beginning, Islam ended old tribal conflicts and racial discrimination, and radically changed individuals. The Prophet put the freed black slave Zayd in command of the Qurayshi chiefs. Another freed slave, Tariq ibn Ziyad, led the army of 90,000 warriors who conquered Spain and established one of the greatest civilizations in world history. When he entered the defeated king’s treasury, he was not tempted to take anything, for he said to himself:

Be careful, Tariq. Yesterday you were a slave with a chain around your neck. God emancipated you, and today you are a victorious commander. However, you will change tomorrow into flesh rotting under earth. Finally a day will come when you will stand in the Presence of God.41

He continued to live simply. His greatest victory was not his conquest of Spain, but his defeat of his own desires. ’Abd Allah ibn Mas’ud was a weak little shepherd. Nobody paid any attention to him until he converted to Islam. Soon he became one of the greatest of the Companions of the Prophet. The Caliph ’Umar sent him to Kufa in Iraq as a teacher. He helped to create such a thriving intellectual climate there that Kufa became one of the major centers of Islamic jurisprudence, Qur’anic interpretation, and even a beautiful script for the writing of Arabic.

Among many other examples of personal transformation, perhaps none is greater than that of ’Umar, who became the second caliph. He was a Meccan who firmly and cruelly opposed Muhammad’s monotheistic path as a threat to Quraysh unity. It is said that he intended to kill the Prophet. According to one traditional account, on the way to do so he met a Muslim who told him to first put his own house in order, since his own sister and brother-in-law were secret converts to Islam. On entering their house, he found them reciting the Qur’an. He began brutally beating his brother-in-law, and then his sister as well when she tried to protect her husband. When they bore his blows patiently, he asked to see what they were reading. His sister showed him a portion of the Surat Ta Ha, which describes the Qur’an as “A revelation from Him Who created the earth and the heavens on high” [Holy Qur’an 20:4]. ’Umar was so struck by the beauty of the passage they had been reading that he proceeded to find the Prophet, offered him the sword with which he had planned to kill him, and accepted Islam on the spot. He became one of the most powerful Muslim leaders and was so renowned for his justice toward both Muslims and non-Muslims that he was called Al-Farooq (the one who distinguishes between good and bad).

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to have invited eighty of the princes of the line to a banquet, where he had them all killed. Three years after “the bloodshedder,” a new series of caliphs took over: the Abbasids. They held power until 1258 CE.

Under the Abbasids, Muslim rule became more Persian and cosmopolitan and Islamic civilization reached its peak. The capital was moved to the new city of Baghdad. No more territories were brought under centralized rule, and merchants, scholars, and artists became the cultural heroes. A great House of Wisdom was built, with an observatory, library, and an educational institution where Greek and Syriac manuscripts on subjects such as medicine, astronomy, logic, mathematics, and philosophy were translated into Arabic. In Cairo, under the Fatimid Ismaili caliphate, Muslims built in 972 CE the great university and mosque, Al-Azhar, still important in Muslim scholarship and legal decisions.

In its great cities, Islam went through a period of intense intellectual and artistic activity, absorbing, transmitting, and expanding upon the highest tra- ditions of other cultures. For instance, from Persia, which was to become a Shi’ite stronghold, it adopted a thousand-year-old tradition of exquisite art and poetry. To these avid cultural borrowings Islam added its own innovations. The new system of nine Arabic numerals and the zero derived from Indian num- bers revolutionized mathematics by liberating it from the clumsiness of Roman numerals. A love of geometry and a spiritual understanding of numbers, from the One to infinite divisions, provided the basis for beautifully elaborated art and architectural forms. Muslim philosophers were highly interested in Aristotelian and Neo-Platonic thought, but in their unique synthesis these intellectual ways were harmonized with revealed religion. Muslim scholars’ research into geog- raphy, history, astronomy, literature, and medicine lifted these disciplines to unprecedented heights.

The ulama were not only guardians of the faith but were also the pervasive force holding together Islamic society. They were qadis (judges), muftis (juris- consultants), guides and pastors of the artisans’ guilds, spiritual leaders, mosque imams, teachers of the civil and military schools, state scribes, and market inspectors. They received their mandate and power from the people and not from any political authority. The major sources of their economic power and their independence from the state were religious and private endowments, run and controlled by the ulama.

Although Baghdad was the capital of the Abbasids, independent caliphates were declared in Spain and Egypt. Muslim Spain was led by successors to the Umayyads and became a great cultural center. Córdoba, the capital, had 700 mosques, seventy libraries, 300 public baths, and paved streets. Europe, by contrast, was in its Dark Ages; Paris and London were only mazes of muddy alleys. Spanish Muslim scientists developed a prototype of a flying machine, mechanical clocks, and highly accurate astronomical clocks, many centuries before such inventions were introduced into Europe through translations of Arabic manuscripts.

Tunisia and Egypt comprised a third center of Islamic power: the Shi’ite Fatimid caliphate (so named because they claimed to be descendants of Muhammad’s daughter Fatima). While otherwise known for their brilliant cultural and scientific accomplishments, under the troubled Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim (985–c. 1021), the Fatimids broke with Islamic tradition and persecut- ed dhimmis; they also destroyed the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, provoking European Christian crusades to try to recapture the Holy Lands.

Crusading Christians fought their way to Jerusalem, which they placed under siege in 1099. When the small Fatimid garrison surrendered, the crusaders slaughtered the inhabitants of the holy city. Eyewitnesses recount the behead- ing of 70,000 captives at the al-Aqsa mosque, near the altar site of the ancient Jewish Temple. Severed hands and feet were piled everywhere. Anti-crusading Muslims led by the famous Salah-al-Din (known in the West as Saladin) retook Jerusalem in 1187 and treated its Christian population with the gener- ous leniency of Islam’s highest ideals for the conduct of war. But widespread

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destruction remained in the wake of the crusaders, and a reservoir of ill-will against Christians lingered, to be exacerbated centuries later by European colo- nialism in Muslim lands.

The Islamic period in Spain was known for its tolerance of Judaism. But during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Christians took Spain and later instituted the dread Inquisition against those not practicing Christianity. By the beginning of the sixteenth century, an estimated three million Spanish Muslims had either been killed or left the country.

Eastward expansion

Its westward advance stopped at Europe, Islam carried its vitality to the north, east, and south. Although Mongol invasions from Central Asia threatened, the Mongols were converted to Islam; so were the Turks. While Uzbek Khan, Mongol leader from 1313 to 1340, zealously desired to spread Islam throughout Russia, he nonetheless maintained tolerance toward the Christians in the con- quered lands. He granted a charter to the Orthodox Metropolitan concerning the treatment of Christians: “Their laws, their Churches; their monasteries and chap- els shall be respected; whoever condemns or blames this religion, shall not be allowed to excuse himself under any pretext but shall be punished with death.”42

Court of the Lions in the Alhambra, Granada, an example of the heights to which architecture evolved in Muslim Spain.

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Similar tolerance toward other religions was practiced by the Muslim Turks, but in 1453 the Turks conquered Constantinople, the heart of the old Byzantine Empire, and renamed it Istanbul; Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque even though it did not face Mecca. At its height, the Turkish Ottoman Empire domi- nated the eastern Mediterranean as well as the area around the Black Sea.

Farther east, Islam was carried into northern India, where Muslim conquer- ors destroyed some Hindu idols and temples but allowed the Hindu majority a protected dhimmi status. The Chishti Sufi saints drew people to Islam by their great love for God. Under the Muslim Mughals, the arts and learning flourished in India. In the ecumenical spiritual curiosity of the emperor Akbar, who rose to the Mughal throne in 1556, representatives from many traditions—Hindu, Zoroastrian, Jain, Christian—were invited to the world’s first interfaith dia- logues.

Under British colonization of India, tensions between Hindus and Muslims were inflamed, partly to help Britain divide and rule. India gained its inde- pendence under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi, who was unable to devise a political solution to the concerns of Muslims fearing domination by a Hindu- majority government. In 1947, West and East Pakistan (the East section became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971) were partitioned off to be Muslim-ruled and predominantly populated by Muslims, while India would become a Hindu-majority state. The creation of Pakistan was one of the major contemporary attempts to create a model nation based on the principles of Islam. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the London-educated lawyer who is regarded as the founder of Pakistan, conceived of Pakistan as a modern and democrat- ic state in which women, minorities, and human rights would be respected, according to Islam’s true tenets of tolerance, compassion, and justice. However, the entrenched powers and ethnic and cultural divisions within the country have prevented realization of his dream. At its inception, the partition of India into Muslim majority and Hindu majority nations turned into a violent and chaotic nightmare. Millions lost their lives trying to cross the borders. The strife between the two faiths continues despite recurrent attempts to renew peaceful

The Taj Mahal, the beautiful 17th-century Mughal tomb built by Akbar’s grandson, Shah Jahan, as a monument to his beloved wife, who died in childbirth, is embellished with passages from the Holy Qur’an, though it is mostly visited as a tourist attraction.

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relationships between the peoples of Pakistan and India, who, though divided into different religions, actually share a similar culture. In India, Hindus and Muslims had long lived side by side in relative harmony, but communal ten- sions have sometimes been reignited. For example, in December 1992, militant Hindus set off renewed communal violence by destroying a mosque in Ayodhya, India, in the belief that it had been built by the Mughals on the site of an ancient temple to Lord Rama.

The greatest concentration of Muslims developed even farther east, in Indonesia, where Muslim traders and missionaries may have first landed as early as the tenth century CE. Nearly ninety percent of the people are now Sunni Muslims, but the government has thus far preserved a secular, pluralistic society rather than establish Islam as the state religion, as some Islamist groups have sporadically tried to do.

China and the former Soviet Union encompass tens of millions of Muslims. To the south, Islam spread into Africa along lines of trade. In competition with Christianity, Islam sought the hearts of Africans and eventually won in many areas. Many converted to Islam; many others maintained some of their indige- nous ways in combination with Islam. The prosperous Mali Empire was headed by a Muslim, who made an awe-inspiring pilgrimage to Mecca with a gold-laden retinue of 8,000 in 1324. As the spread of Islam encompassed an increasing diversity of cultures, hajj became important not only for individuals but also as a meeting ground for scholars and the religion as a whole, holding its center in Mecca in the midst of worldwide variations.

Relationships with the West What are the key issues facing Muslims in the modern world?

Although Islam honors the prophets of all traditions, its own religion and prophet were denounced by medieval Christian Europe. Christianity had considered itself the ultimate religion and had launched its efforts to bring the whole world under its wings. Muslims felt the same way about the mission of their own religion. In the struggle for souls, the Church depicted Muhammad as an idol-worshiper, an anti-Christ, the Prince of Darkness. Islam was falsely portrayed as a religion of many deities, in which Muhammad himself was worshiped as a god (thus

In Muslim-majority Malaysia, where gender discrimination was outlawed in 2001, the reality TV show Solehah (pious female) features competition among female preachers of Islam.

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the inaccurate label “Muhammadanism”). Europeans watched in horror as the Holy Lands became Muslim and the “infidel” advanced into Spain and else- where in Europe. Even though Muslim scholars and artists preserved, shared, and advanced the classic civilizations while Europe was benighted, the wealth of Arabic culture was interpreted in a negative light.

By the nineteenth century, Western scholars began to study the Arabic classics, but the ingrained fear and loathing of Muhammad and Muslims remained. The ignorance about, and negative stereotyping of, Muslims con- tinues today. Annemarie Schimmel, late Professor of Indo-Muslim Culture, Harvard University, explained:

The idea that the Muslims conquered everything with fire and sword was unfortunately deeply ingrained in the medieval mind. All these misconceptions about Islam as a religion and the legends and lies that were told about it are really unbelievable. I have often the feeling that this medieval image of Islam as it was perpetuated in ever so many books and even scholarly works is part of our subconscious. When someone comes and says, “But real Islam is something completely different,” people just will not believe it because they have been indoctrinated for almost fourteen hundred years with the image of Islam as something fierce and something immoral. Unfortunately, some of the events of our century have revived this medieval concept of Islam.43

Borrow the Beloved’s eyes. Look through them and you’ll see the Beloved’s face everywhere. … Let that happen, and things you have hated will become helpers.

Jalal al-Din Rumi44

Although it had enjoyed great heights of culture and political power, the Muslim world fell into decline. It seems that the Mongol invasions were at least partly responsible, for they eradicated irrigation systems and libraries and killed scholars and scientists, erasing much of the civilization that had been built up over 500 years. Some Muslims today think that spiritual laxness was the primary reason that some of the previously glorious civilizations became impoverished

Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem. In an area held sacred by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the dome was completed in 691–692 C.E. as the first major Muslim monument. The rock had been associated with Abraham’s sacrifice of his son. Muslim tradition identified it as the place of the Prophet’s ascension to heaven during his Night Journey.

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underdeveloped countries. Another theory is that Muslims were simply overtak- en by stronger military and economic powers better equipped than they were, such as the Mongols in the thirteenth century, and subsequently the Europeans.

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, many Muslim populations fell under European domination. From the mid-twentieth century onward, most gained their independence as states that had adopted certain Western ideals and practices. In many cases, they let go of some aspects of their Muslim heritage, considering it a relic that prevented them from success in the modern world. Arabic was treated as an unimportant language; Western codes of law replaced the shari’ah in social organization. But yet they were not totally Westernized, and they resumed local rule with little training for self-government and participation in a world economy dominated by industrial nations.

Societies that had been structured along traditional lines fragmented from the mid-nineteenth century onward, as wide-ranging programs of modernization were unleashed throughout the Muslim world. The local autonomy of the tra- ditional Islamic society was swept away and replaced by centralized regulations of Western origin. Traditional schools, markets, guilds, and courts into which the societies had been organized lost much of their reason for being. The legacy of this social fragmentation continues to be felt today, and is often a part of the conflicts among Muslims about how to shape contemporary social structures, legal systems, and governments.

Before the colonial forces moved out, foreign powers led by Britain helped to introduce a Jewish state in West Asia. After long and terrible persecution in many countries, Jewish Zionists sought resettlement in Palestine, which they considered their ancient homeland. But some historians allege that the chief motive of the countries supporting this claim was to protect European interests. Lord Palmerston of Britain suggested that a wealthy Jewish population trans- planted to Palestine, and highly motivated to protect itself, would prop up the decaying Ottoman Empire so that it could serve as a bulwark against Russian imperialism; the new Jewish presence in Palestine would also serve as a check against the attempts of Egypt to create a pan-Islamic state encompassing Egypt, Syria, and the Arabian peninsula. In 1948 Jordan and Egypt annexed twenty-two percent of Palestinian territory—the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; in 1967, this territory was occupied by Israel. Decades of violence and counterviolence have followed, with Palestinians in the disputed area suffering from appropriation of their lands, destruction of their houses, severe curtailing of their material supplies, and restrictions on their movements; and Israelis living in fear of terrorist attacks.

Islam in the West

Even as Muslims were feeling humiliated by foreign domination elsewhere, they were growing in numbers and self-pride within the United States. Islam is the fastest growing religion in the United States, and may now be the second largest religion in the country. Two-thirds of American Muslims are immigrants; one-third of American Muslims are converts, most of them African Americans.

Conversion to Islam by African Americans was encouraged early in the twentieth century as a form of separatism from white oppression. Awareness grew that many of the slaves who had been brought from West Africa had been of Muslim faith. A number of movements developed to bring the former slaves back to their suppressed ancestral faith, although the teachings of these movements were not always fully in accord with orthodox Islamic traditions. For instance, in 1913 Noble Drew Ali (1886–1929) began the Moorish Science Temple, a movement that was designed to begin teaching the elements of the faith to African Americans and thus give them a strong sense of their own identity. Members were encouraged to adopt Noble Drew Ali’s understanding of Muslim lifestyles, with modest dress, gender separation, traditional family structure, and community solidarity.

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Some other early Muslim communities in the United States were based on missionary efforts, such as that of the Ahmadiyyah Movement from India, which was active in publishing tracts and English translations of the Qur’an and in helping African American converts learn Arabic. However, some Muslims do not accept the Ahmadiyyah Movement as Muslim, for the movement’s prophet proclaimed himself the Mahdi and Messiah, contrary to mainstream under- standing of Muhammad as the “seal of the prophets.”

Other movements had a strong nation-building character. In particular, under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad (1897–1975), who proclaimed himself a messenger of God, tens of thousands of African Americans became “Black Muslims,” calling themselves the Nation of Islam. However, faith in Elijah Muhammad himself was shaken by allegations about his sexual relationships with his secretaries. Some followers—especially the influential leader Malcolm X and Warith Deen Muhammad, son of Elijah Muhammad—developed contacts with mainstream Muslims in other countries and came to the conclusion that Elijah Muhammad’s version of Islam was far removed from Muslim orthodoxy. They steered converts toward what they perceived as the true traditions of Islam and alliance with the world Muslim community.

Others of African American heritage, especially Minister Louis Farrakhan, current leader of the Nation of Islam, maintain Elijah Muhammad’s more polit- ical focus on unifying against white oppression, despite Islam’s strong tradition of nonracism. However, politicization of Islamic identity is probably not the main factor encouraging the growth of Islam. Many American Muslims embrace their religion as a bulwark of discipline and faith against the degradations of materialism.

The homes of African American Muslims become places of refuge from the surrounding culture, with Qur’anic inscriptions, provisions for prayer spaces, cleanliness and lack of clutter, and windows covered as privacy screens. Soon after birth, children are placed with their mothers on their prayer rugs and gradually learn to recite portions of the Qur’an. They are carefully trained in politeness to elders, modest dress, and proper behavior. The environment these children encounter in public schools is a great contrast to this traditional upbringing. Young Muslim girls are taunted about their headscarves, and sex education classes, which begin at an early age, are offensive to Muslim parents who do not accept dating and extramarital sexuality for their children. Some African American Muslim parents thus attempt to home-school their children. Overall, the American Muslim population is extremely diverse, made up of African American converts as well as immigrants and descendants of immigrants

Worshipers in a mosque in the United States.

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from South Asia and various Arab countries. A 2011 Gallup report found that Muslim Americans are one of the most tolerant religious groups in the United States, more so than Protestants, Catholics, and Jews.45

In Europe, decades of immigration from formerly French and British colonies in Africa and Asia have expanded the Muslim presence considerably. There are now over twenty million Muslims in western Europe. There they have often maintained their traditional cultures rather than adopting European behaviors. Unlike the diverse Muslim population in the United States, Muslim communities in European countries are typically primarily composed of immigrants from only one or two countries (often former colonies). The secular policies of the French government have prompted a legal ban since 2004 on overt display of religious symbols, including the headscarves traditionally worn by Muslim women. Refusal to allow wearing of headscarves in school has led some Muslim girls to leave public schools and pursue education through home schooling or religious schools, causing further separation between Muslim and non-Muslim popula- tions. In 2011, face veils were banned in France in all public places.

In Switzerland, construction of new minarets (tall towers) on mosques was also banned by a 2009 public referendum. Such restrictions of religious symbols have been linked with various kinds of fears, including concerns about secu- rity and political power, as well as resentment in European welfare states that Muslim immigrants are benefiting from their welfare systems. Negative right- wing and nationalistic responses are thus accompanying the growth of Islam in Europe. As an Austrian researcher into this trend observed, “resentments, fears and constructions of the enemy, which have formed in response to historic bur- dens and a lack of information, [have] now come to the surface.”46

Muslim resurgence

The Muslim world had lost its own traditional structure and was also generally helpless against manipulations by foreign nations until many Muslim-majority countries found power in oil. In the 1970s, oil-rich nations found that by banding together they could control the price and availability of oil. OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) brought greatly increased rev- enues into previously impoverished countries and strengthened their self-image as well as their importance in the global balance of power.

As the wealth suddenly poured in, it further disrupted established living patterns. Analysts have concluded that some people may have turned back to a more conservative version of Islam in an effort to restore a personal sense of familiarity and stability amid the chaos of changing modern life. Moreover, the increase in literacy, urbanization, and communications helped to spread revived interest in Islam. There was also the hope that Islam would provide the blueprint for enlightened rule, bringing spiritual values into community and politics as Muhammad had done in Medina. It is thought that the Prophet had intention- ally tried to create a united community in which each Muslim is responsible for his or her fellow human beings, in which no one should be hungry or unfairly treated, and in which the leader of the community is a just and religious person. This ideal has perhaps never been fully realized, but it continues to inspire com- mitted Muslims today as the best defense against social decadence and, perhaps, as the salvation of the world.

Traditionally, Muslims have seen the world as divided into dar al-Islam, “the abode of Islam” (those places where Muslims are a majority and shari’ah governs worldly life), dar al-sulh, “the abode of peace” (where Muslims are a minority but can live in peace and freely practice Islam), and dar al-harb, “the abode of con- flict” (where Muslims are in the minority and are struggling to practice Islam).

As overt colonialism wanes, the world has become divided into autonomous nation-states with strong central governments. In this process, forty-three pri- marily Islamic nation-states have been created. They differ greatly in culture and

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in the degree to which each society is ruled by Islamic ethics. But all are now being reconsidered as possible frameworks for dar al-Islam, within which the Muslim dream of religion-based social transformation might be accomplished. Those who seek to establish Islamic states in which the sovereignty of God is supreme are often now referred to as Islamists.

In the past few centuries, modern industrial societies separated religion from politics. Social, political, and economic issues were treated without any refer- ence to a higher authority or to the values taught by the prophets; religion has been considered a largely private matter, even within some Muslim-majority states such as Turkey, where separation of religion from government became law after reformist President Ataturk led his people in abolishing the Ottoman sultanate and establishing the secular Republic of Turkey in 1923. By contrast, the re-emerging ideal among some Muslim social reformers is that cultures ori- ented toward the sovereignty of God, acting according to divine commands, can create a new world order of peace.

Contemporary Islam in public and private life

Much of the discourse regarding Islam, particularly in the Western world, focus- es on shari’ah, especially with respect to women’s roles in public and private life. Media accounts often oversimplify the complex and diverse nature of shari’ah and Islamic jurisprudence, treating it as a single, static entity rather than a com- plex, sophisticated system comprising different legal schools with longstanding traditions of legal reasoning. There are many different voices within Islam regarding the practice of the faith in the modern world, and many different atti- tudes regarding the role that shari’ah should play in contemporary Muslim life. Some Muslim thinkers have argued that Islamic jurisprudence already has with- in it the basis for ongoing reform and reinterpretation through ijtihad (reasoned interpretation, independent judgment by a qualified scholar). Others have called for a return to a particular form of shari’ah (sometimes envisioning this revived shari’ah as more monolithic than it has traditionally been), rejecting secular law derived from European codes. The feeling of the orthodox is that the world must conform to the divine law, rather than diluting the law to accommodate it to the material world. In Iran, for instance, an attempt has been made to shape every aspect of life according to shari’ah. Fasting during Ramadan is strictly enforced in Saudi Arabia and Iran, and restaurants in many Muslim countries choose to close during the fasting hours. In Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria, a 1999 shari’ah ruling barred men and women from traveling in the same public vehi- cles, in an effort to combat immorality and crime.

Private behaviors are also changing. In particular, to honor the Qur’anic encouragement of physical modesty to protect women from being molested, many Muslim women have adopted hijab (veiling), covering their bodies except for hands, face, and feet, as they had not done for decades. In Saudi Arabia, where women have been ordered to be “properly covered” outside their homes, some wear not only head-to-toe black cloaks but also full veils over their faces without even slits for their eyes. Some Muslim women assert that they like dressing more modestly so that men will not stare at them. Semaa Abdulwali, a medical science student in Australia who chose to begin wearing the veil, explains:

I feel liberated by the fact that I choose what you see. We pass judgement on how a person looks before we know them. When you deal with me, you deal with my mind, my personality, my emotions and what I have to offer as a person—and that’s it.47

In some Muslim-majority countries, women are allowed to join the workforce only if they are veiled. In Iran, the replacement of more Westernized customs with Muslim moral codes, including veiling of women, has allowed women from conservative backgrounds to leave their homes and enter public life without

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antagonizing their families. Now that a great number of Iranian Muslim women have been educated and have entered the workforce and politics, they are a formidable part of reformist efforts to challenge the control of the male clerical elite over social life. They have also become active participants in contemporary Iranian attempts to reconcile Islam with human rights and democracy.

Women’s rights to divorce and to choose their own marriage partners are among the hotly debated issues in contemporary attempts to define shari’ah. Shari’ah has been locally adapted to various societies over the centuries; some feel that to attempt to restore its original form is to deny the usefulness of its flexibility. Certain customs thought to be Muslim are actually cultural practices not specified in the basic sources; they are the result of Islamic civilization’s assim- ilation of many cultures in many places. Muhammad worked side by side with women, and the Qur’an encourages equal participation of women in religion and in society. Veiling and seclusion were practices absorbed from conquered Persian and Byzantine cultures, particularly their upper classes; peasant women could not carry out their physical work under encumbering veils or in seclusion from public view.

Muslim women scholars are now carefully re-examining the Qur’an and Hadith to determine the historical realities and principles of women’s issues that have long been hidden behind an exclusively male interpretation of the traditions. African American Muslim and Qur’anic scholar Amina Wadud, for instance, asserts that the Qur’an is potentially a “world-altering force” that offers universal moral guidance for all believers, be they male or female:

The more research I did into the Qur’an, … the more affirmed I was that in Islam a female person was intended to be primordially, cosmologically, eschatologically, spiritually, and morally a full human being, equal to all who accepted Allah as Lord, Muhammad as Prophet, and Islam as din [religious way]. … Conservative thinkers read explicit Qur’anic reforms of existing historical and cultural practices as the literal and definitive statement on these practices for all times and places. What I am calling for is a reading that regards those reforms as establishing precedent for continual development toward a just social order.48

Another challenge with applying shari’ah as civil law is that some ethical issues that arise today, such as cloning and climate change, either did not exist in their present form at the time the legal codes were created or were not specifically

Even when wearing veils for modesty, Muslim women are often exposed to different lifestyles, as in this shopping mall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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addressed by the Qur’an or Hadith. According to Islamic legal reasoning, the accepted method for determining ambiguous issues is to weigh all the benefits and disadvantages that might result from a course of action and then discourage it if the likely disadvantages outweigh the advantages. For those Muslim intel- lectuals who want to retain their faith within the context of modern life, this process of ijtihad is critical.

Shari’ah forbids the practice of usury, or accepting interest for loans, making it problematic for Muslims to make use of the dominant banking models in much of the world. As a result, Muslims have established alternate systems of finance, including banks, mutual funds, and alternative mortgage systems that allow them to conduct business according to shari’ah. Another challenge, par- ticularly for those in areas without a significant Muslim population, is eating a diet made up of halal, or permissible, foods. Muslim student groups have worked with dining services on many college campuses to provide meals that are halal.

While Muslims have continually sought to apply Islamic principles to an ever-changing world, the global family of Islam is not a political unit; its unity under Arab rule broke up long ago. There is as yet no consensus among Muslim- majority states about how to establish a peaceful, just, modern society based on basic Muslim principles. But there is widespread recognition that there are problems associated with modern Western civilization that should be avoided, such as crime, drug abuse, corruption of values, and unstable family life.

Today everyone cries for peace but peace is never achieved, precisely because it is metaphysically absurd to expect a civilization that has forgotten God to possess peace.

Seyyed Hossein Nasr49

Outreach and education

Islam is the fastest growing of all world religions, with more than 1.2 billion followers. New mosques are going up everywhere. Some Muslims who con- stitute a minority in their countries are trying to assert their rights to practice their religion by praying five times a day, leaving work to attend Friday con- gregational prayer at noon, and wearing traditional head-coverings. Special Islamic satellite channels offer alternatives to Western-oriented programming that some Muslims find offensive because of an emphasis on sexuality and vio- lence and lack of emphasis on family values. These channels also act as a force for international Muslim unity. The channel Iqraa, for instance, is financed by a Saudi Arabian millionaire, offering free broadcasting of what it describes as “entertaining programmes that are devoid of decadence and impropriety and are appropriate for viewing by Muslim families.”50

Another sign of Muslim resurgence is the increasing attention being given to developing educational systems modeled on Islamic thought. Islam is not anti-scientific or anti-intellectual; on the contrary, it has historically bridged reason and faith and placed a high value on developing both in order to tap into the fullness of human potential. Much of Western education has omitted the spiritual aspects of life, so many Muslims consider it incomplete and imbalanced.

While there are many excellent Muslim educational institutions, there are some madrasas, or traditional religious schools, that teach a narrow version of Islam, ignoring its sophisticated cultural and scientific heritage and nuanced philosophy. Because some of these schools have proved to be breeding grounds for militants, fanning hatred of the West, particularly among the poor rural stu- dents, they are now coming under closer scrutiny. Muslims have also debated the content of texts used in government-run schools. The Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad released a report in 2003 which identified a number of troubling features of textbooks and curricula in Pakistan:

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RELIGION IN PUBLIC LIFE

Malala Yousafzai

In 1997, Malala Yousafzai was born in the town of Mingora in the beautiful Swat valley of Pakistan. She attended a school for girls established by her father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, and was a dedicated student, hoping to become a doctor.

The Taliban, however, began trying to take control of the Swat region, and schools for girls came under attack. In 2009, at the age of eleven, Malala Yousafzai began speaking out in favor of girls’ education, and began blogging for BBC Urdu using a pseudonym. In her blog, she explained what it was like to live in an environment in which the Taliban (see p.420) was trying to stop girls from pursuing their education and had banned television and music. She described her feelings of sadness as the number of young women attending her school dwindled. After her identity as the blogger was revealed later that year, Malala continued to speak out publicly in favor of education for girls, becoming the subject of a 2009 documentary film commissioned by The New York Times called “Class Dismissed: Malala’s Story.” But as the situation in Swat became more unstable and dangerous, Malala’s school closed, and Malala and her family had to flee from their beloved Swat, reciting surahs from the Qur’an and prayers to protect their home and the school. They became “internally displaced persons” within their own country.51

When Malala and her family returned to Mingora several months later, the town was scarred by the battle between the Pakistani army and the Taliban. Soon, her father was able to re-open Malala’s school. But the Taliban was still active. In 2011, as Malala continued to speak publicly in favor of education for girls, she received Pakistan’s National Peace Prize, later renamed the Malala Prize. But Malala and her father began receiving threats from the Taliban. In her book I Am Malala, she explains how the threats frightened her so much that she could not sleep without checking all the locks in her home each night:

Then I’d pray. At night I used to pray a lot. The Taliban think we are not Muslims but we are. We believe in God more than they do and we trust him to protect us. I used to say the Ayat al-Kursi, the Verse of the Throne from the second surah of the Quran, the Chapter of the Cow. This is a very special verse and we believe that if you say it three times at night your home will be safe from shayatin or devils. When you say it five times your street will be safe, and seven times will protect the whole area. So I’d say it seven times or even more. Then I’d pray to God, “Bless us. First our father

and family, then our street, then our whole mohalla [neighborhood], then all Swat.” Then I’d say, “No, all Muslims.” Then, “No, not just Muslims; bless all human beings.”52

In October 2012, while returning home on a school bus after one of her exams, Malala and two schoolmates were shot by the Taliban. Malala was shot in the head; her injuries were initially treated in Pakistan, and she was later taken to England for treatment. Across Pakistan, people held vigils and rallies in support of her. A group of more than fifty Muslim leaders in Pakistan issued a fatwa condemning the shooting as un-Islamic. The attack on Malala garnered worldwide attention and she became an international symbol of the struggle for girls’ access to education. Malala and her family now live in England; her two schoolmates who were also shot are now also attending school there. Malala Yousafzai has continued to speak publicly as an advocate for girls’ education around the world. She and her father started the Malala Fund, which now works in Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, and Kenya, providing support to local efforts to expand access to education. On her sixteenth birthday in 2013, named “Malala Day,” she addressed the United Nations Youth Assembly, calling for free education for children worldwide. In 2014, Malala became the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She shared the prize with Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian activist fighting child slavery. The announcement of the prize noted, “The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism.”53 In a public address after learning she had received the prize, and would share it with Satyarthi, Malala said:

He received this award and we both are the two Nobel award receivers. One is from Pakistan, one is from India, one believes in Hinduism and one strongly believes in Islam; and it gives a message to people. Here’s a message to people of love between Pakistan and India and between different religions, and we both support each other. It does not matter what’s the color of your skin, what language do you speak, what religion you believe in. It is that we should all consider each other as human beings and we should respect each other, and we should all fight for our rights, for the rights of children, for the rights of women, and for the rights of every human being.54

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• inaccuracies and omissions of facts that lead to distorted interpretations of national history

• insensitivity to the diversity of religions in the country • glorification of violence • encouragement of prejudices toward women, religious minorities, and

other countries • omission of material and perspectives for developing critical thinking • outdated teaching practices that fail to stimulate interest and insight.55

Pakistani government officials called for the revisions of textbooks to correct such points. Saudi Arabia has also come under criticism for giving distorted religious messages through its schools, and is now revising its curricula and text- books to promote peace and harmony. To increase educational opportunities for women, a large university for women encompassing fifteen colleges was opened in Riyadh in 2011.

At the same time, efforts are being made in some countries to increase the accuracy and sensitivity of portrayals of Islam in the education of non-Muslims. Western textbooks have tended to present history as the progress of Western civilization, from which perspective Islam is described mainly as an adversary rather than a high civilization in its own right which has made great contribu- tions to science and culture, not to mention philosophy. Vincent Cornell, editor of the five-volume series Voices of Islam, writes:

It has long been a truism to say that Islam is the most misunderstood religion in the world. However, the situation expressed by this statement is more than a little ironic because Islam is also one of the most studied religions in the world, after Christianity and Judaism. ... Why is it that most Americans and Europeans are still largely uninformed about Islam after so many books about Islam have been published? Even more, how can people still claim to know so little about Islam when Muslims now live in virtually every medium-sized and major community in America and Europe? ... Scholars of Islam in American universities still feel the need to humanize Muslims in the eyes of their students. A basic objective of many introductory courses on Islam is to demonstrate that Muslims are rational human beings and that their beliefs are worthy of respect.56

At higher levels of academic research, some efforts are now being made by Western scholars to understand Islamic beliefs and practices in their own terms, rather than through Western lenses such as feminist theory or secular-liberal thinking.

A class of women in Izmir, Turkey, are learning to read the Qur’an in Arabic so that they can understand it themselves. These professional women have donned white veils for the class, out of respect for the holy scripture.

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Philanthropic projects funded by Muslims are also on the increase. Most nota- bly, the Ismaili Shi’a Muslim community, under the contemporary direction of its current imam, His Highness the Aga Khan, has organized many award-winning public service projects under the aegis of the extensive Aga Khan Development Network, from rebuilding historic cultural sites to projects in improving health, education, urban and rural development, microfinance, and food security for people of all faiths in many countries. Under the Aga Khan’s guidance, Ismailis are trying to make positive contributions to society, understanding that this is a central way of being good Muslims. Noordin Kassam, a chartered accountant from England who serves as a regional officer in the network, explains:

The impetus that spurred this development derives from the Muslim ethic to serve one’s fellow man in the spirit of brotherhood. ... We serve because we want to. Over ninety-five percent of the work of the network across twenty-five countries is undertaken by volunteers—people of all walks of life.57

Islam in politics

At present, one facet of Islam that is of great concern around the world to both Muslims and non-Muslims is the nature of the relationship between Islam and politics, and especially the political use of Islam by extremist groups. The roots of this trend lie in recent history. From the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, European powers asserted control of parts of northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, areas with substantial Muslim populations, many of which had been under the rule of Muslim leaders. At the end of World War I, European powers set up protectorates and mandates in states that had been part of the Ottoman Empire, even though they had promised those states full independence in exchange for their co-operation with the Allies during the war. As a result, many Muslim populations felt betrayed, and this led to a period of instability during which people resorted to political and armed struggle to achieve full independ- ence for their nations. In the Middle East, for example, many leaders looked to nationalist, socialist, and Marxist thought as suitable ideologies of liberation.

However, these various approaches were not always successful, and Muslim leaders searched for other solutions. There were many Muslims who grew increasingly discontented with what they understood to be the creeping secu- larization and growing moral decline of their societies, including corruption in government, as well as the ubiquity of authoritarian rule. Many Muslims saw these trends as contrary to Islamic values and, increasingly, they sought a solu- tion to their problems in the Islamic faith itself rather than other ideologies. This state of affairs gave rise to leaders who promised to bring about a renaissance of the Islamic way of life.

Those who sought to restore a way of life guided by Islam did so in an envi- ronment in which there were many who did not have a solid knowledge of the religion. In part, secular and colonialist policies in the Middle East after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire had led to a decline in traditional Islamic learn- ing. For example, in his effort to modernize Turkey, President Kemal Ataturk (1881–1938), a secularist, changed the alphabet of the Turkish language from Arabic to Roman. Since Arabic is the language of the Qur’an, the change made it harder for Turks to read their sacred text. In Algeria, which was occupied by the French, French became the official language of the country. Those who wanted to study their religion had to attend religious schools whose endowments had been reduced by the French. As a result of such developments, competency in the language of the Qur’an dropped, and there were fewer Muslims who could read and understand the Qur’an and the rich Islamic legal traditions on their own. Thus, they turned to their elders and imams to learn the religion. In the process, new interpretations of Islam began to emerge.

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab (1703–92), a legal scholar and reformer, urged the discarding of all practices not specifically approved by the Qur’an and

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Sunnah. Wahhabi thought, which spread to many parts of the Sunni Muslim world, is highly conservative culturally as well as religiously. It called for a return to a simple, unadorned life of piety, and flourished in the area that is now Saudi Arabia, promoted by the leaders of the Saudi regime.

Another voice, which emerged in the twentieth century, was that of the Egyptian scholar and activist Sayyid Qutb (1906–66). After World War II, he saw most Muslim countries being controlled either by corrupt monarchies or by cruel military dictatorships. He had also visited the United States, but was disgusted by its culture. Devoutly religious, he saw the sex, violence, and selfish greed in Western culture as the headwaters of evil that was spreading around the world. Compared with the ideal example of the life of the Prophet Muhammad, he described Westernization thus:

Humanity today is living in a large brothel! One has only to glance at its press, films, fashion shows, beauty contests, ballrooms, wine bars, and broadcasting stations! Or observe its mad lust for naked flesh, provocative postures, and sick- suggestive statements in literature, the arts, and the mass media! And add to all this the system of usury which fuels man’s voracity for money and engenders vile methods for its accumulation and investment, in addition to fraud, trickery, and blackmail dressed up in the garb of law.58

Qutb’s writings during years of imprisonment by the Egyptian government before they eventually executed him have been pivotal in the thinking of later Islamists. There have been many situations in recent history in which Muslim leaders, such as Sayyid Qutb, have stereotyped the West as a source of evil and moral decline, while at the same time many people in the West have stereotyped Islam as advocating and promoting violence, a dynamic exemplified by varied understandings and misinterpretations of the concept of jihad. Western media accounts of Islam have often mistranslated jihad as “holy war,” thereby suggest- ing that Muslims are encouraged to wage war against others.

All Muslims are indeed enjoined by the Qur’an to carry on jihad, but it means “striving,” not “holy war.” The Prophet Muhammad is said to have distinguished between two types of jihad. Of these, he said, the Greater Jihad is the struggle against one’s lower self. It is the internal fight between wrong and right, error and truth, selfishness and selflessness, hardness of heart and all-embracing love. This inner struggle to maintain peaceful equilibrium is then reflected in outer attempts to keep society in a state of harmonious order, as the earthly manifestation of Divine Justice. The Lesser Jihad is an external effort to protect the Way of God against the forces of evil. This jihad is the safeguarding of one’s life, faith, livelihood, honor, and the integrity of the Muslim community. The Prophet Muhammad reportedly said that “the preferred jihad is a truth spoken in the presence of a tyrant.”59

Jihad is not to be undertaken for personal gain. The Qur’anic revelations that apparently date from the Medina period when the faithful were being attacked by Mecca make it clear that believers have the right to resist oppression:

To those against whom War is made, permission Is given (to fight) because They are wronged; —and verily, God is Most Powerful For their aid;

(They are) those who have Been expelled from their homes In defiance of right, (For no cause) except That they say, “Our Lord Is God.”60

The Qur’an gives permission to fight back under such circumstances, and Islamic shari’ah gives detailed limitations on the conduct of war and the treat- ment of captives, to prevent atrocities.

Muhammad is considered the prototype of the true mujahid, or fighter in the Path of God, one who values the Path of God more than life, wealth, or fami- ly. He is thought to have had no desire for worldly power, wealth, or prestige.

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By fasting and prayer, he continually exerted himself toward the One, in the Greater Jihad. In defending the Medina community of the faithful against the attack- ing Meccans, he was acting from the purest of motives. It is believed that a true mujahid who dies in defense of the faith goes straight to paradise, for he has already fought the Greater Jihad, subjugating his ego.

The absolute conviction that characterizes jihad derives from the recognition of the vast disparity between evil and the spiritual ideal, both in oneself and in society. Continual exertion is thought neces- sary in order to maintain a peaceful equilibrium in the midst of changing circumstances. Traditionalists and radicals have differed in how this exertion should be exercised in society.

In terms of the Lesser Jihad, support can be found in the Qur’an both for a pacifist approach and for active opposition to unbelievers. The Qur’an asserts that believers have the responsibility to defend their own faith as well as to remind unbelievers of the truth of God and of the necessity of moral behavior. In some passages, Muslims are enjoined simply to stand firm against aggression. For example, “Fight for the sake of God those that fight against you, but do not be aggressive. God does not love the aggressors.”61 Some Islamist groups, however, have seen the world situation as so dire that they have advocated for an understanding of jihad that may involve violent strug- gle against those seen as enemies of Islam.

In addition to varying interpretations of Qur’anic passages regarding jihad, contemporary use of vio- lence in the name of Islam involves a complex of varying historical, cultural, and political circumstances in different countries. In modern times, there is as yet no political unity among Muslim states—indeed there are deep disagreements within some Muslim states—but persistent antag- onism toward the West is tending to create a certain political unity in opposition to pre-emptive use of American military power against Muslim countries. Just as the legacy of European colonialism influenced developments in Muslim thought in the early twentieth century, so too have American and Western involvement in the governments of Muslim nations in more recent times, from the fall of a government in Iran to the “war on terror” launched by the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In 1953 in Iran, a predominantly Shi’a country, the democratically elected government of Muhammad Mosaddegh was overthrown by a coup reportedly planned by Great Britain and the United States, since Mosaddegh intended to nationalize Iran’s oil production. The country was returned to the authoritarian rule of the Pahlavi Shah, and the gap between the rich and poor grew. At the same time, the Shah tried to rapidly modernize his country, turning it into a major military and industrial power. In the process, he eroded the respected authority of the ulama, the clerics and expounders of the shari’ah. A revolu- tionary leader emerged from this disempowered group, the Ayatollah Khomeini (c. 1900–89). From his Paris exile he led mass demonstrations in Iran against the Shah, who was removed from power in 1979.

Khomeini insisted that social transformation should be linked with spiritual reformation, with the government headed by a ruler “who acts as trustee and maintains the institutions and laws of Islam.”62 Despite the fact that he was a Shi’ite Muslim, his revolutionary zeal began to influence even Sunni Muslims in the region. Neighboring governments were concerned and accused him of

Men gathered for Eid al-Fitr celebration at end of Ramadan in Qinghai province, China.

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trying to export his revolution to them. This started a new era of tensions in the region between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim governments, which ultimately spread to these populations.

Khomeini’s call for governmental change was not heeded. Radicals resorted to sabotage and terrorism as their most powerful weapons in what Khomeini described as a great world battle between Islam and the Satanic forces of Western imperialism and Zionism. When the radicals attacked the American Embassy in Tehran and took hostages, the crisis with the West reached its highest level. It also tended to turn world opinion against Islam. In time, however, demonstra- tors returned to their homes, and the government metamorphosed into a new political system with a unique blend of theocracy and democracy.

Reformers proposed that the government should be founded on Islamic law, but that this law should be interpreted in ways that allow a considerable degree of individual freedom and free expression rather than authoritarianism. In 2009, Iran witnessed unprecedented citizen protests over a contested presidential election in which eighty-five percent of the population had voted. The protests themselves have been interpreted as a sign of the growing freedom and confi- dence of Iran’s educated citizenry. Hassan Rouhani, elected President of Iran in 2013, is considered a moderate who has sought better relations between Iran and other countries.

Iraq, a country neighboring Iran, was thrown into chaos at the end of the twentieth century. Iraq’s president Saddam Hussein had tried to re-annex neigh- boring Kuwait. Kuwait then requested help from the United States and other Western countries. The United States launched massive bombings of Iraq in 2003 using tactics that sought to “shock and awe” the Iraqi regime. The United States government’s stated purpose was to liberate the people from the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein. The attacks on Iraq were initially justified by claims, later proven unfounded, that the Iraqi regime held massive stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Although he had not emphasized Islam in the early years of his rule, Saddam Hussein resorted to using religious language and symbolism in order to rally support among his people after the American-led invasion.

Despite their dislike for Saddam Hussein, many Muslims around the world nevertheless perceived the American-led attacks and occupation of the country as an unprovoked attack on innocent Muslim civilians as well as an attempt to control the oil resources of Muslim-majority nations. A branch of Al Qaeda (see below) emerged in Iraq, and terrorist activity increased there and elsewhere in protest at the American-led invasion. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed in the chaotic aftermath of the American-led intervention, including casualties of Sunni–Shi’a conflicts in the destabilized country. When Saddam Hussein was hanged at the end of 2006, many Muslims regarded him as a martyr for his resistance to American power. The United States removed its ground forces from Iraq in 2011, but continues to have military advisors in the country.

The Taliban in Afghanistan is another example of a group that had a radical vision of the ideal Islamic state and society. The Taliban came to the world’s attention in the 1980s. Initially it was one of various groups supported by the United States as freedom fighters battling the Soviet Union, which had invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The Taliban viewed its role in this war as critical in the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, Western nations did little to help Afghans rebuild their war-torn country, which collapsed into factional fighting and chaos, from which emerged the authoritarian rule of the Taliban from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban rejected all secular laws and replaced them with its interpretation of Islamic shari’ah. To deter crime, for instance, it organized public spectacles in which the hands of thieves were amputated and adulterers were whipped. To legitimize these actions, it conducted trials that violated shari’ah’s exacting requirements of due process, and contradicted Muhammad’s insistence on com- passion.

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Although the Sunnah of Islam is replete with examples advocating tolerance of other religions, Taliban leaders had very little tolerance either for other reli- gions or for interpretations of Islam other than their own. For example, they bombed the huge ancient cliff-hewn statues of the Buddha at Bamiyan, which had remained safe under Muslim rule for centuries, claiming that the statues were idolatrous. They also placed severe restrictions on women, keeping them out of the workplace, denying them education, and insisting that they wear head-to-toe burqas. This was a substantial setback for Afghan women who were educated and counted among their ranks scholars, doctors, and judges.

American law professor Azizah Y. al-Hibri commented on the Taliban’s inter- pretation and use of shari’ah:

While there is no central interpretive authority in Islam, an acceptable interpretation must satisfy a minimum number of requirements. For example, the interpretation must be based on the Qur’an and Sunnah. It must be based on knowledge and motivated by Piety. It must also serve (rather than harm) maslaha, the public interest of Muslims in particular and humanity in general. … The Taliban seems to have no such concerns. This is consistent with their rejection of other basic Islamic principles, such as shura (consultation with other Muslims) and bay ah (a system of elective non-authoritarian governance). It is also consistent with their rejection of the Islamic injunction that the pursuit of education is the duty of every Muslim, male and female. Finally, it is consistent with their rejection of the overarching Islamic model of harmonious gender, racial, religious, and general human relations.63

During the same time that the Taliban emerged in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi from an aristocratic family, had established camps in rural Afghanistan to train fighters for the struggle against the Soviet Union. In the late 1980s, he played a key role in establishing Al Qaeda, a global terrorist organization, which became infamous after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. Its members were opposed, as a matter of faith, to the Westernization of Saudi society and the military presence of the United States in the Arab Peninsula, home of the central sacred sites of Islam. Shortly after the September 11 attacks, bin Laden issued a videotaped address that included the following insights into his way of thinking:

What America is tasting now is only a copy of what we have tasted. Our Islamic nation has been tasting the same for more than eighty years of humiliation and disgrace, its sons killed and their blood spilled, its sanctities desecrated. … They have been telling the world falsehoods that they are fighting terrorism. In a nation at the far end of the world, Japan, hundreds of thousands, young and old, were killed and this is not a world crime. … But when a few more than ten were killed in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Afghanistan and Iraq were bombed and hypocrisy stood behind the head of international infidels: the modern world’s symbol of paganism, America, and its allies. I tell them that these events have divided the world into two camps, the camp of the faithful and the camp of infidels. May God shield us and you from them. Every Muslim must rise to defend his religion. The wind of faith is blowing and the wind of change is blowing to remove evil from the Peninsula of Muhammad, peace be upon him.64

After September 11, United States President George W. Bush demanded that the Taliban government in Afghanistan hand over Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda members who had participated in the planning of the attacks. When the Taliban refused, the United States and allies including Great Britain launched airstrikes and began sending troops into Afghanistan. Under military attack by the United States and its coalition forces, the Taliban’s political power in Afghanistan receded. The United States helped convene the traditional Afghan consultative body, called the Loya Jirga, in Kabul, and this body adopted a new constitution that attempted to pair Western and Islamic values. Viewing it as

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subject to Western influences, the Taliban rejected the Loya Jirga whose work established an alternative government in Kabul. Under the new government, Afghan life in Kabul returned slowly to its earlier ways. For example, women regained some of their rights and some women occupied positions of responsibil- ity. However, while this alternative body remains functional today, the country remains war-torn and people remain poverty-stricken. The Taliban may have even gained influence recently as a result in part of Western-inflicted casualties in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. commandos in 2011 in his villa near the Pakistani capital city of Islamabad. In his extremist mixture of religion with politics, martyrdom was heroic, the world was strictly divided into good and evil, destruction of property and lives was justified, and the faithful were urged to undertake jihad on a global, militant scale. The September 11 and other Al Qaeda attacks set in motion a sea change in relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims everywhere, especially in the West.

The porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and the steady stream of Afghan refugees settling in camps in Pakistan created an environment in which the Taliban was able to extend its influence into neighboring tribal areas of Pakistan, and there is now a Pakistani Taliban movement. The United States has been combatting its presence there through drone attacks, which have gen- erated controversy both within the United States and elsewhere. Civilian casu- alties in these drone attacks have also led to hostility towards the United States.

Another destabilizing factor in many Muslim countries, especially in the Arab world, has been the pervasive presence of authoritarian rule, either in the form of absolute monarchies or military regimes. Many Muslims are of the view that in Islam such regimes are oppressive and illegitimate because they were not freely chosen by the people. Many of these regimes have not sought to improve the welfare of their people. This state of affairs resulted in severe poverty in some areas, lack of employment and housing, and deep discontent. It was in this environment that the broad movement known as the “Arab Spring” began in 2010. People took to the streets demanding better conditions and a greater voice in their own affairs. These demonstrations were spontaneous, and had no designated leaders. They were, therefore, easily usurped by organized political groups and led to intervention by foreign powers. The turmoil and violence that followed quickly turned the “Arab Spring” into a hard fall.

In Syria for example, what started as a small youth protest in the border town of Dar’a metamorphosed into several well-funded, well-organized, and well- armed terrorist groups with members from at least 84 countries. New terrorist organizations sprouted from Al Qaeda. They engage in behavior that a major- ity of Muslims consider criminal and reprehensible. Indeed, the main victims of these groups have been Muslim civilians, especially women and children. These groups have encouraged innocent youth to engage in suicidal terrorist attacks against peaceful civilian targets, an activity clearly prohibited in Islam. The youth are promised a quick entry to paradise, despite the Qur’anic passages condemning suicide and upholding the value and sanctity of each human life.

In the midst of these developments, Saudi Arabia remains a powerful force due to its geographic, economic, political, and religious influence in the Middle East and beyond. Since 1932, Saudi Arabia has been under the monarchical con- trol of the al-Sa’ud family. The country continues to be religiously conservative, with its legal system based on shari’ah and harkening to Wahhabism. Wealthy from its oil, the Saudi regime has provided funding and support to mosques and Islamic schools throughout the Muslim world, expanding the influence of its particular brand of Islam. The regime has been criticized by some Muslims for exposing the populace to Western culture by allowing Western troops on its soil.

In 2008, Saudi Arabia sponsored an interfaith conference in Mecca to show- case Islam’s message of tolerance and encouragement of peaceful co-existence. But Saudi Arabia has also been the focus of criticism on matters such as wom- en’s rights. Saudi women continue to wear the traditional ‘abaya, which is an

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outer garment that covers them from head to toe. They are banned from driv- ing cars or leaving home unless accompanied by a close male relative. These restrictions, which stem from local customs, have been slow to change. In 2011, King Abdullah announced that women would at last be given the right to vote, and also to run in municipal elections and to help choose candidates in 2015, for “The Muslim woman must not be marginalized in opinion or advice.”65

However, the death of King Abdullah in 2015 may delay these developments. Another issue in which religion and politics mix is the situation of the

Palestinian people in Israel. Various movements have arisen among Palestinians to reclaim a secure homeland in the face of Israeli settlement. The two major fac- tions are Fatah and Hamas. Fatah was founded in the 1950s to end Israeli control of Palestine. More recently, it has supported a “two-state” solution through a peace process. “Hamas” means “zeal” in Arabic. It was formed in 1987 as the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization based in Egypt. Its charter calls for the destruction of Israel, and it has supported suicide attacks against Israeli settlements. Conflicts between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip have erupted repeatedly.

Turkey, long home to Ataturk’s secular vision, is now engaged in power struggles between secularists, devout Muslims, and hardline Islamists. This con- flict leads to paradoxical situations. For instance, women are prohibited from wearing traditional headscarves in universities. Religiously observant women who do not want to give up their headscarves and expose their hair publicly are now resorting to an unusual protest measure: Some students are wearing their headscarves and then jamming wigs over them when they attend classes.

Debates about the role of Islam in modern nation-states persist. Islamist groups seeking radical reformulations of legal, social, and political structures have emerged in places torn by political instability and conflict, particularly areas that were earlier under European colonial control. For example, a group known as Boko Haram is violently opposed to Western education, which it regards as sinful. It declared a Sunni caliphate in northern Nigeria in 2014.

Also in 2014, the so-called Islamic State [IS], a violent, militant group under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared itself a new caliphate. It is an offshoot of Al Qaeda. Taking advantage of instability in Iraq and the ongoing fighting in Syria, the group began claiming control of territories in Iraq and Syria, imposing its particular interpretation of Islamic law, and carrying out executions and other forms of violence. IS has actively recruited members and promoted its agenda using social media. Young men and some young women from around the world, including Europe and North America, have traveled to Syria to join the group.

Some observers suggest that IS appeals to young people whose knowledge of Islam is limited, and are moved by its pleas to Muslims to help their fellow Muslims who are suffering in Iraq and Syria. IS has drawn heavy criticism from Muslims around the world. A group of 126 international Islamic scholars wrote a lengthy open letter to al-Baghdadi, using classical Islamic texts to refute the group’s tactics.66 The scholars argue, for example, that Islam rejects forced con- versions and slavery, oppression of women, and the killing of innocent civilians. In the fall of 2014, the United States government formed a coalition with coun- tries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to carry out airstrikes against IS on Syrian and Iraqi territories.

As a result of wars in various Muslim countries, such as the devastating internal fighting in South Sudan, wars between nations, military attacks led by the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, natural disasters, and climate change, millions of Muslims now live as refugees or internally displaced persons. Muslims account for a significant percentage of all refugees and internally dis- placed persons in the world. The human misery is staggering.

There is increasing tension between Muslims and non-Muslims, particularly in the West. Terrorist activities that have killed civilians have brought a back- lash of anti-Muslim sentiments, with growing perception of Islam as a religion

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encouraging violence and fanaticism. The United States’ “war on terrorism” has brought an increase in acts of terrorism and made it more difficult for moderate Muslim leaders to hold their ground against critics within their countries. As Islamophobia grows among non-Muslims, many leading Muslims are trying to explain to them, and to the gullible youth being courted by IS, that Islam does not equal violence.

The Qur’an permits the jihad of violence only under very specific conditions. To fight, people must have been deprived of their right to live and support them- selves. The action must be undertaken not by individuals but by the collective wisdom of the Muslim community. Jihadis are never allowed to harm women, children, or unarmed civilians. They cannot willfully destroy property. The tac- tics of terrorists are therefore not permitted by the Qur’an. In general, relations with people of other religions are to be as tolerant as possible. It is written in the Qur’an:

Do not argue with the followers of the earlier revelations otherwise than in a most kindly manner—unless it be such of them as are bent on evil-doing—and say: We believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you; for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that we all surrender ourselves.67

Some people argue that there has been a deliberate Western policy of por- traying political conflicts as religion-based struggles in order to fan fear of a threat to the Western way of life from Islam, thus steering Western electorates to support a “war on terror,” with an underlying agenda of controlling oil-rich lands belonging to Muslims.

Islam for the future

Challenged to explain Islam to its critics, Muslim scholars and intellectuals are meeting at global conferences to formulate unified responses to current issues. There is a tendency toward rapprochement between Sunnis and Shi’as at some levels, with the understanding that their differences are not so much matters of religious doctrine as of historical conflicts over leadership. Religious modernists, Islamists, and secularists are all trying to understand the roots of

Because they are involved in conflicts around the world, many Muslims are mourning the loss of their loved ones, becoming refugees, or being attacked or killed. This scene of grief occurred in Falluja, Iraq.

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extremism and to seek new ways of relating to and even shaping the rapidly changing world. They feel that extremism is undermining Islam by contradicting its principles and spreading hatred for the religion.

While media attention is centered on sensational manifestations of Islamism in present-day societies, these deeper currents of thought are forward-looking, exploring how Islam can help to shape a new social order in the world. Professor Asaf Hussain of the University of Leicester, England, points out that the goal of a just society inspires but still eludes Muslim resistance movements:

Today many Islamic fundamentalist movements have declared war on their own people and are trying to transform their states on the model of the First Islamic state. But the conditions of the seventh century do not obtain today. A new model of the Islamic state has to be devised. The dominating civilization of the present day is Western and its models control the Third World, including the Muslim world. Islamic movements have revolted against this but their strategies have not been well thought out. They do not have to dominate Western civilization but create a parallel which excels it. This will be a long, arduous task but the struggle has just begun.68

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai (see Box, p. 415), a young Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban for being an outspoken advocate for girls’ education, explains that for her, Islam means compassion:

I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorist group. I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child. I want education for the sons and the daughters of the Taliban, and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion that I have learnt from Muhammad—the prophet of mercy—Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha.69

Mahmoon-al-Rasheed, founder of the Comprehensive Rural Educational, Social, Cultural and Economic Center in Bangladesh, maintains that there is violence within and between nations because people have not developed a sense

Screenshot of Muslim Voices, one of the present-day attempts to encourage a more nuanced and positive view of Islam. This website, www.muslimvoices.org, “aims to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding between Muslims and Non- Muslims through podcasts, videos, public events, art exhibits, and discussions.”

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of duty toward each other and have not recognized how inseparably all people of the earth are related to each other. He proposes that Islamic values are not aimed at creating a political state but rather a harmoniously integrated world society, for:

We cannot begin to realize our full potential until we have achieved a community which knows no limit but that of human society and renders all obedience to a Law common to all.70

Omid Safi, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina, speaking on behalf of many contemporary progressive Muslims, expresses their desire to bring about positive social change in the fluid, globally hybrid, post- modern world by supporting social justice, gender equality, religious and ethnic pluralism, and nonviolent resistance. He explains:

Progressive Muslims perceive themselves as the advocates of human beings all over the world who through no fault of their own live in situations of poverty, pollution, oppression, and marginalization. A prominent concern of progressive Muslims is the suffering and poverty, as well as the full humanity, of these marginalized and oppressed human beings of all backgrounds who are called mustad’ifun in the Qur’anic context. The task of progressives in this context is to give voice to the voiceless, power to the powerless, and confront the “powers that be” who disregard the God-given human dignity of the mustad’ifun all over this Earth.71

Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer, the first woman judge in Iran, and winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, states:

I am a Muslim. In the Qur’an the Prophet of Islam has been cited as saying, “Thou shalt believe in thy faith and I in my religion.” That same divine book sees the mission of all prophets as that of inviting all human beings to uphold justice. … If the twenty-first century wishes to free itself from the cycle of violence, acts of terror and war, and avoid repetition of the experience of the twentieth century—that most disaster-ridden century of humankind—there is no other way except by understanding and putting in practice every human right for all mankind, irrespective of race, gender, faith, nationality, or social status.72

Key terms Allah The one God, in Islam. caliph In Sunni Islam, the successor to the Prophet. fatwa A legal opinion issued by an authority according to a particular school of law;

often erroneously defined as an edict against someone or something. fiqh Jurisprudence; the process of understanding, interpreting, and implementing the

shari’ah. hajj The holy pilgrimage to Mecca for Muslims. Hadith Traditional report about the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. hijab The veiling of women for the sake of modesty. hijrah Muhammad’s migration from Mecca to Medina. Imam In Shi’ite Islam, the title for the person carrying the initiatic tradition of the

Prophetic Light. Islam In its original meaning, complete, trusting surrender to God. Islamist A person seeking to establish Islamic states in which the rule of God is

supreme. jihad The Muslim’s struggle against the inner forces that prevent God-realization and

the outer barriers to establishment of the order. madrasa Traditional religious school teaching a narrow version of Islam. muezzin In Islam, one who calls the people to prayer from a high place. Shahadah The central Muslim expression of faith: “There is no god but God, and

Muhammad is the Messenger of God.”

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shari’ah The divine law and ethics in Islam. Shi’a The minority branch of Islam, which tells that Muhammad’s legitimate successors

were ’Ali and a series of Imams; a follower of this branch. Sufism The mystical path in Islam. Sunnah The behavior of the Prophet Muhammad, used as a model in Islamic law. Sunni A follower of the majority branch of Islam, which tells that successors to

Muhammad are to be chosen by the Muslim community. surah A chapter of the Holy Qur’an. ummah The Muslim community. zakat Spiritual tithing.

Suggested reading Ahmed, Akbar S., Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society, revised

edition, London and New York: Routledge, 2002. A well-known Pakistani diplomat and scholar teaching in the United States offers keen insights into the spirituality and history of modern Muslim cultures.

Ahmed, Akbar, S., Islam Under Siege, Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003. Careful explanation of Islamic ideals and concerns in the context of contemporary violence in the name of Islam.

Ahmed, Leila, Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1992. Detailed analysis of historical conditions within which oppression of Muslim women developed.

Allen, Roger and Shawkat M. Toorawa, eds, Islam: A Short Guide to the Faith, Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2011. Clear, insightful contemporary scholarship about history, beliefs, institutions, and social issues in Islam.

Armstrong, Karen, The Battle for God, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000. A monumental study of the development of fundamentalism in the United States, Israel, and Egypt in response to modernity.

Capan, Ergu, ed., Terror and Suicide Attacks: An Islamic Perspective, Somerset, New Jersey: The Light, Inc., 2006. Turkish scholars carefully examine written and oral traditions which clearly refute terrorism in the name of Islam.

Delong-Bas, Natana J., Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Careful examination of the writings of Ibn ’Abd al- Wahhab, with the thesis that they do not fit the stereotypical notion of Wahhabism as a major source of extremist movements.

Esposito, John L., Islam: The Straight Path, third edition, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. A scholarly, clear introduction to historical and contemporary Islam.

Gülen, M. Fethullah, The Messenger of God: Muhammad, Somerset, New Jersey: The Light, Inc., 2006. A loving spiritual analysis of the life of the Prophet.

Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck and Barbara Freyer Stowasser, Islamic Law and the Challenges of Modernity, Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press, 2004. A collection of essays addressing specific examples of issues related to shari’ah and contemporary life.

Hallaq, Wael B., The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. A thorough and accessible exploration of the early development of Islamic law.

Hefner, Robert W. and Patricia Horvatich, eds, Islam in an Era of Nation-states: Politics and Religious Renewal in Muslim Southeast Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. Detailed analyses of Muslim reformist movements in Southeast Asia with reference to modern governmental structures.

The Holy Qur’an. Although the Qur’an is considered untranslatable, numerous translations from the Arabic have been attempted. Many Muslims’ favorite English translation is by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Durban, South Africa: Islamic Propagation Center International, 1946). Thomas Ballantine Irving (Al-Hajj Ta’lim’Ali) has prepared “The First American Version” of the Qur’an (translation and commentary, Brattleboro, Vermont: Amana Books, copyright © 1985).

Lawrence, Bruce, The Qur’an: A Biography, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2007. Insightful exploration of the life of the Qur’an, as it has been transmitted, recorded, translated, and understood during its 1,400-year history.

Lings, Martin, Muhammad, London: George Allen & Unwin, and Islamic Text Society, 1983. A highly regarded biography of the Prophet.

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McCloud, Aminah Beverly, African American Islam, New York and London: Routledge, 1995. An accessible inside view of contemporary African American Muslim communities and issues they face in a contrasting cultural context.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Ideals and Realities of Islam, second edition, London: Unwin Hyman, 1985. Thoughtful presentation of both esoteric and exoteric features of Islam.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, ed., Islamic Spirituality I: Foundations, New York: Crossroad Publishing Company, 1987 and London: SCM Press, 1989. Excellent chapters on key features of Muslim spirituality, from fasting to angels, with sections on Sunnism, Shi’ism, and Sufism.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Traditional Islam in the Modern World, London and New York: Kegan Paul International, 1990. Religiously sensitive discussions of varied topics in attempts to bring forth traditional Muslim values within contemporary social settings.

Nasr, Seyyed Hossein, Hamid Dabashi, and Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Shi’ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality, Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1988. A set of thoughtful essays on aspects of Shi’ite spirituality.

Paige, Glenn D., Chaiwats Satha-Anand, and Sarah Gilliatt, Islam and Nonviolence, Honolulu: University of Hawaii, Center for Global Nonviolence Planning Project, 1993. Strong essays on theories and practice of nonviolence stemming from Muslim values.

Pinault, David, The Shiites: Ritual and Popular Piety in a Muslim Community, New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992. Sensitive discussions of Shi’ite interpretations of Muslim history and how these inform communal life and action.

Rashid, Ahmed, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2000. A Pakistani journalist chronicles the Taliban’s rise to power, including global politics and economics as well as religion.

Ruthven, Malise, Islam in the World, third edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Explanations of mixtures of Islam with politics and culture throughout history, especially modern history.

Safi, Omid, ed., Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2003. Scholars and activists explore progressive ways of interpreting Islam in the context of modern issues.

Safi, Omid, Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters, New York: HarperOne, 2009. An engaging account of the many ways Muslims and non-Muslims have understood the Prophet, from early biographies to contemporary depictions in cyberspace.

Sajoo, Amyn B., ed., Civil Society in the Muslim World: Contemporary Perspectives, London: I. B. Tauris, 2004. Essays exploring the intimate relationships between secular, sacred, and state realms in Muslim society, both existing and ideal.

Schimmel, Annemarie, And Muhammad is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1985. Extensive exploration of Muslims’ love for the Prophet.

Schimmel, Annemarie, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. A classic survey of Sufi history, teachings, and saints.

Tibi, Bassam, The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder, Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1998, 2002. A Syrian scholar analyzes Islamist movements as manifestations of Islam’s confrontation with modernity.

Wadud, Amina, Qur’an and Woman, New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. Probing hermeneutic analysis of the Qur’an, revealing its principles of social justice, including gender equality.

Webb, Gisela, Windows of Faith: Muslim Women Scholar-Activists in North America, Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 2000. Articles revealing the depth of feminist scholarship within Islam, particularly with reference to the ideal of social justice as seen from the point of view of women of faith.

Zaman, Muhammad Qasim, The Ulama in Contemporary Islam, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2002. Study of the evolution and contemporary importance of the ulama in several countries where these religious scholars have reemerged as a significant factor in religiopolitical activism.

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10.1 Describe pre-Islamic Arabia

The people of pre-Islamic Arabia were mostly nomadic cattle-breeders who were in contact with each other and had a relatively uniform culture and common language. They worshiped many deities and believed that people’s lives were controlled by an impersonal force, called Fate or Time. The Ka’bah in Mecca, a trading center, was regarded as a polytheistic holy place and violence was pro- hibited within a large area surrounding it.

10.2 Explain how the revelations given to Muhammad influenced Islamic belief

With the support of his wife, Muhammad (c. 570-632 CE) began to spend periods of time in spiritual retreat and when he was forty years old the angel Gabriel reportedly came to him and insisted that he recite. These revelations continued, asserting the theme that it was the One God who spoke and who called people to Islam, emphasizing that they were accountable to God and not their tribes. The revelations in Mecca included other subjects such as rejection of polytheism in favor of pure monotheism, evidence of God in the Creation, belief, repent- ance, the Last Judgment, social justice, and acceptance of the revelations given through Muhammad as a messenger of God.

10.3 Outline the role of the Qur’an in Islam

The heart of Islam is not the Prophet but the revelations he received, which are referred to as the Word of God. Collectively they are called the Qur’an (meaning “reading” or “reciting”). Muhammad received the messages over a period of twenty-three years. At first the messages were striking affirmations of the unity of God and the woe of those who did not heed God’s message. Later messages also addressed the organizational needs and social lives of the Muslim community. Recitation of the Qur’an is thought to have a healing, soothing effect, and also to bring protection, guidance, and knowledge. The Qur’an revealed to Muhammad is understood as a final and complete remind- er of the prophets’ teachings, which all refer to the same one God, known in Arabic as Allah.

10.4 Summarize the central teachings of Islam

The Shahadah (“There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”) supports absolute monotheism. Devout Muslims believe that Islam encompasses all religions and honors all prophets as messengers from the one God, with Muhammad as the last and ultimate authority in the prophetic tradition. In Muslim belief, God is all-knowing and has intelligently created everything for a divine purpose, governed by fixed laws.

Muslims believe that our senses do not reveal all of reality. In particular, they believe in the angels of God and in Satan. According to the Qur’an, evildoers will ultimately go to hell. Muslim piety is informed by belief in God’s impartial judgment of one’s actions, and of one’s responsibility to remind others of the fate that may await them.

10.5 Identify the Five Pillars of Islam

The basic spiritual practices incumbent on all Muslims are known as the Five Pillars of Islam. The first pillar (the Shahadah) is believing and professing the unity of God and the messengership of Muhammad. The second pillar is prayer (salat): Five times a day, the faithful are to recite a series of prayers and passages from the Qur’an. The third pillar is zakat, charity or almsgiving: Muslims must donate at least two and a half percent of their accumulated wealth each year

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to needy Muslims. The fourth pillar is fasting; the only obligatory fast is during Ramadan. The fifth pillar is hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

10.6 Distinguish between Sunni and Shi’a Islam

After Muhammad’s death, disagreements over the issue of his succession began to divide the Muslim community into different groups. The two main groups have come to be known as the Sunni (who now comprise about eighty percent of all Muslims worldwide) and the Shi’a.

Sunnis follow the elected caliphs, believing that Muhammad died without appointing a successor and left the matter of successors to the ummah, the Muslim community. They consider themselves as traditionalists, and emphasize the authority of the Qur’an and the secondary authority of the Hadith (the sto- ries of Muhammad’s life and sayings).

The Shi’a believe that ’Ali (the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law) was the rightful original successor to Muhammad. Rather than recognize the Sunni caliphs, the Shi’a pay allegiance to a succession of seven or twelve Imams. Unlike the Sunni caliph, the Imam combines political leadership (if possible) with continuing transmission of Divine Guidance.

10.7 Define shari’ah

Shari’ah is the sacred law and ethics of Islam and is based chiefly on the Qur’an and Sunnah of Muhammad, who was the first to apply the generalizations of the Qur’an to specific life situations. Shari’ah specifies patterns for worship (instruc- tions pertaining to the Five Pillars of Islam) as well as detailed prescriptions for social conduct, to bring remembrance of God into every aspect of daily life, and practical ethics into the fabric of society.

10.8 Describe the key aspects of Sufism

Sufism is an esoteric tradition. Sufis consider their way a path to God that is motivated by longing for the One. In addition to studying the Qur’an, they feel that the world is a book filled with “signs”—divine symbols and elements of beauty that speak to those who understand. Sufi asceticism is based more on inner detachment than on withdrawal from the world; the ideal is to live with feet on the ground, head in the heavens.

10.9 Analyze the reasons for the successful expansion of Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries

In the time of Muhammad, Islam combined spiritual and secular power under one ruler. This tradition helped to unify the warring tribes of the area and was continued with waves of successful conquest under Muhammad’s successors. In contrast to their strong convictions, the populations Muhammad’s successors approached were often demoralized by border fighting among themselves and by grievances against their rulers. Many welcomed the Muslims without a fight. Conquered peoples were generally dealt with in the humane ways specified in the Qur’an, and Christians and Jews were treated as dhimmis (protected people) and allowed to maintain their own faith.

10.10 Explain the spread of Islam in the West

In Europe, decades of immigration from formerly French and British colonies in Africa and Asia have expanded the Muslim presence considerably. There are now more than twenty million Muslims in western Europe.

In the United States, Islam is now the fastest-growing religion. Two-thirds of American Muslims are immigrants; one-third are converts, most of them

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African Americans. Conversion to Islam by African Americans was encouraged early in the twentieth century as a form of separatism from white oppression. Some early Muslim communities were also based on missionary efforts, such as the Ahmadiyyah Movement from India. Other movements had a strong nation-building character, such as the Nation of Islam.

10.11 Discuss the main issues facing contemporary Islam

The role that shari’ah should play in contemporary Muslim life is one of the main issues facing Islam in the modern world. Some Muslim thinkers have argued that Islamic jurisprudence already has within it the basis for ongoing reform and reinterpretation, but others have called for a return to a particular form of shari’ah, rejecting secular law derived from European codes.

Islam’s association with politics is also an issue of concern around the world both to Muslims and non-Muslims. There is as yet no political unity among Muslim states—indeed there are deep disagreements within some Muslim states—but there are debates about relationships with the West, and at times tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims. Terrorist activities that have killed civilians have brought a backlash of anti-Muslim sentiments in some parts of the world, leading to a stereotype of Islam as a religion encouraging violence and fanaticism, despite the efforts of Muslims to present a more balanced view of their tradition.

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