From: afadel@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ayman Fadel)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam
Subject: Anti-Semetism among Muslims
Date: 15 Dec 1992 03:02:18 GMT
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix @ U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Reply-To: afadel@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ayman Fadel)
NNTP-Posting-Host: wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu
Originator: gwydion@wookumz.gnu.ai.mit.edu

assalaamu ala man ihtadaa

I am saddened to find out that many sincere Muslims have begun
to believe untrue things about Jews.  Among these are:

1)  That Jews are involved in a conspiracy to take over the
world.

2)  That Jews are responsible for moral decline around the
world.

3)  That all Jews are responsible for what the State of Israel
did and continues to do.

As Muslims, our only concern should be to please Allah, and
Allah wants people to be truthful.  If a particular practice is
not correct, or if an opinion is based upon false sources, we
should be the first people to correct this practice and expose
the untruth in those sources.


The first such practice whose validity I question is calling
Jews "aHfaad al-qiradati wal-khanaaziir"  (the grandchildren
of monkeys and pigs).  This is a reference to Allah's turning an
entire village of Jews into monkeys when they disobeyed His
command to stop fishing on the day of their Sabbath.

I don't understand how Muslims can say this phrase, when Allah
says in the Quran in different places:  la taziru waaziratun
wizra ukhraa  (no carrier of the burden of sin shall carry the
burden of another).

Or when He instructs us to say "lanaa a'maalunaa wa lakum
a'maalukum" (we are responsible for our deeds and you Jews
and Christians are responsible for your deeds).

Or when His Messenger salla allahu alayhi wa sallam said not
to insult the parents of another because that might cause
that person to insult your parents.

Or when allah subhanah said:  wa laa yajrimannukum shana^aanu
qawmin 'alaa allaa ta'dilu ... al-aaya.  my translation is:
don't let hatred of a people cause you believers to be unjust...

This of course applies to some brothers' blaming Jews of today
for the way the Jews treated the messengers whom Allah sent to
them, from Musaa to Muhammad salla allahu alayhim wa sallam.

Jews of today, just like all non-Muslims, are doing wrong when
they reject the Messenger Muhammad salla allahu alayhi wa sallam.

Each individual, whether muslim or non-muslim, is responsible for
the injustices that each individual commits or supports through
remaining silent.

In general, such anti-Semetic practices are used to make some Muslims feel
that they are superior to non-Muslims even though their conduct
is no different from the conduct of the non-Muslims.  Criticizing
others is a psychological substitute for taking the measures
necessary to improve one's own self.

Another dangerous aspect of this is the blatant disregard for truth,
which must be the highest value of a muslims.  This disregard 
ranges from quoting from "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
(Muthakkiraatu Hukamaa' Sihyuun) to the disaster of interpreting
aayaat in the Quraan to meet current ideological requirements.

If people cannot be convinced of the necessity of fighting Israel
through pointing out how it displaced their brothers and sisters,
then educating them religiously and politically is our first
priority.  We should not use untruthful means to produce a reaction
in the masses of Muslims, because the end result will be
Muslims doing the same thing to each other.

Finally, I've heard Muslims say that Jews have
power disproportionate to their numbers in the United States and
that they use this power to fight Muslims around the world.

It is true that Jews do excercise power in the U.S. that
is disproportionate to their number.  But does that mean that
non-Jews in the U.S. have no say in how it is run?  Does
it mean that Jews pushed the United States to oppress non-
Muslims in the Americas, Africa and Asia?  Does it mean that
Jews in the U.S. are not in a precarious situation vis-a-vis
white Christians?  I think this anti-Semitism among Muslims
has clouded them to some important social and political
realities about the U.S.

I will conclude by saying that I wrote this article with the
intention of advising Muslims against falling into this error.
Some may say it's better not to talk about these matters in the
open, but I'm afraid that if we allow these incorrect views to
settle in one or two generations they will be impossible to
uproot.  Some ideologically committed Zionists will find
comfort in this article, but Muslims should not expect such
people to help them anyway.


wallahu a'lam

salam
ayman


Al-Quran:  Aya 21 Al-Noor (translation):  "And had it not been
for Allah's graciousness upon you and for His mercy, not one of
you would have ever become purified."  Allah spoke the truth.   

Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam