Children of Israel

This paper discusses the Qurʾānic verses about the Jews and the people of Israel in terms of the naming and the content. Key questions to be addressed are: What is the purpose of the frequent mention of the people of Israel in the Qurʾān? What is the context and the content of the verses about the Jews and the people of Israel both in Meccan and Medinan sūrahs? What message or messages are intended to or can be conveyed by these verses?

This paper explores Ibn Khaldun's interpretation of the history of the people of Israel through his concept of 'asabiyyah by highlighting some possible implications of it as regards the idea of the election of Israel. An emphasis is also made on parallels with Spinoza's interpretation of the election of Israel.

The late Antique mosaic of Orpheus decorated a small room, approximately 18 m2 in area, connected with two even smaller ones, in 4 m2 and the other 2 m2 in area, belonging most likely to a small funerary chapel (or tomb) discovered in the ancient necropolis by the Damascene Gate in Jerusalem; it was discovered in 1901 by H. Vincent.
The author proposes a new interpretation of the iconographic program of the Orpheus myth used by wealthy Christians in a sepulchral context (see Olszewski M.T. «Orphée endeuillé de la mosaïque funéraire de Jérusalem», in Rey Mimoso-Ruiz, B. ed., Actes du colloque «Orphée entre Soleil et ombre», à l’Institut Catholique de Toulouse du 16 au 17 novembre 2007, Inter Lignes, numéros spécial – mars 2008, pp. 205-214, 226). He also proposes a new interpretation of the role Orpheus played in Roman funerary art, concentrating on the importance of the play on words and the visual and textual punning that was popular in ancient art and especially in funerary art. He rejects the popular interpretation of Orpheus as Christ in the Roman catacombs and proposes to interpret the image as that of Orpheus, bard of the departed souls, without any ahistorical connection with Christ. The program of the mosaic from Jerusalem is thus explained as a play on the words Orpheus-orphanos and Chiron (Chi-Rho) and Pan [Παν(τοκράτωρ)].The frequently used Christian funerary formula of resting in peace, Christ or the Lord corresponds
perfectly with the mood created around the mythical bard.
Orpheus’ universal role as singer and musician moving even the most stony of hearts, extolling the beloved departed, is absolutely justified in the context of a 6th-century Christian tomb. Orpheus is a popular and neutral figure, meaning that in effect it does not constitute a threat to Christian theology and can be tolerated by the educated Christians of Jerusalem.

The authors suggest to view the origins of Islam against the background of the 6th century AD Arabian socio-ecological crisis whose model is specified in the paper through the study of cli-matological, seismological, volcanological and epidemiological history of the period. Most so-cio-political systems of the Arabs reacted to the socio-ecological crisis by getting rid of the rig-id supra-tribal political structures (kingdoms and chiefdoms) which started posing a real threat to their very survival. The decades of fighting which led to the destruction of the most of the Arabian kingdoms and chiefdoms (reflected in Ayyam al-Arab tradition) led to the elaboration of some definite "anti-royal" freedom-loving tribal ethos. At the beginning of the 7th century a tribe which would recognize themselves as subjects of some terrestrial super-tribal political au-thority, a "king", risked to lose its honour. However, this seems not to be applicable to the au-thority of another type, the "celestial" one. At the meantime the early 7th century evidences the merging of the Arabian tradition of prophecy and the Arabian Monotheist "Rahmanist" tradi-tion which produced "the Arabian prophetic movement". The Monotheist "Rahmanist" proph-ets appear to have represented a supratribal authority just of the type many Arab tribes were looking for at this very time, which seems to explain to a certain extent those prophets' politi-cal success (including the extreme political success of Muhammad).

Jacob’s vision of a ladder to heaven is one of those enigmatic Scriptural passages which has puzzled the keen intellects of many Bible scholars down through the ages, for well-known Christian commentators such as Matthew Henry and Adam Clarke have stabbed at its meaning realizing it has something to do with the Person of Jesus the Messiah and his heaven-ordained ministry to reconcile earth’s inhabitants to their Heavenly Father and Creator , but others as  Keil and Delitzsch don’t even connect this dream to the Person of Jesus .
But while we have a look at what the Christian Biblical scholars have said, we've also to see what the best of rabbinic Judaism has to offer us by way of explanation of Jacob’s dream.

Dear Friends,

My first, new book, "Cracking the Qur'an Code: God's Land, Torah and People Covenants with Israel in the Qur'an and Islamic Traditon" - 2011 Second Edition

1) Reveals how the Qur'an and Islamic Tradition affirm God's Land, Torah and People Covenants with Israel.

2) Is written in honor and based on the teachings of Dr. Asher Eder z"l (of blessed memory) of Jerusalem, Israel and Zionist Former Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi of Rome, Italy.  Dr. Eder and Sheikh Palazzi served as Jewish and Muslim Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen of the Islam-Israel Fellowship (established 1997) of the Root and Branch Association, Ltd. (established 1981).

3) Helps make the world more aware of Muslims, and Muslim majority nations, who are pro-American, pro-Israel, pro-Jewish and pro-Zionist, and who respect Jews and Christians as what the Qur'an calls "People of the Book", and who respect good people of all religions.

Shalom from Jerusalem, ISRAEL,

Mr. Lowell Joseph Gallin

In addition to reading my book and/or downloading FOR FREE, you are also welcome to PLEASE PAY WHAT YOU LIKE FOR "CRACKING THE QUR'AN CODE" VIA PAY PAL (Suggested Retail Price $19.95) AND SUPPORT LOWELL'S WORK:
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Throughout most of the Latin middle ages, “Saracen” (Saracenus, Sarracenus, Sarrasin, etc.) is the standard term used by most Latin authors to refer to Muslims. By the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it has clearly religious overtones: Islam is referred to as “lex Sarraceni” or “lex Mahometi”, terms which are used more or less interchangeably. Yet “Saracenus” was originally a term used by Greek and Roman geographical/ethnographical writers to refer to certain peoples of the Arabian peninsula. The medieval image of “Saracens” in fact is a fusion of two traditions: biblical discourse on the “Ishmaelites”, descendants of Abraham’s illegitimate eldest son, and Roman discourse on marauding “Scenitae” or “Sarraceni” of the Arabian peninsula. This fusion is made well before the rise of Islam: we find it in Jerome. This talk will concentrate on the image of the Saracen/Ishmaelite in three Latin authors: Jerome, Isidore and Bede. We will see that the image of fierce Saracens found in Jerome is still quite operative in Bede and that the rise of Islam has not fundamentally altered it.

Abstract: The authors suggest to view the origins of Islam against the background of the 6th century AD Arabian socio-ecological crisis whose model is specified in the paper through the study of clima-tological, seismological, volcanological and epidemiological history of the period. Most socio-po-litical systems of the Arabs reacted to the socio-ecological crisis by getting rid of the rigid supra-tribal political structures (kingdoms and chiefdoms) which started posing a real threat to their very survival. The decades of fighting which led to the ...

"This paper results from the reassement of all the verses in the Koran mentioning the word water, as well as of those showing a terminological or conceptual relationship with this element, though not referring to it explicitly. Of the main fields of ritual, eschatology and cosmogony which convey an interest in water, our major concern will be the third one. Dealing with these crucial Islamic aspects from the point of view of cosmogony requires the research of the presence of water at the beginning of Creation and its relationship with God, its role in the origin of life and animals, as well as in human beginnings.

KEYWORDS: Islam, Koran, cosmogony, water, Creation

RESUMEN
El artículo es el resultado de una  revisión de todos los pasajes del Corán en los que aparece la palabra agua así como de los principales pasajes que tienen relación terminológica o conceptual con el agua aunque no utilicen esa misma palabra.  De los tres ámbitos que resultan de dicha revisión (ritual, escatología y cosmogonía),  el de mayor trascendencia y alcance simbólico e ideológico es el tercero, por lo que es el objetivo específico del artículo. Se abordan los principales aspectos de la cosmogonía islámica del agua: desde la presencia del agua en el inicio de la creación y su relación con Dios, hasta su papel en el origen del hombre pasando por su función en el origen de la vida y la creación de los animales.

PALABRAS CLAVE: islam, Corán, cosmogonía, agua, Creación"

Une quarantaine d'années après la conquête de Jérusalem par ‘Umar et une quinzaine d'années avant la construction du Dôme du Rocher par ‛Abd al-Malik, Arculfe, évêque des Gaules, fit un pèlerinage en Terre Sainte.  Il relata ses aventures à Adomnán, abbé d'Iona, qui écrivit par la suite un tract, De locis sanctis, où il cite abondamment Arculfe comme expert des lieux saints.  Le but d'Adomnán était de mieux connaître la topographie des lieux saints pour pouvoir mieux comprendre les sacra pagina.  Ce même motif poussa Bède le Vénérable, quelques décennies plus tard, à écrire son propre De locis sanctis, dans lequel il incorpore les informations d'Adomnán avec celles d'autres auteurs.
Ces deux textes De locis sanctis sont intéressants à plusieurs titres.  D'abord, ils conservent les impressions d'un chrétien occidental (et sans doute, jusqu'à un certain point, les impressions de ses interlocuteurs chrétiens orientaux) présent au Proche Orient à un moment clef de son histoire, peu après la conquête arabe, moment pour lequel les sources nous font cruellement défaut.  Si la description des lieux saints reste le but principal d'Arculfe, quelques passages ouvrent des perspectives intéressantes sur les interactions entre juifs, chrétiens et musulmans de Jérusalem lors du califat de Mu‘âwiya (661-680).  Deuxièmement, dans ces textes sont imbriqués plusieurs niveaux de "passages".  D'abord le déplacement d'un homme, Arculfe, qui fait le pèlerinage en Terre Sainte, séjourne neuf mois à Jérusalem, parle avec les habitants, surtout chrétiens;  puis (deuxième niveau) l'entretien entre Arculfe et Adomnán;  ensuite (troisième niveau), la composition par Adomnán de son texte et enfin (quatrième niveau), la réécriture de ce texte par Bède.  A chacun de ces niveaux, il y a un filtrage des informations et des témoignages pour les rendre aptes à être compris dans un système de pensée précis.  Au bout de cette chaîne de "passages", nous notons par exemple que le calife Mu‘âwiya s'est transformé en le bon roi chrétien Mavias, protecteur des chrétiens hiérosolymites face à leurs rivaux juifs.

This work is a pro-seminar work written by a student in the second year of the photography department at Bezalel, in the course "of Jerusalem during the British Mandate." During the course we discussed many issues related to the mandate by the knowledge of the history and the period (the company for Jerusalem, the blueprints Jerusalem, recognizing the central figures operating in Israel and abroad (Herbert Samuel, Ronald Storrs, Ashby, Kaufman, Mendelssohn, Harrison) Understanding traditions of construction and designs of architectural that have been changed almost every decade by changing perceptions of architects: the preservation of the existing (vernacular architecture and old traditions) to combine modernity which was a record at that time (local Bauhaus).

In the polemical literature against Judaism, it is stated that Islam is the last religion, Prophet Muhammad was foretold in the Bible, and the Bible is distorted. Among the authors of such works, there are many who embraced Islam from Jews and Christians. Through their works, these converts show Muslims how serious they are in embracing Islam. In this article, the treatise under the evaluation was first brought to the agenda in 1867 by Gustav Flügel (d. 1870). Flügel claimed that the author of the treatise was a Spanish or Moroccan convert Jew named Rakili. However, recent researches have revealed that Rakili is the name of the copyist and the author is an unknown Jew. Due to the Hebrew words in the text of the treatise, the author is thought to be a Jewish convert. The author of the treatise makes use of intensive quotations from Tanakh. However, it seems that the criticism of the treatise is not as strong as Ibn Hazm. The author also quotes from the Jewish oral tradition. Although the author is thought to be a Jewish convert, it is difficult to say that there is a very strong polemic of Judaism. Rather than showing that the Torah has been tampered with, using the passages of Tanakh, he wants to demonstrate that the Israelites went astray. In doing so, he tries to refute the Jewish claim of chosenness. Instead of stating that the Jews were not at the point of religious representation of God’s message, the author claims that Muhammad's followers were the addressees of this election. This method, which we occasionally encounter in other polemical treatises, appears as a much more intense and central agenda in this treatise. The most original aspect of this treatise at issue is the Ishmael-Isaac, Hagar-Sarah and Moses- Muhammad comparisons. The author insistently emphasizes that the chosen line is not the lineage of Isaac, but the lineage of Ishmael. As a natural consequence of this, he tries to prove that Muhammad is the greatest prophet to be obeyed and followed. What is interesting here is that the author, as a Jewish convert, tried to refute the idea of the chosennes of Jewish nation. According to him, there is an election not through Sarah and Isaac, but through Hagar and Ishmael. It is seen that those who have converted do such things both to prove their sincerity and to be accepted by Muslim administrators. The author’s glorifications of the Prophet Muhammad and his miracles by scorning Moses' miracles and Jewish ancestors can be described as an extreme attitude in this sense. The author also devotes a place to the subject of Biblical prophecies about the Prophet Muhammad. In this part, the author of the treatise stated that the gematria (abjad) value of some words in the Torah and the word Muhammad are equal. He claims that there are passages pointing to Muhammad. However, these passages are known in the polemical literature and are issues that were mentioned before the author. Apart from these widely known passages, there are some other passages he quoted. But these passages are also based on strained interpretations. Again, in some passages he quoted from Tanakh, it is seen that he was flexible and not loyal to the text. One of the points that the author dwells upon is the sins committed by the Israelites and the curses that were inflicted on them. The author of treatise supports this with passages different from Tanakh. Drawing attention to the fact that the Jews were cursed in their own books, which they consider sacred, the author tries to show that a nation so cursed cannot be a chosen people. The author, contrary to the Jews' expectation of the Messiah, points out that Jesus will come back, break the cross, kill the pig, and rule the earth. The writer, who reported the hadith that the Jews would be killed in the End Times, even reports that when the Jews hid behind the stones, the stones would say "There is a Jew behind me, come and kill". According to him, the time for Jews to repent has passed, because they could not take this opportunity by denying Muhammad either. The author has an interesting explanation as to why the hereafter and resurrection are not mentioned in the Torah. According to this claim, when God sent down the Torah to Moses, he ordered the Israelites to keep their orders and refrain from their prohibitions. Since God knows the hardness and stubbornness of the hearts of the Israelites, that most of them are devilish, engaged in magic and pagan cults, and prefer the world to the hereafter, he did not mention the issues such as heaven, hell, reward and punishment in the Torah. On the contrary, in many parts of the Torah, God said to them if you keep my orders, your sustenance will increase, your generation will increase, fertility will increase, and you will win victories over your enemies.

A Civil Society Deferred chronicles the socio-political history and development of violence in the Sudan and explores how it has crippled the state, retarded the development of a national identity, and ravaged the social and material life of its citizens. It offers the first detailed case studies of the development of both a colonial and postcolonial Sudanese state and grounds the violence that grips the country within the conflict between imperial rule and a resisting civil society. Abdullahi Gallab establishes his discussion around three forms of violence: decentralised (individual actors using targets as a means to express a particular grievance); centralised (violence enacted illegitimately by state actors); and ""home-brewed"" (violence among local actors toward other local actors). The Turkiyya, the Mahdiyya, the Anglo-Egyptian, and the postcolonial states have all taken each of these forms to a degree never before experienced. The same is true for the various social and political hierarchies in the country, the Islamists, and the opposing resistance groups and liberation movements. These dichotomies have led to the creation of a political centre that has sought to extend power and exploit the margins of Sudanese society. Drawing from academic, archival, and a variety of oral and written material, as well as personal experience, Gallab offers an original examination of identity and social formation in the region.

The verbal exchange between Noah and his people in the Qur’an. The verbal exchange between Noah and his people in the Qur’an will be discussed. Within the story of Noah one can see two often opposite worldviews: monotheism and polytheism. The talk will explore this verbal exchange compared to principles associated with dialogue theory (constructive exchange; turn taking, etc.)

"Society of Biblical Literature
2013 INTERNATIONAL MEETING
St. Andrews, Scotland

Biblical Characters in the Three Traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam)
7/08/2013
9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Room: Meeting Room 10 - MBS (17)
Mishael Caspi, Bates College, Presiding
Itzhak Benyimini, Tel Aviv University
A Knight of Faith or Laughter: On the Figure of Abraham in the Book of Genesis (25 min)
Gregory Jenks, St. Francis Theological College, Brisbane
Antipas and Phillip: Contenders for the Herodian Throne (25 min)
Donald Vance, Oral Roberts University
Ezra and the Taliban (25 min)
Break (30 min)
Azila Talit Reisenberger, University of Cape Town
The Man Who Protected His Mother’s Honor or Slighted His Father’s Honor? (25 min)
Sophia Magallanes, Azusa Pacific University
A Dreamer Among the Shepherds: Joseph as a Threat to Jacob’s Headship (Gen 37) (25 min)
Carol Bakhos, University of California-Los Angeles
The Sons of Abraham in Jewish, Christian and Muslim Internecine Debates (25 min)"

A Knight of Faith or Laughter: On the Figure of Abraham in the Book of Genesis
In this lecture I shall offer an interpretation of the chapters relating to the figure of Abraham, and particularly to the expression, “Go out of your land and your birthplace” (Gen 12:1). I will refer to the manner in which this Divine word is generally understood as a Divine command or demand, as a mission which Abraham must undergo perform as one in a series of tests, as well as to the perception of Abraham as the “knight of faith,” as understood by Kierkegaard in his book Fear and Trembling. I will suggest that this expression needs to be understood by means of a careful reading of that which is stated before and afterwards, in Chapters 11–13.

Retribution (keyfar) is one of the most important divine traditions that emphasizes the pursuit of action and punishment. It is the main human motive for adhering to religious laws. This tradition has been repeatedly mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. A good illustration of this is the story of disobedience Children of Israel in the command of the fight for entering the Holy Land that is mentioned in the Qur'an (Mā'ida: 20-26) as well as in the Torah (Numbers: Chapter 13-14). Analysis of this tradition via critical discourse method represents the application of an element of Jewish discourse and its new articulation as central signifier in the formation of religious-Islamic identity. Re-reading the divine tradition of retribution, relying on the verses of Surah Mā'ida, through textual analysis, discourse practice analysis and social practice analysis, shows how a sacred text plays a role in redefining religious concepts, organizing Muslim political and social identity, personification and identifying specific Islamic groups.