The Same God?

> Boris Havel: The Same God?

Why some Western Scholars of Religion Claim That Christians and Muslims Worship The Same God? by Boris Havel

Abstract those Orientalists’ approach. One is selectively disre- This article presents an introduction to the author’s garding individual features of Islam and the Prophet thesis that contemporary western mainstream Ori- Muhammad’s career, which are likely to be deemed entalism is often more concerned with presenting deplorable by many western readers. Another is the an apologetic picture of Islam, ad hoc designed to gullible acceptance of official Islamic narratives and serve current ideological and political trends and a lack of critical examination of their historicity. The needs, than with serving as academic discipline in main topic of this article, however, is the Orientalists’ which scholarly methods of research and customary frequent introductory argument in favor of the funda- critical approach to sources are applied. Due to an mental compatibility between Islam and Christianity, understandable and legitimate desire to reduce the inasmuch as the Muslims worship the same God as increasingly intense conflict with parts of the Islamic Christians. Notwithstanding the fact that “the same world, official policy in the West has staunchly sup- God” theory is the reverberation of Islamic dogma ported the Orientalists’ presentation of Islam as a re- found in the Koran 29:46, and that the Christian posi- ligion which is fully compatible with the tenets of tion on the issue is rarely discussed by the Oriental- Judeo-Christianity. Consequently, the most visible ists who promulgate it, the latter regularly present it contemporary scholars of Islam are those upholding not as Islamic creed, but as their own scholarly ex- and promoting this position in their studies. pert opinion, or even as a matter of common knowl- Several common elements can be distinguished in edge. The resulting peculiarity – religious instruction

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classified as objective scholarship and promoted by restated that “Muslims worship the same God who academia – even if carried out with the noble inten- is revered by Christians and Jews.”5 “Yes, of course, tion of reducing mistrust and clashes between the Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same two civilizations, in author’s view turns the wheel of God,” asserts Dr. Jack Miles, author of God: a Biog- progress of the western science in reverse. raphy, in an article published on the Internet.6 Karen Armstrong, a famous and prolific scholar Key Words: Western Orientalism, Islam, of religion, wrote that “…Muslims are Christianity, historicity, apology, com- John Esposito enjoined to respect Jews and Christians, parative religion, methods of research. explained that “Like the ‘People of the Book,’ who worship Jews and Chris- the same God.”7 Setting the scope of her The Same God of the Three Ab- tians, Muslims study in A History of God, Armstrong rahamic Religions wrote that she “deliberately confined Probably the “most visible”1 contem- worship the God [herself] to the One God worshiped by porary scholar of Islam and Orientalist2 of Abraham and Jews, Christians and Muslims...”8 Mont- John Esposito, in his book Islam: the Moses”. gomery Watt, author of renowned and Straight Path, explained that “Like Jews – within the western field of Islamic and Christians, Muslims worship the God of Abra- studies – possibly the most authoritative biographies ham and Moses,”3 and that theirs is “the same God.”4 of Muhammad,9 who has also been described as “the In World Religions in America, edited by Jacob Neu- greatest and one of the most influential living Islamic sner, professor of Religious Studies at the University scholars in Britain and, perhaps, the West,”10 had of South Florida, Esposito, in his chapter on Islam, suggested similar notions. In the chapter entitled In-

1 Pipes, Militant Islam Reaches America, 260 (Essay “Jihad and the Professors”). Following Pipes expression, I will use “visible” when referring to politically correct Orientalists often cited by media. 2 For the purpose of this article, Orientalist means any scholar of Asian, especially Middle Eastern civilizations. The following definition by Edward W. Said is helpful for understanding the term: “Anyone who teaches, writes about, or researches the Orient – and this applies whether the person is an anthro- pologist, sociologist, historian, or philologist – either in its specific or its general aspects, is an Orientalist, and what he or she does is Orientalism” (Said, Orientalism, 2). Contrary to Said’s application of the term, however, it carries no negative connotation in this study but is rather neutral. Also, Orientalist is used here as a broader term than Islamologist, or scholar of Islam, who also is an Orientalist. Most of the Orientalists to whom I will refer here are experts on Islam – be it in the field of religion, history or politics – and/or Judaism. 3 Esposito, Islam: the Straight Path, xiii 4 Esposito, Voices of Resurgent Islam, 3; see also: Esposito, Unholy War, 119 5 Neusner, World Religions in America: an Introduction, 243 (Essay “Islam in the World and in America”) 6 http://www.beliefnet.com/story/136/story_13658_1.html, accessed 17th of May 2004. The same article is followed by poll question: “Do Christians, Jews and Muslims worship the same God?” The answers were the following: Yes, they all worship the same God - 57%, Christians and Jews do, but Muslims do not - 24%, Muslims and Jews do, but Christians do not - 3%, Christians and Muslims do, but Jews do not - 1%, adherents of each faith worship a different God - 10%, I do not know - 6%. 7 “The True, Peaceful Face of Islam,” Time Magazine, October 1, 2001, emphasis added (see the whole article on www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101011001-175987,00.html, accessed November 1st, 2006). 8 Armstrong, A History of God, Introduction. 9 Watt is such a highly esteemed scholar of Islam that in parts of the English translation of al-Tabari’s History of Prophets and Kings which deal with Mu- hammad’s life, and which is a primary source on the subject, references are frequently made to Watt’s writings to clarify the text. 10 Ibn-Warraq, Why I Am Not a Muslim, 25

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fluence of Judaism and Christianity in his book Mu- In his classic opus Orientalism, in which he criti- hammad: Prophet and Statesman, the contention that cized the alleged western scholars’ derogatory view Islam stands within Judeo-Christian tradition can be on Islam, Edward W. Said claims that culturally, Is- found three times within sixteen pages.11 In The Ox- lam “lay […] close to Christianity” and that Islam ford Dictionary of Islam, the word Allah was defined “borrowed creatively from Christianity.”16 F. E. Pe- as “God. Worshiped by Muslims, Christians and ters, introduced as “one of the world’s leading au- Jews to the exclusion of all others.”12 The author pro- thorities on the monotheistic religions, professor of posed that Jews and Christians worship Allah, and Middle Eastern Studies and Religion at New York Oxford University Press, one of the most respectable University and past chairman of those departments,” European publishers in the field of aca- in his recently republished book on demic literature, published it in a volume Encyclopedia En- Judaism, Christianity and Islam entitled intended for educational use. carta explains The Children of Abraham, wrote the fol- Somewhat similar definition of the word lowing: Allah can be found in Justin Wintle’s His- “The Arabic name tory of Islam: “Allah would appear to be for God, Allah, “The monotheists not only worship one an amalgam of the Lord of Hosts of the refers to the same god; he is the same god for all. Whether Torah and the God of Love of the Chris- God worshiped called Yahweh or Elohim, God the Fa- tian New Testament; and, historically, ther or Allah, it is the selfsame deity who there is little question that this largely is by Jews and created the world out of nothing, who the case.”13 Encyclopedia Encarta ex- Christians. fashioned humankind in his own image, plains “The Arabic name for God, Allah, who made the covenant with Abraham refers to the same God worshiped by Jews and his progeny, and who subsequently and Christians.”14 intervened in human history to punish his enemies John M. Hobson, Professor of Politics and Interna- and chastise his friends, and to send instructions, tional Relations at the University of Sheffield, in his warnings, and encouragement to those who would eulogy to the grandeur of Middle Ages Islamic civili- listen. The divergent names are occasionally trou- zation, The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization, blesome, however, most notably the persistence of stated: “Islam and Christianity share much in com- the untranslated ‘Allah’ in Western languages, and mon. Muslims and Christians believe in one and the some Jews and Christians, and even some Muslims, same God. [...] It is also the case that both religions appear to think that they are worshiping different draw on Judaeo-Hellenic civilization...”15 gods.”17

11 Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, 39, 41, 55 12 Esposito, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, 16 13 Wintle, History of Islam, 10 14 Encarta 2004, article “Islam” Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe 2004, 15 Hobson, The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation, 108-109 16 Said, Orientalism, 74 17 Peters, The Children of Abraham - Judaism, Christianity, Islam, 1

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In another book Peters wrote that “The Quran’s Allah that “The Quran is a sacred book with profound is the same Creator God who covenanted with Abra- and familiar Old and New Testament resonances,”23 ham and dispatched the prophets to their tasks…”18 epitomizes the position of the visible and vocal ma- He concluded that “Jews, Christians and Muslims jority, Moshe Sharon, Professor of Islamic Studies not only worshiped the same God, they also showed at the Hebrew University, points that “Islam… has many, though by no means identical, ideas and as- very little to do with any actual texts of either the pirations, operated often in the same social and eco- Old or the New Testaments.”24 Another scholar of Is- nomic environment, and in certain times and in cer- lamic and Middle Eastern history, Professor Raphael tain places lived side by side within the same culture, Israeli, reached a similar conclusion: “Qur’an, the indistinguishable in language, costume Word of Allah, differs in many details and manners.”19 Moshe Sharon from the Old and New Testaments.”25 points that “Islam… Ignaz Goldziher, one of the founders An Issue Without Consensus has very little to of modern Orientalism, pointed out that The notion that the “Abrahamic family do with any actual “Were Islam to keep strictly to the testi- of Jews, Christians and Muslims,”20 of mony of history, there is one thing with which “Islam had the advantage of be- texts of either the which it could not provide the faithful ing the youngest,”21 constitutes a cultur- Old or the New in their moral journey through life: an ally, ethically and religiously adjacent Testaments.” imitation of Muhammad.”26 Ibn War- body which points to the same God, is raq, author and editor of several books shared by the majority of visible contemporary west- about sources and contemporary influences of Islam, ern Orientalists.22 Other scholars of Orient, masters wrote that Islam is “[…] the most anti-Christian of of their field, but far less visible in public, hold dif- religions…”27 Nineteenth-century Scottish Oriental- ferent views. They generally refrain from frivolous ist William Muir’s words are even more astounding: comments on who among monotheists might and “The sword of Mahomet, and the Coran, are the most who might not worship the same deity, but they do fatal enemies of Civilization, Liberty, and Truth, comment on topics for which methods of research which the world has yet known.”28 are at scholar’s disposal. While F. E. Peters’ claim How is it that visible Orientalists argue that Chris-

18 Peters, Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians, 4-5 19 Ibid. xii 20 Duran, Children of Abraham: an introduction to Islam for Jews, xiii 21 McAuliffe, The Cambridge Companion to the Qur’an, 296 22 To this group should also be added theologians and scholars who support the so-called “pluralist approach to the world’s religions” (see McGrath, The Christian Theology Reader, 591). One of their most famous contemporary representatives is John Hick. 23 Peters, Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians, xii 24 Sharon, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Interaction and Conflict, 74 25 Israeli, Islamikaze: Manifestations of Islamic Martyrology, 46 26 Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, 20-21 27 Ibn-Warraq, The Quest for the Historical Muhammad, 20 28 Muir, Life of Mahomet, 322

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tianity and Islam stand so close that they even wor- place for disagreement; it would appear rude to raise ship the same God, while other scholars, some of the question of method, objectivity, doctrine and pur- them long before Samuel Huntington, perceived a pose against those noble objectives. civilizational clash between the two?29 Considering To be sure, inter-religious peace, dialogue, and mu- the ever increasing interaction of the Western and tual respect are noble and praiseworthy objectives in- Islamic world, and its significance to many areas deed. What is more, even regardless of the objectives’ (social, economic, religious, political, security etc.), nobleness, anyone’s right to promote any intellectual, the relevance of the topic is palpable. This article ideological or religious theories, provided they do not presents an introduction to methodological issues jeopardize lives and property, is a fundamental legacy and political implications of the visible Orientalists’ of our civilization. Any opinion about this or that dei- argument. ty’s nature is legitimate. However, when Their claim about scholars promote a highly controversial The Problem of Method ’the same God’ is thesis as a scholarly induced conclusion, As we have briefly addressed above, often formulated as the issue at stake is not their entitlement many visible western Orientalists’ views an axiomatic, self to an opinion but the use of academia to about proximity of Christianity and Is- promote an opinion which is not reached lam are not shared by other experts in the evident fact, and a through customary methods of academic field. Theological, axiological, civiliza- matter of common research. Indeed, modern scholarship tional and other compatibility of the two knowledge. Not, as has no tool or method to verify or falsify religions is not an issue on which consen- it would be more claims about the nature of a spiritual be- sus was reached. And yet, those Oriental- ing. This epistemological blind alley has ists who argue that the God of the Bible appropriate, as a been bypassed by the Orientalists inter and Allah are one and the same deity, hypothesis or an av- alia through application of three princi- state their claim as if there is no alterna- ant-garde theory. ples, or three postulates on which visible tive to their view. Their claim about “the western Orientalism rests. Those can be same God” is often formulated as an axiomatic, self discerned in most Orientalist writings, in which God evident fact, and a matter of common knowledge. of the Bible and God of the Koran are equaled, and Not, as it would be more appropriate, as a hypothesis axiological, theological and civilizational proximity or an avant-garde theory which consequently must be of Christianity and Islam accentuated. supported by arguments. In addition, it is often pre- sented in some emotional, inspiring context in which Postulate One: Ignoring the Bible the main topic is pleading for inter-religious peace, To begin with, in most articles and books written by dialogue and mutual respect. As such, it leaves no the Orientalists, the topic centers upon beliefs, laws,

29 Note that Huntington does not argue that western civilization’s problem is “Islamic fundamentalism,” but rather Islam itself (Huntington, Clash of Civilizations, 217).

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civilization and/or history of Islam – not on compara- into a promotional campaign. Again, while recogniz- tive religion. The assessment of whether or not Allah ing a person’s right to promote whatever views he or is the same deity as the God of the Bible is not really she considers as positive and inspired, selling such the issue – it is a digression from the issue. There material as work of scholarship and using it for edu- is no need or reason to address it from an analytic, cational purposes is unacceptable. non-religious point of view. To clarify the absurdity of that assessment in this context, I should like to Postulate Two: Selection and Adapta- ask the reader when he/she has last read a book on tion Christianity in which that same issue was discussed. The second postulate refers to visible Orientalists’ Most likely never – a book on Christian- inconsistency in their retelling stories ity will no more discuss the nature of Al- Not only is the rele- about Islam and its main characters, as lah than of any other supernatural being vance of comparati- recorded in Islamic primary sources. not mentioned in the Bible, from Mani- ve statements about Very often they portray a selective, in- tou to E.T. Allah problematic, complete and modified picture. Upon ex- Not only is the relevance of compara- amination of the selection of aspects and tive statements about Allah problematic, but it often involves episodes of Islam that the visible Orien- but it often involves a gross methodologi- a gross methodolo- talists choose to include or exclude, and cal absurdity. Namely, since the topic is gical absurdity. of Islamic texts themselves, it becomes Islam and not comparative religion, Ori- clear that the picture of Islam which they entalists swiftly ignore the Bible and the position of present is often apologetic and at times, even false. Christian theologians on the issue, and only present They often completely ignore those episodes and fea- the Islamic view. It is clear that explaining that Islam tures within Islam, particularly the ones connected claims it worships the same God as Jews and Chris- with the Prophet Muhammad’s life and career, which tians is very relevant for understanding Islam, even are likely to be regarded as gross or bizarre by west- outside of a comparative context. However, when ern readers. The gross and bizarre episodes, which Orientalists claim that Muslims worship (not that they for some reason cannot be ignored, are often toned believe, they worship) the same God as Christians down and accompanied by apologetic interpretations and Jews, and their claim appears within the narra- designed ad hoc for the twentieth/twenty first centu- tive about Islam alone, then the work they produce ry western reader. If Orientalists ever decide to place is not only an analysis of Islam but also an evalua- the blame on something or someone for the obvious- tion of Islam through confirmation of one of its basic ly reproachable episodes in Islamic history, then they doctrines. The purpose of such an affirmative evalu- ascribe it to the age in which that particular episode ation – and at times Orientalists admit this – results happened, to a wider historical setting (Crusades, co- in the rapprochement of the western reader to Islam, lonialism etc.), or to some individual who has, as the even if the reader is often initially mistrustful or even Orientalists singlehandedly decide, misunderstood or adverse toward it. Such an objective turns their work misused the religion of Islam. Montgomery Watt, in

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his volume Muhammad at Medina, in which he men- accordance with the Islamic sources. At the same tioned quite a few such incidents committed by the time, those very same sources were regularly listed Prophet, devoted an entire chapter to refuting “alle- in their bibliographies. For example, addressing the gations… that Muhammad was morally defective.”30 event in which Prophet Muhammad beheaded Jews Similarly, Karen Armstrong upon telling how seven of Banu Qurayza himself, as recorded by Ibn Ishaq’s hundred men of the Jewish tribe in Medina were ex- Sirat Rasul Allah;36 Montgomery Watt wrote that ecuted by Muhammad’s order, commented that “The “The majority of the executions… were probably massacre of the Qurayzah was a horri- carried out by Emigrants.”37 Even Ber- ble incident, but it would be a mistake I have never found a nard Lewis, who cannot be regarded as to judge it by the standards of our own book by Orientalist apologist of Islam, in his book Arabs in time.”31 who supports “the History, simply writes that “The men [of Examples of Orientalists’ adaptation Banu Qurayza], according to the Sira, same God” theory, of Islam to the taste of western readers were put to death; the women and chil- at the expense of what Islamic sources in which those dren sold into slavery.”38 actually say include omitting the primary events were retold This point becomes particularly sur- sources’ reports about how the Prophet in accordance with prising when we compare contemporary Muhammad killed Jews and Arabs per- Orientalists’ histories with those written the Islamic sources. sonally or by proxy,32 had people tortured by the pioneers of western Orientalism for information about treasure they hid,33 such as Sir William Muir (1819-1905), married his daughter-in-law after having his adopted Theodor Nöldeke (1836-1930), Ignaz Goldziher son divorce her,34 or “consummated marriage” with a (1850-1921), William St. Clair Tisdall (1859-1928) nine year-old when he was fifty-three.35 I have never or Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936). All of found a book by Orientalist who supports “the same them had a personal viewpoint toward the religion God” theory, in which those events were retold in of Islam,39 as do contemporary scholars.40 Whatever

30 Watt, Muhammad at Medina, 324-334, chapter entitled The Alleged Moral Failures. One of Watt’s arguments as to why Muhammad’s actions, which included “mass execution,” were not immoral was that “They [Arabs] had no concept of a universal moral law” (p. 327). 31 Armstrong, Islam: A Short History, 21 32 Guillaume, Life of Muhammad, 369, 464, 482, 515, 597, 619, 659-678 etc. 33 Ibid. 515 34 Ibid. 793, cf. Koran 33:37 35 Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk), 128 (vol. IX), see also translator Poonawala’s footnote 877. See also Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk), 6-7 (VOL VII) and Guillaume, Life of Muhammad, 792 36 Guillaume, Life of Muhammad, 464 37 Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, 174. At the end of the book, under “Note on the Sources,” Ibn Ishak’s Sira is, after the Koran, the first primary source listed. In Muhammad at Medina, where it relates to the same event, Watt only writes that “This sentence [that the men of Banu Qurayza should be killed] was duly carried out, apparently on the following day.” (p. 214). 38 Lewis, The Arabs in History, 42, emphasis added. 39 William Tisdall was Christian minister and missionary to the Muslims, while Ignaz Goldziher, of Jewish origin, cherished “deep feeling of sympathy with Islam, and of kinship with the Muslims”, in Bernard Lewis’ words (Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, ix (Introduction by B. Lewis) 40 It is worthwhile to mention H.A.R. Gibb’s Preface to the First Edition of his Islam: A Historical Survey, in which he writes the following: “Most writers

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it was, it was not usually forced upon the reader at departed from the “descriptive” approach and dem- the expense of a scholarly presentation of Islamic onstrated that through critical analyses of Islamic sources. It would, of course, be unwise to idealize tradition and research in alternative sources, it is pos- those nineteenth and early twentieth century Ori- sible to challenge almost all of the most fundamen- entalists and claim that they had the final word on tal premises of Islam, including even its name or the research and presentation of Islam in the West. But year of Muhammad’s death. Patricia Crone, in the when looking at them from today’s perspective, it introduction to her later volume, Slaves on Horses, is hard not to discern an absence of systematic se- explains that contrary to Hagarism, that work was lectiveness in their work when it came Yet, reality is quite “squarely based” upon Islamic tradition to what should be included or excluded and referred to such an approach as an from the Islamic sources in order to ad- different: most of “apparent lack of historiographical mo- just the presentations to ideologies which the early Islamic rality.”43 are unrelated to scholarship. history, and practi- Contrary to Patricia Crone, visible Ori- cally the whole of entalists, when applying descriptive ap- Postulate Three: Uncritical proach, do not explain it as such. A fairly Adoption of Islamic History the Prophet’s life, uninformed reader is left without pros- and Creed are much obscured pect to fathom the scope of historical un- The third postulate upon which visible to historical scru- reliability of Islamic traditional accounts Orientalists’ works rest is an uncritical regarding Muhammad’s prophetic and tiny. adoption of official Islamic historiogra- military career and the years immediate- phy, and an acceptance of Islamic beliefs and sacred ly following. Rather, the impression which Watt’s, tradition as if they were historical facts. In his analysis Esposito’s or Armstrong’s accounts leave is that they of Orientalists’ approaches to early Islamic sources, are relating events about which we know as much Fred Donner called such an approach “descriptive”41 about as Napoleon’s or Robert E. Lee’s campaigns. and explains that “serious students of Islamic origins Yet, reality is quite different: most of the early Is- began to challenge it over a century ago.”42Some thir- lamic history, and practically the whole of the Proph- ty years ago, Orientalists Michael Cook and Patricia et’s life, are much obscured to historical scrutiny.44 Crone wrote a much appreciated, albeit somewhat Narratives of the formative Islamic periods present controversial volume entitled Hagarism: The Mak- history founded on Islamic sacred traditions, which ing of the Islamic World. In Hagarism, they sharply Moshe Sharon calls Heiligen Geschichte,45 and not approach the subject of Mohammedanism from one or other of two opposed points of view, neither of which is free from conscious prejudgement nor fully adjusted to the prevailing intellectual climate. The one group approaches from the angle of apologetic, the other de haut en bas.” (Gibb, Islam, v-vi). 41 Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins, 5. The other approaches in his classification are “source-critical” (p. 9), “tradition-critical” (p. 13) and “skeptical” (p. 20). 42 Donner, Narratives of Islamic Origins, 8 43 Crone, Slaves on Horses: the Evolution of the Islamic Polity, 3 44 See F.E. Peters’ article Peters, The Quest of the Historical Muhammad, 298 45 Sharon, The Decisive Battles in the Arab Conquest of Syria, 311

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on verifiable historical events. This, of course, does Islamic history by Sunni Muslims.49 Islamic tradi- not necessarily mean that sacred tradition and events tion presents him as mighty ruler who, riding a white do not sometimes overlap – they most probably camel, subdued Jerusalem to Islamic rule, whereupon sometimes do. The problem is that the Orientalists he restored worship on the Temple Mount.50 Follow- hardly ever indicate whether their narrative is based ing is Karen Armstrong’s account of that story in her on sacred tradition or on somewhat more verifiable book on the history of Crusades, Holy War: information. Scarcity of non-Islamic, anti-Islamic, heretical or “apocryphal” accounts from early Islam- “The Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem mounted on ic history has undoubtedly contributed to a white camel, escorted by the mag- such uncritical acceptance of almost only The problem is that istrate of the city, the Greek Patriarch material available: official Islamic tradi- the Orientalists Sophronius. The Caliph asked to be tak- tion.46 Traditional Islamic accounts are en immediately to the Temple Mount and often the only accounts available dating hardly ever indicate there he knelt in prayer on the spot where back to that formative period, and these whether their nar- his friend Mohammed had made his grounds could partially justify their rep- rative is based on Night Journey. The Patriarch watched etition by Orientalists, though not lack sacred tradition or in horror: this, he thought, must be the of discussion of the issue in academic Abomination of Desolation that the writings. Non-existence of alternative on somewhat Prophet Daniel had foretold would enter historical sources about important events more verifiable the Temple; this must be Antichrist who in which according to the sacred tradition information. would herald the Last Days. Next Omar hundreds and thousands of protagonists asked to see the Christian shrines and, participated should be enough to prompt while he was in the Church of the Holy an inquiring historian toward a critical evaluation of Sepulchre, the time for Muslim prayer came round. the existing narrative.47 An example of such sacred Courteously the Patriarch invited him to pray where tradition can be found in Islamic stories about caliph he was, but Omar as courteously refused. If he knelt Omar’s campaign in Palestine. to pray in the church, he explained, the Muslims would want to commemorate the event by erecting a Jerusalem Conquered by Omar Seated mosque there, and that would mean that they would on the White Camel have to demolish the Holy Sepulchre. Instead Omar Caliph Omar48 (634-644) was the second of the four went to pray at a little distance from the church, and, rashidun caliphs, regarded as the most important in sure enough, directly opposite the Holy Sepulchre 46 As J. Wansbrough puts it: “Bereft of archaeological witness and hardly attested in pre-Islamic Arabic or external sources, the seventh-century Hijaz owes its historiographical existence almost entirely to the creative endeavour of Muslim and Orientalist scholarship” (Berg, Method and Theory in the Study of Islamic Origins, 6; article: Res Ipsa Loquitur: History and Mimesis). 47 Moshe Sharon’s above mentioned article The Decisive Battles in the Arab Conquest of Syria is a masterpiece on the topic. 48 Alternative spelling as found in some cited sources is Umar. 49 Shia Muslims regard Ali ibn Abu Talib, the fourth caliph, as the only legitimate successor of the Prophet. 50 Justin Wintle in his History of Islam, writes that in the year 638 “Caliph Umar travels to Jerusalem, where he prays to Allah on the Temple Mount…” (p. 51).

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there is still a small mosque dedicated to the Caliph have nothing to do with verifiable history. Myriam Omar. Rosen-Alayon, Professor of Islamic Art and Arche- The other great mosque of Omar was erected on ology, wrote about the first years of Muslim rule in the Temple Mount to mark the Muslim conquest, to- Jerusalem: gether with the mosque al-Aqsa which commemo- rates Mohammed’s Night Journey. For years, the “Though much has been written of this chapter of Christians had used to the site of the ruined Jewish history, a great deal is apocryphal and very little has Temple as the city rubbish dump. The Caliph helped been proven on a solid basis.”54 his Muslims to clear the garbage with his own hands and there Muslims raised their two shrines The Orientalist Shlomo Dov Goitein to establish Islam in the third most holy Though much (1900-1985), who wrote extensively city in the Islamic world.”51 has been about religious institutions of Islam and written of this Jewish-Arab interactions through his- Encyclopedia Britannica offers a similar chapter of history, tory, explained the following: sequence of events: a great deal is “It is no wonder that the seminal his- “On visiting the Temple area and finding apocryphal and torical turning point represented by the the place suffering from neglect, ‘Umar very little has transfer of the Holy City from Christian and his followers cleaned it with their ownership to Muslim control prompted been proven on a own hands and declared it a sacred place an historical tendency that increased of prayer.”52 solid basis. in later generations. It embellished the conquest by the Arabs with legends and And so does Steven Runciman, a prominent historian imaginary stories, according to which only the most of the Crusades: illustrious military figures had been engaged in the various stages of the conquest. When the city was “On a February day in the year ad 638 the Cal- about to fall, the residents insisted Caliph ‘Umar iph Omar entered Jerusalem, riding upon a white himself come from distant Arabia so that the city camel. […] At his side was Patriarch Sopronius, as could be handed over to him, as it is written: ‘And chief magistrate of the surrendered city. Omar rode Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one’ (Isaiah 10:34), straight to the site of the Temple of Solomon, whence ‘and Jerusalem is not handed over other than to a his friend Mahomet had ascended into Heaven.”53 king who is fit to be called a mighty one’ (B Gittin, 56b). On the basis of these legends, we can accom- Picturesque and beautiful as these accounts are, they pany ‘Umar as he entered the city, hear what was said

51 Armstrong, Holy War, 30-31 52 Article: Palestine - History of - the Rise of Islam 53 Runciman, A History of the Crusades, 3 (vol. I) 54 Myriam Rosen-Alayon, “The Temple Mount in Umayyad Times” quoted in: Sapir, Historical Geography of Jerusalem through the Ages, 226

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by and to him, learn details of his covenant with the political and religious leadership with a rival caliph local people, and so on. In reality, due to the minimal from Mecca, ‘Abd-Allah ibn al-Zubayr (624-692).56 strategic and administrative importance of the city, By the time the work on the mosque began, Omar very little reliable information has remained about had been dead for decades.57 The mosques on the the course of the conquest and the first centuries Temple Mount were not built because Jerusalem was of Jerusalem under Muslim rule. Mujir ad-Din, the the third holy place of Islam, as Armstrong implies. most important Arab historian of Jerusalem, writing Jerusalem was only definitively recognized by the in the year 1494-95, comments justly (Pt. 1, p. 6) that Islamic community as the third holy place of Islam everything written about this period concentrated on after the eighth century,58 i.e. after the mosques had such subjects as ‘Praises of Jerusalem’, been built. ‘Umar’s conquest, building the Dome of The only piece of The story of Omar’s conquest of Je- the Rock, and the scholars who had lived accurate history rusalem can be found in Tabari’s mar- in or visited the city – ‘all of which is of velous opus History of Prophets and contained little benefit,’ while nothing of substance Kings.59 Tabari (838-923), in a very short had been written about the history of Je- in Armstrong’s account, described how Christian Jerusa- rusalem.”55 account is the lem was besieged by Muslim forces, how information that Christians pleaded for a treaty which Indeed, there is no historical evidence they were only willing to make with the the Christians of whatsoever that Omar has ever entered caliph, and how Omar came all the way Jerusalem “on a white camel,” that he the time used from Medina to arrange it (p. 190). The ever cleaned the Temple Mount “with the Temple Mount story is marked by messianic insinuations, his own hands”, prayed on the Temple as a rubbish such as prophecies about Omar’s conquest Mount or built anything there. In fact, of Jerusalem and the struggle at the gate of Omar has most probably never been in dump. Lydda, calling him “Faruq” (Savior), “the the Holy Land at all. The only piece of master of Jerusalem” (p. 189), as well as accurate history contained in Armstrong’s account is his granting of sovereign peace to Jerusalem and its the information that the Christians of the time used inhabitants (pp. 190-191), a five centuries-old proph- the Temple Mount as a rubbish dump. The Dome of ecy of his deeds (p. 196), his coming from Syria on the Rock shrine on the Temple Mount was erected a donkey (188) etc. Tabari’s account also contains some fifty years after Muslims captured Jerusalem in some glaring historical errors, such as his claim that, 638 ad. It was built by the Syrian ruler, caliph ‘Abd along with Jerusalem, Muslims also captured the city al-Malik ibn Marwan (646-705), who competed for of Ramlah (founded in 716 ad), or that the Byzantines

55 Shlomo D. Goitein, “Jerusalem in the Arab Period (638-1099)” quoted in: Sapir, Historical Geography of Jerusalem through the Ages, 213 56 On forging traditions and hadith about Jerusalem by Umayyad rulers, see: Goldziher, Muslim Studies, 44-46 57 Dome of the Rock was built ca 685-691, and the Al-Aksa Mosque somewhat later, by caliph Al-Walid (705-715) 58 Cf. M.J. Kister’s essay “You Shall Only Set Out for Three Mosques” (Kister, Studies in Jahiliyya and Early Islam, 173-196). 59 Al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-rusul wa’l-muluk), 189-199 (vol. XII).

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destroyed the Jewish Temple. Somewhat puzzling is by-name was not of course left unglossed in the Is- Tabari’s account of Omar coming to Jerusalem and lamic tradition.”61 approaching “the gate of the mosque” (p. 194). My impression of Tabari’s account is that he want- Both before and after the Arab Conquest, practically ed to get through it as rapidly as possible. Namely, until the time of the Crusades, Jerusalem was a mar- despite the fact that the story is of major significance ginal, provincial town, of little importance to Roman, for later Islamic tradition, it takes up only a small Byzantine, or Muslim governments. Since the Sec- section of Tabari’s otherwise huge opus.60 Its few ond Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 ad pages contain surprisingly little relevant information, (not by the Byzantines who, of course, did not exist at particularly when compared to other ac- the time), and especially after Bar-Kokh- counts whose historicity is more sustain- Both before and ba’s revolt (132-135), when almost all of able but whose significance in Islamic after the Arab Con- the Jews were killed or expelled from the narrative is far inferior to Omar’s alleged quest, practically area, Jerusalem sank deep into insignifi- conquest of Jerusalem. Apparently, lack- until the time of the cance, and was only partially restored in ing solid historical data for the Jerusalem the Fourth Century ad by St. Helena’s episode, which of course could not be Crusades, Jerusa- religious archeological exploration. Sub- ignored altogether, Tabari described tra- lem was a marginal, sequent scarce pilgrimages to the site of ditions which originated from a later Is- provincial town, of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection did lamic period. To regard caliph Omar as a not significantly increase the political little importance. messianic figure is such a tradition – and and administrative importance of Jeru- a victorious entrance into Jerusalem is salem: at the time, the regional capital sine qua non for anybody with messianic claims. of the Byzantines was the coastal town of Caesarea. Crone and Cook, in their famous book Hagarism, Muslim conquest did not bring much change to its highlighted that particular phenomenon – how an status either: the Arabs built a new capital, Ramlah. early source viewed Omar as a messiah. Jerusalem lingered on for centuries as a provincial, peripheral town somewhere in the expanding Islamic “[…] Islamic tradition […] incidentally reveals to us Empire, a city whose ancient glory was long gone the identity of the messiah himself: ‘Umar, the sec- and forgotten. Few caliphs ever bothered to visit it. If ond caliph of the Islamic schema retains even there Omar indeed took the trouble to travel over one thou- the messianic designation al-faruq, the Redeemer. At sand kilometers from Mecca to Jerusalem in order the same time his entry into Jerusalem is an appropri- to enter the city triumphantly on a white camel and ate performance in his role, while the ‘Secrets’ would to pray on its Holy Mountain, why did later Muslim seem to have him engage in the equally messianic authorities neglect the place, except briefly, when task of restoring the Temple. ‘Umar’s embarrassing they found it politically convenient to erect a rival

60 Forty books in its English translation. 61 Crone, Hagarism, 5

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mosque? The answer is rather simple: Muslim con- into consideration.63 A posteriori linking of Omar querors did not attribute much significance to Jerusa- with Jerusalem retroactively increased the signifi- lem. The city was not conquered by Omar, and when cance of the both of them.64 it was conquered, its conquest was not viewed as a When factual history is considered, Jerusalem was major event. Any claim to the contrary is retelling of a city holy only to Jews, and later to Christians. King story of a later tradition, without much support from David conquered it and ruled there. Solomon built the verifiable history. First Temple in it, which was destroyed by the Ba- The fact that Jerusalem, during the first years of bylonians 586 bc. Returnees from Babylon restored Islam, was not a city of particular importance for it and built the Second Temple, which king Herod the Muslims could also be concluded by its absence (37-4 bc) expanded. Hundreds of stones from that from the Muslim holy book: the city is temple’s compound are still visible in Je- not even mentioned in the Koran. It is The fact that rusalem. When Jesus preached and was not mentioned in the story about Mu- Jerusalem, during crucified there, Jerusalem had been the hammad’s night journey and ascension the first years of center of Jewish cultural, political and re- to heaven, which supposedly happened Islam, was not a ligious life for a millennium. The Church from Jerusalem. It was only later inter- was born in it. All these are historical pretations, more instigated by politics city of particular facts and can be researched and appreci- than by belief, which introduced the city importance for the ated outside of the sphere of religious or as one of the holiest sites of Islam. Its re- Muslims could also the supernatural. To Jews and Christians, 62 ligious significance grew in history as be concluded by Jerusalem’s importance is based upon conflicts of Islam intensified: first within factual history; to Muslims, Jerusalem’s the Muslim community itself, later with its absence from importance is based upon sacred tradi- the Christians, and finally with the Zion- the Muslim holy tion. Nothing of significance for Islam ist Jews. The aspect of proportionality book. happened in Jerusalem prior to ‘Abd between the level of political and territo- al-Malik’s rule. However, after reading rial conflict and the level of the religious significance Armstrong’s words “The Caliph helped his Muslims of Jerusalem is particularly interesting when a con- to clear the garbage with his own hands and there siderable amount of the hadith and tradition dating Muslims raised their two shrines to establish Islam back to the first century of the Muslim era, during in the third most holy city in the Islamic world,” one which Jerusalem’s significance for Islamic commu- can be misled into believing that Jerusalem was part nity was minimized or ignored altogether, is taken of Islamic factual history and played a crucial role

62 Cf. Busse, The Sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam, 441 63 M.J. Kister in his essay “You Shall Only Set Out For Three Mosques” (Kister, Studies in Jahiliyya and Early Islam, 173-196), presents a brief and interesting study of the early Islamic tradition regarding Jerusalem. See also articles by Heribert Busse: “Omar b. al-Hattab in Jerusalem,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 5. 1984, 73-119, “Omar’s Image as Conqueror of Jerusalem,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 8. 1986, 149-68 and “The Sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam,” Judaism 17. 1968, 441-68. 64 Busse, The Sanctity of Jerusalem in Islam, 446-447

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in shaping Muslim religious identity. Surprising as Indeed, at times, in some places within the Islamic this may sound, Armstrong’s description of the event empire, some minorities enjoyed life without much is not a historical narrative. It is a western scholar’s fear and insecurity. It is also true that some groups, recitation of Islam’s sacred tradition. The narrative notably heretical Christian sects and Jews, were at turns from the sacred and becomes factual by virtue times more harshly persecuted by Christians than by of Armstrong’s office: she lectures her reader as his- Muslims. At times, the Jews also found refuge from torian of religion, not as believer in Islamic tradition. Christian persecution in Muslim lands, as they did in But, which one is she in reality? 1492 when they were expelled from Spain and some were permitted to settle within the Turkish domain. Purposeful Confusion of Tradi- One particularly These facts, however, cannot eradicate tion and History centuries of harsh treatment of kafirs and One particularly interesting field of his- interesting the dhimmi peoples; treatment which in- tory, where Orientalists adopted Islamic field of history, cluded conquering their territory through position in spite of the overwhelming where Orientalists jihad, and their subsequent economic contradictory pieces of evidence, con- adopted Islamic exploitation, legally prescribed humilia- cerns the myth of Islamic tolerance to- tions, random assaults, drastic limitations ward Jews and Christians under Mus- position ... concerns of freedom of worship, enforced conver- lim political rule. While Watt, Esposito, the myth of Islamic sions to Islam, enslavement, imprison- Armstrong and many other contempo- tolerance toward ment, abuse of women, abduction of rary scholars praise the Islamic empire children and killing. Most of these meas- Jews and Christi- for its tolerance toward minorities in its ures of oppression are part of the Proph- midst, early Islamic sources speak of a ans under Muslim et’s Sunna and caliph Omar’s legislation. complete eradication from Hejaz of all political rule. Jihad, which is a permanent state of af- religions except for Islam – whether by fair between Dar al-Harb and Dar al-Is- conversion, expulsion or death. Mu- lam, has been one of the most important hammad’s very last instruction was “Let not two Muslim obligations from the earliest Islamic period. religions be left in the Arabian peninsula.”65 The There is even a hadith which states “The jihad is the Prophet’s command has been carried out throughout peak of religion.”66 Copts, Greeks, Serbs, Armenians, history, up to the present day. Some aspects of Mus- Mizrachi Jews are only some of the nations whose lim maltreatment in many parts of Islamic empire, national memory is full of stories of religiously moti- to which adherents of other religions were subjected vated violence they suffered at the hands of Muslims. in the subsequent centuries, are well documented. Yet, reading Esposito’s or Armstrong’s histories,

65 Guillaume, Life of Muhammad, 689; Cf. Lewis, The Crisis of Islam, xxvii 66 Khadduri, War and Peace in the Law of Islam, 49. Majid Khadduri explained that one of the reasons that jihad is not one of the pillars of Islam (along with shahada, prayer, fasting, almsgiving and hajj) is its temporary nature: it will last only until Dar al-Harb is subdued and incorporated into Dar al-Islam (p. 141).

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one often gets impression that an idyllic relation- Another political application of Orientalists’ un- ship existed between Muslim rulers and their dhimmi critical acceptance of Islamic traditions can be found subjects. Esposito smoothly wrote that compared to in the conflict of Muslims and Jews over the city of Christianity “…Islam proved more tolerant and pro- Jerusalem. As a result of academic transfiguration of vided greater religious freedom for Jews and indig- Islamic sacred tradition into factual history, western enous Christians…”67 Such a statement, here uttered analysts and historians, in comparing Jewish and as general theory without a geographical Muslim claims over Jerusalem, often and temporal framework, is a blatant ex- As previously compare the incomparable: tradition with ample of Islamo-apologetic, politically discussed, Jewish facts. They put Islamic sacred tradition correct fabrication, void of shared points historical claims alongside Jewish history, and then draw with history as an academic discipline in conclusions based on the premise that either method or conclusion.68 over Jerusalem are the claims of both sides are of equal his- Islamo-apologetic Orientalism existed historically groun- torical and factual value. They treat con- even before Armstrong and Esposito’s ded and researcha- temporary political claims of both sides campaign. Today, however, it is gaining ble, whereas Islamic equally despite the fact that, if historicity shape of a structured academic move- is of any value, they are not quite equal. ment with a political mission and ap- historical claims As previously discussed, Jewish histori- plication. A piece of it is outlined in the are not. cal claims over Jerusalem are historical- Recommendation 1162 of the Council of ly grounded and researchable, whereas Europe,69 which points that “Islam is too often per- Islamic historical claims are not. Once that this fact ceived in Europe as incompatible with the principles had been marginalized by scholars, then journalists, which are at the basis of modem European society politicians and diplomats forged their reports, analy- (which is essentially secular and democratic) and of ses and peace plans upon rather a twisted and inaccu- European ethics (human rights and freedom of ex- rate picture. Under the intellectual auspices of many pression),” and calls for presentation of a different of those Orientalists, the media and educational insti- picture of Islam in the field of education. Whereas tutions present the picture of King Solomon building such picture is not objective but ideologically moti- the Temple in Jerusalem (fact), its destruction at the vated, and presents Islam as it demands to be present- hands of Romans (fact), and Omar rebuilding it (tra- ed, some authors have pointed that Europe is being dition). We can read about Jews praying in Jerusalem subject to “intellectual censorship” and is suing for (natural event), Jesus trial and Passion in Jerusalem peace and security of the dhimmi status.70 (natural event), and Muhammad ascending to heaven

67 Esposito, Unholy War, 121 (Chapter: Where Do We Go from Here? in which Esposito discusses future of Christian-Muslim relations in the aftermath of 9/11) 68 An excellent introduction to the topic of Jewish and Christian situation under the Islamic rule can be found in Ye’or, Islam and Dhimmitude, 2001. 69 Recommendation 1162 (1991) on the contribution of the Islamic civilization to European culture. See also: Resolution on Islam and European Averroës Day (Official Journal C 313, 12/10/1998 P. 0104). 70 Ye’or, Eurabia, 265, 269

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from Jerusalem (tradition/supernatural event). Even the incommensurable. Muhammad’s “mystic night historians who cannot be charged with deliberate journey” from Jerusalem is a sacred tradition and relativization of Jewish and Arab history often fol- should be compared with corresponding Jewish and low the suit. The historian Michael Oren, in his ac- Christian sacred traditions and not with Jewish and count of the Israeli conquest of the Temple Mount in Christian history. That journey, the only event which Six Days of War, described the place as “the site of vaguely connects the Prophet of Islam to Jerusalem, both the First and Second Temples, believed to be is a matter of religious belief and as such, compa- the scene of Isaac’s binding and of Mu- rable to Moses splitting the Red Sea or hammad’s ascent to heaven…”71 Oren’s Academic study Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. The description, while technically correct of the history of ancient Jewish presence in Jerusalem (“believed to be”), by uttering history a religion must and Jesus’ death at the hands of the Ro- and tradition in the same breath relativ- mans are comparable only with Muham- not be reduced to izes history. When equal credibility is at- mad’s historical acts, such as organizing tributed to all stories, be they historical a dogmatic the umma, preaching, waging wars, mar- or traditional, Jerusalem is portrayed as acceptance of rying, plotting, etc – but not his celestial the holy city of all three religions, whose that religion’s treks. claims are of equal worth. Here is how traditions as the Encyclopedia Britannica views Jeru- Scholarship vs. Acceptance of salem’s importance: historical facts. Religious Tradition Academic study of the history of a reli- “Jerusalem plays a central role in the spiritual and gion must not be reduced to a dogmatic acceptance emotional perspective of the three major monotheis- of that religion’s traditions as historical facts. Rather, tic religions. For Jews throughout the world, it is the it should involve a critical examination of sources, focus of age-old yearnings, a living proof of ancient just as the study of history of any other object does. grandeur and independence and a centre of national Scientific methods of research and analysis do not renaissance; for Christians, it is the scene of their depend on whether or not the group under scrutiny Saviour’s agony and triumph; for Muslims, it is the – in this case religions – likes them or not, or whether goal of the Prophet Muhammad’s mystic night jour- or not results and findings confirm that group’s be- ney and the site of one of Islam’s most sacred shrines. liefs. The purpose of scientific research should not For all three faiths it is a centre of pilgrimage—the be a confirmation or refutation of anybody’s views Holy City, the earthly prototype of the heavenly Je- and beliefs (even though it may be its result). Rather, rusalem.”72 its purpose is to obtain objective knowledge through detached, unbiased and critical inquiry. Otherwise, The Encyclopedia Britannica confuses and compares the study ceases to be scientific and drifts off into the

71 Oren, Six Days of War, 245 72 Encyclopedia Britannica, article “Jerusalem”

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field of religious instruction, or possibly even propa- is sacred), and soteriology (the only way to God is ganda, under the guise of scholarship. Such praxis through Jesus)? On these and many other unpleasant with regard to the study of Judaism and Christian- questions, Orientalists are silent. They recite sacred ity was abandoned in the West long ago. Mainstream verses (whence the word Koran), as they recite sa- Orientalism is not catching up. cred tradition about Omar’s conquest of Jerusalem Third postulate, i.e. Orientalists’ references to Is- and Muslim insistence about protection of Jews and lamic beliefs and traditions as facts, brings us back to Christians in their lands. They recite as confessors of the introductory problem of this article. Namely, the faith, turning in effect western schools in which they notion that Muslims worship the same God as Jews find audience, intomadrasahs . and Christians is one of the cornerstones of the Islamic religion and Muslim self- Not without anxiety Summary and Conclusion perception. The idea is found throughout must it be pointed It could be argued that mainstream con- the Muslim Holy Book. Koran teaches out that the vi- temporary presentation of Islam to the that God who, prior to the advent of sible Orientalists’ West is more a repetition of Islamic Muhammad had revealed Himself to the creed and tradition, a “bare recital of Jews and Christians, was Allah.73 The ex- discourses often definitely established facts,”75selected plicit claim that the God of the Jews and feature religious and adapted to the taste and values of the Christians (the People of the Book) and instruction, often western reader, than an academic disci- the God of the Muslims is one and the pline based on methods of research ap- imposed on the same God is found in Surah 29: plied in the study of other religions and unsuspecting. their histories. Not without anxiety must “Be courteous when you argue with Peo- it be pointed out that the visible Orien- ple of the Book, except with those among you who talists’ discourses often feature religious instruction, do evil. Say: ‘We believe in that which has been re- often imposed on the unsuspecting. Orientalist’s vealed to us and which was revealed to you. Our God criticism of the Judeo-Christian western civilization and your God is one. To him we submit.’”74 and praises of the glory of Islam has become sure recipe for academic career, particularly in Europe, By which method can a scholar verify that “Our and visibility through the media. If Orientalism ever God and your God is one”? What is the opinion of was what Edward Said had accused it to be, its main- Christian theologians? What about Biblical theologi- stream branch today is heading toward the opposite cal epistemology (God chose Jews to be exclusive extreme. recipients of his revelation to humanity), anthropol- The Orientalists’ uncritical acceptance of Islamic ogy (God created man in his image and human life views and positions is, of course, not equally trou-

73 Koran 4:163-165; see also: 6:85-87; 57:26. 74 Koran 29:46, emphasis added. 75 Lewis, Islam in History, 65

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bling in all aspects, spheres and themes of that broad of religious agitation grows so blatant that question and rich field of study, as Orientalism indeed is. of their motives becomes urgent. Indeed, idea that Their presentation of many traditional Islamic nar- Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same rations as historical facts could be partly exonerated God is merely a Muslim belief, akin to the Jewish simply because the supply of alternative sources of and Christian belief that God created heaven and knowledge about early Islam is very limited. Many earth in six days. It is difficult to imagine western a “deviant” theory would be, under the best of cir- scholars claiming, “Of course God created heaven cumstances, little more than a well-founded assump- and earth in six days.” It is even harder to imagine tion. Existing Greek, Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Jew- universities, media and politicians repeating this as ish and Persian sources on early Islamic period are profitable and self-evident fact. scarce, and the level of reliability of many of them is not easily determined.76 Contemporary Orientalists Bibliography who ventured into their exploration are few,77 not only because all others had intention to align politi- Al-Tabari. The History of al-Tabari (Ta’rikh al-rusul cally, but also because few master scholarly skills wa’l-muluk). State University of New York needed for the enterprise. Press. New York, 1987-1997. The Orientalist “the same God” propagandists, Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. Ballantine however, take one immense step further which can- Books. New York, 1994. not be excused by lack of sources or intellectual Armstrong, Karen. Holy War. Macmillan. London, creativity: they take a religious dogma from the Ko- 1988. ran, and they elevate it to the level of a “definitely Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. Modern established fact” and a matter of common knowl- Library. New York, 2002. edge. Its political and ideological applicability is all Berg, Herbert, Ed. Method and Theory in the Study of too evident for it to be considered as accidental by- Islamic Origins. Brill, Leiden, 2003 product of an unintentional scholarly blunder. They Busse, Heribert. “The Sanctity of Jerusalem in are certainly familiar with a better example of com- Islam.” Judaism 17 (4) (1968): 441-468. mon knowledge: that twenty-first century academia Crone, Patricia. Slaves on Horses: the Evolution of has no business supporting religious beliefs, let the Islamic Polity. Cambridge University alone turning them into self-evident facts and axi- Press. Cambridge, 1980. oms. That is why it is hard to believe they slipped. Crone, Patricia and Michael Cook. Hagarism; the When, on top of that, scholars maintain as facts re- Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge ligious beliefs held by one religion about another, University Press. Cambridge, 1977. without ever consulting that other religion, their Donner, Fred M. Narratives of Islamic Origins: the abandonment of principles of scholarship in favor Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing.

76 More on these sources and their evaluation see: Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It, 77 Among them should be mentioned Wansbrough, Crone, Cook, Donner, Sharon, Kister, Rubin and Hoyland.

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Princeton University Press. New Jersey, 2003. Peters, F.E. “The Quest of the Historical Muhammad.” Journal of Middle East Studies (23) (1991): 291-315. Pipes, Daniel. Militant Islam Reaches America. Norton. New York, 2003. Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, 1991. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. Penguin Books. London, 2003. Sapir, Shaul, Jeremy Hildebrand, Ed. Historical Geography of Jerusalem through the Ages. Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1996 Sharon, Moshe. “The Decisive Battles in the Arab Conquest of Syria.” Studia Orientalia 101 (2007): 297-357. Sharon, Moshe. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Interaction and Conflict. Sacks Publishing House. Johannesburg, 1989. Watt, Montgomery. Muhammad at Medina. Oxford University Press. Oxford, 1956. Watt, Montgomery. Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press. Oxford, 1974. Wintle, Justin. History of Islam. Rough Guides Ltd. London, 2003. Ye’or, Bat. Eurabia. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Madison, 2005. Ye’or, Bat. Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide. Fairleigh Dickinson University Boris Havel Press. Lancaster, 2001. skriver en doktorsavhandling om religiösa aspekter av mellanösternkonflikten, vid Zagrebs universitet.

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