Seth Ward
University of Wyoming
Muhammad and the
Jews

Muhammad 570-632
Hijrah 622
Qur’an
The beginnings of Jihad
A selection from the
Quran

 [17.1] Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the
Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the
precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the
Hearing, the Seeing. [17.2] And We gave Musa the Book and made it a
guidance to the children of Israel, saying: Do not take a protector besides Me;
[17.3] The offspring of those whom We bore with Nuh; surely he was a
grateful servant. [17.4] And We had made known to the children of Israel in
the Book: Most certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and most
certainly you will behave insolently with great insolence. [17.5] So when the
promise for the first of the two came, We sent over you Our servants, of
mighty prowess, so they went to and fro among the houses, and it was a
promise to be accomplished. [17.6] Then We gave you back the turn to
prevail against them, and aided you with wealth and children and made you
a numerous band. [17.7] If you do good, you will do good for your own
souls, and if you do evil, it shall be for them. So when the second promise
came (We raised another people) that they may bring you to grief and that
they may enter the Temple as they entered it the first time, and that they
might destroy whatever they gained ascendancy over with utter destruction.
[17.8] It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you, and if you again
return We too will return, and We have made hell a prison for the
unbelievers.
Qur’an

Islamic Ascendancy:
7th-13th centuries

 Conquest of Jerusalem 638
 History of Jews in Palestine:
continue but flourish under Fatimids.
‫ רוב מניין ורוב בניין‬is in Babylonia.
http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/map02.htm
http://www.mideastweb.org/palcaliph1.htm
Iraq

Abbasid Empire 750 (built Baghdad 762)
Exilarch, Geonim (singular Gaon)
Nathan the Babylonian—description of the
academy and the status. (Blech)
Sura and Pumbeditha
Responsa (=Fatwa) Hebrew: Teshuva
Prayerbook (based on a response by R.
Amram Gaon)
Saadia ben Joseph
(882-942)




Translation of the Torah (Tafsir)
Beliefs and Opinions
Polemics against Qaraites
Calendar controversy.
Rational vs. Traditional commandments.
Free Will.
Commentary on Sefer Yetsirah.
Halachic monographs.
Fight with David ben Zakkai.
Qaraites, Khazars, and
Others

 Qaraites:
 Anan ben David
 Benjamin al-Nahawandi
 Daniel al-Qumisi, Yefet ben Ali,
 Khazars http://www.khazaria.com/
 End of an Era: Rabbi Sherira Gaon, Rabbi Hai Gaon (d. 1038)
Spain

 Islamic conquest 711
 Abd al-Rahman III (declares caliphate 927)
 Hasdai b. Shaprut
 Poetry (Dunash, student of Saadia)
 Samuel Ha-Nagid (993-1056)
 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/ha-nagid.html
 Yehosef ben Samuel (1066)
 Judah Ha-Levi (d. 1141)
Judah HaLevi

‫ֵאיְך ֶא ְטעֲמָ ה ֵאת אֲ שֶ ר אֹכַל וְ ֵאיְך ֶיע ֱָרב‬
‫ִלבִ י בְ ִמזְ ָרח וְ ָאנֹכִ י בְ סֹוף מַ ע ֲָרב‬
‫ בְ עֹוד צִ ּיֹון בְ חֶ בֶ ל אֱ דֹום וַאֲ נִ י בְ כֶ בֶ ל ע ֲָרב‬,‫ֵאיכָה אֲ שַ לֵם נְ דָ ַרי וָאֱ סָ ַרי‬
.‫ כְ מֹו י ֵַקר בְ עֵ ינַי ְראֹות עַ פְ רֹות ְדבִ יר נֶחֱ ָרב‬,‫י ֵַקל בְ עֵ ינַי ֲעזֹב כָל טּוב ְס ָפ ַרד‬
 My heart is in the east, and I in the uttermost west- How can I find savor in food? How shall it be sweet to
me?
 How shall I render my vows and my bonds, while yet
 Zion lies beneath the fetter of Edom, and I in Arab chains?
 A light thing would it seem to me to leave all the good
things of Spain- Seeing how precious in mine eyes to behold the dust of
the desolate sanctuary.
Spain, Continued

 Reconquista in Toledo (1085), Almoravides
 Almohades 1146
 Maimonides 1138-1204
Egypt

 Fatimids: North Africa > Egypt > Palestine
 Fatimid Dynasty in Tunisia 927, Conquer Egypt, Found Cairo 969
 Recognize Palestinian Academy in 10th and 11th Centuries
 Al-Hakim 1007-1021
 Seljuk Conquest of Palestine, Manzikert in Asia Minor 1071
 Maimonides arrives c. 1165 after going to North Africa and Tiberias
 Saladin 1171
Maimonides

 Commentary on the Mishnah (Kitab al-Siraj, perush ha-mishnayot)
 “13 principles” in comment to Perek Helek
 Rambam 13 principles and Geniza.doc
 Yigdal: Words translated by Max Landsberg (Reform Jewish) and Newton Mann (Unitarian)
in Rochester NY
 Comm. On Mishnah:
On tradition: intro to work
 Ethics: “8 Chapters” and commentary on Avot
 Code of Jewish Laws (Mishneh Torah)
 Guide of the Perplexed (Moreh Nevukhim)
 From the time he was little, this “strong one” [Abraham] used to think
day and night about how this sphere could move without a Mover,
without someone to turn it. He had neither teacher nor informer,
rather, he was implanted in Ur of the Chaldees, among the foolish
idolaters. His mother and father and all the people were idolaters, and
he among them. His heart continued its analysis until it perceived the
way of truth and the line of righteousness from his correct
understanding…. He reached this understanding at 40 years of age…
 (Abraham began to proclaim this in public. The king sought to kill him
but he miraculously escaped to Harran, where he taught and attracted
followers, and) went around from city to city and kingdom to kingdom
until he came to Canaan. (He wrote books and passed along his
teaching to Isaac; Isaac passed it on to Jacob and Jacob to his sons and
followers,) so that this matter became more and more strengthened
among the children and followers of Jacob, so that there was a
community that knew God.
 This continued until they spent many years in Egypt and they returned
to learning their practices [i.e. those of the idolatrous Egyptians] and to
worship stars like them, except for the tribe of Levi….The principle
which Abraham had planted was almost uprooted … And God in his
love for us, and in keeping with his oath to Abraham, made Moses the
Master of all Prophets and sent him… and crowned [Israel] with His
commandments and informed them about the manner of worshipping
him and about the judgment in store for idolaters and all who follow
them in error.

Maimonides’ 13 Principles

A. Exalted be the Living God and praised, He exists - unbounded by time is His existence;
He is One - and there is no unity like His Oneness - Inscrutable and infinite is His Oneness;
He has no semblance of a body nor is He corporeal - nor has His holiness any comparison;
He preceded every being that was created - the First, and nothing precedes His precedence;
Behold! He is Master of the universe - Every creature demonstrates His greatness and His
sovereignty;
B. He granted His flow of prophecy - to His treasured, splendid people;
In Israel, none like Moses arose again - a prophet who perceived His vision clearly;
God gave His people a Torah of truth - by means of His prophet, the most trusted of His
household;
God will never amend nor exchange His law - for any other one, for all eternity;
C. He scrutinizes and knows our hiddenmost secrets - He perceives a matter's outcome at
its inception;
He recompenses man with kindness according to his deed - He places evil on the wicked
according to his wickedness;
By the End of Days He will send our Messiah - to redeem those longing for His final
salvation;
God will revive the dead in His abundant kindness - Blessed forever is His praised Name.
Crusader Kingdoms

 1099
 1170s or 1180s-Benjamin of Tudela
 1187 (Saladin)
 1291 (Fall of Acre and Athlit)
Islam and the Latter
Middle Ages

 Al-Ghazzali d. 1111, Averroes d. 1196
 Reconquista in Spain 1085-1248 (Islam limited to a small state centered in
Granada)
 Mamluks stop Mongols c. 1250 and finish Crusader enclave in 1291.
 Baghdad falls to Mongols 1258
 Ibn Taymiyya (661-728=1263-1328)
http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep/H039.htm
 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya
Dhimma Status

 Pact of Umar and other questions
Overview

 END OF THE ERA:
Reconquista and Expulsion from Spain—1492
 Ottoman conquest of Constantinople—1453
 Ottoman conquest of Middle East—1516-17
 Reformation (Luther’s 95 Theses—1517)
 OVERVIEW
 Babylonian Talmud and Geonim succeed—leading to
Decentralization (Samaritan and Qaraite)
 Institutionalized minority taxes and legal status
 Cairo Geniza allows picture of A Mediterranean Society
 Overlapping Rabbinic / Philosophic / Mystical-”Pietist” divisions