[yshavurah] Isaac and Ishmail
- From: "johanna" <rebiljo@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "havurah" <yshavurah@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2001 10:47:04 -0400
Friends,
On the first day of Rosh Hashana our Torah discussion centered, in part, on
the birthright, blessings, and relationship of Isaac and Ishmail and their
claims to the land of Israel. Randi asked if I knew whether there was an
Islamic claim to the land in the Koran as there is in the Torah.
I have done a little research, and my understanding is that there is no
Islamic claim. Rather, the point of view is that we (Jews) are mistaken in
our interpretation of Abraham and Moses's message that the land and the law
belongs to us alone. They consider Abraham, Moses, David, as well as Jesus
and others, to be prophets, but the custodians of their messages (Jews and
Christians) are mistaken in our interpretation of the message. That is why,
Muslims believe, that Mohammed was given his revelations in the form of the
Koran.
They believe that monotheism is the essential message of all these
"prophets" (we don't consider them all to be prophets), the rest of the
message is misunderstanding.
For instance, they consider Jesus a prophet, but believe Christians are
mistaken that he died on the cross. G-d would never have allowed such a
thing to happen to one of His prophets. They consider it disrespectful for
Christians to even think of such a thing happening to a great prophet.
Thus, the essential tenet of Chrisitanity, that Jesus died on the cross as a
sacrifice to expunge the sins of humankind, Muslims think is nonsense.
My own bias, is that I probably agree with the Muslims about Chrisianity,
but of course, not with their view of Judaism. The essential question is,
would Muslims be able to admit their own bias?
Johanna
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