Jews in the Middle East during the Middle Ages

The Middle East, also known as the Cradle of Civilization, has a glimpse of the past world's civilizations and cultures. Middle East’s antiquity started during their immediate settlements and dominated various empires leading to the formation of modern nation-states.. In the 19th century, most people upheld the view that Islamic states subjected Jewish people living in their land to a “Golden Age” where harmonious co-existence between Jews and Muslims was prioritized.

There were two historical versions explaining how Muslims and Jews related during the middle ages. First, the society upheld an interfaith utopia of tolerance hence Jews mingled freely with Muslims. It is a version arguing that there was complete harmony leading to mutual co-existence up to the time Israel came along. On the other hand, some scholars make up a story of hatred and constant war through the centuries. Prospects who formulated the two stories tell them for ideological and not factual reasons hence this essay focuses on analyzing the historical nature of Jewish-Muslim relations during the middle ages and its impacts on the social, economic, and political affairs during the later centuries. The argument that, Muslims and Jews involved in constant fights, is vague. It is factual that, religions are always responses to immediate societies.

Islam and Judaism are not static objects. As such, the two religious fraternities changed over time. Environmental catastrophe, economic disasters, and changing world events are some of the factors influencing the two throughout the ages. It is factual that, Muslims and Jews had a good relationship during medieval times, (Roth 428). Despite this fact, it is worth to note, during the times of political collapse and economic hardships, relations between the two were generally bad. From a historical perspective, factors, including money, power, and economics defined the nature of Jewish-Muslim relations. Socialism was an aspect evident in the society during the Jews stay in middle East in the middle Ages. Completeness in people’s economic and political equality was a significant aspect of consideration towards dictating how the two related. For example, during the time of Prophets Qur’an was termed as an anti-Semitic book. Through mistranslate quotations, Islam was made to look like a violent and intolerant religion going against other belief systems. Arguing that Qur’an is anti-Jewish is vague. According to the Quranic religious message, Serbians, Christians, and Jews are okay. As such, Muslims view individuals from each of the above religious families as friends of Islam. Muslims believe and anticipate the judgment day, and Qur'an incorporates chapters arguing that both Christians and Jews to await the second coming of their messiah. The perception is that Jews and Christians believe in judgment. With such beliefs, Muslims does not condone religious enmity. Arguably, there were minimal religious conflicts during the time of Mohammed. Qur’an itself was written during a time when people lived together at peace regardless of one’s faith or religious affiliations.

Religious leaders never advocated violence on a religious basis. It is faultless to argue that, the Qur’an encourages religious tolerance. The caliphs who succeeded Mohammed further cemented the religious tolerance set by the prophets. Umar was one of the most notable caliphs considering the Jewish history. He ruled over the first Muslim empire. He was a companion of Mohammed. Under his ten-year leadership, Umar’s reign evidenced tremendous expansion of the empire and people accumulated great wealth. As a caliph, Umar emphasized peaceful co-existence between Jews and Muslims, (Lovat & Amir 65). He formulated terms to guide the relationship between Jews and Islamic believers living in Muslim lands. Arguably, Sharia law considered his pact as the defining document. Umar's treaty called for the protection of Jews. Additionally, Umar ensured that Jews were guaranteed political and religious rights. Umar set some of the conditions to be observed by the Jews to enhance their relationship with the Muslims. First, Jews were to pay taxes to Muslim rulers, leading their residential areas, remain loyal to the elected political leaders, and avoid owning Muslim slaves.

Adherence to such rules led to the assurance of their social, economic, and political rights in Islam lands. The pact described how Jews were to live in the Muslim countries. It encouraged the Jews to remain loyal. In return, they were protected and granted freedom in the social, economic, and political facets of life. The dominance of the image of the Golden image among diverse scholars was evident throughout the 19th century. The 20th century was a significant period considering the Muslim-Jewish relations. Muslims made an appreciation of the Muslim’s faith related to inter-denominational utopia which acted as the primary weapon against Zionism. Muslim scholars had academic writings appreciating the Jewish myth.

Furthermore, their political broadsides encouraged religious tolerance. In the Islamic world, no erosive factors were threatening the Jews socially, politically, or economically. Islamic scholars and leaders criticized religiously exclusivity. In the Muslim world, there were many religious families, including Jews, Zoroastrian, and Christians who interacted freely. Qur'an called for religious pluralism. It encouraged religious diversity. Most of the Muslims were tolerant to various religious fraternities, (Abdullah 1). “There is no compulsion in religion,” was a verse in Qur’an protecting non-Muslims from forced conversion. As such, Jews and Christians were allowed to practice their religious faith. It took a personal decision to convert to Islam. Christians and Jews could freely live in their sovereign communities and develop socially, politically, and economically. Arguably, Jews enjoyed ‘dhimmis' status which referred to ‘protected people.' Another aspect evidencing Islamic tolerance for Jewish people relates to cultural preservation. Among the Jewish people, Jewry culture was classical during their stay in the Islamic world, (Meri 16).

Similarly, cultural aspects were at the center of Islamic religious beliefs and practices. As such, the two religious families had poetic coverage aiming at developing and enhancing their cultural issues. Jew's people cultural aspects were at the heart of Jewish scholars. Their literature had much of Jew’s cultural beliefs and practices. Each group aimed to preserve their cultural elements for future generations. If Muslims were against the spread of Jewish culture, they could curtail such cultural preservation. Islamic leaders, scholars, and believers at large had no issues with the proliferation of Jewish culture. As such, Jewish scholars and poet were allowed to spread its people's perception through literature. Additionally, Jews shared their cultural aspects freely with the Muslims and each appreciated cultural variances. Tolerance was not only found under religious freedom but also in the encouraged preservation, spread, and development of each’s cultural beliefs. Muslims and Jews partnered in facilitating the preservation of each group's artistic, intellectual heritage, (Meri 17).

Most of the Jewish bibliography looks into the tolerance upheld by the Muslims considering cultural conservation during the Dark and middle Ages. Their academic coverage reaffirms the argument that, both Muslims and Jews were tolerant of each’s aesthetic beliefs. Believers of the two religions respected and appreciated cultural diversity. As briefed earlier, scholars from any of the religious groups were allowed to incorporate their people’s culture without critique or intimidation though certain conditions were set to guide their academic work. For example, scholars were allowed to formulate academic literature meant to promote their people’s social, political, and economic development.

Coverage that could cause wrangles on distinct facets of life, thus curtailing Jewish-Islamic mutual relationships, was never condoned. Islamic leaders were against all academic coverage based on religious differences that could deter good relations. Judeo-Arabic literature covering either of the two group’s thoughts evidenced tolerance and appreciation of religious and cultural diversity. Polemical literature covered by distinct scholars under the monotheistic faiths during the middle ages evidenced flourishment in religious acceptability. According to the scholar’s academic work, Jews were tolerated. Furthermore, their participation in the major intellectual currents was encouraged.

For example, Jews encounter with the Caliphate revealed a society where religious and cultural tolerance led to intensive development under almost all facets of life. Most Jews felt comfortable and secure under Islamic rule than in the Christian lands. Worthy Jews were treated with respect and honor and given a chance to develop socially, politically, economically, and religiously. Most of the Mahometans respected Jews as their allies, friends, and equals. A more encouraging aspect was the understanding and acceptability among Islamic leaders towards poetry. Jewish inhabitants felt at home under the Islamic world. The prosperity and greatness of the Islamic country were at the heart of the Jew's majority, (Goldberg 82). They loved their residential areas. It is faultless to argue that, greater historical tolerance was one of the factors translating to the notable achievements of Islamic civilization. According to Muslim Pragmatism, discriminatory regulations were discouraged. Islamic leaders adopted pragmatic policies to guarantee the Jews religious freedom and the protection of their houses of worship. Muslim leaders took effective approaches to address conflicts resulting from foreign practices

The cordial economic life evidenced how Muslims co-existed with not only the Jews but other monotheistic believers. Jews venturing into the world of commerce were never restricted to a small range of pursuits. They were allowed to participate in great economic hunts working as physicians, artisans, pharmacists, or retailers. Interdenominational cooperation was evident in Islamic marketplaces, both Muslims and Jews interacted freely during commerce activities, and partnered in conducting business endeavors, (Cohen 41). Such economic cooperation dictated the level of success realized by either of the two groups. The positive impacts resulting from economic collaboration encouraged Muslims and Jews to work mutually under other facets of life.

As such, there was intensified liaison under the social, religious, and political aspects of life. Muslim and Jews cooperated, not only during good economic situations but also under hard economic conditions. For example, the 20th century was a period of Jewish economic declination. They shared the encounters with the Muslim majority. Muslims offered financial support to the Jewish traders which enabled them to regain their seemingly lost economic progress. The mutual economic cooperation led to a vibrant exchange of culture between Jews and Muslims. Before the two interacted, Islam had much of its inspiration borrowed from Judaism. The interaction between Muslims and Jews led to a creative enrichment, and Jewish realized profound progress in the field of philosophy, medicine, poetry, law, and science. Most of the Jewish intellectuals had an interest in gaining insight into Islamic cultural values. Most of the first-hand documents got from the medieval synagogue had academic and pictorial coverage of Jewish people embedded deeply in Arab society.

Arguably, the majority of the Jews discussed under these old, first-hand scholarly documents were Jewish intellectuals who interacted with Muslims in friendly and interdenominational settings. Jews suffered little discrimination as prescribed under the Muslim legal theory. The Jewish intellectuals had Arabic honorific names, shared in Arabic literature, and were allowed to operate their public institutions under no supervision or interference by the government, (Suleiman 99). In the legal setup, Jews had recourse to Muslim religious courts while resolving various business misunderstandings or registering commercial contracts, (Lewis 171). Besides, Jewish people were allowed to present personal and family issues to the courts for resolution. Muslim legal officials were guided by the court oath process thus honored testimony brought before the court by Jews. Arguably, Jew's present confidence and dependence on Muslim judicial system are traceable back to the medieval ages. The Muslim legal system enacted policies to protect and safeguard the interests of Jewish merchants in the Islamic marketplace.

Jewish trader's safety was guaranteed as they traveled through diverse states such as India and Spain hence strengthened the bond between the Jewish merchants and their Muslim colleagues. It led to the business partnership. Islamic law inscribed policies to ensure that Jewish traders were respected and their rights safeguarded when they formulated such a business partnership. Following the success, Muslims and Jews realized that they needed to coexist in a complementary and creative manner towards promoting confidence. They also targeted to end the preconceived arguments that they were born to hate each other. In conclusion, the discussion above looks into Jew’s stay and interactions with Muslims in the Islam land during the Middle Ages. It is evident that the preconception that Muslims and Jews had confronting relationships during the middle ages is vague. As a religion, Islam encouraged religious tolerance and cooperation on various facets of life. Religious differences never influenced the choice of individuals to work with under the social, economic, or political aspects of life. Quranic teachings emphasized religious diversity and Islamic religious leaders called all Muslims to adhere to its instructions.

Prophet Muhammed and his successive Caliphs preached peaceful coexistence in the society. As such, Muslims respected the Jews and allowed them to enhance, develop, and preserve their cultural aspects which encouraged Jewish scholars to formulate literature covering their cultural issues. Cooperation in the field of commerce was as such mutual. Jewish were allowed to transverse throughout various Arabic nations for trade activities without fear or intimidation. Additionally, the Islamic judicial system formulated policies to protect Jewish merchants who partnered with Muslims from exploitation. Furthermore, Jews were allowed to seek justice under the Muslim's legal system.

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