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Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present
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Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2025) | Viewed by 12527

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Fahimah Ulfat

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Islamic Theology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
Interests: religious education; interfaith education; professional research; empirical studies on youth and religion
Dr. Asher J. Mattern

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Catholic Theology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
Interests: Jewish law from antiquity to modernity; rabbinic thought and Jewish philosophy; legal theory and practice in Judaism and Islam; designs of worldliness from the sources of rabbinic thought; religion and politics in the western tradition between philosophy, theology and liberal culture; French and German philosophy of the 20th century

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue illuminates the manifold close connections and commonalities between the Jewish and Muslim traditions in order to approach the problem areas of our present on this basis. To this end, the various contributions offer an overview of the central historical, hermeneutical, philosophical–theological, religious–legal, political and pedagogical aspects of Jewish–Muslim relations. Theological, scientific and social perspectives allow for a differentiated and varied consideration of the topic.

This Special Issue aims to highlight how close and productive the relations between Jews and Muslims have been throughout history and what strong connections there are, with regard as well for the structures and contents of the two religions. By exploring both the mutual significance of the two traditions to each other in the past, as well as specifically analyzing the current situation with its particular challenges and opportunities, this Special Issue aims to explore the possibilities for a positive dynamic of coexistence between Jews and Muslims for the present without denying differences and conflicts.

Since the emergence of Islam, Jewish and Muslim history have been characterized by close links, resulting in deep and still insufficiently explored interactions in the fields of hermeneutics and jurisprudence, theology and philosophy, and education. We are pleased to invite you to explore these interactions, which mark moments of rapprochement as well as demarcation, scientifically in a way that can advance today's discourses on common ground.

This Special Issue aims to promote interreligious dialogue and understanding between Jews and Muslims, as well as the joint critical engagement with Jewish and Muslim sources in a way that is mutually beneficial to scholarly and societal concerns. The critical anamnesis of the interrelations between Judaism and Islam is thus aimed at removing the ground from the mutual attributions of imaginary identities that sustain the ideological discourses of the present and at establishing a positive confrontation in the joint appropriation of historical and cultural experiences.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

The exploration of the theological–philosophical development since the intensive Jewish–Muslim encounters in the Middle Ages, with a view to the possibilities of engagement with the present. Of concrete relevance would be studies on how the images of God and man of these traditions are reflected in different concepts of universalism and particularism, as well as regarding the possibilities of being able to conceptualize secular or rather profane social spaces from Jewish and Muslim theology, or to develop concepts of secularization or laïcité that do not stand in a Christian genealogy.

The study of the history of law and the understanding of law in Jewish and Muslim history in their interdependencies in order to also illuminate possible positions in the encounter with liberal or (post-)secular modernity on this basis. The question of the compatibility of or tension between Jewish and Islamic (legal) traditions is to be posed anew by exploring the possibilities inherent in these traditions to reflect worldliness and to conceptualize society in profane categories.

An investigation of the commonalities and differences regarding educational and didactical approaches. Already in the early phase of Islam, synergies between Jews and Muslims in the field of education can be demonstrated based on common anthropological but also philosophical–theological premises. In the period of the early Middle Ages and modern times, similarities between Muslim and Jewish educational goals and methods, as well as in educational philosophy, can be illustrated especially in the writings of scholars such as Al-Ghazālī (d. 1111) and Maimonides (d. 1204). The possibilities of cooperation between Jewish and Muslim educational approaches in plural contexts are to be revived in order to conceptualize educational offers that focus on interreligious and ideological aspects and on dealing with challenging topics.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Fahimah Ulfat
Dr. Asher J. Mattern
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Jewish–Muslim relations
  • concepts of God and man
  • theology
  • philosophy
  • jurisprudence
  • pedagogy
  • sociology
  • hermeneutics
  • ethics

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2245 KiB  
Article
Jews and Judaism in the Poetry and Prose of the Persian Sufi Abū Sa‘īd-i Abū l-Ḫayr (967–1049 CE): An Approach to the Religious Other in Medieval Islamic Society
by Paul B. Fenton
Religions 2025, 16(4), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040476 - 8 Apr 2025
Viewed by 701
Abstract
This article is a case study of an early Persian Sufi Abū Sa‘īd-i Abū l-Ḫayr (357–440H/967–1049 CE) within the wider question of the approach to the religious other in the multi-religious society of medieval Islam. In his poetry and the tales ascribed to [...] Read more.
This article is a case study of an early Persian Sufi Abū Sa‘īd-i Abū l-Ḫayr (357–440H/967–1049 CE) within the wider question of the approach to the religious other in the multi-religious society of medieval Islam. In his poetry and the tales ascribed to him, Abū Sa‘īd was one of the first Muslim mystics to have conveyed empathy and even admiration towards Jews, frequently portrayed negatively in early Sufi texts. Simultaneously, he also expresses fundamental enmity towards them and a traditional missionary desire to convert them to Islam. This apparent ambivalence, revealing a complexity that straddles tolerance and intolerance, is set in a broader context of Sufi attitudes toward religious diversity, and a cursory survey is presented of conceptions of the transcendental unity of religions in Sufi writings in Arabic or Persian. The author posits that Abū Sa‘īd’s duality may mirror a personal religious journey or an intentional concealment of his convictions in order to escape reproof. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
13 pages, 210 KiB  
Article
In the Circle of the Jewish Question and the Muslim Question or How Muslims Turned into Placeholders for “The Jew” in German Public Discourse
by Asher J. Mattern
Religions 2025, 16(4), 414; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040414 - 25 Mar 2025
Viewed by 311
Abstract
This article examines the interplay between Jewish and Muslim identities in German public discourse, focusing on their roles as placeholders in constructing contemporary German identity. It argues that discussions of Judaism, antisemitism, and the Israel–Palestine conflict often serve as projection surfaces for national [...] Read more.
This article examines the interplay between Jewish and Muslim identities in German public discourse, focusing on their roles as placeholders in constructing contemporary German identity. It argues that discussions of Judaism, antisemitism, and the Israel–Palestine conflict often serve as projection surfaces for national self-perception, neglecting the complexities of Jewish and Muslim lived realities. Drawing on critiques by Elad Lapidot and Jean-Claude Milner, the article explores how the exclusion of heteronomous identities—grounded in divine law—exposes the structural limitations of modern liberal societies. It highlights the substitution of traditional Jewish identity with a liberal-compatible version in German discourse, while simultaneously framing Muslims as the “new Other”. This text calls for Jewish and Muslim communities to challenge the narratives that marginalize and instrumentalize them, advocating for solidarity to address shared challenges and enrich pluralistic democratic frameworks. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
20 pages, 266 KiB  
Article
On Responsibility: Islamic Ethical Thought Engages with Jewish Ethical Thought
by Ufuk Topkara
Religions 2025, 16(3), 274; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16030274 - 24 Feb 2025
Viewed by 628
Abstract
A remarkable amount of work on the study of Islamic ethical thought is published annually, covering an unprecedented variety of topics and themes. Yet despite the strides made, these debates have not addressed vital questions about how Islamic ethical thought can contribute to [...] Read more.
A remarkable amount of work on the study of Islamic ethical thought is published annually, covering an unprecedented variety of topics and themes. Yet despite the strides made, these debates have not addressed vital questions about how Islamic ethical thought can contribute to ongoing discourses that affect not only the Muslim community but society at large. In other words, how can we bring Islamic ethical thought into systematic engagement with modern philosophy? Specifically, how can Islamic ethical thought learn from contemporary philosophy, as it learned from Greek philosophy in the Middle Ages? And how might it be possible to develop Islamic ethical thought that can withstand both religious and rational scrutiny? In this programmatic overview, I respond to these questions by engaging with responsibility ethics within and beyond the Islamic tradition. As much as the debate about ethics has reached new heights in contemporary philosophical discourses, so too has the debate about responsibility re-emerged in theological discourses. In this paper, I bring into conversation the thought of Taha Abdurrahman on responsibility, which is nested within his larger paradigm of contemporary Islamic ethics, and Jewish thinker Hans Jonas’ concept of an ethics of responsibility. I argue that orchestrating this scholarly dialog between a 20th-century German Jewish thinker (Jonas) and a contemporary Muslim thinker (Abdurrahman) can lead to both a productive and constructive elaboration of Islamic ethical thought. Furthermore, I suggest that Habermas’ philosophy can serve as a bridge in this discussion, facilitating a comparative exploration of the ethical frameworks presented by both thinkers. By engaging with Habermas, we can highlight how Islamic thought can approach modernity, including philosophical debates, in a manner similar to that of 20th-century Jewish scholars like Jonas. This engagement not only enhances our understanding of responsibility within these traditions but also underscores the potential for interdisciplinary dialog in navigating contemporary ethical challenges. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
12 pages, 1114 KiB  
Article
The Importance of an Interreligious Quranic Hermeneutics for a Gender-Sensitive Reading of the Quran, Using the Example of the Story of the Queen of Sheba
by Dina El Omari
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1521; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121521 - 12 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1556
Abstract
This article explores a novel perspective on the Quran by examining its interreligious and intercultural dimensions, challenging traditional readings that often treat it solely as a religious or historical text. By focusing on the Quran’s engagement with diverse religious traditions, the article highlights [...] Read more.
This article explores a novel perspective on the Quran by examining its interreligious and intercultural dimensions, challenging traditional readings that often treat it solely as a religious or historical text. By focusing on the Quran’s engagement with diverse religious traditions, the article highlights how the Quran negotiates and reflects its multicultural context. The analysis centers on the story of the Queen of Sheba, revealing how her portrayal disrupts conventional gender roles and provides a unique lens for understanding the Quran’s treatment of gender and religious diversity. Through a comparative study with Jewish intertexts, the article demonstrates that the Quran not only engages with other religious traditions but also incorporates and positively represents figures from these traditions. This approach offers new insights into how interreligious hermeneutics can enhance our understanding of the Quran’s stance on religious plurality and gender dynamics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
9 pages, 215 KiB  
Article
The Relationships Between Jews and Muslims in the Past and Present—Pedagogical Implications from an Islamic Religious Education Perspective in a German Context
by Fahimah Ulfat
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1470; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121470 - 2 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1384
Abstract
This article explores the historical and contemporary relationships between Jews and Muslims, with a focus on the implications for Islamic religious education. It highlights the complexity of Jewish–Muslim relations, characterized by periods of coexistence and conflict. Early Islamic history reveals an inclusive community [...] Read more.
This article explores the historical and contemporary relationships between Jews and Muslims, with a focus on the implications for Islamic religious education. It highlights the complexity of Jewish–Muslim relations, characterized by periods of coexistence and conflict. Early Islamic history reveals an inclusive community of believers encompassing pious Jews and Christians, challenging modern perceptions of inherent antagonism. The article examines the evolution of these relationships, noting significant changes influenced by political dynamics. In Germany, political discourses further shape mutual perceptions, often exacerbating tensions between Jewish and Muslim communities. Educationally, the article advocates for addressing distorted perspectives and emphasizes the value of intertextual analysis of the Quran and the Torah. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
14 pages, 1461 KiB  
Article
Community Relations in the Ottoman Balkans of the Suleymanic Age: The Case of Avlonya (1520–1568)
by Mehmet Kerim, Furkan Mert Aktaş and Menderes Kurt
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1443; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121443 - 27 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1121
Abstract
This study examines the relations between an exiled Jewish diaspora and the surrounding Muslim communities in the significant Ottoman Balkan city of Avlonya between 1520 and 1568. Having been expelled from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1496), numerous Sephardic Jews settled in Avlonya in [...] Read more.
This study examines the relations between an exiled Jewish diaspora and the surrounding Muslim communities in the significant Ottoman Balkan city of Avlonya between 1520 and 1568. Having been expelled from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1496), numerous Sephardic Jews settled in Avlonya in the early sixteenth century, integrating into Ottoman social structures and making notable contributions to both the economic and demographic landscape of the city. This study examines the extent of the Jewish community’s assimilation into Avlonya and Ottoman society in the immediate aftermath of its arrival, assessing its pathways to integration, their limitations, and the dynamics of coexistence and mutual trust. It posits that in a relatively short period, the integration of Avlonya’s Sephardic Jews into both the city and society proved to be a positive success from the perspective of the state and the community itself. Evidence in support of this assertion is found in an examination of the tahrir defters and sharia court records (the primary sources of data for this research). The depth of the findings and the variety of research questions posed mean that this study has employed a mixed-methods approach, allowing for both quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
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14 pages, 8984 KiB  
Article
Shared Memory and History: The Abrahamic Legacy in Medieval Judaeo-Arabic Poetry from the Cairo Genizah
by Ahmed Mohamed Sheir
Religions 2024, 15(12), 1431; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15121431 - 26 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1487
Abstract
The Cairo Genizah collections provide scholars with a profound insight into Jewish culture, history, and the deeply intertwined relationships between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Among these treasures are often overlooked Arabic poetic fragments from the eleventh to fifteenth centuries, which illuminate the shared [...] Read more.
The Cairo Genizah collections provide scholars with a profound insight into Jewish culture, history, and the deeply intertwined relationships between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Among these treasures are often overlooked Arabic poetic fragments from the eleventh to fifteenth centuries, which illuminate the shared Abrahamic legacy. This paper explores mainly two unpublished poetic fragments written in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic in Hebrew script), analyzing how they reflect a shared Jewish–Muslim cultural memory and history, particularly through the reverence for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other key figures central to both traditions across the medieval Mediterranean and Middle East. By situating these poetic voices within broader historical and cultural contexts, this study underscores the role of poetry in reflecting sociocultural and historical dimensions while fostering cross-cultural and religious coexistence. It demonstrates how poetry acts as a bridge between religion, history, and culture by revealing the shared Abrahamic heritage of Jews and Muslims within two Arabic poetic fragments from the Cairo Genizah. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
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12 pages, 270 KiB  
Article
Another Fateful Triangle: Jews, Muslims, Europe
by Elisabeth Jane Becker
Religions 2024, 15(11), 1342; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111342 - 1 Nov 2024
Viewed by 1114
Abstract
This paper argues that Jews–Muslims–Europe is a fateful triangle, in which identities and identifications both inform and form one another. It draws on interview-based research at the Jewish Museum Berlin to showcase how Jewish and Muslim positionalities have become entwined in the context [...] Read more.
This paper argues that Jews–Muslims–Europe is a fateful triangle, in which identities and identifications both inform and form one another. It draws on interview-based research at the Jewish Museum Berlin to showcase how Jewish and Muslim positionalities have become entwined in the context of contemporary Berlin, Germany, and Europe. At the same time, it showcases how the positionality of strangerhood can provide a critical perspective for understanding and articulating Europe as a place of pluralism, both present and past. What emerges is a sociocultural terrain in which Muslims, Jews, and Europe are made by and with one another, rather than simply against one another. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
13 pages, 1556 KiB  
Article
An Overlooked Jewish Community: The Jews of Rodoscuk in the 17th Century
by Umit Ekin and Mehmet Kerim
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1093; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091093 - 9 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1455
Abstract
This article addresses the intercommunal relations between the 17th century Jewish community of Rodoscuk and other social groups. It examines the community’s social structure, housing distribution and economic activities, placing particular emphasis on its interactions with Muslims in areas like trade, religious practices [...] Read more.
This article addresses the intercommunal relations between the 17th century Jewish community of Rodoscuk and other social groups. It examines the community’s social structure, housing distribution and economic activities, placing particular emphasis on its interactions with Muslims in areas like trade, religious practices and social dynamics. By drawing on local court records, particularly the Qadi Registers, this article reveals how these interactions were shaped by the legal and social frameworks of their day, highlighting the complexities of coexistence in those contexts. In doing so, it evidences not only that Rodoscuk’s Jewish community took part in vibrant economic exchanges with its Muslim neighbors but also that it engaged with common social and religious contexts. Via a detailed analysis of these records, this study offers new insights into the nature of intercommunal relations in Rodoscuk. It challenges the often-assumed narrative of segregation and conflict in Ottoman society by testing existing claims in the literature through the case of the Jews of Rodoscuk. It concludes that Jews in this region in fact lived in relative harmony with Muslims and other groups in their vicinity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
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16 pages, 299 KiB  
Article
Kafka’s Antizionism through a Comparative Analysis of ‘Jackals and Arabs’ with Judeo-Christian Texts, the Alexander Romance, and the Qur’an
by Ismail Lala
Religions 2024, 15(3), 282; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15030282 - 26 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1554
Abstract
Kafka explores many elements in ‘Jackals and Arabs’ that are found in the Judeo-Christian tradition of Gog and Magog, the Alexander Romance, and the Qur’anic story of Dhu’l-Qarnayn. A comparative analysis of these works reveals Kafka’s criticism of the Zionist movement. Kafka rejects [...] Read more.
Kafka explores many elements in ‘Jackals and Arabs’ that are found in the Judeo-Christian tradition of Gog and Magog, the Alexander Romance, and the Qur’anic story of Dhu’l-Qarnayn. A comparative analysis of these works reveals Kafka’s criticism of the Zionist movement. Kafka rejects Zionist exceptionalism and separatism through the narrator’s rejection of the jackals’ cause. Kafka’s jackals are compared to Gog and Magog, who are portrayed as corruptors of the land in the aforementioned texts. The categorisation of corruptors of the land is significant because this reverses Zionist claims of a profound connection to the land, which Kafka, likewise, reverses when the jackals claim that the desert is their home from which the Arabs should be removed. Zionist avowals of Arab backwardness are countered by Kafka as he makes the Arabs superior, which is also how the indigenous population are depicted in the Judeo-Christian and Muslim traditions since they are contrasted with the barbarity of Gog and Magog. Finally, the Zionist trope of the European Jewish hero who flees persecution is inverted by Kafka who confers on the narrator a quasi-prophetic/royal status similar to that of Dhu’l-Qarnayn and Alexander the Great. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Jewish-Muslim Relations in the Past and Present)
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