Chapter 30 - Jewish-Muslim Polemics

Summary

Jewish-Muslim polemics are as old as Islam. Many Qurʾānic verses challenge the Jews and Jewish ideas. The earliest debates between Jews and Muslims took place between the Jews of Medina and Khaybar, on the one hand, and Muḥammad and his disciples, on the other. The only sources that describe the disputations between Jews and Muḥammad are Islamic. For example, in several places, the Qurʾān criticizes Jewish ideas about the afterlife. Qurʾān 2:94 states: “Say: ‘If the Last Abode with Allāh is yours exclusively, and not for other people, then long for death – if you speak truly.’” This verse indicates that some Jews – like the talmudic sages – believed that the afterlife exists and is meant for the Jews alone. Elsewhere it is stated (3:77): “There shall be no share for them in the world to come” (lā khalāqa lahum fī al-ākhira) – a statement that appears to reject the talmudic perception expressed, inter alia, in Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 90a: “All Israel has a portion in the Hereafter” (kol Yiśrael yesh lahem ḥeleq la-ʿolam ha-ba). Other verses (2:80 and 3:24) criticize the Jewish belief that Jews who are sent to hell will spend only a few days there. While these verses do not specify the length of time that Jews must spend in hell, they do seem to clash with the talmudic belief in Talmud Bavli Shabbat 33b, that the maximum sojourn is twelve months.