Islamic Anti-Semitism

A Hatred with Theological Roots

In 2012, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi—a "moderate" Muslim Brotherhood leader supported by the Obama administration—was caught on video calling Jews "descendants of apes and pigs." He was quoting the Quran. In 2019, Representative Ilhan Omar faced criticism for anti-Semitic tropes; her defenders insisted her comments had nothing to do with her Islamic faith. But Islamic anti-Semitism is not a modern aberration or a political stance—it is rooted in Islam's foundational texts and has shaped Muslim attitudes toward Jews for fourteen centuries.

This is a difficult subject. Christians must approach it with care, recognizing that anti-Semitism has also plagued Christian history. But intellectual honesty requires acknowledging that Islamic anti-Semitism has its own distinct roots in the Quran, the hadith, and the example of Muhammad himself. Understanding these roots is essential for Christians who want to engage thoughtfully with both Islam and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Muhammad's Relationship with the Jews

Muhammad's attitude toward Jews evolved dramatically during his prophetic career, and this evolution is reflected in the Quran itself.

Early Hope for Jewish Acceptance

When Muhammad began preaching in Mecca, he emphasized continuity with the Jewish tradition. He saw himself as a prophet in the line of Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets. Early Quranic passages speak positively of Jews as "People of the Book" who received genuine revelation from God.

When Muhammad migrated to Medina in 622 AD, he encountered significant Jewish communities—the tribes of Banu Qaynuqa, Banu Nadir, and Banu Qurayza. He initially sought alliance with them. He adopted Jewish practices: praying toward Jerusalem, fasting on Ashura (the Day of Atonement), and observing dietary restrictions similar to kosher law.

Muhammad appears to have expected the Jews to recognize him as a true prophet and embrace his message. They did not.

Jewish Rejection and Muhammad's Response

The Jewish rabbis of Medina, trained in Torah and prophetic tradition, rejected Muhammad's claims. They pointed out discrepancies between his revelations and the Hebrew Scriptures. They mocked his biblical errors. They questioned how a true prophet could be ignorant of what every Jewish child knew.

Muhammad's response was dramatic:

• He changed the qibla (direction of prayer) from Jerusalem to Mecca (Quran 2:142-150).
• He declared that Jews had corrupted their scriptures (tahrif), explaining why the Torah differed from his revelations.
• He received increasingly hostile revelations about Jews.
• He took military action against the Jewish tribes, culminating in the massacre of the Banu Qurayza.

The Expulsion and Massacre of Medinan Jews

As detailed in our lesson on the Banu Qurayza, Muhammad systematically eliminated the Jewish presence in Medina:

• 624 AD: Banu Qaynuqa expelled, property confiscated
• 625 AD: Banu Nadir expelled, property confiscated
• 627 AD: Banu Qurayza—600-900 men beheaded, women and children enslaved
• 628 AD: Conquest of Khaybar, the last major Jewish settlement in the region

Muhammad's dying words reportedly included a command regarding Jews and Christians:

His successor, Caliph Umar, fulfilled this by expelling the remaining Jews from Arabia.

Quranic Foundations of Anti-Semitism

The Quran contains numerous passages critical of Jews. While some verses speak positively of Jews (particularly earlier Meccan revelations), the later Medinan verses—which take precedence under the doctrine of abrogation— are harshly negative.

Jews as Apes and Pigs

Perhaps the most infamous anti-Jewish passage describes Allah transforming disobedient Jews into apes and pigs:

This imagery—Jews as apes and pigs—has become deeply embedded in Islamic culture. It appears in sermons, political speeches, children's programming, and social media throughout the Muslim world. When President Morsi used this language, he was not making a political statement; he was citing scripture.

Jews as Enemies of Believers

Jews are identified as harboring the most intense hatred for Muslims—even more than polytheists. This verse has been used throughout Islamic history to justify suspicion and hostility toward Jews.

Jews as Cursed by Allah

This remarkable verse claims that Allah has cast "animosity and hatred" among the Jews "until the Day of Resurrection" and accuses them of perpetually kindling war and spreading corruption. These are not historical observations but theological pronouncements about the essential nature of Jews as a people.

Jews as Treacherous Covenant-Breakers

Jews are characterized as inherently treacherous—unable to keep covenants, prone to deceit. This characterization has been used to justify suspicion of Jews throughout Islamic history.

Jews as Scripture Corrupters

The doctrine of tahrif (corruption) holds that Jews deliberately altered their scriptures. This explains away discrepancies between the Quran and the Bible while casting Jews as deceptive manipulators of divine revelation.

Anti-Semitism in the Hadith

The hadith collections contain even more explicitly anti-Jewish material than the Quran. These are not obscure, questionable traditions but authenticated hadiths from the most authoritative collections.

The Genocide Hadith

The most disturbing hadith about Jews describes the end times, when Muslims will kill the remaining Jews:

This hadith—found in the two most authoritative Sunni collections—envisions a genocidal war against Jews as a precondition for the Day of Judgment. Even nature will conspire against the Jews, with rocks and trees betraying their hiding places. This hadith appears in the Hamas charter (Article 7) and is regularly quoted by jihadist organizations.

Muhammad's Curse on Jews

Jews as Poisoners

The hadith records that a Jewish woman attempted to poison Muhammad:

This story reinforced the image of Jews as treacherous poisoners—a trope that would be repeated throughout Islamic (and later European) anti-Semitism.

Historical Treatment of Jews Under Islam

The theological foundations laid in the Quran and hadith shaped the treatment of Jews throughout Islamic history. While the reality was complex and varied, certain patterns emerged.

The Dhimmi System

Jews (and Christians) living under Islamic rule became dhimmis—"protected" people who could practice their religion but only under significant restrictions:

• Payment of the jizyah (poll tax), often with ritual humiliation
• Distinctive clothing (yellow badges for Jews long predated Nazi Germany)
• Prohibition on building new synagogues or repairing old ones
• Prohibition on bearing arms or riding horses
• Required to give way to Muslims on the street
• Testimony not accepted against Muslims in court
• Death penalty for blasphemy against Islam or Muhammad

The practical enforcement of these rules varied by time and place. Some periods saw relative tolerance; others saw brutal persecution. But the underlying framework—Jews as inferior, subjugated people—remained constant.

Periodic Massacres and Persecutions

Despite the myth of Islamic tolerance, significant anti-Jewish violence occurred throughout Islamic history:

• 1033: Fez Massacre—over 6,000 Jews killed in Morocco
• 1066: Granada Massacre—4,000 Jews killed in Spain
• 1146: Massacres in Fez and other Moroccan cities
• 1465: Fez Massacre—thousands of Jews killed
• 1517: Hebron Massacre following Ottoman conquest
• 1834: Looting of Safed
• 1840: Damascus Blood Libel
• 1912: Fez Pogrom
• 1929: Hebron Massacre—67 Jews killed
• 1941: Farhud in Baghdad—180+ Jews killed

These are not exhaustive but illustrative. Jewish life under Islam was never the "golden age" of harmonious coexistence that some modern narratives suggest.

The Myth of the Golden Age

The idea that Jews flourished in medieval Islamic Spain (al-Andalus) while persecuted in Christian Europe contains some truth but is vastly overstated. Yes, some Jews achieved prominence. Yes, some periods were relatively tolerant. But:

• Jews remained legally inferior, subject to the dhimmi restrictions.
• The Granada massacre of 1066 killed more Jews in a single day than all the anti-Jewish violence in Christian Europe during the entire eleventh century.
• The Almohad conquest (1147) gave Jews the choice of conversion, exile, or death—ending the "golden age" with mass forced conversions and expulsions.

Modern Islamic Anti-Semitism

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, traditional Islamic anti-Semitism merged with European anti-Semitism (including Nazi ideology) to create a particularly virulent strain that now dominates much of the Muslim world.

The Nazi Connection

The most significant figure in this merger was Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1921-1948:

• He led violent riots against Jews in Palestine (1920, 1929, 1936-39).
• He met with Hitler in 1941 and actively collaborated with the Nazi regime.
• He recruited Bosnian Muslims for the Waffen-SS.
• He broadcast Nazi propaganda in Arabic throughout the Middle East.
• He lobbied against allowing Jewish refugees to escape to Palestine.

The Mufti's embrace of Nazi ideology was not despite his Islamic faith but in harmony with it. He saw Hitler's "Final Solution" as aligned with Muhammad's treatment of the Jews of Medina.

The Muslim Brotherhood

Founded in Egypt in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood combined Islamic revivalism with anti-Semitism. Its founder, Hassan al-Banna, and chief ideologist, Sayyid Qutb, both expressed virulent anti-Jewish views:

The Brotherhood's ideology spread throughout the Muslim world and spawned offshoots including Hamas.

Hamas and the Charter

The Hamas Charter (1988) is one of the most explicitly anti-Semitic documents produced in modern times:

The Charter combines Quranic anti-Semitism with European conspiracy theories (including references to the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion).

Contemporary Prevalence

Anti-Semitism remains pervasive in the Muslim world. Polling by the Anti-Defamation League (2014) found that agreement with anti-Semitic stereotypes exceeded 75% in most Middle Eastern and North African countries. In some countries (West Bank/Gaza, Iraq, Yemen), it exceeded 90%.

This is manifested in:

• State media broadcasting anti-Semitic programming
• Friday sermons calling Jews enemies of Allah
• School curricula teaching hatred of Jews
• Political leaders using anti-Semitic rhetoric
• Holocaust denial becoming mainstream

Confronting Christian Anti-Semitism

Before critiquing Islamic anti-Semitism, Christians must honestly confront our own shameful history.

The Christian Record

Christian anti-Semitism has been responsible for immense suffering:

• Crusade massacres of Jewish communities (1096)
• Blood libels and host desecration accusations
• Forced conversions and expulsions (Spain 1492)
• Pogroms in Eastern Europe
• Martin Luther's vicious anti-Jewish writings
• Christian complicity in the Holocaust

This history is a stain on Christianity. We must own it, repent of it, and work against its continuation.

The Critical Difference

However, there is a crucial distinction: Christian anti-Semitism is a betrayal of Jesus's teaching; Islamic anti-Semitism is a continuation of Muhammad's teaching.

• Jesus was Jewish. He lived as a Jew, taught in synagogues, called his fellow Jews to repentance, and died as "King of the Jews."
• Jesus taught love. "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you" (Matthew 5:44). Christian anti-Semitism violates Christ's explicit teaching.
• Paul affirmed God's love for Israel. "As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers" (Romans 11:28).
• The New Testament condemns hatred. "Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer" (1 John 3:15).

When Christians persecuted Jews, they acted against their scriptures. When Muslims persecute Jews, they can cite their scriptures in support.

The Christian Response

1. Repent of Christian Anti-Semitism

We cannot critique Islamic anti-Semitism with integrity if we do not first repent of our own. Christians must acknowledge the terrible things done to Jews in Christ's name—and recognize that this history makes our witness more difficult.

2. Stand with the Jewish People

Christians should stand against anti-Semitism wherever it appears—including in the Muslim world. This does not mean uncritical support for every Israeli policy, but it does mean recognizing the theological roots of Islamic anti-Semitism and opposing it clearly.

3. Speak the Truth in Love

When engaging with Muslims, Christians should be willing to discuss what the Quran and hadith actually say about Jews—not to inflame hatred but to raise honest questions about the moral character of a religion that contains such teachings.

4. Share the Gospel

Ultimately, the cure for anti-Semitism (Islamic or otherwise) is the Gospel. In Christ, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile" (Galatians 3:28). The cross breaks down the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14). Transformed hearts produce transformed attitudes.

Conclusion: Theological Roots, Terrible Fruits

Islamic anti-Semitism is not a modern aberration, a reaction to Israel, or a political stance. It is rooted in the Quran, the hadith, and the example of Muhammad himself. This theological foundation has produced fourteen centuries of persecution, punctuated by massacres and culminating in collaboration with Nazi genocide.

Christians must understand these roots to engage thoughtfully with Islam, to support the Jewish people, and to share the Gospel with Muslims trapped in a system of theological hatred.

The answer to hatred is not more hatred but the transforming love of Christ— the Jewish Messiah who died for Jew and Gentile alike, and who commands us to love even our enemies.