The Most Quoted Anti-Jewish Texts in Islam

I have been discussing the Islamic Hadith, and the apocalyptic traditions found in the section on “Turmoil and Portents” in the collection Sahih Muslim, “Pertaining To Turmoil And Portents Of The Last Hour” (Kitab Al-Fitan Wa Ashrat As-Sa’Ah). Specifically, I have suggested that many of these ideas stem from Christian sources, from the late seventh and eighth centuries, and that Christian converts might have imported them into the new faith.

Here, I will look at some of the most quoted anti-Jewish texts in the Islamic tradition. Beyond argument, Islam has a virulent tradition of anti-Semitism, although historically, it has been less lethal and systematic than that of the Christian world. The picture is very mixed. On plenty of occasions, Jews fled Christian persecution to seek protection from generous Muslim rulers, especially the Ottomans. On the other hand, while Western thinkers sometimes romanticize medieval Islam, Muslim-ruled Spain was the scene of savage pogroms against Jews, such as the Granada massacres of 1066. In modern times, anti-Jewish theorizing and propaganda have become very widespread and even mainstream in the Islamic world, commonly drawing on a standard body of texts. Even the ritual murder myth is widely credited in Islamic nations.