NOVANEWS
by Laura Stuart
I really love this piece. It’s so simple and truthful but also exasperated yet affectionate.
And it’s amazing how, though the time and the place were so different, Jews were much the same.
For those who read the Quran the description of the Bani Israel and their behaviour and character is so encompassing of the issue we hardly need anything else.
There is one very very long chapter in the Quran called ‘The cow’ and it is all about the Israelites. It is so amazingly descriptive but you can’t read it just from the Quran, you need also to read the Tafsir which is the explanation and the stories behind the verses, like what had happened that led to those verses.
If you believe that there is one God and he is the creator of everything, then who better to know his creation and describe it so accurately as in the Quran.
This is why secular Jews regard Muslims as anti-Semitic, not because of Palestine/Israel but because of what the Quran says about the Jews – and also the stories of what the Jews were up to around the time of the Prophet Mohammed.
I suppose the root of the problem is arrogance, the belief that religious Jews can somehow outwit God, or at least circumnavigate his decrees. And of course, arrogance is at the root of disbelief insofar as a human can believe they have no need to worship their Creator.
One of the things that the Quran says is that the Jews are the hungriest for life, that is they want to live as long as possible. This is because, even the disbelievers in their hearts, have a sneaking feeling that they might have to face the day of judgement and, knowing what they did in this life, they obviously want to delay it for as long as possible. This is so true. When you look at life-prolonging medicine and youth-prolonging plastic surgery etc etc., the people who are the least ready to die are Jews – and we know why!
Anyway the chapter ‘the cow’ describes how, at the foot of Mount Sinai, God told the Jews to slaughter a cow, but they found every reason to delay and prevaricate until, instead of just doing what they were told, the task became terribly complicated and difficult because of their incessant questions. The Quran is just full of stories of how the Jews are always arguing and plotting so, to be honest, even without Palestine/Israel, Muslims are always going to be viewed as the Jews’ enemy number one.
And it’s amazing how, though the time and the place were so different, Jews were much the same.
For those who read the Quran the description of the Bani Israel and their behaviour and character is so encompassing of the issue we hardly need anything else.
There is one very very long chapter in the Quran called ‘The cow’ and it is all about the Israelites. It is so amazingly descriptive but you can’t read it just from the Quran, you need also to read the Tafsir which is the explanation and the stories behind the verses, like what had happened that led to those verses.
If you believe that there is one God and he is the creator of everything, then who better to know his creation and describe it so accurately as in the Quran.
This is why secular Jews regard Muslims as anti-Semitic, not because of Palestine/Israel but because of what the Quran says about the Jews – and also the stories of what the Jews were up to around the time of the Prophet Mohammed.
I suppose the root of the problem is arrogance, the belief that religious Jews can somehow outwit God, or at least circumnavigate his decrees. And of course, arrogance is at the root of disbelief insofar as a human can believe they have no need to worship their Creator.
One of the things that the Quran says is that the Jews are the hungriest for life, that is they want to live as long as possible. This is because, even the disbelievers in their hearts, have a sneaking feeling that they might have to face the day of judgement and, knowing what they did in this life, they obviously want to delay it for as long as possible. This is so true. When you look at life-prolonging medicine and youth-prolonging plastic surgery etc etc., the people who are the least ready to die are Jews – and we know why!
Anyway the chapter ‘the cow’ describes how, at the foot of Mount Sinai, God told the Jews to slaughter a cow, but they found every reason to delay and prevaricate until, instead of just doing what they were told, the task became terribly complicated and difficult because of their incessant questions. The Quran is just full of stories of how the Jews are always arguing and plotting so, to be honest, even without Palestine/Israel, Muslims are always going to be viewed as the Jews’ enemy number one.
Posted by Paul Eisen
