Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Islam for Jews

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First, let me point out the obvious: There are countless "introductions to Islam" available from bookstores and libraries. Among the best is the Oxford University Press book by John Esposito, "What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam." In fact, Esposito has written several great books for general readers on Islam. I'm a journalist who has written about world religions for several decades and I've got a wide shelf lined with such books from pamphlets to multi-volume sets.

So, why buy this book by Firestone?
First of all, if you're Jewish, you can trust this notable Jewish scholar and the highly respected publishing house, the Jewish Publication Society. I've had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Firestone lecture and it may sound odd to use the words "pleasure" and "lecture" in the same sentence. But his expertise on Judaism and Islam allows him to sketch fascinating and surprising connections down through the centuries.

This book is not chiefly a history lesson. It's an "introduction for general readers" to the world of Islam, but it is solidly shaped by the author's many years of academic work. In short: He knows what he's writing about--and he knows how to describe it all to his intended audience.

I think the book also is a solid choice for Christian readers as well. The book doesn't address many Muslim-Christian connections that exist, but the book is engaging, solid and very well organized.

The book is about 240 pages with an index, glossary and helpful notes filling out another 60 pages. It's divided into three main parts: Islamic History, the Quran and Islamic Law and finally the Muslim community, which describes the branches of Islam that extend into today's world. Within the three sections are a total of 27 chapters, each one focused on a specific topic. So, a small group in your congregation could read a selection of short chapters each week, then talk about that cluster of topics for an hour. It's a great choice for small groups.

I have always been intrigued--and mystified--by Islam. It seemed so exotic, but also strange and, as a Jew, somewhat threatening. I thank Firestone for writing about Islam in contexts that I can understand and relate to: where Judiasm and Islam intersect and depart, and how surprisingly similar the two religions are in many ways.

There's an awful lot here to take in, but it's all so fascinating! A very intelligent, clear and balanced book. I think every Jew should read this.

This volume presumes some knowledge of interfaith studies, and, in that sense, some knowledge of how Judaism differs from Christianity, but it is not just for Jews. Instead, this volume is probably the best concise overview of Islam available in English.

While one may differ with the judgments of the author here and there, he is unfailingly balanced and at least references all major contrary opinions. One cannot do everything in roughly 250 pages [plus a glossary of Arabic terms, a bibliography for further reading, a table of biblical and koranic references and a good index], but this volume covers more territory better and more clearly than any other comparable volume.

The author is a scholar of the best sort and should be congratulated on his achievement.

I have known Reuven Firestone for a number of years and read some of his other writings. This book is both scholarly and readable. In particular, the book is organized not to make an argument, but to present facts which can allow a reader to make more informed decisions. In particular, Dr. Firestone emphasizes the importance of approaching Islam without preconceptions, or at least by accepting its validity, something which is often lost in the heat of today's rhetoric.

The book was purchased on the recommendation of a good Muslim friend. I am Jewish. It was much more than I expected and had a deep emotional impact on my wife and me.

If you are a Jew or know more about Judaism than other faiths, this is the best introduction to Islam out there. It builds on one's understanding of Judaism that launches the reader far further forward than would otherwise be possible.

This book covers a wide variety of issues relating to Islam. Of course, Islam gets the most press when extremists are massacring people - and to his credit, Firestone does not flinch from examining the relationship between the Koran and modern extremism. He points out that like Judeo-Christian sacred texts, the Koran and other Muslim texts do not speak with one voice: they contain verses favoring tolerance, and verses that are not so tolerant. Thus, it makes no sense to generalize about the "Islamic position" on other religions: both warmongers and peacemakers can find ammunition for their positions (pun intended).

As you might guess from the title, Firestone focuses heavily on the relationship between Judaism and Islam, noting some of the similarities between the two religions as well as their differences. To name a few:

1. Both Muslims and traditional Jews believe that Moses was a prophet who received laws from God. But they differ as to the content of revelation. While Jews of course believe in the Torah, Muslims believe that the Torah does not accurately reflect Mosaic revelation, because much of it was lost or altered over time.

2. Arabic and Hebrew have quite a few similiarities. For example, the most common Arabic word for "God" (Allah) is similar to one of the Jewish names (El), and the Islamic term for charity (Sadaqa) is quite similar to the Jewish term Tzedakah. Even seemingly dissimilar terms often have similar roots: the Jewish term Halakha and the Islamic Sharia both mean something like "the way".

3. Family law is somewhat similar; for example, both traditional Jews and Muslims' tolerance for abortion depends on timing (more so within the first forty days, less so afterwards. Similarly, both traditional Judaism and Islam formally allow only men to initiate divorce, and have had some difficulty creating alternatives that respect women's interests.

Firestone also explains some of the issues dividing Sh'ites and Sunnis; some Shi'tes allow "temporary marriage" (as Firestone explains it, normally a kind of cohabitation) and Shi'is encourage visits to the tombs of holy men, a practice that the most radical Sunnis consider idolatrous.

I am sorry to say it, but the prestigious Jewish Publication Society should revoke the imprimatur it has given this tome of theological twaddle.

If one is seeking theological insight into normative Islam, this book is a total waste of time. The author is a Reform Rabbi with a kumbaya axe to grind; he prefers ecumenical piffle to theological clarity. He spends much ink touting linguistic and on-the-surface cognate Arabo-Muslim words and ideas to those of Hebrew and Jewish origin. HOWEVER, THE WAY TO CLARITY IS NOT TO LOOK FOR SIMILARITIES, BUT TO OUTLINE IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES.

Nowhere in this text does the author directly address Muslim supremacism. For example, the theological doctrine of the dhimmi (Sharia mandated permanent semi-slavery status for Jews and Christians per the Pact of Umar) is ignored, the division of humankind into true Muslims versus the kaffirs (theologically nejis [spiritually and physically filthy] untermenschen-infidels predestined by Allah for Jahunum [Hell]), and the situational/binary ethical code of Islam vs. the absolute/unitary ethical code of Judaism (and Christianity) based on the Golden Rule as stated by Rabbi Hillel and another much more famous "rabbi" -- Yeshua [Jesus] of Nazareth.

Classical Western scholars of Islam have noted these differences since the mid-19th Century. Unfortunately, circa 1970, the Age of Political Correctness has brought about a cultural and religious relativism which soft soaps and white washes the theologically based hatreds and moral backwardness of Islam, as illustrated by fatwas and dogmas spouted by the top theologians in the Islamic world, the "cardinals" of the Harvard University of Sunni Islam, Al Azhar University of Cairo, which are notoriously anti-Western/anti-Judeo-Christian/anti-JEWISH, including, for instance, open support for terrorism (aka jihad) against Jewish non-combatants -- women and children -- living in Israel. To paraphrase the Jewish-Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff, what a religion[!].

In point of fact, Islamic core values -- squarely based on the Koran and the Sunna (the Hadith and the Sira) -- are the very opposite of Jewish/Western ones: the love of God for the individual (versus being a "slave of Allah", a theological term of art in mainstream Islam), pluralism and diversity (versus theologically mandated intolerance of non-believers), secular-liberal democracy (versus autocracy and/or theocracy, the government models of choice for almost all Muslim polities), humanism (versus barbarity), individual freedoms and civil rights and liberties (versus the human-rights hellholes found almost everywhere in the Muslim world), dedication to the betterment of humankind via reason, in the arts, sciences and technology (versus theological obscurantism -- read up on the bizarre teachings of Al-Ghazali, one of the very most influential Islamic thinkers of all time, whose worldview goes far toward explaining why there hasn't been a prominent Muslim scientist for about half a millenium), the universal brotherhood of man (versus the theological division of the planet into the Domain of Islam [Dar-al-Islam] or the Umma [worldwide Islamic community]and the Domain of War [Dar-el-Harb] or Bilad-al-Kufr [Lands of the subhuman unbelievers, which includes Jews, Christians, pagans, animists, polytheists/Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, and secular liberals]. And that's just the short list!

The author's failure to bring a scintilla of real theological clarity or insight into his discussion of Islam is downright pathetic. The greatest sage of rabbinic Judaism, the Arabic-speaking Maimondides, who was horribly persecuted by the jihadis of his day, the Almohads (the Al Queda/Hezzballah/Hamas of the era), some 800 years ago termed Mohammed "al-Meshugga"/the Crazy One in his famous Epistle to the Yemenite Jews, who were the subject of ethnic cleansing by the jihadist Arabs of the Arabian penninsula, the largest peninsula on earth (which is Judenrein today, per Mohammed's explicit deathbed edict).

If you want to learn the good, bad and ugly about Islam and the Jews, rather than waste your time on sugar-coated pablum, read Mohammed, Allah, and the Jews: The Foundational Doctrine, by the Center for the Study of Political Islam, available at Amazon. If you are really into theology and comparative religion, read the brilliant October 2007 tour d'horizon essay "Christian, Muslim, Jew: Franz Rosenszweig and the Abrahamic Religions" by Spengler aka David P. Goldman, available free online at the First Things magazine website.

The relationship of Islam and Judaism has long been a turbulent one. "An Introduction to Islam for Jews" is a scholarly examination of the Islamic faith and how it relates to the Jewish people. Examining Islam and Muslims as a whole, "An Introduction to Islam for Jews" spans the history of Islam from its origins to recent calls for Jihad from extremists. Despite its title, "An Introduction to Islam for Jews" is not exclusively for Jews, but rather a recommended pick for readers of all faiths who seek to better understand Islam.

I was shocked by the way the author, who is a Conservative Jewish Rabbi, feels a sense of "sympathy" for Islam. He then proceeds to write an apologetic book about the Islamic religion. The author was constantly trying to show how similar Jewish and Islamic ways are. The author did a very poor job of convincing anyone that Jews have anything "real" in common with Islamics. It can be easily seen that a good deal of all their initial Islamic customs & laws developed from Mohammad's supposed visions from the angel Gabriel. By my estimation, from reading the Qur'an, those visions were more likely what he observed and listened to when he came in contact with Jews & Christians who lived in Medina & other places he traveled to. The book does give a respectable basic history of Islam and its customs and laws. However, as a piece of literature for the Jewish reader to obtain a sympathetic understanding of Islamic thinking, it is a total failure. This book will do nothing for Jews to understand Islam, except for maybe to increase their dislike of it. Sorry, but the book should not be addressed as written for Jews, it is not !