Jun 3, 2012 -- 4:13PM, Miraj wrote:

Here's a story mixing interfaith understanding and politics in an interesting way that we don't see here often enough.

The Muslim who wants to teach the Arab world about Judaism

Nabih Bashir has translated the Kuzari — a seminal work of Jewish philosophy — into Arabic to foster understanding. Now he plans to publish new Arabic transliterations of works by Maimonides and other medieval Jewish thinkers

By RAPHAEL AHREN May 29, 2012

W

hen Israeli customs authorities banned the Arabic-language version of a major work of Jewish philosophy because it was printed in Beirut this month, the irony was lost on no one. The author of the transliteration of Rabbi Yehuda Halevi’s Kuzari couldn’t bring the books into Israel because they “violate laws regarding trade with the enemy,” according to Haaretz. The Jewish state’s veto of a seminal work of medieval Jewish thought seemed like another story about the absurdity of Israel’s unwieldy and sometimes heavy-handed bureaucracy.

Israel’s policy to ban business with enemy states and thus deny its Arabic-speaking public easy access to translations of “Harry Potter” and other books is not new, though it is certainly controversial. But more than the question of why Israel would ban a book of Jewish thought is the question of why a Muslim Arab would want to translate it.

Written by Halevi in the 12th century, the Kuzari purports to tell the story of a Jewish man who teaches a Khazar king of Judaism’s superiority over other religions and philosophy. Subtitled “The book of refutation and proof on behalf of the despised religion,” the apologetic treatise aims at convincing Jews of Judaism’s eternal truth, a straight-forward attempt to dissuade them from converting under the pressure of persecution.

“There is not one Jewish source in Arabic that an Arab reader can read and understand somehow,” the translator, Nabih Bashir, told The Times of Israel this week. “In other words, Arabs don’t know what Judaism is. What they know about Judaism is from legends,” he said, adding that even the Bible exists only in Christian translations into Arabic. “I felt that is really sad. After all Judaism is a religion that one should know about.”

Bashir, a doctoral student at the  Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba, spent a decade studying and transliterating the book to produce the 565-page tome, which includes a 150-page introduction and countless explanatory footnotes. He asserts, though, that he didn’t transliterate the Kuzari into Arabic to convert his co-religionists or even to convince them of Judaism’s truths. A true academic – his dissertation deals with angels in 10th-century Judeo-Arabic philosophy – he just wants people to better understand the Jewish religion.

“I am interested in fostering understanding,” the 43-year-old said. “I want Arabic readers to get to know Judaism from Jewish books and not from myths and stories.”
 

Continued at the link.

 

Miraj

I was going to post this last week, but couldn't figure out how to relate it to this board. Other than the fact that he had his book published in Lebanon so that it could not be imported into Israel, I couldn't see a link to the forum.

I think anything that helps teach Arabs about Judaism (and which accurately portrays Judaism) is a good thing. As evidenced by reading these forums, whoever is going to try has a long, long, long and hard road ahead of them

I think this is a good thing but why limited to Judaism?

Historically Muslim Nations have been kinder to Jews than let's say Buddhists, Hindus and animists. Surely Muslims should also be educated to those outside the Abrahamaic tradition which has been viewed negatively within the Islamic Sphere of beliefs for centuries?

Jun 3, 2012 -- 4:23PM, Miraj wrote:

Jun 3, 2012 -- 4:20PM, rocketjsquirell wrote:

Miraj

I was going to post this last week, but couldn't figure out how to relate it to this board. Other than the fact that he had his book published in Lebanon so that it could not be imported into Israel, I couldn't see a link to the forum.

I think anything that helps teach Arabs about Judaism (and which accurately portrays Judaism) is a good thing. As evidenced by reading these forums, whoever is going to try has a long, long, long and hard road ahead of them

It's ME news, bro, and not fundamentally about religion.  That alone qualifies it for MENP.

Miraj

I am not so sure about that. Posts regarding news in the Middle East and current problems in the Middle East have been and I understand may be removed because in part they discuss religion or a particular party's view of religion.  So it is hard to know what may stay and what may go. 

Jun 5, 2012 -- 11:03AM, NahumS wrote:

The idea of banning a book because of the country of origin is a mistake. If it was written to incite and defame - I can understand that. But this is hardly the case.

I was curious about that, too.  It's hard to have positive interactions if the positive is barred due to its origin.  On the other hand, you can find Israeli exports all over the ME.  Whatz up with that?

Jun 7, 2012 -- 2:41PM, KindredSai wrote:

The belief that the Jewish people has a right ot the Land of Israel is compatible with Islam

Hmm I think this is a minority belief. Even by liberal scholars.

Unlike Judaism and Christianity, in Islamic belief there is no promised faith tied to the land of Israel. A covenant is not with land but the heart.

Do Jewish people have a right to live in the State of Israel according to Islam? Yes of course they do as well as any other Nation-State. But in Islamic belief the Land of Israel does not exclusively belong to Jews.

KS

Actually you are wrong. Please re-read the Qur'an, or if that is a bit much you can consult the thread on the matter on the DI board. In Islamic belief, the land of Israel does belong to the Jews, but not all Muslims bother to follow the Qur'an especially where it conflicts with their political beliefs. In this they are hardly unique.