Head of Public Policy Tim Dieppe continues his series on antisemitism in Islam, looking at the evidence in the Hadith and Sirah.
The first part of my series looked through the evidence of antisemitism in the Qur’an and its prominence in daily prayers.
But it’s not just the Qur’an itself that contains these sentiments. They are borne out in the Hadith (Islamic reports and sayings attributed to Muhammad) and Sirah (Islamic biographies of Muhammad).
Antisemitism in the Hadith
Apocalyptic Hadith: kill Jews
The most famous antisemitic hadith is the so-called apocalyptic hadith about killing Jews.
“Allah’s Messenger said, “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’”
(Sahih Bukhari 4:52:177; see also Sahih Bukhari 4:52:176; Sahih Muslim 41:6985)[1]
This hadith was cited in Hamas’s founding charter, article seven.[2] Two footnotes explained:
- Reference is made to the Day of judgement. This tradition (Hadith), which is imputed to the Prophet, has been often quoted in Islamic literature, old and modem. The Egyptian troops who launched the assault on the Bar-Lev Line in October 1973, were equipped with “booklets of guidance” which included, inter alia, this same quotation.
- Bukhari and Muslim are the authors of the two most authoritative and widely accepted collections of hadith (traditions of the Prophet).
A 2011 poll found that 73% of Palestinians agreed with this Hadith.[3] The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mufti Muhammad Hussein, expressed his agreement with this Hadith in 2012.[4]
Do not greet Jews or Christians
Do not greet the Jews and the Christians before they greet you and when you meet any one of them on the roads force him to go to the narrowest part of it.
(Sahih Muslim 39:16, see also Sunan Abu Dawud 41:5186)[5]
Cursing Jews and Christians
On his death-bed Allah’s Messenger ( put a sheet over his-face and when he felt hot, he would remove it from his face. When in that state (of putting and removing the sheet) he said, “May Allah’s Curse be on the Jews and the Christians for they build places of worship at the graves of their prophets.” (By that) he intended to warn (the Muslim) from what they (i.e. Jews and Christians) had done. (Sahih Bukhari 4:56:660)[6]
Here Jews and Christians are cursed for building places of worship at the graves of their prophets. It is interesting to note that Muhammad’s tomb is now a mosque!
Sins on Jews and Christians
No Muslim would die but Allah would admit in his stead a Jew or a Christian in Hell-Fire.
(Sahih Muslim 37:6666)[7]
There would come people amongst the Muslims on the Day of Resurrection with as heavy sins as a mountain, and Allah would forgive them and He would place in their stead the Jews and the Christians.
(Sahir Muslim 37:6668)[8]
Jews tormented in their graves
“Allah’s Messenger (PBUH) went out after the sun had set and he heard some sound and said: It is the Jews who are being tormented in their graves.
(Sahih Muslim 40:6861)[9]
Antichrist accompanied by 70,00 Jews
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, “Dajjal (the Antichrist) will be followed by seventy thousand Jews of Isfahan and will be dressed in robes of green coloured satin.”
(Riyad as-Salihin 1812)[10]
Jews mutated into rats
“A group of Bani Isra’il was lost. I do not know what happened to it, but I think (that it ‘underwent a process of metamorphosis) and assumed the shape of rats. Don’t you see when the milk of the camel is placed before them, these do not drink and when the milk of goat is placed before them, these do drink.” (Sahih Muslim 42:7135)[11]
Meat rots because of the Jews
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “But for the Israelis, meat would not decay and but for Eve, wives would never betray their husbands.” (Sahih Bukhari 4:55:547)[12]
Two religions shall not remain together
I will expel the Jews and Christians from the Arabian Peninsula and will not leave any but Muslim. (Sahih Muslim 19:4366)[13]
I will certainly expel the Jews and the Christians from Arabia and I shall leave only Muslims in it. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 3024)[14]
This is religious-ethnic cleansing.
Jews expelled (641 AD)
`Umar expelled the Jews and the Christians from Hijaz. When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had conquered Khaibar, he wanted to expel the Jews from it as its land became the property of Allah, His Apostle, and the Muslims. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) intended to expel the Jews but they requested him to let them stay there on the condition that they would do the labor and get half of the fruits. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) told them, “We will let you stay on thus condition, as long as we wish.” So, they (i.e. Jews) kept on living there until `Umar forced them to go towards Taima’ and Ariha’. (Sahih Bukhari 3:39:531)[15]
The second caliph, Umar, carried out Muhammad’s wish by finally expelling the Jews from Arabia in 641 AD.
Don’t harm Jews?
In my debate with Reza Aslan, he cited a hadith which he claimed reports that: “Muhammad said: ‘Anyone who acts violently against Jews or Christians will have me as their accuser at the end of days.’” Later in the debate he cited this hadith as: “Anyone who harms a Jew has me as their accuser at the end of time.” I had not heard of a hadith which says this before and so I didn’t challenge it in the debate. In fact, there is no such hadith found in any of the authoritative collections of hadith. This speaks volumes in terms of supporting my case that Islam is antisemitic.
There is a disputed hadith which says: “Whoever harms a Dhimmi, I shall be his foe on the Day of Judgment.” This may be what Reza was inaccurately quoting. An academic article argues that this hadith should be regarded as authentic, but the conclusion admits that it: “does not have multiple chains of transmission to back it up, has not been recorded in any of the ṣaḥīḥ works, and has not been transmitted through any of the most highly esteemed isnāds.”[16] In any case, Jews (and Christians) who accepted Dhimmi status were granted protected status in exchange for paying the jizya subjugation tax and being treated a second class citizens. So, even if this hadith is authentic, it does not support Reza’s argument. It does not say that any Jews should not be harmed. It merely says that those Jews (and Christians) who have accepted Dhimmi status should not be harmed.
Antisemitism in the Sirah
The Sirah are the biographies of Muhammad, of which the most well-known is the Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq as edited by Ibn Hisham.[17] Muhammad is presented in the Qur’an as an example to follow (Q33:32; Q68:4). Devout Muslims will seek to follow the example of Muhammad in lots of ways.
The most famous antisemitic incident in the Sirah is the extermination of the Jewish Qurayza tribe after the Battle of the Trench. Before this incident Muhammad cursed the Jews as ‘brothers of monkeys’:
“You brothers of monkeys, has God disgraced you and brought his vengeance upon you?”[18]
Here is the account of the extermination of the Jewish tribe:
“Then they surrendered, and the apostle confined them in Medina in the quarter of d. al-Harith, a woman of B. al-Najjar. Then the apostle went out to the market of Medina (which is still its market today) and dug trenches in it. Then he sent for them and struck off their heads in those trenches as they were brought out to him in batches. Among them was the enemy of Allah Huyayy b. Akhtab and Ka`b b. Asad their chief. There were 600 or 700 in all, though some put the figure as high as 800 or 900. As they were being taken out in batches to the apostle they asked Ka`b what he thought would be done with them. He replied, “Will you never understand? Don’t you see that the summoner never stops and those who are taken away do not return? By Allah it is death!” This went on until the apostle made an end of them.”[19]
So, Muhammad ordered the extermination of over 600 Jewish men who had surrendered to him without a battle. A hadith relates:
“I was among the captives of Banu Qurayzah. They (the Companions) examined us, and those who had begun to grow hair (pubes) were killed, and those who had not were not killed. I was among those who had not grown hair.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4404)[20]
Having pubic hair was thus a death sentence for Jewish males.
Jews threatened to convert
Prior to the extermination of the Banu Qurayzah tribe, Muhammad threatened the Jewish Banu Qaynuqa tribe:
“O Jews, beware lest God bring upon you the vengeance that He brought upon Quraysh and become Muslims. You know that I am a prophet who has been sent – you will find that in your scriptures and God’s covenant with you.”[21]
Jews terrorised
Muhammad’s attacks terrorised the Jews.
“Our attack upon God’s enemy cast terror among the Jews, and there was no Jew in Medina who did not fear for his life.”[22]
Kill any Jew
Muhammad commanded his followers to “kill any Jew that falls into your power.”
“The apostle said, ‘Kill any Jew that falls into your power.’ Thereupon Muhayyisa b. Mas’ud leapt upon Ibn Sunayna, a Jewish merchant with whom they had social and business relations, and killed him. Huwayyisa was not a Muslim at the time though he was the elder brother. When Muhayyisa killed him Huwayyisa began to beat him, saying, ‘You enemy of God, did you kill him when much of the fat on your belly comes from his wealth?’ Muhayyisa answered, ‘Had the one who ordered me to kill him ordered me to kill you I would have cut your head off.’ He said that this was the beginning of Huwayyisa’s acceptance of Islam. The other replied, ‘By God, if Muhammad had ordered you to kill me would you have killed me?’ He said, ‘Yes, by God, had he ordered me to cut off your head I would have done so.’ He exclaimed, ‘By God, a religion which can bring you to this is marvellous!’ and he became a Muslim.”[23]
Two religions shall not remain
On his deathbed, Muhammad is reported to have said: “Two religions shall not remain together in the peninsula of the Arabs.”[24] Sadly, some of his followers have attempted to fulfil this religious-ethnic cleansing wish.
Antisemitism in Islam
This article has looked at antisemitism in Islam’s traditions. You can read part one of this series by clicking this link:
Antisemitism in Islam part one: The Qur’an.
In the next part of this series, I will analyse texts in the Qur’an that appear to be ‘philosemitic’ (or favourable to Jews).
Endnotes
[1] https://quranx.com/hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-52/Hadith-177/
https://quranx.com/hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-52/Hadith-176/
https://quranx.com/hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-41/Hadith-6985/
[2] https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/880818.htm
[3] https://www.jpost.com/diplomacy-and-politics/6-in-10-palestinians-reject-2-state-solution-survey-finds
[4] https://palwatch.org/page/3447
[5] https://quranx.com/hadith/muslim/in-book/Book-39/Hadith-16/
https://quranx.com/hadith/AbuDawud/USC-MSA/Book-41/Hadith-5186/
[6] https://quranx.com/hadith/Bukhari/DarusSalam/Hadith-3453/
[7] https://quranx.com/hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-37/Hadith-6666/
[8] https://quranx.com/hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-37/Hadith-6668/
[9] https://quranx.com/hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-40/Hadith-6861/
[10] https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:1812
[11] https://quranx.com/hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-42/Hadith-7135/
[12] https://quranx.com/hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-4/Book-55/Hadith-547/
[13] https://quranx.com/hadith/Muslim/USC-MSA/Book-19/Hadith-4366/
[14] https://quranx.com/hadith/AbuDawud/Hasan/Hadith-3024/
[15] https://quranx.com/hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-3/Book-39/Hadith-531/
[16] Ahmed El-Wakil, ““Whoever Harms a Dhimmī I Shall Be His Foe on the Day of Judgment”: An Investigation into an Authentic Prophetic Tradition and Its Origins from the Covenants,” Religions 10, no. 9 (2019). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10090516
[17] A.M.I. Hishām, et al., The life of Muhammad: a translation of Isḥāq’s Sīrat rasūl Allāh (trans. A. Guillaume; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967), Hereafter: Life of Muhammad
[18] Life of Muhammad, 461.
[19] Life of Muhammad, 464.
[20] https://quranx.com/hadith/AbuDawud/DarusSalam/Hadith-4404/
[21] Life of Muhammad, 363.
[22] Life of Muhammad, 368.
[23] Life of Muhammad, 369.
[24] Life of Muhammad, 525.
