# Major Differences Between Modern-Day Judiasm and Modern-Day Islam? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 9, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330 "2011-05-09T21:29:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/141 "2011-05-12T16:02:24Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > By comparison, the Jewish couple in Israel who were stripped of their citizenship and expelled pointed out that they came from Jewish families and that while they saw Jesus as the Messiah, they didn’t consider him divine. I believe you are [mistaken.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism#Treatment_in_the_United_States_and_Israel) > [@](#): > > The state of Israel grants Aliyah (right of return) and citizenship to Jews, and to those with Jewish parents or grandparents who are not considered Jews according to halacha, e.g. people who have a Jewish father but a non-Jewish mother. Specifically excluded were any “person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion.” An Israeli Supreme Court decision in 1989 ruled that Messianic Judaism constituted another religion.[[111]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism#cite_note-New_York_Times_-_1989-110) However, on April 16, 2008, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled in a case brought by a number of Messianic Jews with Jewish fathers and grandfathers. Their applications for Aliyah had been rejected on the grounds that they were Messianic Jews. The argument was made by the applicants that they had never been Jews according to halacha, and were not therefore excluded by the conversion clause. This argument was upheld in the ruling.[[108]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism#cite_note-JIJ-107)[[112]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism#cite_note-JPost-111)[[113]](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism#cite_note-CBN-112) ETA: Ah, I see you’re talking about Right of Return, not being stripped of citizenship. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/142 "2011-05-12T16:08:40Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > While the Right of Return initially applied to anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent, **it has since been modified, in IIRC either the 70s or the 80s to exclude people who “practice a religion other than Judaism” which, to me at least, makes sense** since practicing Christians and Muslims shouldn’t be considered Jews. > > That’s why some Falashas have been expelled when they were discovered to be practicing Christians, though there have been many complaints about this not being done to Russian immigrants who clearly are practicing Christians with predictable accusations as to why the Falashas are being treated differently. > > Anyway, the case I’m referring to was covered by the New York Times in the early 90s. > > I’m not sure why you’re upset by it since I’d have thought you’d have agreed with the court’s decision. Which one? The The purpose of the Law of Return was, yes, to protect Jews. Remember that Hitler’s version of “Who is a Jew” is different than the rabbinic one. For Israel, the Hitler version sufficed when the law was amended in 1970. You’re still not citing. Why can’t you? This should be readily available information, since it’s pretty inflammatory. RoR law has become _more_ lenient since the amendments. The RoR [recognizes Christians of Jewish descent](http://jerusaleminstituteofjustice.createsend.com/t/ViewEmail/r/B9DAACC135900E24/020D3761B846596B2540EF23F30FEDED). When it was objected to, the Supreme Court held that if the Christian could show Jewish descent, they were eligible. So to claim that Israel kicks out Christians is \*\*extremely \*\*far-fetched. It is also a crime (and could invalidate your petition) if you _lie_ on your citizenship papers. [Here’s the text of the Law, including Amendments](http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1950_1959/Law%20of%20Return%205710-1950). I don’t know _which_ court case you think I agree with. This thread isn’t about Israel’s law of return, but since you’ve mentioned it at least three times with some serious misrepresentation, it’s silly to think someone wouldn’t respond. The Court first held up the Law. Then the Court went against the Law. Since I am one who believes in the law of government, I am hesitant to support the Court - even when I do agree with their principle. The falashmurah and the Russian Christians are in the same category here. They immigrated as Christians who are direct descendants of Jews. The unification of Palestinians and Arab Israelis is in another category (and one that the Right of Return does not address and never intended to). I would like a cite of your unsubstantiated claim. If you can’t cite, maybe you should stop referencing something that (so far) seems to not exist. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/143 "2011-05-12T16:11:18Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I’m not a Zionist so I don’t agree with the Right of Return at all and I think it’s odious that any Jew who wants to can immigrate there while Palestians born in Haifa or Jaffa are excluded. So is that why you keep talking of things you have no proof of? 😕 A political narrative? > [@](#): > > As to the decision, well I’ll let the Israeli government decide who is and isn’t a Jew. The government does not. The rabbinic authorities do. > [@](#): > > Similarly, if the religious parties ever succeed in pushing through a law mandating that converts to Reform, Reconstructionist, or Conservative Judaism be excluded. They’ve tried to invalidate conversions. It hasn’t worked. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/144 "2011-05-12T16:12:38Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > I believe you are [mistaken.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messianic_Judaism#Treatment_in_the_United_States_and_Israel) > > ETA: Ah, I see you’re talking about Right of Return, not being stripped of citizenship. He’s wrong on both counts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/145 "2011-05-12T16:34:00Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Obviously, there are many similarities between Judaism and Islam since Islam, like Christianity grew out of Judaism, but Islam was far more influenced by Christianity(probably because Muhammad met far more Christians than Jews). That last is a contentious claim. According to Caesar Farah at least the Jews in Medina/Yathrib in particular may have formed up to 50% of the population and were also very well-represented in Tayma and Khaybar. By contrast sedentary Christian populations were mostly more peripheral to Mecca, though there were certainly Christians monks and merchants sprinkled throughout the area. The Christianized Judham and Udhra tribes were in the general region of the Hijaz, but were migrant Bedouin rather than settled populations, whose contacts with Mecca would have probably been regular but transitory. Otherwise major Christian populations were further to the south in Yemen or the north in Syria and Iraq. It is obvious that Muhammad was influenced by both faiths, but that Muhammad “met far more Christians than Jews”, even as a relatively cosmopolitan merchant by the limited standards of the region, seems likely to be an overstatement ( and of course an unverifiable point in either direction ). ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/146 "2011-05-12T16:49:50Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > He’s wrong on both counts. 😃 The case was in 1993 and is I believe, referred to in this article. [http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870469395&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull](http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1208870469395&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull) In it the Court rejected the idea that Messianic Jews were covered under the Right of Return, though in 2008, the Court reversed the decision. I thought the case involved Americans who had already immigrated and were stripped of their citizenship on the grounds that by denying practicing a religion other than Judaism on their applications they’d lied, though obvious I may have misremembered and this article isn’t terribly clear on the facts surrounding that case. There was an earlier Court decision in the late 1980s where a South African couple’s application was rejected even though they came from Jewish families. Anyway, when I brought this up I wasn’t taking shots at Israel just pointing out that Jews have made it clear that claiming Jesus was the Messiah, as Muslims do, is a huge no-no. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/147 "2011-05-12T16:57:18Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > That last is a contentious claim. According to Caesar Farah at least the Jews in Medina/Yathrib in particular may have formed up to 50% of the population and were also very well-represented in Tayma and Khaybar. By contrast sedentary Christian populations were mostly more peripheral to Mecca, though there were certainly Christians monks and merchants sprinkled throughout the area. The Christianized Judham and Udhra tribes were in the general region of the Hijaz, but were migrant Bedouin rather than settled populations, whose contacts with Mecca would have probably been regular but transitory. Otherwise major Christian populations were further to the south in Yemen or the north in Syria and Iraq. > > It is obvious that Muhammad was influenced by both faiths, but that Muhammad “met far more Christians than Jews”, even as a relatively cosmopolitan merchant by the limited standards of the region, seems likely to be an overstatement ( and of course an unverifiable point in either direction ). It’s possible I was wrong when I said he’d met more Christians than Jews because I thought as a merchant he would have. Nevertheless, I’d maintain that the Quran was clearly more influenced by Christianity, particularly the Christianity of that time period. In fact there have been extremely controversial claims that the Quran was originally written in Syriac. Judaism doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about the afterlife and what happens to those who follow God’s laws(which apply to everyone) whereas the Quran spends a huge amount of time discussing this. Also, the Quran explicitly blames the Jews for the arrest and persecution of Jesus, which is not something that too many Jews would like. Like I said the idea that Muslims are “a Jewish sect” is asinine. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/148 "2011-05-12T17:05:27Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Also, the Quran explicitly blames the Jews for the arrest and persecution of Jesus, which is not something that too many Jews would like. Certainly good evidence for a Christian influence. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/149 "2011-05-12T17:43:46Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Like I said the idea that Muslims are “a Jewish sect” is asinine. I suspect that was a slightly facetious comment :). It’s pretty common IME to hear Christianity referred to as a “Jewish sect” in a tongue in cheek sort of way. It is a fair to say that it started out as one, but as a fully separate religion now it obviously no longer qualifies as such. Just like Baha’i or the Druze faith wouldn’t be considered sects of Islam at the point. Islam, strictly speaking ( and arguably unlike Christianity ), was never really a sect as it didn’t exactly bud directly off a parent religion as a protest/separatist movement. More it was an inspired religion that borrowed from/grew out of pre-existing traditions. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/150 "2011-05-12T17:52:25Z")
Forgot to add ( and too slow to correct )… ETA: > [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Also, the Quran explicitly blames the Jews for the arrest and persecution of Jesus, which is not something that too many Jews would like. I was also going to add that the Jews do receive more direct attacks than Christians in the Qur’an. However my understanding is that the general scholarly consensus was that this was likely the result of rising tension with the important Jewish tribes that were stubbornly resisting Muhammad’s new faith. That hostility may in fact actually point to the closer pre-eruption contact with Jewish communities, as local Christians were nowhere near as numerous or organized as the Jews in Medina where Muhammad was living in exile and developing his theology. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/151 "2011-05-12T18:03:31Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I suspect that was a slightly facetious comment :). It’s pretty common IME to hear Christianity referred to as a “Jewish sect” in a tongue in cheek sort of way. It is a fair to say that it started out as one, but as a fully separate religion now it obviously no longer qualifies as such. Just like Baha’i or the Druze faith wouldn’t be considered sects of Islam at the point. > > Islam, strictly speaking ( and arguably unlike Christianity ), was never really a sect as it didn’t exactly bud directly off a parent religion as a protest/separatist movement. More it was an inspired religion that borrowed from/grew out of pre-existing traditions. Dio certainly didn’t give the impression it was a facetious remark. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/152 "2011-05-12T18:18:12Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > It is obvious that Muhammad was influenced by both faiths, but that Muhammad “met far more Christians than Jews”, even as a relatively cosmopolitan merchant by the limited standards of the region, seems likely to be an overstatement ( and of course an unverifiable point in either direction ). The Quran does seem to have a very Nestorian view of Jesus, though, and a lot of Muslim eschatology (the unleashing of Gog and Magog, the coming of a false messiah and a miraculous talking beast that unbelievers will worship as a god, Jesus coming back to lead an army to defeat the false messiah, Gabriel blowing a trumpet to signal the end of the world, and then God resurrecting everyone and judging them) all come out of Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/153 "2011-05-12T18:52:16Z")
There’s no “false messiah” in Christian eschatology (at least not in Christian scripture), and the “Beast” was allegorical, not literal. It was also an allusion to the Roman emperor, not a prediction of our future. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/154 "2011-05-12T19:09:43Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > The Quran does seem to have a very Nestorian view of Jesus, though, and a lot of Muslim eschatology (the unleashing of Gog and Magog, the coming of a false messiah and a miraculous talking beast that unbelievers will worship as a god, Jesus coming back to lead an army to defeat the false messiah, Gabriel blowing a trumpet to signal the end of the world, and then God resurrecting everyone and judging them) all come out of Christianity. What I think the controversy is over, is what is truly important to a religion. There is no question that Islam borrowed much from both Judaism and Christianity. The issue is, are the things that it borrowed really important and basic things or not? From a Jewish POV, eschatology is simply less emphasized, and there is a considerable degree of difference between various modern sects as to what it ought to be. Same with the afterlife. What is bedrock-basic to Judaism is a very strict monotheism. To make a perhaps nonsense analogy … if Judaism is a car and Christianity is a boat, Islam is a car with a nautical theme, and anchor, and sails. To a Jew it looks more like a “car” since the essential feature of a “car” or “car-ness” is that it runs on land … just as in religion, the essential thing, to a Jew, is that the person not worship multiple gods. In Judaism, “God is One” is of the essence; also, that whatever God _is_, he ain’t a person. Someone else may say “well look, it has an anchor, and a nautical themed decor, and sails, just like that Christianity-boat. Obviously, it is more like than the Judaism-car”. The response to that is that car-owners can, in some extreme cases, decorate their cars somewhat differently, but that doesn’t change their essential car-ness, which is based on the fact that they run on land. Not that I’m saying Islam _is_ Judaism - obviously, it isn’t. It is however more _like_ Judaism in its essential nature. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/155 "2011-05-12T19:52:34Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There’s no “false messiah” in Christian eschatology (at least not in Christian scripture), and the “Beast” was allegorical, not literal. It was also an allusion to the Roman emperor, not a prediction of our future. True, but that doesn’t mean that Muhammad wasn’t influenced at least by what he thought Christian eschatology was. ---
**Author:** ![blinkthrice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@blinkthrice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkthrice)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/156 "2011-05-12T20:42:53Z")
I’m muslim and after reading through this thread I though I’d make a few points: -Muslims don’t believe in three prophets, we believe in every prophet mentioned in the Torah. There are distinctions between “nabi’s’” and “rasools” in that rasools are given scripture and new laws for their respective nations to follow. Nabi’s’ are minor prophets, and more or less warners. Moses(Torah) Jesus(gospel) and Muhammad(Quran) were all rasools. All rasools are nabi’s’, but all nabi’s’ are not rasools. A perfect example of a nabi would be someone like lot, or Joseph. -it’s pretty pointless arguing about which religion is closer to the other, as Islam is considered by Muslims to be the middle path. In my opinion if we are going to talk about the similarities between Judaism and Islam and how they relate to each other, we should bring up the interesting fact that according to Jewish law, it is permissible for a Jew to pray inside of a mosque, since both religions are monotheistic and worship the God of Abraham. It is not permissible for a jew to offer his prayers inside of a church, since both Jews and Christians see Christianity as a subtle form of idolatry. These points are far more intriguing than the whole kosher/halal thing IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/157 "2011-05-12T20:47:15Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > There’s no “false messiah” in Christian eschatology (at least not in Christian scripture), and the “Beast” was allegorical, not literal. It was also an allusion to the Roman emperor, not a prediction of our future. Going to have to sort of disagree with you there, because the question isn’t what the writers of Christian scripture meant by the “beast” and any false messiah. The question is what 7th Century Arabian Christians believed about the “beast” and “false messiah”, and (while it’s distant in space), we know that in his 6th century “Commentary on Job”, Pope Gregory identified a physical anti-Christ and identified “the beast” with Satan. > [@](#): > > For Judaea was unwilling that the true King should reign over it, and therefore obtained a hypocrite, as its merits demanded. As the Truth Itself says in the Gospel, I have come in My Fathers name, and ye received Me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. [John 5, 43] And as Paul says, Because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved, therefore God shall send them the operation of error, that they should believe a lie. [2 Thess. 2, 10. 11.] In that, then, which is said, Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people, may be designated Antichrist, the very chief of all hypocrites. For that seducer then pretends to sanctity, that he may draw men away to iniquity. But he is permitted to reign for the sins of the people, because, in truth, they are preordained to be under his rule, who are foreseen before all ages to be worthy of being his subjects, who by their subsequent sins, claim to be placed under him by antecedent judgments. That Antichrist then reigns over the ungodly arises not from the injustice of the Judge, but from the sin of the sufferer. Although most of them have not beheld his sovereign power, and yet are enslaved to it, by the condition in which their sins have placed them. Because they, doubtless, reverence even him by their evil lives, whom they do not see tyrannizing over them. Are not they his very members, who seek by a shew of affected sanctity to seem what they are not? For he in a special manner assumes a false guise, who though a lost man, and an evil spirit, falsely announces himself to be God. [2 Thess. 2, 4] But they unquestionably now come forth from his body, who conceal their iniquities under the cloak of sacred honour, in order to seek to seem to be that in profession, which they refuse to be in their doings. For since it is written, that whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin, [John 8, 34] the more freely they now commit the sins which they desire, the more strictly are they bound down to his service. also, regarding “The beast”: > [@](#): > > Who else is understood by the name of the beast, except our ancient enemy, who cruelly aimed at the deception of the first man, and mangled by his wicked advice the integrity of his life? against whom it is promised by the words of the Prophet, concerning the restoration of the Church of the Elect to its ancient condition, And no evil beast shall pass through it. But when after the coming of the Redeemer, after the voices of preachers, after the thunder, as it were, of the clouds, this beast has seized that accursed person, Antichrist, what else does he do but enter his covert, in order to abide in his own den? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/158 "2011-05-12T21:00:36Z")
> [@blinkthrice](#): > > I’m muslim and after reading through this thread I though I’d make a few points: > > -Muslims don’t believe in three prophets, we believe in every prophet mentioned in the Torah. There are distinctions between “nabi’s’” and “rasools” in that rasools are given scripture and new laws for their respective nations to follow. Nabi’s’ are minor prophets, and more or less warners. Moses(Torah) Jesus(gospel) and Muhammad(Quran) were all rasools. All rasools are nabi’s’, but all nabi’s’ are not rasools. A perfect example of a nabi would be someone like lot, or Joseph. > > -it’s pretty pointless arguing about which religion is closer to the other, as Islam is considered by Muslims to be the middle path. In my opinion if we are going to talk about the similarities between Judaism and Islam and how they relate to each other, we should bring up the interesting fact that according to Jewish law, it is permissible for a Jew to pray inside of a mosque, since both religions are monotheistic and worship the God of Abraham. It is not permissible for a jew to offer his prayers inside of a church, since both Jews and Christians see Christianity as a subtle form of idolatry. These points are far more intriguing than the whole kosher/halal thing IMO. Interesting. I’ve never heard that thing about Jews being religiously allowed to pray in mosques. I agree of course that the “strict monotheism” thing is the most significant shared commonality between Judaism and Islam. The most significant difference, I would contend, is the centrality of Mohammed in Islam and the treatment of the oral law in the two religions. ---
**Author:** ![blinkthrice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@blinkthrice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkthrice)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/159 "2011-05-12T21:43:56Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Interesting. I’ve never heard that thing about Jews being religiously allowed to pray in mosques. > > I agree of course that the “strict monotheism” thing is the most significant shared commonality between Judaism and Islam. > > The most significant difference, I would contend, is the centrality of Mohammed in Islam and the treatment of the oral law in the two religions. Here’s a site that references what I was talking about. I didn’t get a chance to look it over thoroughly since I’m at work, but it appears to have cites: [http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/islam\_ar.pdf](http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/islam_ar.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330/160 "2011-05-12T22:19:30Z")
> [@blinkthrice](#): > > Here’s a site that references what I was talking about. I didn’t get a chance to look it over thoroughly since I’m at work, but it appears to have cites: > > [http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/islam\_ar.pdf](http://www.godsholymountain.org/papers/islam_ar.pdf) Seems pretty authoritative to me. I’d never heard of this particular issue being raised before, but the resolution, as described in your link, absolutely makes sense - as, of course, the most significant issue for Jews is the adherence to monotheism. I did know that Muslims were considered to qualify for being “Noahides” under Jewish law, whereas there is great debate whether Trinitine Christians would. [The “Noahide” laws are the seven basic laws that, in Jewish tradition, are binding on all of humanity: non-Jews who are good “Noahides” are, in Jewish tradition, considered fully as righteous as good observant Jews, even though they are not Jewish. The seven laws are: Prohibition of Idolatry Prohibition of Murder Prohibition of Theft Prohibition of Sexual immorality Prohibition of Blasphemy Prohibition of eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive Establishment of law courts The term “Noahide” derives from the fact that these laws were binding on Noah, who though clearly a righteous person, was of course not a Jew; therefore, logically, someone who acted as Noah did must also be “righteous”, even if not a Jew. ] The problem, for Christians, is the “no idolitary” law. The issue is whether believing in the Trinity violates that _ab initio_. Here is an interesting discussion of the debate (in summary, some say yes and some say no): [http://www.wikinoah.org/index.php/Christianity\_and\_Noahide\_Law](http://www.wikinoah.org/index.php/Christianity_and_Noahide_Law) Compare with Islam - almost all commentators agree a Muslim can be a Noahide. [http://www.wikinoah.org/index.php?title=Islam\_and\_Noahide\_Law](http://www.wikinoah.org/index.php?title=Islam_and_Noahide_Law) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/major-differences-between-modern-day-judiasm-and-modern-day-islam/581330.md?page=9)