A Wisdom Archive on Islam and Judaism

The historical interaction of Islam and Judaism began in the 7th century with the spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. Because both of these religions share a common origin in the Middle East, and because of the shared aspects between Judaism and Islam, as well as the influence of Muslim culture and philosophy on practitioners of Judaism within the Islamic world, there has been considerable and continued physical, theological, and political overlap between the two faiths in the subsequent 1,400 years. Islam and Juda ... Including:

• Islam and Judaism - Early relationship
• Islam and Judaism - Islamic view of the Torah
• Islam and Judaism - Historical
• Islam and Judaism - Spain 711-1492
• Islam and Judaism - Ottoman Empire 1326-1800
• Islam and Judaism - Iraq
• Islam and Judaism - Persia and Iran 711-1900
• Islam and Judaism - North Africa
• Islam and Judaism - Tunisia
• Islam and Judaism - Morocco
• Islam and Judaism - Egypt
• Islam and Judaism - Algeria
• Islam and Judaism - Central Asia and the Mongol Khanates
• Islam and Judaism - Interplay between Jewish and Islamic thought
• Islam and Judaism - Major thinkers in Jewish and Islamic philosophy
• Islam and Judaism - Influence on exegesis
• Islam and Judaism - Influences on Worship

Read more here: » Islam and Judaism: Encyclopedia - Islam and Judaism

There was a great deal of intellectual cultural diffusion between Muslim and Jewish rationalist philosophers of the medieval era.

Read more here: » Islam and Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Islam and Judaism - Interplay between Jewish and Islamic thought

According to both traditional Judaism and modern scholars, a number of qualities distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first emerged. One characteristic was monotheism. The significance of this idea, according to critical historian Yehezkal Kaufman, lies in that Judaism holds that God created, and cares about, humankind. In polytheistic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their rel ...

Read more here: » Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Judaism - Introduction

Judaism - Classical priesthood. Judaism does not have a clergy, in the sense of full-time specialists required for religious services. Technically, the last time Judaism had a clergy was prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The priesthood is an inherited position, and although priests no longer have clerical duties, they are still honored in many Jewish communities. Kohen (priest) - patrilineal descendant of Aaron, brother of Mose ...

Read more here: » Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Judaism - Community leadership

Although monotheism is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, many critical Bible scholars claim that certain verses in the Torah imply that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods, while viewing their God as the sole Creator, whose worship is obligated (a rather henotheistic point of view). According to them, it was only by the Hellenic period that most Jews came to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. They ...

Read more here: » Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Judaism - Critical historical view of the development of Judaism

While Judaism has always affirmed a number of Jewish principles of faith, no creed, dogma, set of orthodox beliefs, or fully-binding "catechism," is recognized, an approach to religious doctrine that dates back at least two thousand years and that makes generalizations about Jewish theology somewhat difficult. While individual rabbis, congregations, or movements have at times agreed upon a firm dogma, generally other rabbis and groups have disagreed, and because there is explicitly no central religious authority, no specific formulation of J ...

Read more here: » Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Judaism - Religious doctrine and Principles of Faith

The existence of a malevolent supernatural personality who works to thwart the will of a good God is a central tenet of both Christianity and Islam. These faiths, in turn, derive the Satan or Shaitan figure from Judaism. Many scholars believe that Judaism originally received the concepts of eschatology, angelology, and demonology from Zoroastrianism. In the Zoroastrian tradition, Ahura Mazda, as the force of good Spenta Mainyu, will eventually be victorious in a cos ...

Read more here: » Demonology: Encyclopedia II - Demonology - Islam Judaism and Zoroastrianism

Jewish history is an extensive topic; this section will cover the elements of Jewish history of most importance to the Jewish religion and the development of Jewish denominations. Judaism - Ancient Jewish religious history. Jews trace their religious lineage to the biblical patriarch Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. After the Exodus from Egypt, the Jews came to Canaan, and settled the land. A kingdom was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem. After ...

Read more here: » Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Judaism - Jewish religious history

Jews are often called a "People of the Book," and Judaism has an age-old intellectual tradition focusing on text-based Torah study. The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought. For more detail, see Rabbinic literature. The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Jewish bible study, which include: Mesorah Targum Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below) Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature) The Mishnah and its co ...

Read more here: » Judaism: Encyclopedia II - Judaism - The traditional Jewish bookshelf