Unknown - The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History

Dr. Andrew Bostom has written and edited the definitive book on Muslim antisemitism. Bostom demolishes, once and for all, the myth that Muslim antisemitism is a twentieth-century European import, conclusively demonstrating that its grim history is as old as Islam itself. This is a priceless, indispensable, and authoritative resource that is being made available when it is most needed.

Richard L. Rubenstein, President Emeritus, University of Bridgeport; Lawton Distinguished Professor of Religion Emeritus, Florida State University; and author of After Auschwitz, The Cunning of History, and Jihad and Genocide: The Nuclear Dimension (forthcoming)

It has long been a staple of anti-Israel propaganda that Muslims have never had anything against Judaism or Jews but only against Zionism and Zionists. Andrew Bostom debunks this spurious claim by exposing a deep and pervasive anti-Jewish bigotry dating to Islams earliest days, and indeed to the Muslim Prophet Muhammad himself. Small wonder that some of the hoariest and most bizarre themes of European antisemitism should have struck a responsive chord when they made their way into the Islamic and Arab worlds over the course of the centuries, turning them into the most prolific producers of antisemitic ideas and attitudes in todays world.

Efraim Karsh, Head of Mediterranean Studies, University of London, and author of Empires of the Sand: The Struggle for Mastery in the Middle East 17891923 and Islamic Imperialism: A History

Andrew Bostom has performed a rare and welcome service with the publication of The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism. He has patiently assembled an enormous body of primary sources that documents the brutal Jewhatred that has characterized much of Islamic culture from its earliest days. The books importance goes far beyond the historical record, for it shows convincingly that the fledgling movementand widespread Western hopesto reform Islam, and imbue it with anything approaching true toleration, faces enormous obstacles.

Dr. Michael Ledeen, author of Universal Fascism and The Iranian Time Bomb, and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute

For years scholars focused almost exclusively on the roots of Christian and secular antisemitism to understand the animosity targeted toward Jews in Western civilization during more than two millennia. But theres a parallel tradition, one far more explosive today: Islamic antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Its crucial that we dont shy away from analyzing its misconceptions, its history and strategies. Andrew Bostom offers a wideranging sampler of readings to start the task, from the Quran itself and the early biographers of Muhammad to the premodern theologians and jurists, and onward to the major articulators of discontent in the modern era. His eye-opening anthology should become an essential resource.

Ilan Stavans, Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture and Five-College 40th Anniversary Professor, Amherst College, and author of The Disappearance: A Novella and Stories and editor of The Schocken Book of Modern Sephardic Literature and The Scroll and the Cross: 1,000 Years of Jewish-Hispanic Literature

Andrew Bostoms new book, The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism, demolishes the fashionable but dangerous myth that there was no antisemitism in the Muslim world until the Middle East became infected with it by Nazi propaganda in the 1930s. As in his earlier work, The Legacy of Jihad, Dr. Bostom has rendered an invaluable service to those who are interested in understanding the historical realities of Islam, free from the distortions of political correctness. Both books should be mandatory reading for those who wish to grasp the enormous challenge that Islam poses to the free and open societies of the West.

Lee Harris, author of Civilization and Its Enemies: The Next Stage of History and The Suicide of Reason: Radical Islams Challenge to the West

Andrew Bostoms brilliant and extensive research and documentation put an end to the myth of Muslim tolerance of Jews often expressed when we say, We dont hate Jews, we hate Israel. The question now is, are we going to face uncomfortable truths and end our denial or continue the unspeakable hatred?

Nonie Darwish, author of Now They Call Me Infidel

The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism is the most comprehensive analysis of the anti-Jewish hatred that has been entrenched in Islamic culture and politics since the advent of Islam under Muhammad. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand what underlies the incessant Muslim animus against Jews and the Jewish State of Israel, in particular.

Brigitte Gabriel, author of Because They Hate

No one who wishes to assess the futurenot just of Jews but of Enlightenment valuescan neglect Andrew Bostoms exhaustively researched, powerfully argued study of the past in The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism.

Ron Rosenbaum, author of Explaining Hitler and editor of Those Who Forget the Past: The Question of Antisemitism

uses sacred texts and statements from authoritative Islamic scholars to show that antisemitism was present in the earliest stages of the religion and is not just a phenomenon of the past sixty years. By gathering these various resources, Bostom persuasivelyalmost overwhelmingly demonstrates the antisemitic tendencies in Islam, presenting his case like a prosecuting attorney. Highly recommended for all libraries.

Library Journal

Dr. Bostoms work documents Islams absolute hatred and systematic and barbaric persecution of Jews beginning with Muhammad, and lasting right through the twenty-first century. Islam did not have to rely upon Christian or Nazi myths about the Jews; they had their own indigenous blood libels about the Jews which prevail to this day and explain why the Muslims wont make peace with Israel, the only Jewish state. Bostoms work is dramatic, devastating, chilling, comprehensive, and utterly, heartbreakingly, persuasive. It should be required reading for journalists and scholars the world overespecially those who believe that historical and theological Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and that to say otherwise is to engage in Islamophobia.

Phyllis Chesler, Emerita Professor of Psychology and Womens Studies, City University of New York, and author of The New Antisemitism and The Death of Feminism

The Legacy of

Islamic Antisemitism

The Legacy of

Islamic Antisemitism

From Sacred Texts to Solemn History

Edited by Andrew G. Bostom

Foreword by Ibn Warraq

Prometheus Books

59 John Glenn Drive

Amherst, New York 142282119

Published 2008 by Prometheus Books

The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History . Copyright 2008 by Andrew G. Bostom. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a Web site without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inquiries should be addressed to

Prometheus Books

59 John Glenn Drive

Amherst, New York 142282119