Basic layout & contents of the Quran

[A'isha]

How did this come about? AFAIU Christianity was quite prominent in the regions of Muhammed's early conversions and Christians appear to have influenced him. Is there a direct source of the more Jewish elements (law-keeping, rituals, etc)? Or is it likely to be a more reactionary development, i.e. that Christians were corrupting the law and that the return to the "true" revelation meant going back to something more Jewish?

Judaism was a bigger influence due to having large, organized communities in the Arabian peninsula. Christianity was present, but more scattered and incoherent, consisting of a number of smaller sects and sub-sects that were generally persecuted by the Byzantines (the Christianity as described in the Qur'an is noticeably different in a number of core details from the Christianity we know today).

 

[TubbaBlubba]

Judaism was a bigger influence due to having large, organized communities in the Arabian peninsula. Christianity was present, but more scattered and incoherent, consisting of a number of smaller sects and sub-sects that were generally persecuted by the Byzantines (the Christianity as described in the Qur'an is noticeably different in a number of core details from the Christianity we know today).

That makes sense! How about hostility to Jewish communities? Is that widely expressed or more incidental, like relating to skirmishes? I imagine the Jews expressed a good deal of hostility toward the newcomers themselves...

 

[A'isha]

That makes sense! How about hostility to Jewish communities? Is that widely expressed or more incidental, like relating to skirmishes? I imagine the Jews expressed a good deal of hostility toward the newcomers themselves...

Do you mean widely expressed or incidental in pre-Islam Arabia? If so, then no. Hostilities against communities were based on tribal conflicts, not religious ones. The Christian communities were hostile, but as I mentioned above they weren't especially influential.

 

[Craig B]

Do you mean widely expressed or incidental in pre-Islam Arabia? If so, then no. Hostilities against communities were based on tribal conflicts, not religious ones. The Christian communities were hostile, but as I mentioned above they weren't especially influential.

Some Jews, like this poet, exerted strong cultural influence, and they displayed the same social values as members of the other religious communities.

 

[TubbaBlubba]

Do you mean widely expressed or incidental in pre-Islam Arabia? If so, then no. Hostilities against communities were based on tribal conflicts, not religious ones. The Christian communities were hostile, but as I mentioned above they weren't especially influential.

That makes sense. Did the hostility become more prominent in the early caliphates? And is modern Islamic antisemitism (if I speak in excessively general terms) in the region mostly a reaction to Zionism, or does it have an older pedigree?

 

[Craig B]

That makes sense. Did the hostility become more prominent in the early caliphates? And is modern Islamic antisemitism (if I speak in excessively general terms) in the region mostly a reaction to Zionism, or does it have an older pedigree?

There were serious disputes involving Muhammad and the four Jewish tribes resident in Medina during his sojourn there. See here for an account of the events.

 

[A'isha]

That makes sense. Did the hostility become more prominent in the early caliphates? And is modern Islamic antisemitism (if I speak in excessively general terms) in the region mostly a reaction to Zionism, or does it have an older pedigree?

The hostility arose from a combination of tribal conflicts with the Jewish tribes during early Islam, combined with religious disputes (since the Muslims believed that Jews were following a corrupted version of the True Religion and refused to accept its corrected revision).

Modern Islamic anti-semitism, in its particular form today, is mostly a reaction to the establishment of Israel and the defeats in the wars that followed. "Classical" Islamic anti-semitism didn't really have a animosity that Christian anti-semitism did (there's no equivalent of the "you killed Jesus!" anger). It was more of a condescending, almost contemptuous, sense of superiority, rather than the evil, almost Satanic scheming stereotype of Christian anti-semitism. The modern anti-semitism actually began as a European import to Christian minority communities in Muslim lands, then was latched onto after the establishment of Israel and the numerous military defeats as a way to try to explain what happened.

 

[MandelaSpinoza]

The hostility arose from a combination of tribal conflicts with the Jewish tribes during early Islam, combined with religious disputes (since the Muslims believed that Jews were following a corrupted version of the True Religion and refused to accept its corrected revision).

Modern Islamic anti-semitism, in its particular form today, is mostly a reaction to the establishment of Israel and the defeats in the wars that followed. "Classical" Islamic anti-semitism didn't really have a animosity that Christian anti-semitism did (there's no equivalent of the "you killed Jesus!" anger). It was more of a condescending, almost contemptuous, sense of superiority, rather than the evil, almost Satanic scheming stereotype of Christian anti-semitism. The modern anti-semitism actually began as a European import to Christian minority communities in Muslim lands, then was latched onto after the establishment of Israel and the numerous military defeats as a way to try to explain what happened.

Thank you for the explanations. Long time lurker here and i'd like to compliment you for being one of the most articulate and knowledgeable posters on the board.