by Nils A. Haug
Islamist claims of legitimacy -- and their determination to rid Israel of Jews -- are a core element in explaining the perpetual conflict between Islamists and Israel. Consequently, any peace agreement may well be fragile and temporary.
At the Islamic Centre of Rhode Island, on May 30, an imam delivered a sermon that, according to Andrew Bostom, "invoked Islam's supersessionism, its notion of being the true primordial monotheism of Jewish patriarch Abraham."
Of course, the main problem in discussing religion is that it is often impossible to prove anything, so that all controversies continue indefinitely.
It is a contest of legitimacy with Muslims asserting Ishmael to be the rightful, favored heir to Abraham, rather than his only legitimate son and heir, Isaac.
Islamist claims of legitimacy -- and their determination to rid Israel of Jews -- are a core element in explaining the perpetual conflict between Islamists and Israel. Consequently, any peace agreement may well be fragile and temporary.
It has been claimed that the recent Iran-Israel war was simply a "violent prelude to a far grander and more terrifying prophetic chapter" in the effort to eliminate Israel and Jews from the face of the earth.
This objective comprises diverse but interconnected strategies, such as pro-Islamic and anti-Zionist propaganda; military attacks on Israel by Iran and its jihadist proxies; and, not least, theological contortions designed to negate legitimate Jewish claims to their ancient divine blessings, including the promised homeland of Israel -- Eretz Yisrael -- itself.
At the Islamic Centre of Rhode Island, on May 30, an imam delivered a sermon that, according to Andrew Bostom, "invoked Islam's supersessionism, its notion of being the true primordial monotheism of Jewish patriarch Abraham." In short, the imam was saying that Islam, not Judaism, is the sole authentic religion emanating from Abraham's line of descent.
Of course, the main problem in discussing religion is that it is often impossible to prove anything, so that all controversies continue indefinitely.
In support, the imam quoted certain verses of the Quran, particularly 3:67:
"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim [submitting to Allah]. And he was not of the polytheists."
(Sahih International)
and 3:68:
"Indeed, the most worthy of Abraham among the people are those who followed him [in submission to Allah ] and this prophet, and those who believe [in his message]. And Allah is the ally of the believers."
(Sahih International)
The Quran is claiming that Muslims are "the most worthy" of the status as the heirs of Abraham -- the true believers -- not the Christians or the Jews.
The imam scorned Jewish and Christian claims to Abraham as their spiritual ancestor:
"[T]he Christians, can't articulate what they really believe, what their tawhid [monotheism] means. And the other group [the Jews] has reduced their religion to an ethnic identity that they use to justify a slaughter of innocent people."
Therefore, not only minor sectarian elements of the Christian Church desire to appropriate blessings due to Jews, but Islam is similarly promoting a doctrinal version of the "Great Replacement," in which Islam supposedly supersedes both Christianity and Judaism. According to this dogma, Muslims, not the Jews, are rightful inheritors of the divine dedications assigned to Abraham.
Unlike the Christian version of supersessionism, whereby the church is purportedly the "New Israel," Islamic doctrines do not claim to replace the Jews. According to Sarah Gon, of the Institute of Race Relations, Islamic theology instead "recasts the Jewish prophets as Muslims by creating a direct link with Ishmael, the son of Abraham -- the 'first Muslim,' according to the Qur'an." It is a contest of legitimacy with Muslims asserting Ishmael to be the rightful, favored heir to Abraham, rather than his only legitimate son and heir, Isaac.
The narrative of Abraham and Isaac is important in understanding the ongoing Middle East conflict. According to Genesis 16:15-16 and 21:1-7, both Isaac (born to his wife, Sarah) and Ishmael (born to Sarah's handmaiden, Hagar) were born in Canaan – in greater Israel. The Quran, verse 14:37, reads:
"Our Lord, I have settled some of my descendants in an uncultivated valley near Your sacred House, our Lord, that they may establish prayer. So make hearts among the people incline toward them and provide for them from the fruits that they might be grateful."
(Sahih International)
This means, according to Roy Hirsch, that "God instructed Abraham to leave Hagar and Ishmael in the barren valley of Mecca, while Isaac stayed in Canaan." The latter construal appears, if the Bible is viewed as the benchmark, to be a fiction that is meant to justify Ishmael's claim to religious legitimacy.
In the New Testament's Epistle to the Galatians, Saul of Tarsus writes in a letter to the church at Galatia:
"But what does Scripture say? 'Get rid of the slave woman and her son [Ishmael], for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son [Isaac].'"
Christian doctrine convincingly upholds the Torah on this controversy; and according to this, the descendants of Ishmael (Muslims) have no part of the divine promises made to Abraham and Isaac.
In addition to Islamic claims to divine promises, these assertions are further extended to the Holy City of Jerusalem itself – the centerpiece of Judaism and the intended great prize of Islam. The Qur'an (Al-Isra 17:1) states:
"Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al- Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing."
(Sahih International)
The verse alleges, according to Roy Hirsch, that Muhammad made a "brief, one-time stop at the farthest Temple Mount during his nocturnal journey to Heaven in 620 CE." The irony is that all Muslims pray while facing Mecca – their holiest city -- not facing Jerusalem.
Whatever the mode of replacement designed to deprive Jews of their status as the "chosen people" and a "people after God's own heart," the intended effect is the same -- the denial of legitimacy. This is an old heresy, like the subversive question from the serpent in the Garden of Eden: "Did G-d really say..."
Another essential concept that differentiates Islamic attempts at replacing the Jews from Christian attempts is, according to Sarah Gon:
"Vilifying or killing Jews has become a recurring motif in Muslim supersessionism. The Qur'an repeatedly accuses the Jews of falsehood, distortion, and of being 'corrupters of the scriptures'. It argues that the Jews did not deserve to be the Chosen People, and because of their sins are condemned to 'degradation in this world.'"
Muslims seemingly aim to be considered the primary chosen people descending from Abraham. The Christian version of replacement theology, shown to be a heresy with no scriptural warrant, has fallen from favor.
A related replacement ideology was adopted by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi propagandists through a theory of their "master race," Aryans supposedly being superior to the Jews. Hitler was influenced by Martin Luther, the important, vehemently anti-Semitic German church reformer from the 16th century. Nazi replacement ideology and it's virulent Jew-hatred resulted in the horrors of the holocaust.
Islamist claims of legitimacy -- and their determination to rid Israel of Jews -- are a core element in explaining the perpetual conflict between Islamists and Israel. Consequently, any peace agreement may well be fragile and temporary.
"Muslim greatness under Allah depends on the subjugation and annihilation of the Jews," suggests Sarah Gon.
That is something that will never happen.
Nils A. Haug is an author and columnist. A Lawyer by profession, he is member of the International Bar Association, the National Association of Scholars, the Academy of Philosophy and Letters. Dr. Haug holds a Ph.D. in Apologetical Theology and is author of 'Politics, Law, and Disorder in the Garden of Eden – the Quest for Identity'; and 'Enemies of the Innocent – Life, Truth, and Meaning in a Dark Age.' His work has been published by First Things Journal, The American Mind, Quadrant, Minding the Campus, Gatestone Institute, National Association of Scholars, Jewish Journal, James Wilson Institute (Anchoring Truths), Jewish News Syndicate, Tribune Juive, Document Danmark, Zwiedzaj Polske, and many others.
Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21771/descendants-of-abraham
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