Page:Judaism and Islam, a prize essay - Geiger - 1898.pdf/34

 16 JUDAISM AND ISLAM.

in great respect lies in the fact that in passages enumerating the different creeds *, he mentions the Jews immediately after the Muslims.

In two of these passages he even promises Godfearing Jews absolute equality with Muslims ; and though in the third and last he is not so lenient, and threatens that a distinction between them will be made, yet even in this ^passage it is very plain that precedence over other religious bodies is given to the Jews. In Muslim traditions it is said that the sinful among the Muslims will go into the first, the mildest of the seven hells, 2 the Jews into the second, Christians 3 into the third, and so on. 4

In addition to all this, which produced in Muhammad the wish to adopt much from Judaism into his religious system, we must consider the fantastic development which the

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" While he was sitting by Muhammad, a Jew who had jusb passed by a corpse came up and said : ' Muhammad, does this corpse speak ? ' He said : ' Neither agree with the possessors of the Scriptures, nor call them liars, but say : We believe in God, His angels, His word and His Apostles. If what the Jews say is vain, do not confirm them j if it is true, do not give them the lie,' " i.e, preserve a strictly negative attitude, so as on no account to expose yourselves; thus the meaning here seems to be

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almost identical with that of the word \jJy8 2 referred to above.

1 Sarahs II. 59, Y. 73, XXII. 17.

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{$i.&\ the Muslims.

""* & i (>S^ the Jews.

2 See Division I. Section II. Chap. i. Part II A,

. ' D'Herbelot in his Bibliotheque orientale (under " Jahoud " page 441,) asserts on the contrary that the Muslims give the Jews a lower place in hell than the Christians, bat this is /probably the opinion of a later age.

4 Pococke notse miscellanse, Cap, 7 p. 289.