View Point                                                                   Br. Imran N. Hosein

THE DILEMMA OF RECOGNIZING ISRAEL

To 'recognize' the Jewish State of Israel, or not to 'recognize', that is the dilemma which confronts so many governments in today's world of Islam. It is a dilemma for them because there is only one force in the world today which stands in the way of Jewish Israel achieving universal acceptance and recognition from the gentile international community, and the security and guarantee of survival which, it assumes, is assured by that recognition, and that is Islam.

The impoverished Muslim masses resolutely oppose the 'recognition' of the State of Israel, and they are a force to be reckoned with since Islam is rapidly re-emerging as a most significant actor in international affairs. The predatory elite in the Muslim world, on the other hand, are shifting their position and moving in the direction of an accommodation with Israel which would protect their vested interests. This is described as the 'peace process'. The predatory Muslim elite, accustomed to power and privilege, is terrified at the prospect of resurgent revolutionary Islam winning power in Egypt, Pakistan etc., and then dealing with them in the manner in which revolutionary Islamic Iran dealt with them. And so the pressure to recognize Israel comes from a terrified Muslim elite living in mortal fear of the impoverished Muslim masses and of Islam's stern and uncompromising justice.

The pressure to recognize Israel also comes from USA and its allies and clients, and from the international Monetary Fund etc. Growing Jewish influence over (Middle East) foreign policy in these governments, and over decision-making in these international organizations, and the perception of a long-term Islamic threat to Israel, to western capitalism and democracy and to the secular model of society which was designed to sustain them, lie at the very heart of that pressure which Muslim governments now face.

The capacity of Muslim governments to resist such pressures becomes weaker and weaker as political and strategic vulnerability and the economic strangle-hold of riba (usury) increase! Indeed the supreme game in the games of dominance which constitute the New World Order is political and strategic blackmail and economic and financial imperialism. No where is this supreme game played more resolutely than in the effort to preserve and promote the security of the Jewish State of Israel.

The act of 'recognition' of the Jewish State of Israel implies, ipso facto, acceptance of Israel's legitimacy. One cannot 'recognize' a State and yet maintain that it is illegitimate! But acceptance of the legitimacy of the State of Israel is fundamentally different from the acceptance of the legitimacy of any other State in the world because of the following:

i) recognition of the State of Israel implies acceptance of the basic claim of the Jews that Allah gave the holy land (of Palestine) to them as and exclusive and ever-lasting possession! Even to this day the land still belongs to them since Allah gave it to them.
ii) the land of Palestine is recognized in the Torah and Qur'an as the holy land. The Jews believe that they are the chosen people of Allah, that Allah made a covenant with them, and that the covenant is still valid. They believe that they have the right to take possession of the holy land because of their special status with Allah. They believe that their success in taking control of the holy land validates their beliefs about themselves, their religion, and their claim to Truth. Recognition of the State of Israel implies acceptance of Judaism's right to control the holy land and, thus, validates Judaism's to Truth!

When the Qur'an is used to examine these claims they are found to be falsehoods uttered against Allah and hence to be shirk! Most Muslims have faithfully abstained from that act of shirk.

This book attempts to use the divine revelation which came after the Torah and the Gospel, i.e, the Qur'an, as the criterion (al-Furqan) with which to determine whether Allah did the following, as claimed in the Torah:
1) Exclude Ishmael from His Covenant,
2) Give the holy land of Canaan (modern-day Palestine) to the Jews as and exclusive and everlasting possession,
3) Give to the Jews unconditional title to the holy land.
The conclusions to which we arrive will determine the implications for Muslims of recognition of the Jewish State of Israel.
The Qur'an thus supports the claim of the Torah that the land of Canaan, described as the holy land, was given to the Israelites (Banu Israel).

The position of the Qur'an, however, is that Allah did not give to any people exclusive and unconditional title to the holy land. The holy land belonged to Banu Israil so long as they were true to the religion of Abraham. Righteous conduct is the very foundation of the way of life which was ordained by the one God. The Jewish conduct with Moses was wicked. They violated the very substance of the religion of Abraham. And so they were punished. The punishment was that they were denied entry into that holy land for forty years (Qur'an 5:29).

From today's Jewish perspective, Allah had excluded Ishmael from the Covenant. This claim implied that Jews were the (exclusive) chosen people of Allah. They understood that to mean that divine revelation was their exclusive preserve. As a consequence they believed that Prophethood, also, was their exclusive preserve since divine revelation and Prophethood were located at the very substance of the Covenant! If this Jewish claim is true then it follows that Ishmael could not, therefore, be a Prophet. The Qur'an, however, affirms that Ishmael was a Prophet of Allah, hence, it follows that he was included in the Covenant. Therefore the statement in the Torah concerning the exclusion of Ishmael from the Covenant did not have come from Allah.

Also, if Isaac was the only child of the Covenant and Ishmael was excluded, as the Jews claim, it would follow therefrom that no Prophet could arise from the seed of Ishmael - Prophethood being the very essence of the Covenant. It would also follow that none but an Israelite/Hebrew (today known as Jews) could receive divine revelation. In the Qur'an, however, Allah affirms that Muhammad was a Prophet and Messenger of Allah. He also affirms that the Qur'an was revealed to him (Muhammad) in order that he might admonish a people whose forefathers had received no admonition.

Moreover, if Isaac was the only child of the Covenant and Ishmael was specifically excluded from the Covenant, it follows that Isaac and not Ishmael should have been the child of the sacrifice (when Abraham was commanded by Allah to sacrifice his son). In this regard, the Torah asserts that the son who was to be sacrificed was the only son of Abraham. This assertion too does not stand the test of scrutiny because the Qur'an very significantly places the 'good news' to Abraham, of the coming birth of Isaac, immediately after the narration of the event of the sacrifice (Qur'an 37:100-112). Thus when the event of the sacrifice took place Ishmael was the only son of Abraham. And at no time was Isaac ever the only son of Abraham. The fact that the reference to only son has survived in the Torah indicates that the original Torah must have named Ishmael as the child of the sacrifice.

Furthermore, if Isaac was the only child of the Covenant, and Ishmael was excluded, it follows therefrom that Isaac, not Ishmael, should have been the son chosen by Allah to assist his father Abraham in the building of the first House of Allah - the first temple (masjid) - and in instituting the annual pilgrimage to that holy temple! Here again, the Qur'an informs us that it was Ishmael and Abraham who built the first House of Allah and Isaac was not present (Qur'an 2:127). From this it follows that Ishmael was most definitely within the Covenant rather than excluded from the Covenant (Qur'an 2:127).
The Qur'an also informs us of the prayer of Abraham while he was constructing the building (i.e., the Ka'aba) in which he prayed that a Prophet should arise from that part of his family (Hagar and Ishmael) which he had settled in Makkah (Qur'an 2:129). The fact that Allah responded to the prayer of Abraham and sent Muhammad as a Prophet from the seed of Ishmael, proves beyond any doubt that Ishmael was not excluded from the Covenant. It is the amended Torah which declared that he was excluded from the Covenant. It is false!

As the final proof that Ishmael was indeed included in the Covenant with Abraham, consider the following: the Torah clearly states that circumcision shall be the sign of the covenant between Allah, Abraham, his offspring and those who follow him (Genesis 17:10-14). It is a fact of history that there have been only two people in the world who have circumcised their males as a religious duty all through history - Banu Israil (today's Jews being the remnant) and Banu Ismail (the Arabs) both of whom are from the seed of Abraham. Prophet Muhammad specifically confirmed the order of circumcision as a fulfillment of the sunnah (the way) of Abraham. But he was only required to confirm circumcision to the Arabs. Although they were a pagan idolatrous people he did not have to ask them to do something new. The pagan Arabs were practicing circumcision for thousands of years prior to the birth of Muhammad.

The question therefore arises, why were the pagan idolatrous Arabs practicing circumcision even before it was confirmed by the Prophet Muhammad? After all, no people other than the Jews were doing it. There can only be one answer to that question. The pagan Arabs were doing it because they were the seed of Ishmael and because circumcision, as the 'Sign of the Covenant' had been made obligatory on the seed of Ishmael. The historical fact of circumcision in Arabia thus confirms the existence of an essential link with the religion of Abraham.

Indeed there was such universal conformity amongst the Arabs with the rite of circumcision that the Qur'an did not have cause to devote even a single verse to the subject. And this is a matter of more than passing importance. It is Allah's way of provoking thought for an explanation for the practice of circumcision amongst pagan Arabs. And yet, how few Jews and Christians have been provoked to think of the subject.

In conclusion, whoever did the rewriting of the Torah, and set out to exclude Ishmael from the Covenant, realized that Ishmael had to be demonized before his exclusion could make any sense. And so we find this terrible description of Ishmael in the Torah: "a wild ass of a man; his hand against every man (i.e., he will be a highwayman). And everyone's hand against him (i.e, all will hate and fight against him)." Does the Qur'an support his description of Ishmael in the Torah? It does not! Rather it praises the faith, character and spiritual personality of Ishmael (Qur'an 19:54-55). The Qur'an also praises Ishmael for his patience, constancy and determination; and declares that Ishmael was amonst those who, as a result of divine favors conferred uon them, were raised in status above all mankind (Qur'an 6:86). The Qur'an thus very clearly exposes the falsehood about Ishmael in the amended Torah. In doing so the Qur'an restores Ishmael to the status of a worthy son of Abraham fully eligible to the Covenant from Allah, and as such, rejects the Jewish claim as the only chosen people of Allah to the exclusion of Ishmael and his descendents.

As to the Jewish claim that they have the ever lasting possession the holy land is also denied by the Qur'an. The Qur'an maintains that the possession to the holy land depended on adherence to the religion of Abraham and on righteous conduct. Jews violated both of these conditions and Qur'an recorded many instances of such violations, among them: changing the Word of God, taking gods besides Allah, violating prohibition against riba (usury), slandering Maryam, rejecting Jesus as the Messiah, killing the Prophets of Allah, and leading people astray.

Some of these acts were forgiven by Allah, but others placed them in the position of a people with whom Allah is so very angry that He has placed a curse on them!
What the above material clearly confirms is that the Jewish people no longer enjoy the status of being a people included in the Covenant Allah made with Abraham, and this is because of a curse Allah has placed upon them until the Last Day in consequence of their numerous acts of shirk and kufr and Zulm.

The implications for Muslims of the recognition of the Jewish State of Israel are enormous and dangerous. It would be an act of kufr (disbelief) since it would require them to a repudiate the Qur'an. Muslims would be following in the footsteps of Jews if, despite all that is in the Qur'an, they still decide to extend recognition to the Jewish State of Israel. They would be throwing the Qur'an behind their backs in the manner in which the Jews responded to the advent of Prophet Muhammad.

It would be a betrayal of Allah and Prophet Muhammad since Allah sent the Prophet and created the Community of Muslims (ummah) to pursue a basic mission of restoring and preserving the religion of Abraham. This was achieved by the Prophet in his lifetime. The recognition by Muslims of the Jewish State of Israel would imply an abandonment of the religion of Abraham! The danger which we face today is that of so-called Muslim scholars and so-called leaders of the Muslim community who are either themselves profoundly misguided in respect of this subject or, worse, are engaged in an act of betrayal of Allah, His Messenger, the religion if Islam and the ummah of the Prophet. Such co-called Muslim scholars support the recognition of the Jewish State of Israel and are actively and deliberately engaged in leading their largely unsuspecting followers astray.