Jews In Islamic Lands

This paper discusses the Qurʾānic verses about the Jews and the people of Israel in terms of the naming and the content. Key questions to be addressed are: What is the purpose of the frequent mention of the people of Israel in the Qurʾān? What is the context and the content of the verses about the Jews and the people of Israel both in Meccan and Medinan sūrahs? What message or messages are intended to or can be conveyed by these verses?

The Yemen, is the birth place and hub for a number of monotheistic religious convictions . In its North West region, just 243 kilometers away from San'aa, the official capital of the Republic of Yemen , lies a spiritual center, a holy metropolis known as Saa'da  .
It is to Zaidi Islam as Qum is to Shia Islam and Mecca is to Sunni Islam. It is where the scholars dwell, to read, learn and teach their disciples to carry on the doctrine and preserve the faith throughout history.
It is here that the Houthi phenomenon first appeared.
This study focuses on the very beginnings of Houthism as a phenomenon, it's source and affiliations. It is but the first part of a series of papers that will delve into the movement as it expands over time.

The term “Moor”and its variants have long been used throughout Europe as synonyms for Nigri or Negro and to denote various black-skinned and nearly black peoples. In the last century or so, it has been presumed that ancient “Moorish” Muslims in the Iberian peninsula were erroneously thought of as black by medieval Europeans. It has also been presupposed that the term “Moro” in the Iberian peninsula originally denoted Saracens and Berber-speakers that were distinct from modern “blacks” of Africa in phenotype and biological origin. It has been concluded that early “Berber” populations in North Africa were descendants of ancient  “Caucasoids“ who have absorbed different black African populations in recent times. Similarly it is believed that the Arab populations of North Africa a thousand years ago were mainly “Caucasoid” groups affiliated with present populations of the Levant.

Historical documents, physical anthropology, linguistics, archeology and traditional record in Muslim Africa and Asia, however, support the view that early “Berber” clans entering Europe were not only “blacks” and “near blacks” in the literal sense, but affiliated with early and current black populations of the Fezzan, Mzab, Syrtica, the Moroccan Riff, Sudan, Sahara and Sahel designated Garawa, Masmuda, Jarawa or Wangara, and Zaghawa, Zaghai or Songhai.

The Tuwarek or Tuareg were also one of the originally "Ethiopic" peoples of coastal regions of North Africa once  designated Lewathes, Mauri, Austuriani,  Nasamones and Mazikes or "Mazazeces"  from which comes the nationalist term  "Amazigh" of modern Berber-speakers.  The Tuareg peoples in combination with the original Beriberi or "Berbers" were the populations first referred to as Mauri or Moors, a designation which was utilized for them as late as the early Medieval period.

[English abstract after the French]

Apprenons quelques mots de turc:
un glossaire arabo-turc de la Genizah du Caire
Cet article traite d'un carnet de comptes en judéo-arabe qui a probablement appartenu à un agent consulaire en Egypte Au début du 17ème siècle. Il contient des listes de produits achetés et toutes sortes de relevés comptables. Mais, quelques pages sont en fait un glossaire arabo-turc rédigé en caractères hébraïques. Nous avons ainsi la preuve de l’intérêt certain que portaient les Juifs de l'Empire ottoman pour la langue turque, un intérêt d'ordre culturel et économique.
Par le passé, la thèse dominante préconisait que si les Juifs ottomans parlaient le ladino et l'arabe, ils ne parlaient pas le turc. Cependant, des recherches publiées ces dernières décennies ont montré que les Juifs vivant dans l’Empire ottoman participaient de façon active à la scène culturelle turque et possédaient, du moins pour beaucoup d'entre eux, une maîtrise indéniable de la langue turque. C’était surtout vrai pour les hommes. Cette constatation, que nous mettons ici en exergue, vient renforcer la thèse soutenue par d'autres articles et révèle donc l'intérêt des Juifs pour la langue turque, et ce, non seulement parmi la classe supérieure dont les médecins, les Juifs de Cour par exemple, mais aussi parmi la

This article discusses a Judeo-Arabic accounting book composed by a Jew who, it appears, served as an agent of one of the European consuls in Egypt. The accounting book, which seems to have been written in early 17th century, contains primarily lists of products bought by the agent and various other accounting notes; however, some of its pages contain a unique text – an Arabic-Turkish glossary composed by the agent, written in Hebrew letters. This glossary reflects the interest displayed by the Jews of the Ottoman Empire in the Turkish language, an interest driven by both cultural and economic motives. In the past the accepted assumption has been that the Jews of the Empire spoke only Ladino or Arabic and had no command of Turkish. Studies published in the past few decades have disproven this assumption and exposed the deep involvement of the Jews of the Empire in Ottoman culture, and the command many of them – primarily men – had over the Turkish language. The finding discussed in this article joins previous findings on this topic, and teaches us that the interest in the Turkish language was not limited to member of the Jewish elite (doctors, courtiers, etc.), but can also be clearly identified amongst members of the Jewish middle class.

Offered at Cornell University, Spring 2018.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In the media we read about conflict in Iraq between Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds; strife between Muslims and Copts in Egypt; rebellion in Syria against the ruling Alawite minority; and violence between Israelis and Palestinians; and the list goes on. This course aims to enrich students' understanding of the diversity of Middle Eastern countries, exploring histories of inter-communal contact and conflict. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, we explore the legacy of the Ottoman Empire and the impact of its dissolution. We will focus our attention on commercial centers that fostered inter-communal relations, as well as investigating sites of strife and cases of minority repression. We will read histories, memoirs, and fiction, and view films that help us better understand inter-communal relations, tensions, and conflict. We will also interrogate the terms for exploring a range distinctions among majority and minority populations including: religious difference (Muslims, Christians, and Jews); divisions of religious rite (Sunni and Shica); entho-linguistic minorities (Armenians and Kurds); national identities (Israelis and Palestinians); cultures of origin (Mizrahi, Sephardi, and Ashkenazi Jews).

REQUIRED BOOKS

• Maya Schatzmiller, ed. Nationalism and Minority Identities in Islamic Societies. McQueen’s University Press, 2005.
• Moshe Behar and Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, Modern Middle Eastern Jewish Thought: Writings on Identity, Politics, & Culture, 1893-1958.
Brandeis University Press, 2013.
• Waguih Ghali, Beer in the Snooker Club (1964). Vintage International, 2104.
• Ali Bader, The Tobacco Keeper. Bloomsbury, 2011.

גרשם שלום -- תולדות התנועה השבתאית // 
History of the Sabbatian Movement was the first attempt by one of the giants of scholarship on Jewish mysticism, Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), to present a comprehensive picture of Sabbatianism as a single narrative. The book is based on the series of lectures given at the Hebrew University during 1939-1940, which are of special importance in that they laid the foundation for all of Scholem’s research in the years to come, including his extensive monograph Sabbatai Sevi: the mystical Messiah, 1626-1676, first published in 1957. What follows is a sketch of the massive History of the Sabbatian Movement, over which Gershom Scholem toiled his whole life but never completed. The lectures are presented here for the first time based on the original manuscripts, alongside the text of an additional series of lectures that Scholem gave as part of the “Month of Study” organized by Berl Katznelson in 1941. These long-hidden texts reveal new facets of the Sabbatian movement and its history, as well as of Gershom Scholem as a historian, and serve as prologue to any further study of this most stormy and complicated episode in Jewish history. The new edition includes a comprehensive introduction by the editors on all of Gershom Scholem’s studies on Sabbatianism. //---//

Table of Contents:
“The Open Book” - Jonatan Meir and Shinichi Yamamoto /
Introduction /
Chapter One: The Faces of the Generation /
Chapter Two: The Messianic Movement from its Beginnings to its Height /
Chapter Three: The Twists and Turns of the Sabbatian Movement /
Chapter Four: The Historical Development of Sabbatianism /
Appendix A: Messianism from the Spanish Expulsion to the Eve of Emancipation (Month of Study, 1941) /
Appendix B: The Sabbatian Movement: Its Roots, Its Development, and its Aftermath (Introduction, 1942-45 /
Appendix C: Bibliography of Works by Gershom Scholem on Sabbatianism /
Index /
Notes on the Cover Image (from the collection of Paweł Maciejko)

//--// Order The BOOK
http://www.schocken-jts.org.il/english/bookstore/prodView.asp?idproduct=408

Based on research in about fifty archives worldwide, Turkey, the Jews, and the Holocaust analyzes the minority politic of the Turkish republic and the country’s ambivalent policies regarding Jewish refugees and Turkish Jews living abroad. Although Turkey stayed neutral during World War II, the country’s policies proved crucial for many Turkish Jews living in various European countries, such as Jews in Eastern and Southeastern Europe facing Nazi persecution, seeking refuge or a route to Palestine, and the 75,000 Jews within Turkey. Through an examination of the fates of the 25,000 Jews who lived in Turkey before the war, Corry Guttstadt shows that Turkey was not as tolerant toward the Jewish people as the country is often portrayed.

My sincere thanks to Edgar Xavier (https://independent.academia.edu/EdgarXavier2) for kindly pointing out some errors of fact in this paper. On page 70, the Herald is incorrectly identified as an Indonesian Catholic newspaper. The newspaper is Malaysian. And, of course, Kuala Lumpur (as mentioned in footnote 49), is the capital city of Malaysia - not Indonesia. So the phrase in parenthesis at the end of the second paragraph on page 70 should read "(an Arabic loanword in Malay [Bahasa Melayu])".  Again, sincere thanks to Edgar for his close reading of the paper and his taking the trouble to point out these errors.

Jonathan

Kfar Giladi - An Unknown Gate to the Illegal Immigration
The Illegal Immigration From the northern border to the Land of Israel in 1919-1946


By Drora Hayek
Mentor: Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi, University of Haifa
The book deals with the ground illegal immigration, the “Ha'apala” crossing the northern border in the years 1919-1946, and in the part of Kibbutz Kfar Giladi in getting the immigrants through and in their initial absorption.
The first part depicts the background of the formation of this immigration in the beginning of the 1920s, its character and dimensions. This immigration was influenced by the political and geo-political changes which the region had underwent. Beginning with the Balfour Declaration in 1917, the military government following the conquest of the country by the British in 1918-19, the Jaffa Riots (Hebrew: Me'oraot Tarpa) and the fall of Tel-Hai in 1921 and the first White Paper which limited the number of immigrants to the country. The illegal immigration increased with the decrease of the number of immigration certificates and the increase of the restrictions, prohibitions and obstacles. The activity of Kfar Giladi- “HaShomer” members in the realm of immigration commenced in the beginning of the 1920s, their first action being the travel of three “HaShomer” members to Beirut in order to retrieve a group of illegal immigrants who were deported from the country to Lebanon.
The complex fabric of relationship between the Kibbutz and the Yishuv (the Jewish population of the country) leadership- the Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency and the Haganah- made the Kibbutz people feel ‘deserted in the battlefield’ in the national tasks they took upon themselves. This brought over their independent operation in all areas, including assisting the Ha'apala. They followed their ideals and their conscience and not instructions from high above.
In passing the immigrants through the Kibbutz, their hosting, feeding and treatment the kibbutz itself took quite a few risks. This activity caused frequent searches, surveillance and reports by the British “Palestine Police Force” (the CID). Events around this subject were shrouded in secrecy. Exposed hereafter are hiding methods, tricks and means employed by Kibbutz members to hide the immigrants and transport them to the country centre without being caught by the British.  Another point of view displayed below is that of the British Government and its attitude to the Kfar Giladi events. The great importance attributed by the British to Kfar Giladi events is revealed by the documents of the British police, the British Government reports, documents of the Anglo-American inquiry committee and Arab press clippings presented herein.  'Top secret' documents that had been sealed until the 1990s are exposed. Arab attempts to interfere with illegal immigration and thwart it are also uncovered here.
Meanwhile, across the border in Syria and Lebanon, new winds of Zionist activity were beginning to blow among youth movements and schools. In Damascus, and later on in other cities- Halab (Aleppo), Kamishli and Beirut- the “HeHalutz” (Hebrew: The Pioneer) Zionist Movement had begun to crystallize. The movement taught the love for Israel, and nurtured the desire to immigrate to Israel and establish agricultural settlements. The fatal meeting between Yehuda Kopeliovch (Almog) and the leaders of the “HeHalutz” movement brought about the immigration of the first group of illegal immigrants from Damascus to Kfar Giladi. Below is presented an unknown chapter about the early relationship between the “HeHalutz” movement in Damascus and “HaKibbutz HaMe’uhad” (Hebrew: the united Kibbutz, an organization of the Kibbutzim) which lasted until 1946, when this wave of illegal immigration came to an end, with most of the Syrian Jews having been brought over to Israel before the calamity.
In the 1940s, after the establishment of the Palmach, a large number of official and unofficial organs on both sides of the border co-operated: the Mossad LaAliyah Bet (Institution for Immigration B [‘illegal’]), the Haganah, the Palmach, members of the Kibbutzim, local activists in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and drivers serving in the British Army. The immigrants themselves were instrumental in the organization and execution of this immigration. Alongside with the historical narrative and the chain of events the book brings also personal stories and testimonies of immigrants who arrived in the country in the years 1941-1946. The personal experiences of those who were taken out of their homes, walked kilometers by foot and crossed the northern border are described. They portray the trauma, their motivation, thoughts, feelings and difficulties, how they were treated, and how they view today that transformation of their lives.
A special chapter is dedicated to the immigration of Iraqi Jews who went through arduous and dangerous routes until they reached Kfar Giladi. Especially known is the affair of the 'blockade' imposed by the British on Kfar Giladi in 6.10.1945 because of the hiding of a group of illegal immigrants from Iraq and the Kibbutz’s refusal to extradite them. Despite being a local event the 'blockade' had a profound influence and has had national importance. This, and the weapons searches events on 06/18/46, left their mark on the character of the struggle against the British, from that date on.
The last part of the book is dedicated to the story of taking 1400 children from their homes in Syria and bringing them to Israel in a special operation, which took place in 1945. The process  of their absorption  in settlements of the ‘working settlement’ is also described in great detail shedding light on the historic importance of this wave of illegal immigration.
The historical importance of the ground immigration through the northern border is not measured by the amount of immigrants which was relatively small (8,000 immigrants), but by the manifestation of the spirit of inter-settlement solidarity, the fraternity, mutual aid, identification of the entire Yishuv with the locals, and the consequences they had on the events and clashes with the British which followed later.

Islamic sources indicate that Muslims often sought to distance themselves from the practices of Jews (as well as Christians and Zoroastrians). One method used to differentiate Islam from other religions was mukhālafa, doing the opposite of those around you. A good example of this principle at work is the laws of menstruation (ḥayḍ). In this case, Muslims not only sought to differentiate themselves from Jews, but also to make Islamic practices more lenient (rukhṣa) than those of Judaism.

This article argues for a significant revision in the understanding of
Jews in late-Ottoman Palestine: from a model of a singular
community (the yishuv) to a model of multiple communities,
embedded within local, regional and global networks. The
conceptualization of Palestine’s Jewry is reappraised, from the
Jerusalem School to recent literature. Despite acknowledging their
ethnic and linguistic diversity, the historiography has long
portrayed Palestine’s Jews as sui-generis community, a Jewish
microcosm united in its unique attachment to the Eretz Israel. It was
studied as part of Jewish history, in isolation from its Middle
Eastern context. In contrast, recent Relational Studies stressed
Jewish connections to the Arab and Ottoman environment in
Palestine. The article examines the self-perception of Jewish
communities as plural and heterogeneous, through a survey of
early Hebrew Press. It traces the genealogy of the term yishuv, from
an ideological project of revival and colonization in the 1860s, to
an imagined pan-Jewish national community after the 1908 Young
Turk Revolution. This shift was boosted not only by Zionism and
Jewish diaspora influence, but also by Ottomanism. Even then,
Jewish communities in Palestine continued to operate separately in
a highly fragmented manner well into the British Mandate.

In the following article we will examine at length some of the dynamics by which R. Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad—the renowned Ben Ish Hai (1834–1909) - integrated Kabbalah into daily life, and the complex way that he combined the teachings of the Rashash with simplified, esoteric practices meant for the general public. Needless to say, the relationship between the Kabbalists of Jerusalem and R. Yosef Hayyim illuminates a fascinating chapter in the history of Kabbalah in the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century.

http://mj.oxfordjournals.org/content/33/2/148.short?rss=1

This essay challenges the still prevalent historiographical trope of the decline of the Jewish communities under Muslim rule in the later Middle Ages. The essay critiques the ideological underpinnings of this notion of decline and then offers an alternative historiography based on Arabic prosopographical texts from Mamluk Syria.

À l’époque postcoloniale en France, la littérature des Juifs originaires d’Afrique du Nord participe d’un double processus. À travers la construction mémorielle, elle est mobilisée contre l’oubli tout en permettant de se projeter dans la société d’accueil. Gardienne d’une mémoire collective, elle engage un travail critique de la société métropolitaine, exprimant un sentiment de malaise vis-à-vis des réalités hexagonales, très divergentes des représentations antérieures, nées de l’acculturation. Cette production littéraire restitue, dans sa quête des origines, des images souvent idéalisées, parfois plus réalistes, d’une coexistence pacifique avec des musulmans. À travers ces restitutions, se dessine une quête des origines qui, dans le contexte d’un déracinement culturel et géographique, voudrait conforter une identité des Juifs nord-africains. Dans cette contribution, il s’agit d’interroger la construction, le maintien et le fonctionnement de ce pôle d’identification des Juifs originaires du Maghreb qu’est la coexistence judéo-musulmane. Ce pôle, qui émerge bien avant l’avènement de la production littéraire des écrivains étudiés, se structure autour de deux visions, deux « mythes ». Le premier valorise l’image d’une vie harmonieuse et pacifique avec les musulmans ; le second se focalise sur les humiliations découlant de la dhimma imposée aux Juifs, dont le dernier épisode serait leur départ massif au moment des indépendances des pays d’Afrique du Nord. À partir de ces subjectivités, il sera donc question d’analyser le rôle social objectif de ces deux représentations véhiculés par la littérature et l’historiographie, tant en France qu’en Israël.

The book is a voluminous study (330 pages) that follows the history of the presence and life of Jews and Jewish tribes in pre-Islamic Arabia in the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, the appearance and teachings of Hazreti Muhammad, and his religious, ideological, political and military contacts and relations with the Jews of Medina (Yathrib), Kaibar, Fadak, Kamusa, Wadi al-Qura, Tema. A part of the book is dedicated to the complete content of the Qur'an text, citing and quoting all parts of the text in the Qur'an which refer to the Jews. And that is 29 per cent of the total content and text of the Qur’an. Through the chapters in the book that talk about the Arabs, Muhammad, the Qur'an, Islam, etc... the book introduces us to mutual historical contacts, relations, influences, interconnections, but also the opposites of Jews and Arabs, as well as their religious teachings expressed in Judaism (and Christianity) and Islam. A particularly interesting part is an introduction with characters of common prophets and angels in Judaism (and Christianity) and Islam. Very interesting, and certainly less known, are the fact that out of a total of 25 prophets in Islam mentioned in the Qur'an, 22 of them are taken from the Jewish and Christian Bible and biblical history, and 15 of them are Jews! Each of them, as well as the angels mentioned in the Qur'an, is given a special description and explanation. An important fact, certainly is, that most of the authors and data sources used in the content of this book are Arabic, Persian, Indian, Pakistani, Turkish ... so primarily Muslim-Islamic authors, historians, writers, and theologians. The foreword to the book was written by Muharem Bazdulj.

This paper presents and analyses half a page of Uzbek text that appears in a Tajik-language prose work published at the turn of the 20th century. The Uzbek text was written by a Bukharan bilingual who had Bukharan Tajik as his native language but also possessed competence in Uzbek. The text is a rare example of an Uzbek text written in fully vocalized Hebrew script, and thus provides a rare glimpse into the Tajik-Uzbek bilingualism in the capital area of the emirate of Bukhara in the late 19th century.

Review
"This excellent study is [...] recommended for academic libraries."
Daniel Scheide, Florida Atlantic University, Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews, Volume VII, No. 2
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Abstract
It is difficult to ignore the diversity of the kabbalah or both its modest and coarse manifestations over the course of the twentieth-century – phenomena that have latterly garnered considerable attention in both the lay and research literature alike. That said, it appears that the historical background for these current developments, namely the world of the kabbalists in the late 1800s and early 1900s, has yet to merit an in-depth study. The dozens of hagiographies that are now being written by the progeny and admirers of the said kabbalists paint a romantic picture of a “glorious past.” In these books, the early twentieth century is described as a kabbalistic renaissance that is on equal footing with the days of Isaac Luria in Safad. Surprising as it may be, the Hebrew and Yiddish belles-lettres and, following in their footsteps, the research literature from Gershom Scholem onwards has left the impression that kabbalah deteriorated in the beginning of the twentieth century to the point of nearly vanishing of the world stage. According to this same narrative, only the efforts of a few surviving kabbalists—a sort of dying elite—kept the flame from expiring. On those rare occasions in which scholars bring up these practitioners, they are referred to as “the remnants of the kabbalists” or similar epithets. This characterization was painted in even louder colors upon describing the era’s Jerusalem-based kabbalists. At one and the same time, then, there are descriptions of both a great awakening and steep decline. The author’s attempt to make sense of this contradiction is one of the catalysts behind the present study. Its origins aside, the book focuses on the kabbalah seminaries (Yeshivot or academies) in Jerusalem from 1896 to 1948 as well as the various manifestations of kabbalah within traditional Jewish society.
Kabbalistic Circles in Jerusalem breaks new ground on the robust activities of Jerusalem’s kabbalistic yeshivot, foremost among them Beit el, Rehovot haNahar, and Sha'ar haShamayim. By virtue of these institutions’ publications and the unearthing of tens of documents and manuscripts that were deposited in sundry archives, the book surveys the daily schedule and methodology of these yeshivot; their methods for disseminating kabbalah books; the dynamics between revelation and concealment that undergirded all the kabbalists’ endeavors; the arrangement of the RaShaSh Siddur’s first print run; the messianic outlooks that were espoused in this community regarding the attempts to discover the Sambatyon River and the lost tribes; and the content and assorted roles of the Tikkunim literature. What is more, the author explores the disagreements between competing groups—most notably, the feud over the extent to which occult wisdom should be exposed to the general public—and the various gradients of Jewish mysticism within these seminaries.
Against this backdrop, shedding light on Jerusalem’s kabbalist circles between the years 1896 and 1948 opens a door to the wider world of the myriad kabbalistic streams in East Europe and Arab lands, the Maghreb included. The foundations that were laid by these yeshivas in the early twentieth century also paved the way for the contemporary blossoming of kabbalah in many and manifold circles. In this sense, retracing the pertinent developments in the Land of Israel at the outset of the twentieth century is imperative not only for repairing the distorted picture of the past, but for understanding the ongoing surge in kabbalah study
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This book endeavors to fill a lacuna in the literature on early twentieth-century kabbalah, namely the lack of a comprehensive account of the traditional kabbalah seminaries (Yeshivot) in Jerusalem from 1896 to 1948 as well as the various manifestations of kabbalah within traditional Jewish society. The foundations that were laid in the early twentieth century also paved the way for the contemporary blossoming of kabbalah in many and manifold circles. In this sense, retracing the pertinent developments in Palestine at the outset of the twentieth century is imperative not only for repairing the distorted picture of the past, but for understanding the ongoing surge in kabbalah study.

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İslamiyetin doğuşuyla beraber başta ayetler ve daha sonra hadislerde geçmiş ile günü kıyaslamak, anlamlandırmak ve birtakım kaideler ihdas etmek için “biz” ve “öteki” kavramları ortaya çıkmıştır. Çünkü bir dinin veya bir inanç grubunun varlığından söz etmek, dolaylı olarak o dinden ve müntesiplerinden farklı inanç sistemlerine mensup insan topluluklarından söz etmek demektir. Bu tarih boyunca tüm toplumlarda doğal olarak kendisini göstermiştir. Başta Kur’an ve sünnet olmak üzere İslam tarihinin tüm kaynakları başta Mekke ve Medine olmak üzere, Müslümanların bulunduğu tüm toplumlarda “biz” ve “öteki” farkındalığı oluşmuştur. Ancak sadece Müslüman olmayanlar değil kendi gibi düşünmeyen, yaşamayan, bakmayan kimseler de “mevali” örneğinde olduğu gibi zaman zaman “öteki” kavramıyla değerlendirilse de bunun siyasi ya da stratejik bir düşünce yansıması olduğu söylenebilir. Çünkü İslâm’ın temel öğretileri ötekinin mevcudiyetinden ziyade, öteki ile ilişkinin nasıl olması ve ne şekilde sürdürülmesi gerektiği meselesi üzerinde durmakta ve buna yönelik tavsiyelerde bulunmaktadır. İslâm, insanı yalnızca Allah’ın yarattığı bir varlık olarak sevmeyi, birlikte yaşama kültürünü geliştirmeyi, haklara saygılı olmayı tüm Müslümanlara öğütlemektedir. Müslüman coğrafyanın günümüzde içinde bulunduğu durum göz önüne alındığında geçmişten günümüze tevarüs eden bu güzelliklerin daha doğru ve güzel bir şekilde neslimize aktarımı için yoğun çaba sarf etmemiz gerekmektedir. Bu nedenle Mekke’de başlayan “öteki” ile yaşayabilme tecrübesini adı Yesrib iken bir arada yaşama tecrübesinin ilk ve en önemli örneği haline gelerek adını Medine’ye çeviren şehir ile devam ettirerek ayet ve hadislerin ruhunu, modern çağın yapısına entegre etmeliyiz. Doğal ve makul bir kavram olan “öteki” kavramını kendi çıkarlarımız için veya muhatabımızı aşağılamak, küçük görmek, dışlamak için kullanmamalıyız. Düşmanlığını açıkça söyleyen ve bu şekilde bir tutum sergileyenlere karşı bile Kur’ânî bir düstur olan hak ve adaletten ayrılmama prensibini her daim canlı tutmalıyız. Bu nedenle biz bu çalışmamızda “biz” ve “öteki” bağlamında İslam tarihi kaynaklarında kronolojik olarak yaşanabilirlik örneklerini ele almaya çalışacağız. Bu bağlamda müşrikler, münafıklar, Hıristiyanlar, Yahudiler, Mecusiler gibi farklı kategorilerde yer alan insanlarla ilişkiler değerlendirilecektir.