Al-Muhajabah's Islamic Blogs: a Muslim's reflections on Passover

a Muslim's reflections on Passover

Date: April 20, 2003 | 17 Safar 1424 Hijriah

In Matzah, Moses, and Muslims, Hesham Hassaballa looks at Islam's take on the Passover story (like many other stories from the Bible, it appears in the Quran) and shares his thoughts about what it means. He concludes with a prayer:

I pray that peace finally comes to the Middle East and both Israelis and Palestinians live together side by side. Although it has not always been smooth-sailing in the past, Muslims and Jews have lived together in peace before; the greatest example of this was in Muslim Spain, where Moses bin Ma'mun (Maimonides), the great Jewish physician and philosopher, was high advisor to the Muslim Sultan. In large part, I think we are re-living that golden age here in America, where Muslims and Jews live and work together in peace. I pray that the commonalities between Muslims and Jews serve as all-important bridges of understanding between the two faith communities. Together, all people of faith can work to make America and the world a much better place in which to live. Failure can not be an option.

~ Posted by Al-Muhajabah, a member of the reality-based community, at 02:48 PM

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Jonathan Edelstein said:

Total comments: 91 gold star

I like this article, and I'm going to link to it after I've collected other references on Ashura (there are conflicting accounts as to whether it corresponds with Passover or with Yom Kippur, and it has taken on added significance among the Shi'ite community due to events in early Islamic history). Unfortunately, Maimonides in Spain might not be the best example of Jewish-Muslim coexistence. It was in Egypt that Maimonides lived peacefully and served as court physician - and the reason he was in Egypt was that his family was driven out of Spain during the Almohad invasion. Jews and Muslims did have a long history of living peacefully together in Spain, but Maimonides' youth was one of the times that peace was broken.

~ Posted at April 21, 2003 12:52 PM | Comment Permalink

Zrusilla said:

Total comments: 3

Both Seders I attended this year emphasized the current predicaments of all peoples of the Middle East. We remembered all the dead of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and of the Iraq war. We prayed for justice and an end to the plagues of the modern world--war, injustice, bigotry, poverty. We remembered freedom as a blessing for all people.

~ Posted at April 21, 2003 02:13 PM | Comment Permalink

Al-Munaqabah said:

Total comments: 996 gold star

Thanks for your comments, Zrusilla and Jonathan. I'm not sure if the author is not familiar with the details of Maimonides' story or what.

Regarding Ashura, there do seem to be a number of different stories about it. Apparently, the pre-Islamic Arabs observed a fast on that day. The Jews of Medina also fasted on that day and according to the hadiths that I've seen, they were the ones who identified the day with the Exodus story. The fasting suggests Yom Kippur while the Exodus story suggests Passover. It's possible that one of the narrators of the hadith was confused. Later, the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned that the Jews fasted on that day for the forgiveness of sins (again, the link to Yom Kippur) and also said that Muslims would have their sins forgiven if they repented sincerely and fasted on Ashura. Based on all the evidence, I think that Ashura is somehow linked to Yom Kippur and that the mention of the Exodus story was a misunderstanding. Also, both fasts are on the tenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, if I understand correctly (I believe Yom Kippur is in the same month as the Jewish New Year). So they also correspond in date. I'm not sure why the pre-Islamic Arabs would be fasting on that day, though.

Muslims were at first required to fast on Ashura but after the Ramadan fast was commanded, Ashura became optional.

~ Posted at April 21, 2003 02:31 PM | Comment Permalink

Jonathan Edelstein said:

Total comments: 91 gold star

This site weighs the evidence for and against the Yom Kippur interpretation. The fact that Ashura is a fast isn't conclusive; as the author notes, many local Jewish communities celebrate fasts in commemmoration of some national event, and the Ashura fast may have been celebrated only by the Jews of Medina. Also, one of the "minor fasts" of the Jewish calendar, the Fast of the Firstborn, occurs on the day before Passover. The Fast of the Firstborn is a celebratory rather than a sorrowful fast, and the anomaly observed by Ali Nadwi - that the Jews of Medina dressed in their best clothes rather than being penitential as on Yom Kippur - may mean that they were celebrating the pre-Passover fast instead. We'll probably never know for certain.

~ Posted at April 21, 2003 03:37 PM | Comment Permalink

Jonathan Edelstein said:

Total comments: 91 gold star

Sorry, the right link for the Fast of the Firstborn is here.

~ Posted at April 21, 2003 03:40 PM | Comment Permalink

Al-Munaqabah said:

Total comments: 996 gold star

Thanks for sharing those links, Jonathan. That's an interesting point about the wearing of the best clothes. I still tend to favor the Yom Kippur interpretation even given what's mentioned in the article, but I don't think we'll ever know for sure. We don't know what fasts the Jews of Medina might have observed locally. We don't know if they might have developed unique customs in regard to Passover or Yom Kippur. We don't know if there might have been confusion in some of the reports or a misinterpretation by the narrators of what was going on.

God knows best.

veiled4allah: a Muslim's reflections on Passover

a Muslim's reflections on Passover

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