Judaism and Islam – The History of Theological Relations

Judaism is generally regarded as the first monotheistic religion. The advent of Islam, however, brought a strictly monotheistic “competitor” to Judaism. How did Jewish scholars view this new religion? Both the Koran and early Islamic writings testify to numerous encounters between the Prophet Mohammed and Jews. What does the Muslim Holy Scripture and early Muslim tradition reveal about how they perceived Jews and their religious ideas and practices?

Lukas Mühlethaler

Lukas Mühlethaler is a professor in Jewish Philosophy and Aesthetics at the Institute for Jewish Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. His research focuses include Medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy. He was the editor of the volume “Höre die Wahrheit, wer sie auch spricht”: Stationen des Werks von Moses Maimonides vom islamischen Spanien bis ins moderne Berlin (Hear the Truth Whoever Speaks It: The Work of Moses Maimonides from Islamic Spain to Modern Berlin).

Abdullah Antepli

Imam Abdullah Antepli is Professor of Religion and Public Policy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. He is Senior Fellow on Jewish-Muslim Relations at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a Jewish research and education institute, and Co-Director of its Muslim Leadership Initiative.