The REAL Story of the Jews Under Muslim Rule

It's a complex history with changes in dynamics and relations between different communities. I come from a Jewish family that lived in Iraq. My parents and many relatives often shared a beautiful stories about our society, their involvement in public life, and how they interacted with Muslims back then. The establishment of the State of Israel indeed had significant implications for Jewish communities across the Middle East, including in Iraq.

Among the most prominent Jews to serve as viziers in the Muslim taifas were the ibn Nagrelas (or Naghrela). Samuel Ha-Nagid ibn Nagrela (993–1056) served Granada's King Habbus al-Muzaffar and his son Badis for thirty years. In addition to his roles as policy director and military leader (as one of only two Jews to command Muslim armies, the other being his son Joseph), Samuel ibn Nagrela was an accomplished poet, and his introduction to the Talmud is standard today.

Kind of begs the question why so many Sephardic Jews moved to the Ottoman empire as a consequence of being forced out of Spain? Maybe it was relatively easy and there weren't many other alternatives? Maybe it was because of strong social and economic ties with other Mediterranean Jewish communities? But whilst life under the Ottomans was far from ideal, these communities in modern day Egypt, Iraq, Morocco, etc were quite prosperous. It was Israel's involvement in the Suez invasion of 1956 that caused them to be kicked out. At a time when Israel was in need of more colonists.

DID NOT THE JEWRY OF SPAIN SEEKED REFUGE IN MOROCCO AFTER THE INQUISITION???? AS A KID I PLAYED FOOTBALL NEXT TO A JEWISH CEMETERY AND WE MADE SURE OUR BALL DOES NOT GET INTO IT…PROUD OF THAT…SHALOM

there have been pogroms in Persia / Iran for centuries. there were massive conversions also -- especially in Masshad. The places were Muslims and Jews got along were further east and north along the silk road - like Samarkand. And even that ended. So, that also means that many people in Iran today are genetically Jewish.

Maybe talk about how the Nazi regime asked the Moroccan King back then to hand over his 300,000 Jews, he refused. As a Muslims ruler he couldn’t, he said to them I am King of all Moroccan, Muslims and Jews. Something Christian countries had no problem doing. That is why until this day there js a huge Moroccan Jewish community in the world.

I do not read in the New Testament anywhere where it tells me that as a Christian I am to be 'on top'. No where is there direction that I am to be the cream of the crop but I am to show love and service to all humankind

Why do you not talk about Umayyad Spain under the Arabs before the Al Mohads? Yes there was discrimination under Moslem rule but it was not the Moslems who forced the Sephardim completely our of Iberia. Isabel & Fedinand ethnically cleansed Iberia of Moslems & Jews.

The Jews of Sicily under the Normans were Arab speakers. Were the Jews of Spain similarly just Arab speakers in this period?

My Jewish ancestors in Yemen were persecuted incessantly including expulsions, massacres, forced conversions, Jim Crow like segregations (also applied to Black Yemenis) and exploitation forced periodic slave labor (also in parallel with similar treatment of Black Yemenis.

I was listening to him intently because I am student of history. I respect his perspective on the Iberian peninsula. But, as soon as he started talking about the Iraqi jews, I lost all respect for him. As a historian, he should note that the upheaval for the Jewish community in Iraq was instigated by Israeli agents to force immigration of the Jews to the nation state of israel. This is a matter of history. Feel free to do some independent research. Read Avi Shlaim. As a Iraqi jew, born in Iraq and a historian, I would think that Avi has a better sense of what happened to his community than this esteemed colleague of ours. It is sad that a historian would change history to fit his narrative. No respect for this guy anymore.

Maimonides had to flee. He ended up in Egypt. Then his son had to flee Egypt to Aleppo. In the 1100s' the Jews were forced to flee Egypt. They were told convert or leave. Then later they were able to return. In the 1300s' they were told Convert to Islam or we kill you. So again the fled. Jews only returned to Egypt in the 1800s. Between 1948 to 1967 they fled again. In Iraq my family lived from 586 BC to late 1800s.

Academic training at Harvard does not give you the authority to change history 😮

Correction: Pre-Islamic Spain was a mixture of Roman and Visigothic cultures. since the area was conquered by the Visigoths. I am glad he admitted to the treachery of the Jews - against Christians - after the Islamic conquest. It's too bad he chose to omit that Christians were also persecuted - during the Islamic rule of Spain. He should have also mentioned Jewish persecution of Christians in Yemen, under Dhu Nuwas.

The so called “Golden Age of Spain “ was an invention of Heinrich Graets and his cronies, they were drunk on the possibilities of emancipation of the Jews in the 19th century. To draw parallels from history they imagined a perfect coexistence of Jews in Muslim dominated Spain as a clear precedent . If it happened in Muslim Spain that golden era can be replicated in Europe. But as it turns out it wasn’t that golden after all. True Shmuel Hanagid replanted the Yeshiva from Babylonia to Spain. Chisdai ibn Shaprut used his office to communicate with the converted kingdom of the Kazars . But in 1066 the Jews were pogromed at , the Jews of Granada sent in exile. Shmuel Hanagid’s son among the victims and his family seeking refuge in Córdoba.

As an iranian I can say that when we became muslim our nation wasn't as accepting towards jews anymore. Before islam tookover and christianity was in Iran, jews lived in peace in Iran but that stopped after islam and christianity came

I'm a Caribbean Sephardic Big Y 700 have been very insightful with my research

It’s very concerning when we expect our elders to be wise, knowledgeable and practicing integrity but are in fact filled with lies, hate and acting on a willingness to alter history and propagandise to fulfill a sinister agenda. Dangerous‼️

This is a very close topic to me for a number of reasons, but if I may add some of my own perspective as an Ultra unOrthodox Jew, because I deeply resonate with the notion of merging the 2 oceans, so to speak. I don't believe that Judaim, Islam and Christianity are entirely incompatible. As mentioned, in relation to the Jewish communities ability to enhance their service to G-d by exploring and cherry picking aspects of other cultures; the first names coming to my mind are Philo of Alexandria and Flavius Josephus. Personal/Ideological/Dogmatic opinions of these men aside, I believe that the work assigned to them from HaShem speaks for itself. I remember the first time I heard the term Hellenist Jew, and all of the beautiful imagines that flooded my mind at the time. I was not disappointed in the least. Thank You HaShem. But I want to bring this back to the Bible, specially Ezekiel 37, with relation to G-d's instructions for the future King, Moshiach, in that he will be a mix of both the bloodline of David, and Ephraim; reuniting Josef and Judah; while at the same time returning Israel/Judah to Judah/Israel. "For there shall be one king, not 2" The reason I bring this point up for consideration is the fact that Ephraimite Jews don't have a 'natural' Jewish mother, which, to me, appears as tho the Tribes of Josef are not unlike Great Uncle Ishmael, who, like Ephraim and Manassah, was blessed with an Egyptian mother. Granted, I need to dig more deeply into Talmud to see if we have a more detailed debate on the subject, but I don't believe that I am mistaken in believing that Ishmael is the Patriarch of the Arab Nations; but does that make him the father of Islam? I feel like I am jumping the gun even bringing this up, but it's better to jump and then land on my face then not jump at all, especially when I trust that G-d wouldn't have guided me to this video if it wasn't relevant to one degree or another. But I once observed a Rabbi correspond Islam is with Ismael, Judaism with Israel, and Christianity with Esav. I don't believe that I agree with this. My intuition, which holds as much weight as a soap bubble to perceptions that are not my own, tells me that the mystery of bridging the spiritual/philosphical/logical/religious gaps between Muslims and Jews is to recognize, that Egypt (Isis, the Queen of Heaven) is the Mother of Islam. Muslims recognize Patrimonial descent, more predominantly then Jews, there are exceptions; but this brings me back to my point of where the Lost Tribes of Josef are not matrilineal in nature, do to Isis being the the name of the Divine Feminine of the land of our birth. I don't entirely disagree with the statement that can't use our eyes to judge a ppl that we aren't. Don't speak on things you don't know. But on the other hand, what happens if we judge ourselves with their eyes. Sufa XIC Unbelievers I don't worship what you worship You don't worship what I worship I will never worship what you worship You will never worship what I worship. Your life is your religion, and mine is my own. I, personally, am not a fan of 'absolute' logic. Only G-d is absolute, and it is, in my opinion, folly to think that anything us impossible for Him/Her. What if you and I worshipped 2 forms of One G-d. 2 faces, so to speak. I am seeing the 9th circle of Hell, with a 3 headed Satan at the core. Christianity Judaism and Islam But where is the neutral middle ground? Perhaps it lies in the Torah of Jesus the Jewish Muslim (Maccabeus?) I know that this is ground that not all Jews are capable of traveling, but regardless of who unbeliever believe him to be, he was a Jew. When one falls, we all stumble; or so I was taught our Sages. What happens when a Jew observes Jesus as a Rabbi, not a savior. Only G-d saves. Even Jesus knew that. Don't tell anyone about me. Please. For I don't do anything. I am but a servant of G-d. Another tree in His Royal Forest. But at the same time, we taught talk about what divides, but we rarely speak on what unites us. I am also lumping Paganism/Wytchery into this, as the Pagan gods are servants/children of HaShem, like His/Her servants in physical form. We humans feed their egos, so of course they come to recognize that they have power over us, when we allow them to. But it's like Solomon said, we must Fear, Love and Adore G-d. I love You, HaShem. But this is where I stand at the moment, that real peace comes from the resurrection of the Lost Tribes of Josef and the marriage m/reunification of Egypt and Israel. That's just my 2 cents tho. I could feel G-d wanting me to reply to this because of how interesting, and relevant this was I to enjoy. Thank you, Rabbi, for sharing your insights.

The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain by Dario Fernandez-Morera