First: Dialogue with the People of the Book

The dialogue with the People of the Book began very early in Islam’s history, going back to the lifetime of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for the Quran is filled with discussions that address them and rebut their claims.

The Jews who lived alongside the Prophet in Madinah after the Hijrah—people who had long invoked the coming of a new prophet against the Aws and the Khazraj—were the very ones who rejected him and opposed him from the outset. They employed every means to block the message: postponement, contentious argument, casting doubts, waging psychological and intellectual warfare, and breaking covenants and treaties.

The Quran itself undertook to debate them, refute them, expose their conspiracies, clarify the alterations they had made to their scriptures, and give an accurate portrait of their disposition and mindset.

After the Jews left the Arabian Peninsula, they continued to play a major role in their hostility to this religion—some of them even entered it outwardly while harboring deep resentment. Their contact with Muslims aimed at stirring discord. ʿAbd Allah ibn Sabaʾ played a part in the turmoil during the caliphate of ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan (may Allah be pleased with him), and the manifestations of sedition went on: spreading the idea of an infallible imam, of designated succession, and of return—doctrines later adopted by esoteric sects. They provoked debate among Muslims concerning the Divine Essence and attributes; anthropomorphism and corporealism were already known from their own writings. These notions seeped into Islamic literature under what came to be called the “Israʾiliyyat” found in works of Quranic exegesis and hadith.

They also sparked among Muslims disputes over predestination and free choice, and other such matters.