Page 48 - Justice and Compassion in the Qur'an

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JUSTICE AND COMPASSION IN THE QUR'AN

and his friends converted to Islam and came to believe in
his prophethood.
The practices of the Inquisition in European history,
which were a consequence of Christian bigotry, or of anti-
Semitism that is itself linked to racist views (hatred of
Jews) were never observed in the Islamic world. In the
20th century, however, with some Jews embracing
atheistic Zionism, the Middle East became the scene of
conflict and unrest between Jews and Muslims.
Zionism appeared in the mid-19th century as an
ideology espousing a homeland for landless Jews. But as
with many ideologies, zionism became corrupted over the
course of time, and that legitimate demand turned into a
radical conception resorting to terror and violence and
allied with extremist forces. Atheist zionism, on the other
hand, is a racist, chauvinistic and colonialist ideology.
There are two varieties of zionism today. The first of
these is the zionist conception of the devout Jewish
people, who wish to live in peace and security in Israel
alongside Muslims, seeking peace and wishing to worship
in the lands of their forefathers and engage in business. In
that sense, Muslims support zionism. We would fully
back the devout Jewish people living in peace and security
in their own lands, remembering Allah, worshipping in
their synagogues and engaging in science and trade in
their own land.
The zionist belief held by a devout Jew and based on
the Torah does not in any way conflict with the Qur'an.
The Jews' living in that region is indicated in the Qur'an,