Mark A. GabrielIslam And The Jews: The unfinished battle

I am deeply indebted to Dr. Gabriel for helping me to understand some very important things about Islam, the Holy Koran, and the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Here are some of the most crucial points the author explains:1. Muhammad lived and preached in Mecca for a number of years, attempting to win Jewish converts with friendly persuasion and preaching in favor of tolerance. When this did not work, he turned against the Jews and declared he had received new revelations instructing all Muslims to either kill non-believers who would not convert, force them to pay a tax, or drive them into exile. The fate of all non-believers was in the hands of the Moslems.2. After moving his base of operations to Medina, Muhammad personally led 27 massacres against Jews, and preached that jihad was a requirement for all faithful Moslem believers. Conversion and control was by the sword.3. Anyone who attempts to read the Koran needs to have an edition that makes it clear which chapters were written in Mecca and which were written in Medina. The chapters are not chronological. The Medina scriptures supersede the Mecca scriptures, and make them obsolete if there is any contradiction.4. Moslems believe that Abraham was the first Moslem, and that the Jews have corrupted the Torah by removing any prophecy regarding the eventual birth of Muhammad and his Islamic teachings.5. The life story of Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac, as Moslems believe it, is much different from the account in the book of Genesis. According to Islam, it was not Isaac that the Lord commanded Abraham to sacrifice, but Ishmael.6. The goal of Moslems is to rid Jerusalem of all non-Moslems, because their presence in the city "corrupts" the great mosque that now stands atop the Dome of the Rock.7. Jesus is regarded as merely a Jewish prophet, and his teachings are far less important than those of Muhammad, who was supposed to be the last and final prophet.8. The ultimate goal of Islam is to conquer the world, theologically and politically. All other religions and secular governments must be abolished.If these claims and other aspects of Islamic faith sound strange, shocking, or perhaps absurd, you will enjoy reading Mark Gabriel's book. Many Moslems will object to what Gabriel has written and deny that they believe some of these things. Nevertheless, Gabriel gives an accurate picture of what Islam really teaches, and makes it clear that the so-called "radical" Moslems aren't really radical at all, but rather practicing their faith as the Prophet Muhammed intended and the Koran (Medina scritures) teaches. He quotes extensively from the Koran and explains each of the above points very clearly and without apology. If you want to learn the absolute truth about Islam, this and Gabriel's other books are what you need.

I am Chinese. But I want to learn more about the continuous conflicts between Arabs and Jews (between Islam and Judaism, now I should say, after reading this book). I bought several books besides "Islam and the Jews," such as one edited by Robert Spencer, one written by Bernard Lewis, and one written by Bat Ye'or.The book by Mark Gabriel is the easiest to read and understand. One of the reviewers said that this book has a "bad" writing style equivalent to that of a 10-year old. I should say that this book is so easy to read so that even a 10-year old will grasp the ideas very well. The writing style of Gabriel is causal, unlike the scholarly and paintaking style of Ye'or and others. For example, Ye'or wrote an entire book about Dhimmitude; Gabriel described what I need to know tersely in one chapter (Chapter 18). Despite the causal writing style, the materials are serious, the analysis great, and the attitude sincere.Gabriel, formerly an Imam and a professor in Islamic history, is now a Christian. He dedicated two chapters to preach about Christianity as a means to resolve the Islam-Judaism conflict(like other reviewers, I don't think that will work). If Gabriel has a hidden agenda in his book, I guess it is related more to his current faith in Christianity than his bias against Islam. Everything he said seems very objective to me.If you want to have a reasonably good and credible understanding about the conflicts in the Middle East and about those Islamic radicals, you need only to spend three hours on Gabriel's book.

Anyone that has taken the time to read the Qur'an, hadiths (ahadith) and Sira (biography of Muhammad) so as to gain an understanding of Islamic doctrine comes to realize that the Islamic faith naturally fosters hatred toward Jews. That does not mean that your garden variety cultural Muslim- as opposed to a fundamentalist Muslim- hates all Jews but that is a result of non Islamic influences. The value in Dr. Gabriel's work is that he brings Islamic doctrine regarding Jews to life and helps his readers fully appreciate how much hatred Islamic culture generates and that the hatred lands the hardest on one of the World's most persecuted minority groups - Jews. As a parent, if I had to face a choice as to whether my child read this book or the Diary of Anne Frank, I would select Dr. Gabriel's book. Very few people defend Nazi ideology any more, and rightfully so, but we are inundated with false descriptions of Islam and Dr. Gabriel sheds light on those deceptions. That he was raised and educated In Egypt and memorized the Qur'an at an early age and taught at El Azhar University help deflect some of the tired, inaccurate, and illogical criticisms lodged against any book that tells the truth about Islam.

I think this book is stunning and stunningly interesting. Never expected it to be a can't-put-down tome. The title should really be Islam and the Christians and Jews (together). This really shows why Islam is against every other religion - not just Christians and Jews. It should be an eye opener for those Christians who think that this story is limited to the problems in Israel and Palestine or to only Muslims and Jews. It also draws a very important distinction between Islam and Muslims.In my opinion, the only weak element lies in the author's conclusion. No spoiler here - so you have to read it for yourself.

Mark Gabriel has written the following books:1. Against the Tides in the Middle East (1997)2. Islam and Terrorism - first edition (2002); second edition (2015)3. Islam and the Jews (2003)4. Jesus and Muhammad (2004)5. Journey into the Mind of an Islamic Terrorist (2006)6. Culture Clash (2007)7. Coffee with the Prophet (2008)Apart from the first, I have read them all. The author describes how his Islamic upbringing failed to give him the freedom necessary to question his faith during his times of doubt. In the end he was judged harshly by his fellow scholars and sacked for his religious views. This story reminds me of the Anglican cleric Anthony Freeman, who was also sacked for publishing his thoughts in a book entitled “God In Us”.Gabriel made the mental leap that caused him to transcend his upbringing; he realised that the Islam he was taught is not a religion of love and peace, however expressing his views proved almost fatal. He searched for a better god and found the god of Christianity. That now makes him an Islamic apostate - for which the penalty is death.His books build a compelling case against Islam and the Prophet of Allah (Muhammad). He finds the words of Jesus more egalitarian, humane, loving and compassionate and the Father of Jesus a much more personal God. Indeed he goes so far as to state that the god of Islam is not the god of Christianity.Having got this far in his journey, Mark Gabriel has stopped. He has leapt from the supernatural god of Islam to the supernatural god of Christianity. But, if Mark Gabriel were born into Christianity in the West, would this be his final resting place? Well, it wasn’t for me.I think at this point one needs to read either Freeman’s “God In Us” or Richard Dawkins’s “The God Delusion”, because the next and most natural step is to dispel with the notion of a supernatural god and to finally accept the reality that all religions are the product of the creative human mind. This humanist viewpoint concedes that humans have created a wide variety of cultures, beliefs, religions and laws. These arbitrary systems provide a framework in which humans can coexist both communally and spiritually. The realisation that we are both the creators and the prisoners of our own systems is the ultimate and final truth of the human condition.

Professor Dr Mark Gabriel of Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, the most prestigious Moslem academic establishment the world over, is an authority on all things Mohammedan. Memorising the whole of the Koran by the age of 12 and becoming an Imam in a local Mosque, the Professor converted to Christianity later in life. . Only then was he able to deal with his attitude of deep hatred of the Jews, imbued in him from the Koran and hadiths of Mohammed. After reading this you will see why there is little, if any hope, of a lasting peace with Israel whilst Islam reigns supreme in much of the Middle East

This author has come from a Muslim background. He is therefore able to write about Islam with supreme authority, unlike other writers who come from a Western background; I think particularly of people like Karen Armstrong, well-respected in the West, but who in fact writes complete drivel that she knows nothing about. If you want to know the REAL truth about Islam then you need to read Mark Gabriel.

This book, as are others, by this author, are a must read for Christians who need to understand the truth about Islam and being written by an ex-lecturer in Islamic theology there can be no dispute regarding the truth and authenticity.

I really appreciated this book.