Lecture Series with Prof. Michael McGaha

Lecture Series with Prof. Michael McGaha

Prof. McGaha started off by quoting Alexander Dumas: Alexandre Dumas famously wrote that “Africa begins at the Pyrenees,” but what he and other nineteenth-century European and American travelers called “African”—what they found so exotic about Spain—might better have been termed “oriental” or even “Semitic.” What they were referring to was the indelible imprint left on Spain by the seven hundred years during which Muslims, Jews, and Christians coexisted there.

That culture of tolerance came to an end in 1492, when Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada, the last remaining Muslim outpost in Spain, and expelled the Jews. Deprived of the skills of its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants, and lacking the stimulus and cross-fertilization provided by interaction with people of different backgrounds and viewpoints, Spain soon became a cultural backwater, an impoverished bastion of ignorance and bigotry.

When the Jews were thrown out of Spain, the only place that welcomed them was the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Sultan Beyazit II sent his navy to rescue Muslims and Jews who were fleeing Spain, and he sent out proclamations throughout his empire that the refugees were to be welcomed. He threatened with death all those who treated the Jews harshly or refused them admission into the empire. It is no accident that it was during that same period, in the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, that the Ottoman Empire attained the zenith of its power.

So for over a thousand years, first in Spain and then in the Ottoman Empire, Jews lived in safety—often in comfort and prosperity—and practiced their religion freely under Muslim rule. Yes, there were isolated incidents when Jews were mistreated, but in that millennium of coexistence there was nothing even remotely approaching the violent persecution and hatred the Jews experienced in every Christian country in Europe where they lived.

Prof. McGaha quoted a very fascinating statistic: Members of both groups [Muslims and Jews] are more likely to be politically liberal. A Gallup poll released last summer showed that 78% of Muslims and 61% of Jews have remained among the most ardent supporters of President Obama, during a time when his overall job approval ratings have fallen sharply.

There are also significant differences between the two communities. It is estimated that at least two thirds of American Muslims are foreign-born immigrants, while a large majority of American Jews today are third- or fourth-generation Americans. For most American Jews the practice of their religion has gradually undergone drastic changes as it has come to reflect the influence of mainstream American Protestantism. The most recent innovation in American Judaism has been the acceptance of female rabbis, which not so long ago would have been unthinkable. No such accommodations to American customs have yet occurred in Islam, but I would venture to guess that it is only a matter of time.

The most important task facing Jews and Muslims today is healing the hurts we have caused each other and rediscovering our kinship. I can think of no place better suited to accomplishing those things than California. California is both the most populous state in the nation and the first state to have no ethnic majority.

Prof. McGaha ended his speech by speaking of Jewish Muslim interfaith organizations that have made strides: Founded in 2007, NewGround, a joint partnership between the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Progressive Jewish Alliance, is an innovative fellowship program dedicated to building meaningful relationships and fostering a strong sense of civic engagement amongst diverse groups of young Muslim and Jewish professionals in Los Angeles. The Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement, established in 2008, is a collaboration of the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Foundation, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture.