Comparative Religions and Middle East Studies
Judaism and Islam
Introduction
We are going to study the two major religions of the world (actually three, but we won’t take the time to study Christianity as we will be dealing with that in future courses) Judaism and Islam. These two faiths are in constant conflict. This conflict dates back to Abraham and Sarah. The story is well known and we have covered it and will cover it in other courses.  God promised Abraham a son of promise, but when Abraham and Sarah were getting older they decided to help God out a bit, and Abraham fathered a son by Hagar, Sarah’s servant. This child’s name was Ishmael. 
The birth of Ishmael and the rejection of Hagar and Ishmael by Sarah and Abraham started a conflict that is raging today. 
The Ishmaelites hate the descendents of Isaac—the Jews. 
Eventually the Ishmaelites had their own religion, born out of spite and hate for the Jews. It is my opinion the Islam is a reactionary religion—the religion is a reaction to the Jews. They said, “We will have our book, our requirements, our worship day, and our times to pray and our times to pray will be more than the Jews. Islam is the Ishmaelites answer to the religion of Abraham—Judaism. And this is the backdrop for this entire course.