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What is the relation between the state of Israel and Islam?

By Karel Sykora

When I went through Qur'an, already in the first sura I encountered a problem, which is not to be solved easily. The book says that Allah leads the Muslim people in the way of justice, not the way of those with whom he's angry. According to a widely accepted interpretation these are the Jews. During his time Muhammad had to be in contact with the Jews and he probably knew their history as well. It is a history of losing their own country, losing their own identity. At least that is what the Bible says, for example the Deuteronomy. The loss is a consequence of idolatry and faithlessness of the Jewish people.

God's anger results in banishment to exile and vice versa – it would be the God's good will if the Jews could return. Muhammad knows the Jewish history and reflects it in his first sura. However, he speaks only of the God's anger. Obviously, when the state of Israel came to existence a problem appeared. That was such an unexpected event that the Qur'an didn't expect in any way. According to the logic of the first sura (which is being quoted many times a day in prayers) the Jews should always live without a country of their own and they should always keep their state in the diaspora.

However, the reality is different. In 1948 the state of Israel was founded. The stage of seeking Jewish identity ended. The mere foundation of the state of Israel puts the Islamic holy book, Qur'an, in doubt. Despite the fact the God is supposed to be angry with them, the Jews have their own state. At this point a conflict appears – a conflict between reality and sort of an illusion stated by the Qur'an. The Israeli state touches Islam in the most sensitive point it has. The truthfulness of Qur'an.

Palestinian Muslims pray to Allah to lead them the right way of justice. Only few meters away the Jews have their summer resorts, hotels and supermarkets. But most importantly they have their state, for which the Palestinians still only wait. Do you notice that paradox? Not any more can God's anger be identified by the measure of having or not having a state. Therefore it is not a conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian people. It is a conflict between Israel and Islam. The existence of Israeli state proves Islam wrong. If the Muslims accepted its existence they would betray their own identity based on Qur'an. It may be said that these are the reasons which lead directly to the hostile foreign policy of most of the Arabic countries to the state of Israel.

The situation in the Middle East is no doubt dismal. The Palestinian nation works as an excuse for Arabic countries to carry on their anti-Israel campaign. One example for all, they use it to prove Zionism to be wrong. The nation is being used in a completely different struggle – struggle for power...

None of the Arab countries will fight for a foundation of an independent Palestinian state. They will fight to destroy the Jewish state.They will never agree with the existence of an Israeli state, exactly for reasons I tried to point out in this article. Therefore, the situation in the Middle East most likely will escalate in wider violence.

Zionism does not necessarily mean the acceptance of any decision made by the Israeli government. Zionism as an ideology means to say yes to the biblical messages about Jews returning to their country, which is a fact that you can prove to yourself by reading the Bible.