Viewpoints Comparative Questions

  1. How does Muhammad characterize Jews and Christians? What distinction does he make between non-Muslim monotheists and polytheists or “idolaters”?
  2. What day-to-day evidence of Muslim-Jewish and Muslim-Christian relations is revealed in these documents? How might practical considerations have shaped Islamic policies toward Christians and Jews living in Muslim lands?

J. A. Williams, Themes in Islamic Civilization (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1971), 11–15.