This paragraph was censored in Christian lands, and does not appear in
most editions.^115 It points to what Maimonides sees as the typical errors
of Islam and Christianity. The Muslims claim that the Torah was abro-
gated by subsequent revelations, and is thus obsolete. They also claim, as
Maimonides mentions elsewhere, that the original text of the Torah was
corrupted by the Jews, and that the biblical text in their possession is
mostly man- made. Because of this Muslim position, which leaves no
scriptural common ground for discussion, Maimonides forbids teaching
the Torah to Muslims.^116 The Christians, on the other hand, accept the
text of the Torah as authentic, but they argue for a radical reinterpreta-
tion.^117 Christian hermeneutics is also presented by Maimonides as Chris-
tianity’s error in his “Epistles on Resurrection.” In his Guide of the Per-
plexed, Maimonides adds two other errors of these religions: the Christian
doctrine of Trinity, and the question, much debated in Islam, of God’s
Created Speech.^118
It is thus obvious that Maimonides was well aware of the doctrinal
rifts that separate Judaism from Islam and Christinaity, and he did not
take these differences lightly. And yet, in the passage from the Mishneh
Torah quoted above, he insists on the long- term positive role that Is-
lam and Christianity play. Despite their respective errors, they repre-
sent an advancement compared to previous beliefs of their nations,
and a stepping- stone on the way to correct beliefs. In this pre sentation
Maimonides adopts (and adapts), consciously or unconsciously, the
linear approach of his Jewish pre decessors, and in par ticular Judah
Halevi.^119
In other places, however, another approach emerges where, rather than
a linear historical development that leads from one religion to the other,
there seems to be a universal, inherent, and continuing pro cess of devel-
opment within all religions. This approach can be best seen in the Letter
to Obadia the Proselyte, where Maimonides discusses the permissibility
of wine produced by Muslims. The key to the legal decision here lies in
the question whether or not Islam is to be considered a mono theistic re-
ligion; and the answer to this question lies in the evaluation of Muslim
(^115) See Ben- Sasson, “The Singularity of the Jewish Nation as seen in the Twelfth- Century,”
145–218 [Hebrew]; Twersky, Introduction to the Mishneh Torah, 452; E. Schlossberg,
“Maimonides’ Attitude to Islam.”
(^116) SeeResponsa, 285.
(^117) Epistles, 319, 339.
(^118) SeeGuide 1.71 (Dalala, 123:4– 6; Pines, 178).
(^119) As suggested by Twersky, Introduction to the Mishneh Torah, 453. On Maimonides’
attitude to Islam and Christianity, see also D. J. Lasker, “Tradition and Innovation in Mai-
monides’ Attitude towards Other Religions,” in J. M. Harris, ed., Maimonides after 800
Years: Essays on Maimonides and His Infl uence (Cambridge, Mass., 2007), 167– 82.