224 • chapter 5
the accusation that the talmud prescribes human sacrifice, that is, the
problem of the blood libel.^150
in the end, Malul published only the first volume, which offered
more general observations on the nature of religion, the characteristics
of monotheistic religions, and the history of religious persecution. as
he begins his discussion of religion, he acknowledges the perils of the
task. “religion is among the most difficult subjects of study,” he asserts,
“and the most dangerous.”^151 Undeterred, however, Malul engages the
subject directly. With an apparent penchant for categorization, he di-
vides humanity first into those who “believe in the existence of a cre-
ator,” including “Jews, Christians, Muslims, Magi, Confucians, Bud-
dhists, and Brahmins,” and those who do not believe.^152 he then further
separates the first group into the monotheists, namely Jews, christians,
and Muslims, and the remaining polytheistic peoples [al- mushrikūn].
arguing for the superiority of the monotheists, Malul claims that “if we
look at human society in terms of [level of] civilization and progress,
we see that the monotheists are ahead.”^153
“all religions have the Same Goal”Despite these divisions, Malul insists early in his text that “all religions
have the same goal, to order what is right and to forbid what is wrong
(al- amr bi- l- maʿarūf wa- n- nahy ʿan al- munkar),” a phrase he repeats
often throughout the book.^154 this refrain, significantly, is borrowed
from the qurʾan. it is used to describe the believers’ moral mission.
“You are the best community singled out for people,” God tells believ-
ers in q. 3:110, “you order what is right [and] forbid what is wrong”
(taʾmurūn bi- l- maʿrūf wa- tanhawn ʿan al- munkar). this verse concludes
by contrasting the believers with (most of) the people of the Book. “if
the people of the Book had also believed, it would have been better
for them. For although some of them do believe, most of them are
lawbreakers.” the qurʾan, in this sura, highlights that segments of the
people of the Book are considered to be among the believers.^155 “they
(^150) Malūl, Kitāb asrār al- yahūd, 8.
(^151) ibid., 9– 10.
(^152) Ibid., 10.
(^153) ibid., 13.
(^154) See, e.g., ibid.
(^155) on the different groups associated with this quality, see cook, Commanding Right
and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought, especially 13– 14, 14n.5. on the relationship
between Muhammad and those referred to in the qurʾan as “the believers,” see Donner,
Muhammad and the Believers.