Does the Qur’an discuss the Israelite exile and their return? Does it engage with Jewish liturgy? Why would it? While these thoughts might seem absurd at first, please join us for this talk to discover how Q. 2:259–260 alludes to Jewish traditions that share a common theme: the Israelite exile in the Diaspora and their return. Several points of intertextuality are identified suggesting that this passage is engaging with Jewish liturgy, especially the daily recitation of the Shemaʿ and the ʿAmidah. This Qur’anic passage is in the same chapter that discusses the direction of prayer, and hence, full awareness not only of the direction, but also the content of the daily Jewish prayers may not be far-fetched at all.
Speaker Abdulla Galadari, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Khalifa University
Moderated by Ayman Shihadeh, Senior Humanities Research Fellow, NYUAD
