Shalom Muhammad, you wrote:
Peace be upon you too lavikor,
I would presume that the followers of the Torah received on Mount Sinai are not the same as modern day Jews (according to Islam), hence my reason for making that distinction earlier.
Could you elaborate more? I am a bit curious now. I was always under the impression that Muhammad in all of his meetings with Jews in Arabia refereed to Jews as "people of the book", and called those current Jews the continued followers of the religion that goes back to Mt. Sinai, however I could be wrong.
Either way, where are the "old Jews" who received the revelation on Mt. Sinai now? I am pretty sure that we have very good documentation through archeology showing the existence of Jews in the land of Israel, and the same traditions being followed today by these "modern Jews". I am also curious as to who we "modern Jews" really are, especially since the new DNA experiments in Israel and New York have shown common DNA traits in Arab, African and European Jews that the local inhabitants of these areas do not hold a very odd state of affairs considering there are very few if any nations that are so spread across the globe, yet have such a genetic connection.
The reason for my clarification here was because I felt certain Islamic beliefs were being misquoted. I know that you do not view the Qur'an as proof, yet you are still misrepresenting it according to the Islamic view. In the same way that the Torah was revealed to one man, likewise was the Qur'an. But Moses was sent to one particular nation, yet Muhammad (pbuh) to all mankind until the end of time. So we believe the Torah and the Qur'an to be very different books and serving different purposes, and we shall leave it at that.
I realize your concern and I invite you to correct and misstatement I have made about Islam at anytime in this thread. However, I now must make a correction on your post. You say
"in the same way" however, the Torah and Quran were not revealed in the same way. The Torah was revealed at Mt. Sinai, where G-d was literally heard by the entire nation of Israel as our tradition states. Now correct me if I am wrong, but G-d was not heard by any nation of Arabs according to Islamic tradition, and the Quran according to your tradition was revealed to Muhammad alone. Therefore, I must say that our traditions differ on how our scriptures were revealed and in no way are they
"the same"
I again, urge you to correct any misstatements about your religion here Muhammad.
Peace, and have a great new week.
Shalom Malaikah, you wrote:
Hello,
I heard that women aren't allowed to be taken as witnesses in Jewish courts.
Can you please clarify this?
A person who is in a position to give testimony about a case is required to appear in court; thus if a woman’s testimony were acceptable, she could be forced to appear in court. [Similarly, a king cannot serve as either a judge or a witness.] Thus women are restricted for a constructive reason: to avoid interfering with their more important responsibilities.
These disqualifications apply only to matters that require appearance in court; a woman’s testimony is perfectly acceptable in matters involving religious law (issur ve-heter).
However, The Ramah in Choshen Mishpat (Siman 35, 14) rules that in a case where only women congregate or in a case, and where only women could possibly testify, they can and should testify. (Terumas Hadeshen Siman 353 and Agudah Perek 10, Yochasin)
Therefore, women are not required to testify in court because for example who would watch the children, etc? Women are obligated to under Jewish law perform certain household mitzvot, while men are required to do other laws. If a crime happens and only women congregate in the place it did, or only women could testify, then a womens testimony would be completly valid. But if there were men there that could testify as the required number of witnesses then the men would do so. An example would be
Haredi Rabbi Harav Hagaon Benzion Wosner, writing on behalf of the Shevet Levi Beit Din (Rabbinical court) of Monsey, New York, identified sexual harassment cases as coming under a class of exceptions to the traditional exclusion, under which "even children or women" have not only a right but an obligation to testify, and can be relied upon by a rabbinical court as valid witnesses.
