Beyond the Abraham Accords

The Abraham Accords offer peace and prosperity, an era of repose from some of the constant warfare that plagues the Middle East. The UAE, a signatory of the Accords, houses the Abrahamic Family House—a synagogue side-by-side with a mosque and side-by-side with a church. It’s a beautiful symbol of tolerance and peace between the world’s Christians, Jews, and Muslims. But if Jihad against unbelievers is what Islam demands of the faithful, is it a paradox? On the contrary, say Amjad Taha and Ed Husain. They tell Cliff May that warm relations between Muslims and Jews shouldn’t be considered breaking the norms of Islam, and recall when the Prophet saw a funeral procession go by in Medina and stood up. When his friends asked him, “Why are you standing up for a Jewish funeral?” The Prophet responds, “Is this not a human soul?” “We are friends. We are cousins. We are brothers. We have the same father in Abraham. It’s not that we’re apostates—if anything, we’re family,” Ed says. But given the mosaic of diversity that is the Muslim world—from North Africa and the Middle East to south and Southeast Asia—how widely (or not) are these sentiments actually held?