THERE are these two half-brothers I opened my eyes to find yapping at each other, like two Rottweiler puppies tearing at each other for the fattest bone around. I came into this world and met them at it; I am sure I will exit it and return to my Creator, leaving them still at it.
I would not have written about them, or even minded their sibling rivalries, if not for the fact that they have sucked the rest of the world into their feud, so much so that we now see our world through their lens. Their fight has become ours, while our own struggles remain ours alone to bear. Do I have a stake in their fights? No, except when viewed from the perspective of our shared humanity, and through the window of justice and fairness.
I am talking about the Arabs and the Jews. I see their “seeds” as some of the most significant influencers humanity has ever produced.
The Arabs and Jews share the same origin, both being descendants of the two sons (seeds) of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), or Abraham. The sons, prophets as well were Ismail (Ishmael) from Abraham’s maid Hajar (Hagar), and Ishak (Isaac) from his wife Sarah.
The Arabs descended from Ishmael, and the Jews from Isaac. They share this common ancestry, and genetic studies show a close relationship and shared Y-chromosome lineages between many Arab and Jewish men. Historical interactions, conversions, and intermarriages have also contributed to their shared lineage over time.
We owe three of our religions; Islam, Christianity, and Judaism to the progeny of Abraham. That is why they are known as the Abrahamic religions.
Isaac (Ishak, AS), Ishmael (Ismail, AS), Jesus (Isa, AS), Moses (Musa, AS), and Muhammad (SAW) are all revered figures within the Abrahamic faiths, each connected through the shared patriarch Abraham.
Now this is where the story gets interesting: these are half-brothers entrusted by the Creator to bring salvation to His creation, but their followers have been at each other’s throats over which religion should serve as the medium.
But God has sent messengers one after the other, each with an updated version of His message, culminating in the last. It is so, as He will not leave people unguided or in confusion. As stated in 1 Corinthians 14:33 in the King James Version of the Bible: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
And so it is that Isaac is the progenitor of the Israelites, from whom Moses and Jesus descended, while Ishmael is the ancestor of the Arabs and, by extension, Prophet Muhammad (SAW). All three major faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, worship the same God and acknowledge this shared Abrahamic lineage, with Muhammad considered the final prophet in this prophetic tradition according to Islamic belief.
From the days of the prophets until now, the brothers have walked different paths, with their roots deep in Jerusalem and the Middle East. They have straddled the world at various times, with their paths crossing, often violently, sometimes benevolently. Some remained rooted in faith, untainted by external forces. Others absorbed the traits of their oppressors and became something else entirely. Each chose a path, some guided by faith, others derailed by external evils that touched and changed their lives.
There were two notable instances, 637 CE and 1187 CE, when Arab Muslims conquered Jerusalem, and the Jews of that era rejoiced. Why? Because those Islamic victories allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem after being banished, first by the Byzantines, then by the Crusaders. In both instances, Jews celebrated alongside Muslims.
This is unlike what happened in 1948, when the Jews drove out 600,000 Palestinians from their homes and massacred about 100,000 who refused to leave the land Palestinians had shared with them after Hitler’s atrocities. That was the Nakba. Of course, there was also the Sabra and Shatila massacre of 1982, where 3,500 Palestinians were slaughtered in a concentration camp. The killings did not begin on October 7 or even in the last two years.
In the words of Israeli Professor Meir Baruchin: “Here in Israel, for generations, we killed the Palestinians; we injured the Palestinians; we have more than 1,500 (over 10,000 since October 7) Palestinians in administrative detention; we demolish their houses here in Jerusalem; we cut down their olive trees; we confiscate their property, their waters, and most Israelis expect them to accept it. And when they do not accept it and react in a violent way, they are blamed. We have held millions of Palestinians under occupation for generations.”
This is how some people, tragically, have unleashed manifold what the Nazis did to them, on people who once pitied them and gave them sanctuary. A sad narrative indeed. It is a textbook case of absorbing the traits of one’s oppressors. Only someone who is deeply impressed by evil can be so consumed by it that he becomes the evil that tyrannised him. Surely, there must be a scientific or psychological explanation for this.
Sadly, here in Nigeria, we have many who do not understand the complex dynamics of Middle Eastern power politics. They blindly take sides, seeing Israel’s battles as Nigeria’s. With no knowledge beyond Sunday school stories, they confuse the Israel of David and King Solomon with that of Polish-born Benzion Mileikowsky (Benjamin Netanyahu) and the Likud Party. They cannot distinguish between a spiritual concept and a geopolitical entity—a state just 80 years old, often in conflict with both natural justice and international law.
Here, because religion is rarely practised for spiritual elevation but rather for material gain, many will choose to close their ears, eyes, minds, and souls to human suffering and even bless the devil, thinking this will somehow bring them the fleeting blessings that never truly satisfy the hunger of the flesh or quench the thirst of lack.
While Arab Muslim rulers, as we discussed, brought blessings to the people they ruled, their Jewish half-brothers at least those in modern power often see their admirers, including those who bless them to be blessed as idolaters unworthy of respect.
May the Creator of man the Just and Fair God of all usher in a new world in our time, one that will be just and fair to all a world where humanity bonds us and international law serves as a guiding light for all nations.
- Dr Gimba, anipr, is the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Neptune Prime. His syndicated column, The Arbiter, appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.