Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this book for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Having grown up in a Protestant Christian background, I grew up with so many misconceptions about both Judaism and Islam. I've been wanting to learn more about both religions for some time now, and this book piqued my interest when I saw it on Netgalley. I am so glad I gave it a chance!

This book was very approachable as someone with little knowledge about either Islam or Judaism. It provided a great history on both, as well as a look into why each religion believes and practices as they do now. It was also really interesting to look at the evolution of the relationship between Islam and Judaism into what it is today.

I would highly recommend for anyone interested in the history between these two religions, and anyone interested in looking for a better way forward in interfaith conversations.

I like history and connection between many cultures around the world. This book is a breakthrough by introducing us, the Islamic Moses, the older, deeper, and often unexpectedly brighter story of Jews and Muslims. I appreciate Mustafa for making this book happen.

I love learning about religions, Judaism and Islam have always been my favorites to delve into so when I saw this book, I had to read it! I was not disappointed. I found it very educational. I enjoyed how the author included readings of the Quran talking about Moses and pointed out how they compare to the Bible. There was so much inside these pages to reflect on and study. In my opinion, one reading does not do it justice. After finishing the book I came away with a better understanding of both religions, a greater respect for them and the feeling of wanting to go deeper into learning and understanding these beautiful religions.

I recommend this book to the curious, the seeker and anyone who enjoys learning about other faiths and why people believe the way they do.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for allowing me to read and offer my honest review.

Akyol provides a critical survey of history and scriptural interpretation for Islamic and Jewish relations (and Christian thrown in occasionally). After comparing and contrasting Q’uranic and Hebrew scripture depictions of Moses (Moshe), he moves on to the oscillating political and religious alliances/conflicts between Muhammed and his contemporary neighbors. The author then tracks these same hot-warm-cold relationships through the next centuries, through philosophical and economic collaborations, into our late 20th and early 21st century antagonism. While showing that for much of parallel and interwoven experiences through the centuries, Islam and Judaism coexisted and it wasn’t until the last hundred years, Islam seems to have adopted Christianity’s anti-Judaism based in conspiratorial and fantastic myths. (I won’t say anti-Semitic since Arabic is also a Semitic language.) The reasons: perhaps power hunger for a return to Ottoman Empire, misreading of Q’uranic passages; vengeance over Western-based slights or….

While I’m appreciative of the publisher for providing an advance copy, I was unable to read the Epilogue in which the author shares how to restore Islamic-Jewish friendships and peace. Akyol’s work here is important for anyone interested in this topic and a worthwhile companion to his analysis of Islamic and Christian perspectives of Jesus/Isa.

Like Akyol's earlier books, this is an intervention into Islamic history with an eye towards bringing readers up to date on the latest academic research and questioning our assumptions about how to tell history and why. I was very pleased to have my previous assumptions about early Islam corrected and new ideas instilled about how to imagine an anti-imperial Islam with coherent laws and teachings for the 21st century.

Thought this was quite interesting to read, especially seeing the similiraties between two major world religions.

Moses is mentioned a lot in the Quran. In this work, the author tells a story of Moses as the model for the Prophet.

Islam and Judaism have a lot of things in common. And a lot not.


He explores the Muslim/Jewish interactions in the old days.


NetGalley/ St. Martin’s Press September 10, 2924