Undoubtedly, some anti-Jewish calumnies did have a European origin, transmitted by missionaries and local Christians to various Muslim populations. For example, Maronites (members of a Catholic church in Lebanon) played a key role in the dissemination of the blood libel motif- namely the charge that Jews use the blood of Christian children to make matzo for Passover- in the Levant during the 19th century.
Further, it is true that historically Jews survived Muslim rule better than other religious groups deemed members of the “people of the book,” even though all such non-Muslim minorities were in theory to receive the same discriminatory treatment according to the Pact of Umar (named after Umar ibn al-Khattab: the second caliph of Islam after Mohammed’s death).
Many of the conditions of the Pact of Umar are upheld as the ideal model for the treatment of non-Muslims among orthodox, classical Muslim theologians (e.g. the requirement to wear clothing to distinguish the unbelievers from Muslims). Read more »
