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Was the Epistle to Yemen actually written by Maimonides?

Was the Epistle to Yemen actually written by Maimonides? If part of it was, does this mean that the entire work was? Might a letter from Maimonides have had later commentary added in by a community that found itself victims of Zaydi oppression and forced conversions?

This video explores some anomalies in letter, which indicates possible later interpolation from the Yemenite community which passed this letter down. This is a particularly important matter for Jewish-Islamic relations, as this is the only source of the Rambam speaking negatively towards Islam and Muhammad, whereas works that he wrote and claimed promoted a different view altogether.

The Qur'an Commands Obedience to the Bible, and Instructs Jews to Follow Judaism; the Covenant of the Mitzvot

Throughout the centuries, the Muslim world has argued that the Qur'an is to be read as sola scriptura, with supplementation only from fairly late hadith accounts, but never from the Bible. This is determined through the latehadith literature where the literary character of Muhammad is claimed to have forbidden Umar from reading the Bible.

In contrast to this, Shi`ah accounts, from Muhammad's direct descendants through `Ali and Fatimah, claim that these descendants - spiritual a'immah - were extremely well versed in the Bible. Similarly, such accounts contend that the Bible would be a primary source of judgment for a future "mahdi", who would also pray in the Hebrew language. While such accounts are repleat throughout the Shi`ah hadith literature - itself being writting as late as the Sunni accounts - normative Ithna `Ashari beliefs today are much closer to mainstream Sunni views, and than they are to the actual hadithnarrations attributed to the Ahl al-Bayt, Muhammad's family, with regard to such matters.

As for the Qur'an itself, it is even more clear; mincing no words whatsoever, and having no awareness of any later notion that it should supercede, or abrogate the Bible. We read, for instance, that if something is already in the Bible, the follower of Muhammad has no business asking him for a decision on such a matter; which is already plainly commanded by God in the Bible.

وَكَيْفَ يُحَكِّمُونَكَ وَعِنْدَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ فِيهَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّوْنَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ ۚ وَمَا أُولَٰئِكَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ

And why do they come to you for a decision, when they have the Torah before them? Therein is the Command of God; yet even after that, they would turn away. Such are not Believers (Mu'minin/Ma'minim). (5.43)

فَإِنْ كُنْتَ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ فَاسْأَلِ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ ۚ لَقَدْ جَاءَكَ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّكَ فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ

If you are in doubt as what We have revealed to you, ask those who have been reading the Bible before you. Verily, the truth from your Lord has come to you, so be not of those who waiver [in belief]. (10.94)

Criticizing those who don't adhere to the Torah and Gospel, only hypocrites are criticized, and not Jews and Nazarenes across the board. This tells us that the Qur'an viewed the Torah and the singular Gospel used by the Nazarenes, according to historical sources, a singular Hebrew Gospel which the Ebionites and Nazarenes alike utilized, as being valid, and does not criticize it as being textually invalid or corrupted.

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ أَقَامُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْهِمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ لَأَكَلُوا مِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ وَمِنْ تَحْتِ أَرْجُلِهِمْ ۚ مِنْهُمْ أُمَّةٌ مُقْتَصِدَةٌ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ سَاءَ مَا يَعْمَلُونَ

If only they had stood fast by the Torah, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the right course: but many of them follow a course that is evil. (5.66)

This clearly says that if those who turned away from the Torah and the Hebrew Ebionite Gospel would have kept to those texts, then they would have enjoyed happiness. This thus precludes the possibility that those scriptures were viewed as corrupt or abrogated by the Qur'an. Furthermore, the Qur'an commands Jews to continue to follow the Brit of the Torah and Mitzvot:

يَا بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ اذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتِيَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِي أُوفِ بِعَهْدِكُمْ وَإِيَّايَ فَارْهَبُونِ

O Children of Israel! call to mind My Favor which I bestowed upon you, and keep up your Covenant with Me as I fulfill My Covenant with you, and fear no one but Me. (2.40)

That is, the Qur'an instructs Jews to continue to practice Yahadut, the praising of Yah through the Covanent of the Mitzvot in the Torah. This is the clearly articulated Covenant to which the Qur'an refers, and which any reader of the Bible is familiar.

The Qur'an in fact says that when those who follow the Bible already hear what Muhammad recited, they recognized it as Biblical and Midrashic stories and instructions ALREADY received.

مُ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ هُمْ بِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Those unto whom We gave the Bible before it, they believe in it (28.52)

وَإِذَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِهِ إِنَّهُ الْحَقُّ مِنْ رَبِّنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنْ قَبْلِهِ مُسْلِمِينَ

And when it is recited to them they say: We believe in it surely it is the truth from our Lord; surely we were submitting ones (muslimin) before this. (28.53)

Clearly then, a "muslim" is here defined as one who believes in the Bible and follows it. This was a new message to polythesists in the Arab world, but it was nothing at all new to Jews and Nazarenes. Thus, the Qur'an says, to its polytheist audience, that the Jews and Nazarenes in their midst already know this and are the first to say "we were submitting ones before this"; indicating clearly that "muslim" was not a term for a separate religion, defined by the Qur'an (but instead was a universal practice of obeying God by honoring the instructions in the Bible or the instructions given by Muhammad to the Arabs who had not previously been exposed to the Bible and Midrash. Thus the Qur'an tells us to "And believe in what I have revealed, verifying that which is with you, and be not the first to deny it, neither sell My communications for a small price; and Me, Me alone should you fear" (2.41).

وَآمِنُوا بِمَا أَنْزَلْتُ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا مَعَكُمْ وَلَا تَكُونُوا أَوَّلَ كَافِرٍ بِهِ ۖ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا بِآيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا وَإِيَّايَ فَاتَّقُونِ

Thus, the Bible which the Qur'an is "verifying" is "with you" currently, in Muhammad's day and ever since. 'Ayah 89 also repeats that the Qur'an is "verifying" the Bible, and that the curse of Allah is on the "kafirin", the "koferim" in Hebrew; meaning those who apostate from Judaism by breaking the Covanent. The Bible is not seen as corrupted, nor filled with deformed and distorted accounts that the listener to the Qur'an is to disregard. When Muslims reject the Bible, they are literally rejecting and disobeying the Qur'an.

Why does the Hadith say Ashura was the Day Moses and his people "were saved"?

As we have already seen, Hadith tells us that Ashura (the tenth of Muharram), was the day on which Moses and his people "were saved" from Pharaoh. This has led to some confusion. First, we must remember that "Hadith" itself literally means that the statement has been orally passed down. If these sources often trace to a textual origin, that we have documented before the penning of the Hadith narration, then we should expect the oral tradition to get a little confused, particularly so if the narrator does not understand the religious context of a claim he is transmitting.

We see this proven in the layers of change that occur in the tradition, as it is narrated sometimes as saying that this day was the Jewish fast day, on the tenth of the "Sacred" (Muharram) month, when the Jewish people were saved "from Pharaoh" (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith 6.202), and other times simply as "from their enemy" (3.222). It is clear that the reporter of the "from Pharaoh" versions, has simply misunderstood "their enemy" to refer to the external enemy in the Exodus story. In reality, this Hadith has its origin in Jewish Midrashic sources. An excellent compilation of these stories can be found in Louis Ginsberg's, The Legends of the Jews.

In Judaism, Midrash teaches that, "The Day on which God showed Himself merciful to Moses and to his people, was the 10th day of Tishri [Yom Kippur]. This was the day on which Moses was to receive the tables of Law from God for the second time... and all Israel spent it amid prayer and fasting. 'My children, I swear by My Lofty Name that your tears shall be tears of rejoicing for you; this day shall be a day of pardom, of forgiveness, and of cancelling of sins for you, for your children, and your children's children to the end of all generations.'"

Rabbi Avraham ibn Hasdai and Muhammad the Sage

Rabbi Avraham ibn Hasdai, the early 13th century author, writes in his rephrasing of Al-Ghazali's Mizan al-Amal, in Sefer Moznei Tzedek, a hadith which was in some accounts attributed to `Ali ibn Abi Talib, but most popularly attributed in various hadith narrations, to Muhammad.

So The Sage has said, "Heresy begins like a black dot in the heart." This can increase until the heart becomes totally black. Similarly, faith begins like a white dot. As faith increases so does the whiteness. If a person's faith is complete, then his heart becomes totally white. So it is written, "Even though your sins are scarlet, they can become as white as snow" (Isaiah 1.18). (Moznei Tzedek, 81)

We see this in hadith literature, such as the following:

Abu Hurairah narrated: God's Messenger, peace be upon him, said:"When a servant [of God[ commits a sin, a black dot is dotted on his heart. Then if that person gives up that evil deed, begs God to forgive him, and repents, then his heart is cleared; but if he repeats the evil deed, then that covering is increased till his heart is completely covered with it. And this is Ar-Ran that God mentioned [in the Qur'an]," No! but on their hearts is the Ar-Ran which they used to earn" (83:14) (At-Tirmidhi, Vol 5 , Hadith No: 3334)

We thus see not only is the hadith sited, but Muhammad is called "The Sage", and a Biblical verse is substituted for the Qur'anic reference in the hadith.

Talmudic "Oral" Torah Regarded as Binding by Muhammad

Narrated Salman al-Farsi: "I read in the Torah that the blessing of food consists in ablution before it. So I mentioned it to the Prophet. He said: The blessing of food consists in ablution before it and ablution after it." (Abu Dawud: Book 27, Number 3752)

This is from the Oral Torah, recorded in the Talmudic tractate Berakhot 53b. As with Judaism in general, the Oral Torah is considered part of the Torah, and is indicated in the written Torah as having been delivered to Moses on Sinai. Salman and Muhammad both apparently referred to this as the "Torah" as well, and we see numerous Talmudic stories cited, and quoted in the Qur'an.

Maimonides on the Monotheism of Muslims

"The Ishmaelites are not at all idolaters; [idolatry] has long been severed from their mouths and hearts; and they attribute to God a proper unity, a unity concerning which there is no doubt. And because they lie about us, and falsely attribute to us the statement that God has a son, there is [nevertheless] no reason for us to lie about them and say that they are idolaters... And should anyone say that the house that they honor [the Ka`abah] is a house of idolatry and an idol is hidden within it, which their ancestors used to worship, then what of it? The hearts of those who prostrate toward it today are [directed] only toward Heaven . . . [Regarding] the Ishmaelites today - idolatry has been severed from the mouths of all of them [including] women and children. Their error and foolishness is in other things which cannot be put into writing because of the renegades and wicked among Israel [koferim/apostates]. But as regards the unity of God they have no error at all." Maimonides (the Rambam) in his responsum to `Obadyah the proselyte."

"'Ummatun Qā'imatun"

They are not all alike from the People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitāb, People of the Bible or Tanakh). There is an Upright Ummah ('Ummatun Qā'imatun); they recite Allah's ayat in the nighttime and they prostrate (Yasjudūna). (Qur'ān 3.113)

لَيْسُوا سَوَاءً ۗ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ يَتْلُونَ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ آنَاءَ اللَّيْلِ وَهُمْ يَسْجُدُونَ

The Enemies of Judeo-Sufism Were the Enemies of the Rambam and his family...

Today it is no surprise that there are some backwards members of various segments of the Jewish community who will - acting on their own ignorance of Judaism - accuse Judeo-Sufis of `avodah zarah, or otherwise being part of some bizarre Shabbtaist or Frankist agenda. Their general accusations are nothing new, as these were the same caliber of attacks leveled against the son and grandsons of the Rambam.

David ben Joshua (ca. 1335-1415), last known of the Maimonideans was similarly fascinated by Sufism and integrated it in the same manner as his predecessor. His Judeo-Sufi work Al-Murshid ila-l-Tafarrud (The Guide to Detachment), embodies the most all-encompassing synthesis of Rabbinical belief with Sufism.

Despite Abraham Maimonides’ political and religious prestige, the pietist movement, like many revivalist trends in religious history, met with virulent opinion. The pietists were accused of introdcing “false ideas,” “unlawful changes,” and “gentile (sufi) customs,” and they were even denounced to the Muslim authorities.2

By this time persecution against the movement had grown. The very same brand of opponent – “who attempt to refute those with real understanding” – who leveled accusations and proposed banning Moses ben Maimon, had now continued in opposition to his family legacy; working in collusion with “Islaamic” authorities of Egypt to have the Maimonides Synagogue closed. This persecution eventually culminated in the exile of David ben Avraham (1222-1300) from Egypt, and the gradual disappearance of this Judeo-Sufi pietist movement from Judaism.2 In spite of this, however, the intellectual legacy of the Maimonides family, and certainly of Maimonides himself, remains unscathed and unimaginably influential in the current era.


__________________________________________________________

1. Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach, Medieval Islamic Civilization: L-Z. pp 547

2. Ibid. pp. 547

Judeo-Sufi Rabbis and Recommended Reading

Rabbi Ya`qov Yosef, disciple of the Besht, quotes Rabbeinu Bahya on Muhammad the Chassid

The full eBook that this selection is from can be purchased here: http://www.hashlamah.org/ebooks.php

In an anecdote about a pious person, a chasid, one of the early masters of the Chasidic movement, in eighteenth-century Eastern Europe, Rabbi Ya`qov Yosef of Polonnoy writes in Hebrew of the chasid with the following saying:

It was told of a pious man (chasid) that he met some people returning from a great battle with an enemy. He said to them, ‘You are returning, praised be God, from a smaller battle, carrying your booty. Now prepare yourself for the greater battle.’ They asked, ‘What is that greater battle?’ and he answered, ‘The battle against the instinct and its armies.1

This “chasid” was none other than Muhammad himself, though it is highly unlikely that Rabbi Jacob of Polonnoy had any idea that he was in fact quoting a very famous hadith, popular amongst both Mutasawwuf and Islamic literates alike. There is no question, however, that Rabbeinu Bahya was aware of the identity of this chassid of whom he wrote.

In the same way, today readers of Hebrew and English-from-Hebrew translations of Bahya ibn Paqudah’s works might be just as surprised to know that this term for “battle” in this hadeeth was “jihad” and that this was the same Arabic term employed throughout Bahya’s works for both the external and great internal struggle (jihadu-l-akbar), the struggle against the self, or as Rabbi Ya`qov termed it, the “instinct” (“jahada-n-nafsa” in the original hadeeth). While there is absolutely no dispute that Bahya had much larger implications than mere “holy war” the Mutasawwufin would similarly claim that - as this source originates with Muhammad - that Muhammad neither meant by “jihad” physical struggle, but struggle against “the instinct and its armies.”

But if Muhammad was well acquainted with Jewish tradition, and if he saw himself as somehow implementing it, to an extent, amongst the Arabs, then the natural and problematic question is why would this not be clear amongst Islamic Orthodoxy today, or in the past. Todd Lawson, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto offers a poignant observation:

Undoubtedly, one of the reasons such material has been ignored in the context of this problem has to do with what we now know are unsuitable categories - especially in the case of Islam - of 'orthodoxy' and 'heterodxy' as methodological guides in religious studies. In the past, in many scholarly circles, it was felt that 'real (cf. orthodox) Islam', which was naturally the most populous Islam, is what we should be studying. Whatever the 'real Islam' might be, we now know that the majoritarian version of Islam, that is to say Sunni Islam, represents a consolidation of doctrines and positions that were worked out over time and in discussion, sometimes heated, sometimes not, with alternative views of what 'real Islam' was.2

_______________________________________________

1. Diane Lobel, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue, 2; ix
2. Todd Lawson, The Crucifxion and the Qur'an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought, 6-7

The Qur'an asks: Why ask Muhammad when you have the Torah?

Once we strip away the centuries of explaining the clear words of the Qur'an away, we read that Muhammad told people NOT to come to him and ask about matters which the Torah had already instructed us on:

"And why do they come to you for a decision while they have the Torah, in which is the Decision of God; yet even after that, they turn away. For they are not Believers (Mu'minin/Ma'minim)." (5.43)

وَكَيْفَ يُحَكِّمُونَكَ وَعِنْدَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ فِيهَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّوْنَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ ۚ وَمَا أُولَٰئِكَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Accepting the words of the Qur'an would revolutionize the Islamic world. Thus, the Torah tells us that "Everything that I command you, you shall keep and observe; do not add to it, and do not subtract from it." (Deuteronomy 13:1) Al-hamdulillah, Muhammad understood this and it is reflected in the Qur'an which accepts the Torah, does not abrogate it, nor the commandments therein for Jews, but does not mandate the 613 mitzvot upon those who have not embraced willing the Yoke of the Torah. This was the position on Muhammad of such individuals as Rabbi Natanyel ibn al-Fayyumi, leader of the Jewish community of Yemen and the `Issuniyyah Jews.

Sunni Hadith on Muhammad paying respect to the Sefer Torah and professing belief in it

Abu Dawud narrated in his collection that Ibn Umar said:

A group of Jewish people invited the messenger of Allah to a house. When he came, they asked him: O Abu Qasim, one of our men committed adultery with a woman, what is your judgment against him? So they placed a pillow and asked the messenger of Allah to set on it. Then the messenger of Allah proceeded to say: bring me the Torah. When they brought it, he removed the pillow from underneath him and placed the Torah on it and said: I believe in you and in the one who revealed you, then said: bring me one of you who have the most knowledge. So they brought him a young man who told him the story of the stoning. (Book 38.4434)

وقال أبو داود: حدثنا أحمد بن سعيدالهمداني، حدثنا ابن وهب، حدثنا هشام بن سعد أن زيد بن أسلم حدثه عن ابن عمر قال: أتى نفر من اليهود فدعوا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى القف، فأتاهم في بيت المدارس، فقالوا: ياأبا القاسم، إن رجلاً منا زنى بامرأة فاحكم. قال: ووضعوا لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وسادة فجلس عليها، ثم قال «ائتوني بالتوراة، فأتي بها، فنزع الوسادة من تحته ووضع التوراة عليها، وقال «آمنت بك وبمن أنزلك» ثم قال «ائتوني بأعلمكم» فأتي بفتى شاب ثم ذكر قصة الرجم نحو حديث مالك عن نافع.

How is this hadith viewed in the Ummah? Naturally it is rejected, as it is dissimilar and theological embarrassment to the mainstream dogma. The issue is pinpointed with a transmitter Hishām ibn Sa’ad Al-Madanī. Hāfith Ibn Hajr says about him in his Taqrīb, that he was "Honest" though had "mistakes, and delved into Shi'ism." Thus, once again, we find that even those who we were not Shi`ah themselves found Jewish Muhammad traditions from amongst the school of the Ahl al-Bayt. While many of the most anti-Jewish polemicists in Islamicate scholarship seem to detest him, Abu Zura’ah said, "His status is honesty" and Al-`Ijlī said, "His hadīth are permitted, and are Hasan Al-Hadīth." (Entry 7294 of Tahrīr Taqrīb published by Mu’assasat al-Risālah 1997)

The Shi`i Imam al-Mahdi will pray in Hebrew

Reported to us Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Saeed al Uqdah who said: It was narrated to us from Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Taymali who narrated to us from al-Hasan and Muhammad the sons of Ali ibnu Yusuf, from Sa’daan ibn Muslim, from Rajaal, from al-Mufadhaal ibn Umar from Abu Abdullah (Ja`far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shi`i Imam) that:

“When the Imam Mahdi calls out, he will pray to God in Hebrew.” (al-Numayni, Kitab Al-Ghayba)

Palestinian Muslims are Talmūdically Gerei Tōshav

The Torah does NOT support the idea that only Jews can live in Eretz Yisrael and it COMMANDS many times that the ger tōshav be respected and protected therein. Avōdah Zarah 64b indicates that a one fulfilling the Noachid commandments, and thus a Muslim, should be considered a ger tōshav. Oppressing Palestinians in any way is a violation of the Torah and thus Judaism.

Avōdah Zarah 65a indicates that gerei tōshav need not be formalized before a Beyt Dīn, but can be informal; lest anyone try to suggest that their status as gerei tōshav needs to be formally professed before rabbis. In either event, we know that the tenants of the Qur'ān mandate the Noachid laws and thus, by professing Islām, they are professing to be gerei tōshav, and secondarily, 65a makes it clear that this is not even an issue. Simply by professing to follow the tenants of the Qur'ān, the Palestinian Muslim is Talmūdically granted the status of ger tōshav.

It is time for Israel to truly become a Jewish State and recognize the rights of the gerei tōshav.

A good starting place for Judeo-Sufi studies...

Rabbeinu Bachya ibn Paqudah's Duties of the Hearts. Known in Arabic as Al-Hidayah ila Fara'id al-Qulub. In the Hebrew translation from the Judeo-Arabic, it is known as Chovot ha'Levavot, a text studied in Orthodox Yeshivot still today.

http://www.amazon.com/Direction-Duties-Littman-Library-Civilization/dp/1904113230

The next book, Al-Bustan al-`Uqul (The Garden of Intellectual-Reasonings) is Rabbi Natanyel ibn al-Fayyumi. Like rabbeinu Bachya, he was a Neo-Platonist, influenced by the Ikhwan as-Safa and was also the head of the Jews of Yemen the generation before the Rambam. The Epistle to Yemen was to this man's son, one of several significant reasons arguing for its lack of total historicity...

http://www.amazon.com/Bustan-al-Ukul-Nathanael-ben-Fayyumi/dp/0543712834/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1284477209&sr=1-1-fkmr0

The son of the Rambam, Avraham ben Maimonides, authored the Kitaab Kifayat al-`Abideen, (Comprehensive Guide to the Servants), a book which famously praised the Sufis of Islaam and called for the readoption of their ancient Jewish practices by the Egyptian Jewish community which he led. This is actually a very bad translation and not even the whole book. This was translated from the HEBREW translation from the Judeo-Arabic, and as i said, it is not even the whole thing. But the Judeo-Arabic translation is very long out of print. i have a copy that my son is scanning in, but it's not ready yet (still a lot to scan).

http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Serving-Torah-Classics-Library/dp/1583309810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1284477257&sr=1-1

`Ovadyah ben Avraham ben Maimonides wrote an excellent Judeo-Sufi Treatise on the Pool, in Judeo-Arabic: Al-Mawalah al-Hawdiyyah

http://www.amazon.com/Treatise-Pool-Al-Mawala-Al-Hawdiyya/dp/0900860871/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1284477473&sr=1-1-spell

Natan'el Ibn Al-Fayyumi, Leader of the Jews of Yemen (ca. 1090-1165)

"Nothing prevents God from sending into His world whomsoever He wishes, since the world of holiness sends forth emanations unceasingly... Even before the revelation of the Law he sent prophets to the nations... and again after its revelation nothing prevented Him from sending to them whom He wishes so that the world might not remain without religion... Muhammad was a prophet to them but not to those who preceded them in the knowledge of God. He permitted to every people something He forbade to others. He sends a prophet to every people (Qur'aan 14.4) according to their language."

Ibn al-Fayyumi, the Bustan al-Ukul (ed. and trans. D. Levine; New York: Columbia University Press, 1908; repr. 1966), pp. 2 and el-Uqul: Gan ha'Sekhalim (Jerusalem: Halikhot Am Israel, AM 5744/1984)

Rabbeinu Aḅraham ben Rambam on the Jewish Origins of Sufi Practice

You are aware of the ways of the ancient saints of Israel, which are not of but little practise among our contemporaries, that have now become the practice of the Ṣūfīs of Islām, on account of the iniquities of Israel...

Aḅraham ben Maimonides, Kifāyat al-`Abidīn, Volume II, translated by Samuel Rosenblatt, (Baltimore, 1938), 266

Do not regard as unseemly our comparison of that to the behaviour of the Ṣūfīs, for the latter imitate the prophets and walk in their footsteps, not the prophets in theirs...

Ibid, 320

Observer then these wondrous traditions and sigh with regret over how they have been transferred from us and appeared amongst a nation other than ours whereas they have disappeared in our midst. My soul shall weep... because of the pride of Israel that was taken from them and bestowed upon the nations of the world...

Ibid, 322

The Qur'ān DOES NOT ABROGATE the Torah

"Oh People of the Book! You have no guidance [in life] until you maintain the observance of the Torah and the Gospel and that which has been revealed to you from your Lord; and certainly that which has been revealed to you [O Muhammad] from your Lord will make many of them [who do not observe the Torah or the Gospel's commandment to continue observing the Torah until Heaven and Earth pass away] to increase in rebellion and disbelief [in their aforementioned Scriptures]." - Qur'ān 5.68

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ ۗ وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِنْهُمْ مَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ رَبِّكَ طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا ۖ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ