We - Jews - look askance at some of the things "orthodox" Muslims do.
Don't sell or rent a home to Jews.
Don't let a non-Muslim testify in a religious court.
Surprise.
They got that from us.
Non-Jews are limited in what they can present in a Jewish (religious) court.
Something new?
Hardly.
It dates back to Talmudic times. It's d'rabanan - the rabbis ruled thus.
The Torah of course repeatedly tells us to treat all people equally.
The rabbi of the congregation where I can be found every day has been telling us as part of the morning mini-lesson that Jews should never rent a house to a non-Jew who might commit "avodah zarah," idol worship. Likewise we should not sell a house to a potential idle worshipper.
That includes almost everyone except - another surprise ? - Muslims who only worship Allah, another name for God. (And on the topic of "names of God," is the English "god" a real "name of God" and if it is, may it be spelled out or must it be modified as "G-d?" There are authorities on both sides of this god issue.)
We have a house that's been on the market for three-plus years.
It is within walking distance to an Ashkenazi Orthodox shul, a Conservative temple, and a Chabad house. It's aggressively priced-to- sell. Are there any prospective buyers from the Jewish community? None. (Yes, Virginia, the availability is well-known within the Jewish communities.)
A non-Jewish family is interested in the property. Shall we refuse to sell it to this prospective buyer because the rabbis of Talmudic times ruled, in Israel, that a Jew should not rent of sell a home to a non-Jew/non-Muslim? The neighborhood is a mix of observant Jews (a few), less-observant Jews (more) and non-Jews (majority). There is nothing to stop one of our neighbors - mostly really nice folk who respect others' religions - from placing a statue to their god on their front lawn.
Even in Temple (with a capital "T") times there was avodah zerah on the outskirts - if not actually within the walls - of Jerusalem. Someone, in Israel, must have been providing property for these activities. (This, of course, may have been what promoted the rabbis to make their ruling about selling/renting property to people who might commit avodah zerah. Should I suggest that some of these people who were committing avodah zerah were Jews?)
Meanwhile, Islam also prohibits selling property to a non-Muslim, particularly a Jew. The penalty - enforced as recently as 2012 CE - is death to the seller.
Islam's penalty for taking God's name in vain is death.
Israel used to have the same penalty.
When we left Egypt we had capital punishment for many crimes. Sometimes HaShem levied the punishment, other times a Jewish court. The death penalties were not pretty - stoning, burning, slaying (by the sword), and garroting (strangling). (See http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/Death_and_Mourning/About_Death_and_Mourning/Death_Penalty.shtml.)
The death penalty was cited in the Torah for the following activities, among others:
- Adultery
- A betrothed woman who does not cry out while being raped in a city
- A woman who is found not to have been a virgin on the night of her wedding
- Bestiality
- Cursing a parent
- Kidnapping
- Premeditated Murder
- Rape
- Sodomy
- Taking God's name in vain or cursing his name
- Witchcraft
- Worshiping other gods
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_and_punishment_in_the_Bible
The difference between Judaism and Islam is that Judaism "outgrew" capital punishment (by mitigating it away) while Islam applies it even today for a multitude of crimes and non-crimes (e.g., killing a rape victim).
My point is that when we look at Islam's punishments today we really are looking at Judaism's punishments of well over 2,000 years ago, back to a time when Israel (and Judea) was independent, when the Temple(s) stood.
I know of no Israeli law that prohibits renting or selling a house to a person who is neither Jewish or Muslim - where would all the Filipinos live if that were the case? Certainly visitors to Israel may rent without anyone other than the haridim objecting. (I can understand the objection since some of these people will bring in "art" and books that are objectionable, but we can kasher a house after the tenants depart.)
For all that, it's interesting to see where Islam gets its much of its jurisprudence.
As for my house, I'll sell it to whomever is willing to buy it, the rabbis not withstanding.
