Can I be both Muslim and Jewish?

Question:

Assalamu Alaikum,

I am a Naqshbandi follower, my direct paternal line is Ashkenazi Jewish. My question is as a Muslim can I incorporate some Jewish traditions and rituals into my life in honor of my paternal heritage?

Thank you

Answer:

Alaykum Salam,
Many great Ashkenazi Jews became Muslim and embraced Islamic knowledge with such dedication that they became leading teachers in Islam, such as Muhammad Asad the author of The Message of the Qur’an.

Among the very close companions of the Prophet Muhammad were highly educated Jews such as the rabbi `Abd Allah ibn Salam, whom the Prophet described as one of the people of Paradise; Abu Ayyub al-Ansari who was one of the narrators of Hadith from the Prophet, and the beloved Mother of the Believers Safiyya bint Huyay.

The next generation counted Ka`b al-Ahbar, the archetype of the erudite rabbis who converted to Islam, and Hammam ibn Munabbih, whose hadiths, which he transmitted from Abu Hurayra, were incorporated in their entirety into the Sahihs of Bukhari and Muslim, the two most reliable books of Hadith in Islam.

All of the above-named without exception engrossed themselves body and soul with the Holy Prophet Muhammad who is the Seal and Pride of the Prophets and Patriarchs, and with the Qur’an which incorporates all the Heavenly Books, and the Hadith which elaborates everything further. They did so in their realization that life is too short and the road too long to withhold anything from complete absorption into the Muhammadan
heritage which is the truest honoring of the way of truth, from the first divine revelation to the first Prophet until the Day of Judgment. It was to their gain and we firmly believe they were more than richly compensated here and hereafter, with the truest life and everlasting
heritage.

These are the best examples for you, me and all converts and native Muslims–who may also have actual Ashkenazi roots like yourself–and Allah knows best.

Hajj Gibril Haddad

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