Nitraria retusa
Nitraria schoberi
Lycium shawii
Lycium schweinfurthii
Some candidates for the gharqad tree.

In Islam, the term gharqad (Arabic: غرقد) is used in some ahadith to describe a type of tree that, according to Islamic eschatology, will seek to protect the Jews from the Muslims during a great apocalyptic battle known as al-Malhamat al-Kubra (الملحمة الكبرى), which is prophesied to occur close to the Day of Judgement. This prophecy asserts that this conflict will take place shortly after the emergence of al-Masih ad-Dajjal (ٱلْمَسِيحُ ٱلدَّجَّالُ, lit. 'The Deceitful Messiah'), who will falsely present himself as the Mahdi and be followed primarily by the Jewish people, whereas the actual Mahdi will lead a Muslim army against the Dajjal and his followers until the Second Coming of Jesus, after which the Dajjal will be killed.[1] According to a hadith attributed to Abu Huraira, one of Muhammad's companions, all stones and trees except for the gharqad tree will miraculously speak to reveal the location of any Jews taking cover behind them during the war with the Muslims.[2]

The actual tree is identified with either the genus Nitraria[3][4] or the genus Lycium,[5][6] though neither of these have any significance in Judaism.

In the modern era, particularly in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict, a number of hardline Muslim scholars have subscribed to a hoax asserting that millions of these gharqad trees are being planted throughout Israel in preparation for the prophesied arrival of the Dajjal and the apocalyptic Jewish–Muslim war.[7][8]

In Sunni Islam

Hadith

In Sunni tradition, Abu Huraira reported that the Islamic prophet Muhammad said:[2]

The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: "Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah!, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him!" – But the tree Gharqad will not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

Narrations that mention the Gharqad tree are:

Narrations that do not mention the Gharqad tree, rather, only mention stones talking or also trees talking, are:

Interpretation

Within Sunni Islam, these narrations are understood as part of Sunni eschatology's description of a great war at the end times against the forces of Dajjal which should occur after the second coming Jesus according to Islam. Then, according to this eschatology, Jesus will lead an army of Muslims, some of whom are righteous Christians and righteous Jews converting to Islam in the eve of the battle, to fight the army of Dajjal consisted of Jews believing Dajjal is a god, and if a Jew of Dajjal's army hides behind a stone or a tree, this stone or tree will miraculously talk to Muslims to expose him unless it is a Gharqad tree, because it is "their tree".[10][11]

Sunni moderate writers debate the subject in eschatological terms, emphasizing that this should happen only in the end times after the second coming of Jesus in accordance with Sunni thought and should not damage current Islamic–Jewish relations.[12][13]

According to one Sunni interpretation, Dajjal's army will not consist only of evil Jews, but also of evil Christians and evil Muslims believing Dajjal is a god, fighting as soldiers and not as civilians.[10] This specific interpretation was criticized for not referring to Jews alone, while the author noted that "No one disputes that this relates to future events and not to our time".[14]

The general message of the text is often alleged as a prophecy, but it does not appear in the Quran, which Muslims believe is Allah's revelation to Muhammad.

According to Memri TV, Qadhi described this text as referring to an end times war which is "a fight between good and evil"[15] and that the text is "predictive and not prescriptive".[15]

Other Islamic sects

Not all Muslims accept all hadith as reliable and may conclude somewhat different eschatology; most Shia Muslims reject Sunni hadith as unreliable and have their own hadith such as The Four Books. While according to Karimov, Zaydi Shia may hold Sunni hadiths with high esteem,[16] Zaydis have their own main hadith traditions.[17] While some Ibadi Muslims do not consider Sunni hadith as reliable and rely on Tartib al-Musnad, Hoffman noted that contemporary Ibadis often approve of the standard Sunni collections.[18]

Dajani Daoudi concluded that by comprehensive review of the Quran, no such hadith would exist since it openly contradicts Islamic faith and that Muslims believe a hadith is the word of man while the Quran is the word of God.[19] Daoudi added that "this hadith" (that which he quoted) was collected 150 years after the death of Muhammad, that the authenticity of such a hadith is disputed, and that this particular hadith has become controversial for promoting anti-Jewish sentiments among Muslims.[20]

Critical assessment

Insignificance of the tree in Judaism

Neither Nitraria nor Lycium have any sanctity in Judaism; they are not one of the four species of Sukkot, they are not one of the Seven Species of the Land of Israel and they are not one of the incense plants of the Torah; they are also not used for Havdalah and there is no Jewish tradition of eating their fruits in Tu BiShvat.

Fundamentalism around the concept

According to Freyer Stowasser,[21] modernist, deconstructionist approach to the apocalyptic hadith remains largely unacceptable to the traditionalists among the Sunni clerical establishment.

The narratives on the Dajjal's end time reign and ultimate defeat were unreliable because of: questionable origin and transmitters, weak chains of hadith authentication, internal contradictions on this topic within the hadith corpus as a whole (that invalidate all of its parts), and the fact that these narratives contradict the Qur'anic text.

Possible use in antisemitic incitement

The Gharqad narrations are often quoted alongside faulty generalizations to cause incitement against Jews[22] such as that all Jews anywhere, anytime are "Killers of prophets", "greedy", "arrogant" or "Enemies of god" and alike ("Enemies of humanity before they are enemies of Muslims"[22]), without considering that people of Jewish ancestry have free will to choose a religion or irreligion, may not practice Judaism (rather, another religion or no religion, without self definition as "enemies" of anything), or without an accuser's attempt to understand various different and conflicting Israelite or Jewish perspectives (Pharisees, Sadducees, Rabbanites, Karaites, Reforms and others) on religious issues, or without considering peaceful interpretations of scripture or tolerance, as common in cases of incitement[22] caused by extremist radicals, most often fueled by political conflicts.[22][23]

Belief that Israelis are planting gharqads

Some Sunni extremist radicals who strongly oppose the State of Israel have sprung a myth according to which Israeli Jews are planting millions of Gharqad trees all over Palestine in preparation for a dire war,[7][8] although this is evidently false as forests planted by Israeli authorities are typically made of pine and cypress with around 240 million such trees planted.[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Olive trees are planted to a lesser extent, but none of the Lycium or Nitraria are cultivated.[32]

See also

Notes

    References

    1. ↑ Cook, David (2021) [2002]. Studies in Muslim Apocalyptic. Berlin and London: Gerlach Press. pp. 93–104. ISBN 9783959941211. OCLC 238821310.
    2. 1 2 According to sunnah.com, it is narrated by Abu Huraira in Sahih Muslim 2922 (Book 54, Hadith 103 ; Book 41, Hadith 6985).
    3. ↑ "Nitraria retusa, Nitraria tridentata, Salt tree, Hebrew: ימלוח פגום, Arabic: دقرغ/قدرغ". Flowers in Israel.
    4. ↑ Johannes Gerloff (May 26, 2021). "'Gharqad', the Tree of the Jews".
    5. ↑ Divakar, Madhu C.; Al-Siyabi, Amani; Varghese, Shirley S.; Al Rubaie, Mohammed (July 2016). "The Practice of Ethnomedicine in the Northern and Southern Provinces of Oman". Oman Medical Journal. 31 (4): 245–252. doi:10.5001/omj.2016.49. PMC 4927734. PMID 27403235.
    6. ↑ Ojalvo, Denis (15 September 2015). "The Jewish Tree 'Gharqad'". Şalom.
    7. 1 2 Oliver, Anne Marie; Steinberg, Paul F. (April 2006). "The Gharqad Tree". The Road to Martyrs' Square: A Journey into the World of the Suicide Bomber. Oxford Academic. pp. 20–24. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305593.003.0007. ISBN 978-0-19-530559-3.
    8. 1 2 Gerloff, Johannes (23 August 2021). "'Gharqad', the Tree of the Jews". Christians for Israel International. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
    9. ↑ There is a similar version allegedly narrated by Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman mentioned in Aqeedah of Ahlus-Sunnah Wal Jamaa'ah hadith number 21 according to which "In this way God will cause the Jews to be annihilated and Muslims shall be the victors. They (the Muslims) will break the Cross, slaughter the swine and abolish Jizya".
    10. 1 2 Suleiman, Omar; Khan, Nazir; Parrot, Justin (2017). "The Myth of An Antisemitic Genocide In Muslim Scripture" (PDF). Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research.
    11. ↑ "Tafsir Ibn-Kathir or Surah An-Nisa". Quran.com.
    12. ↑ Al-Munajjid, Muhammad (ed.). "In the battle between the Jews and the Muslims at the end of time, the aggressors will be the Jews". Islam Question & Answer.
    13. ↑ Elias, Abu Amina (February 27, 2013). "Hadith of Gharqad Tree: A good deed to kill Jews in Islam?".
    14. ↑ Al Sayfaddin, Abu Talut Haytham (2018-11-02). A Reply To The Myth of an Antisemetic Genocide In Muslim Scripture. pp. 14, 49.
    15. 1 2 "American Islamic Scholar Sheikh Yasir Qadhi Defends Antisemitic Comments: MEMRI Jumps on Any Preacher Who Quotes Hadith about the Trees and the Rocks, But the Killing of Jews Is Prediction, Not Prescription; Muslims Cannot Be Antisemites". Memri TV. August 31, 2019.
    16. ↑ Karimov, N. R. (2019). "Some brief information on al-Sihah al-Sitta". Theoretical & Applied Science. 5 (5): 611–620. doi:10.15863/TAS.2019.05.73.96. S2CID 195456153.
    17. ↑ "The Zaidi Dilemma: Shia Hadith Sources". TwelverShia.net. March 7, 2019.
    18. ↑ Hoffman, Valerie Jon (2012). The Essentials of Ibadi Islam. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 9780815650843.
    19. ↑ Dajani, Mohammed (May 13, 2016). "On the Significance of Dialogue". Fikra Forum. Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
    20. ↑ Dajani, Mohammed (September 5, 2017). "Dealing with Hate Sermons". Fikra Forum. Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
    21. ↑ Stowasser, Barbara Freyer. "The End is Near: Minor and Major Signs of the Hour in Islamic Texts and Contexts" (PDF). Georgetown University.
    22. 1 2 3 4 Lasson, Kenneth (2005). "Incitement in the Mosques: Testing the Limits of Free Speech and Religious Liberty". Whittier Law Review. University of Baltimore Law. 27 (3).
    23. ↑ Hayden, Michael Edison (1 October 2018). "Three U.S. Imams have Called for Death of Jews Since Trump's Jerusalem Announcement". Newsweek. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
    24. ↑ Liphshiz, Cnaan (January 14, 2022). "How planting a tree in Israel became controversial". The Jerusalem Post. Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
    25. ↑ Czederpiltz, D. L. L.; Wikler, K.; Radmacher, M. R.; Volk, T. J.; Hadar, Y.; Micales, J. (2004). "Biodiversity of wood-inhabiting fungi in Israeli pine forests". Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden. USDA. 89: 191–202.
    26. ↑ Ginsberg, Paul (20 September 2006). "Restoring biodiversity to pine afforestations in Israel". Journal for Nature Conservation. 14 (3–4): 207–216. Bibcode:2006JNatC..14..207G. doi:10.1016/j.jnc.2006.04.003.
    27. ↑ Pearce, Fred (September 30, 2019). "In Israel, Questions Are Raised about a Forest that Rises from the Desert". Yale Environment 360. Yale School of the Environment.
    28. ↑ "Don't Plant Any Tree in Israel". Nature Israel. 5 May 2022.
    29. ↑ אסם, יגיל (2013). "סוגיות עיקריות בחקר היערות המחטניים של ישראל – סיכום ארבעים שנות מחקר (1972–2012)". אקולוגיה וסביבה. 4 (4/2013).
    30. ↑ אקו-ויקי, מדבריות האורן
    31. ↑ Gil-Shuster, Corey. Israelis: Are you planting the Gharqad tree?. The Ask Project – via YouTube.
    32. ↑ Dekel, Tomer (February 19, 2021). "Why Israel's Choice for National Tree Is So Destructive". Haaretz.
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