ABSTRACT
Chapter Two charts the relationship between Muslim and Jew in the medieval period. Jews developed theological principles that they learned from Muslim theologians (mutakallimun), especially those associated with the Mutazila school. I argue that after the rise of Islam and its political dominance in the region, Judaism was poorly or underdefined, with many groups exploring different paradigms of leadership and structures of authority. All of this was to change with the career of Saadya Gaon (882–942), who articulated a theological vocabulary that sought to define clearly what Judaism was or ought to be. In so doing, however, he adopted the literal (Arabic) and metaphorical (Kalamic) language of Islam. This adoption, I suggest, facilitated the creation of an “Islamic Judaism.” It is, moreover, an activity in which many subsequent Jewish thinkers would engage.
