Moshe Sharon (; born December 18, 1937) is an Israelis historian of Islam.
He is currently Professor Emeritus of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem where he serves as Chair in Baháʼí Studies.
Education, career, and private life
Sharon was born in
Haifa in 1937. He joined the faculty of Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1965 and would go on to earn a Ph.D. at the same institution in 1971. He served as an Arab Affairs adviser to Prime Minister
Menachem Begin and served in the Ministry of Defense, during which he took part in the negotiations for peace with
Egypt. Sharon established the Centre of
Jewish Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, which he directed while serving as director of the World Zionist Organization branch in
Johannesburg.
In 1999 he was appointed to the chair of Baháʼí Studies at Hebrew University.
Sharon was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2014.
He serves as a policy expert for the .
He and his wife, Judy, have six children.
Research interests
Moshe Sharon has written about early Islamic history and the development of
Shia Islam. He is a specialist in
Arabic epigraphy and
papyrology, with his opus being
Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae. In 2005 he published the first translation into
epigraphy of
Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the holy book of the Baháʼí faith, and included a study of the history and theology of the religion.
Views
Moshe Sharon has given many presentations at international conferences and been interviewed by numerous media outlets on a variety of contemporary and historical topics.
Baháʼí Faith
Moshe Sharon is interviewed in the 2007 Israeli documentary film, "Bahais in My Backyard."
In the interview he states that the only Baháʼí academic chair in the world is in Israel due to his efforts in convincing Hebrew University to establish one and his efforts in finding a benefactor to fund the position. He also says that there are no descendants of Bahá'u'lláh in Israel.
Despite Sharon's denial of the existence of such relatives, there are, in fact, dozens, and one of Bahá'u'lláh's great-granddaughters is featured in the film.
Furthermore, even at the time of the interview, there were other Baháʼí academic chairs in existence, such as the ones established at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, a state university in
Madhya Pradesh in 1991 and at the University of Maryland in 1993.
Islam
Moshe Sharon believes that
Western world leaders fail to understand
Islam.
He says that "There is no fundamental Islam. There is only Islam full stop."
Citing the conflict in
Bosnian War, Sharon continues that "Wherever you have Islam, you will have war. It grows out of the attitude of Islamic civilization."
He furthermore argues that not only is there "open war, but there's also war by infiltration."
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Moshe Sharon has said that there is "no possibility of peace between Israel and the
Palestinians whatsoever, for ever" and that peace agreements with
Arabs are "pieces of paper, parts of tactics, strategies... with no meaning."
He opposed the Oslo peace accords and believes the dismantling the Israeli settlements, which he terms "expulsions," serve to "increase the appetite of the other side and only achieve the killing of
Jews."
Iran
Moshe Sharon said in an interview that "The only way to avoid military confrontation with
Iran is to leave this military confrontation to powers bigger than Israel."
Books
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Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: Interaction and Conflict, 1989
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Revolt: The Social and Military Aspects of the Abbasid Revolution: Black Banners from the East II, 1990
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Judaism in the Context of Diverse Civilizations, 1993
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Editor, The Holy Land in History and Thought: Papers Submitted to the International Conference on the Relations Between the Holy Land and the World Outside It, 1997
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