The course is aimed at scrutinizing the reasons and the manner in which the Quran and the early Islamic tradition describe the role of the People of Israel in the sacred history of humankind that has been preordained by God from the creation, through the Patriarchs, the Exodus, the prophets, until the end of days. Pre-Islamic Jewish and Cristian texts will be consulted as well. Each meeting will focus on a specific stage in the history of Israel, by means of handouts containing texts from the Quran and the early Islamic sources of tafsir, sira and hadith, as well selected bibliography of modern research.