There have been, more or less, 124 000 prophets sent by God, out of which five were messengers. These five messengers were those upon whose hearts God revealed knowledge. They established religions. Every messenger out of these five were given two types of knowledge: knowledge of the exterior (outer dimension of the religion) and knowledge of the interior (inner dimension of the religion).

The inner dimension of the religion was responsible for connecting people to God, whereas the exterior knowledge was about to how to live your life in perfect harmony and social balance. There were certain provisions: certain acts were declared to be permissible and certain acts were not permitted. If somebody acted on those that were not permitted, they would be called a sinner.

As long as people who followed a religion practised both dimensions of the religion, they were devout religious people and they were connected with God.

At the same time, they observed their religion with its true spirit. They did not go beyond the limits set by God.

Once the religion was deprived of the interior knowledge, people got scattered into different groups and denominations.

At the time of Prophet Mohammad, when Prophet Mohammad was talking about sectarianism within Islam, he mentioned that there were 72 different sects in Judaism. then Prophet Mohammad said that in his nation, there would be 73 sects. Prophet Mohammad explained, ‘Only one group will be rightly guided. Those who will be rightly guided are those who would strictly adhere to my inner and outer custom.’

So there have been fanatic and extremist elements in every religion, including Hinduism and Christianity. When the Ottoman Empire was crushed and the control of Spain was gained by the Christian hierarchy, the Christian extremists were on their peak. There was an element of extremism and fanaticism in Christianity also.

Then, in Judaism, there had been 72 different sects. The mainstream Jews, unfortunately, did not adhere themselves to the inner dimension of the religion. The inner dimension of Islam is Sufism; in a similar way, in Judaism, Sufis are known as Kabbalists.

The knowledge of the inner in Judaism is called Kabbalah. Those who follow Kabbalah are very nice, good people. They love everybody.

In Islam, Sufis love everybody, they don’t hate anybody. Then again, we have fanatics and extremists in Islam, called Wahhabis. In a similar way, there extremists in Judaism. They do not follow Kabbalah; rather, they hate those Jews who follow Kabbalah. Wahhabis do not follow Sufism; they are those who hate Sufis.

Zionists are those who, within Judaism, are extremists and fanatics. They want an upper hand financially, politically and in any other way they might have conceived themselves. Zionists are not true Jews; they are like Wahhabis.

Zionists, Wahhabis and Protestants are like brothers and sisters to each other, if they are not cousins.

I do not know [about this], but I heard from somebody that some groups among Jews say that they are still waiting for the Promised Land to be given to them. When it is said to them, ‘Israel is your country, is it not the land you were promised?’ They say, ‘It is ruled by Zionists.’ So, mainstream Jews who follow Kabbalah are not welcome in Israel.

Those who follow Kabbalah, the inner dimension of Judaism, are not welcome in that state. So, most of the people politically involved there are Zionists, not Jews.

I read news that 50 000 Jews blocked Manhattan in New York City, and they were protesting against Israel. Can we safely that representation of Jews will come from Israel? Do you think Israel legitimately represents mainstream Jews who follow Kabbalah, or is it more or less a Zionist country?

I have seen Jews who were protesting against Israel, against killing of Palestinian Muslims.

I spent some time in Manchester with Jews, who are wonderful people. There is nothing wrong with them. The real Jews do not hate anybody. The only thing that I observed among the Jews who lived in Manchester was that that they are very strict in their sacred law, more strict than Muslims are. However, no matter how strict they were in their sacred law, they were not fanatics. They didn’t say, ‘We are the only children of God and the rest should be killed.’ They didn’t want to hurt or harm anybody.

Therefore, whenever I say anything in favour of Judaism, I mean to praise people who follow Kabbalah. They are wonderful people.

Those who create mischief, no matter what religion they come from, they are mischief. Love and peace cannot befriend people who represent mischief.

Those who want love of God and global peace can be from any religion and may represent any religion. We extend our friendship, love and everything we have to them. They are our brothers and fellow human beings.

However, those who are fanatics, whether they are extremists in Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism or Islam, we cannot befriend them.