There's a substantial literature comparing and contrasting the religious laws of Judaism and Islam (known, respectively, as Halakhah and Shari'a); for example, Jacob Neusner and Tamara Sonn published a book in 2002 titled Comparing Religions Through Law: Judaism and Islam. There's a long history and a large body of regulations to review, not to speak of guiding philosophies, major figures, and changes in modern times.
But when it comes to the application of these ancient laws in, say, New York City, their difference is simpler and more self-evident. Jews seek to apply their law only to themselves and Muslims want to apply theirs to everyone, from respectful treatment of Muhammad to banning pork.
By way of example, Joseph Berger writes in an article today for the New York Times, "Out of Enclaves, a Pressure to Accommodate Traditions," about the new assertiveness of New York's approximately 330,000 haredim (also known as ultra-Orthodox Jews) on some issues important to them, such as a a female lifeguard during the women-only swim time at a municipal pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, using water from groundwater wells to bake matzah, separating men and women on a public bus service between haredi neighborhoods in Williamsburg and Borough Park, metzitzah b'peh (a circumcision ritual), and keeping public libraries in their neighborhoods open on Sundays.
Berger, however, considers these demands a threat: "While these episodes may not have reverberated beyond New York's Hasidic enclaves, taken together they underscore a religious ascendancy confronting the city's secular authorities in ways not seen in decades."
But he also undermines his own fearmongering by quoting a haredi leader, Alexander Rapaport: "I don't approve of any behavior that imposes your way of life on others." And therein lies the key difference with Shari'a, where Islamists wish to impose their ways on the population as a whole. (August 22, 2013)
