The Holy Quran Grants the People of the Book Religious Rights and Asks Muslims to Engage With Them in a Dialogue to Resolve Issues
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
28 October
2021
The
Quran Not Only Confirms the Messages Contained In the Earlier Divine Books, but
Also Updates Them
Main
Points:
1. The Quran is
not hostile to the People of the Book collectively.
2. The Quran
allows the People of the Book to lead their lives according to their own
scriptures.
3. Muslims are
advised to engage with the People of the Book in dialogue.
4. The Quran
envisages a society in which people of all the religions live peacefully.
5. There is no
community or nation on earth that has not received a Prophet and no Prophet who
has not received a book.
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The holy
Quran is the last of the divine books revealed to the prophets by God. The
Psalms, The Torah, The Bible and the Quran are the other four known holy books
revealed by God, among many others around the world not fully recognised by or
known to Muslims. The Quran is the last divine book which is a reminder of
messages contained in earlier books. According to Quran there is no community
or nation on earth that has not received a Prophet and no Prophet who has not
received a book. According to a Hadith narration there have been 1, 24,000
prophets sent to all corners of the planet. That’s why the Quran is also called
Zikr (reminder). The Quran not only confirms the messages contained in the
earlier divine books but also corrects the deviations in the belief of the
followers of the People of the Book.
Quran
considers the followers of the People of the Book members of the same family of
Monotheistic religions and so has a pragmatic approach while mentioning and
dealing with the People of the Book.
The Quran is not hostile to the People of the
Book collectively but only chides those among the People of the Book who have
gone astray and have deviated from the right path. It appreciates those members
of the People of the Book who are upright and believe in God and the Day of
Judgment, do good and abstain from evil, pay zakat and offer prayers.
Again from
the verses of the Quran, it becomes evident that Allah grants the rights of the
People of the Book in a pluralist society. Christians and Jews can live
peacefully with their own personal laws as long as they commit mischief.
” Say, ˹O Prophet, ˺ “O People of the Book! You have
nothing to stand on unless you observe the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been
revealed to you from your Lord.”(Al Ma’idah: 68)
The Quran
mentions the wrong practices and sins the Jews committed but at the same time,
it acknowledges the fact that all the Jews are not sinful or wrongdoers. A
section of them are upright and have faith.
“We forbade the Jews certain foods that had
been lawful to them for their wrongdoing, and for hindering many from the Way
of Allah taking interest despite its prohibition, and consuming people’s wealth
unjustly. We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful
punishment. But those of them well-grounded in knowledge, the faithful ˹who˺ believe in what has been revealed
to you ˹O Prophet˺ and what was revealed before you—˹especially˺ those who establish prayer—and those who pay alms-tax and
believe in Allah and the Last Day, to these ˹people˺ We will grant a great reward”.(Al Nisa:160-162).
The above
quoted verses make it clear that the Quran does not consider the whole
community of Jews or any other religious group disbelievers. Only the
disbelievers among them will be given a painful punishment. But the faithful
among them who pay Zakat, offer prayers and have firm belief in the Oneness of
God and the Last Day will be rewarded in the Hereafter.
Other
verses of the Quran confirm that not all of the Jews are rebellious. A section
of them are faithful in the eye of God.
“Had the
People of the Book believed, it would have been better for them. Some of them
are faithful, but most are rebellious”. (Aal-e-Imran: 110)
“Yet they
are not all alike: there are some among the People of the Book who are upright,
who recite Allah’s revelations throughout the night, prostrating ˹in prayerThey believe in Allah and
the Last Day, encourage good and forbid evil, and race with one another in
doing good. They are ˹truly˺ among the righteous”.( Aal-e-Imran:113-114)
The Quran
clearly remarks that all the People of the Book are not alike and that a
section of them are upright. So bracketing the whole community of the People of
the Book as disbelievers is not according to the principle of the Quran.
“Indeed, there are some among the People of the
Book who truly believe in Allah and what has been revealed to you ˹believers˺ and what was revealed to them” (Aal-e-Imran: 199).
The Quran
rejects the doctrine of Trinity which even a section of the Christians believe
in and this doctrine was the cause of rift among the Christians in the Middle
Ages causing bloodshed among the Christian community. The Quran says that many
Christians believe in the Unity of God, offer prayers and believe in the Day of
Judgment.
“O People
of the Book! Do not go to extremes regarding your faith; say nothing about
Allah except the truth.1 The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was no more than a
messenger of Allah and the fulfilment of His Word through Mary and a spirit ˹created by a command˺ from Him.2 So believe in Allah and
His messengers and do not say, “Trinity.” Stop!—for your own good. Allah is only One
God. Glory be to Him! He is far above having a son! To Him belongs whatever is
in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And Allah is sufficient as a
Trustee of Affairs.
Therefore,
the Quran advises Muslims not to have confrontation with Christians and the
Jews on some issue of difference and advises them to engage with the People of
the Book in dialogue concentrating on the points of agreement, ignoring the
points of difference.
“Do not argue with the People of the Book but
gracefully, except with those of them who act wrongfully. And say, “We believe
in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to you. Our God and your
God is ˹only˺ One. And to Him we ˹fully˺ submit.”(Al Ankabut: 46)
It is clear
from the verses quoted above that the Quran has a tolerant approach towards the
People of the Book, corrects their religious deviations and advises Muslims to
grant the People of the Book their religious rights in their state where the
People of the Book are in a minority.
The Muslims are advised to deal with the People of the Book peacefully.
The whole community should not be considered disbelievers as not all members of
a community are wrong. Even many members of the Muslim community have deviant
practices.
Therefore,
the Quran envisages a society where the followers of the Quran and the
followers of the Torah, the Gospel and other scriptures will live peacefully,
where every religion will enjoy their religious rights and will be allowed to
lead their communal life according to their own scriptures.
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S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism