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then, what you have been hoarding.’ (35)
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note that its statements are more general in phraseology and import, and are applicable to all people of earlier revelations, whether in Arabia or elsewhere.
These new rulings include a number of substantial amendments to the rules governing relations between the Muslim community and people of earlier revelations, particularly the Christians. By the time this sūrah was revealed, all encounters and military conflicts with the Jews had already taken place, but no such conflict took place with any Christian community.
The main amendment the new rulings include is the order given to fight those who deviate from the divine faith until they pay the jizyah, or submission tax, after they have been humbled. No peace agreement may be made with them except on this basis of submission evident by the payment of a special tax which gives them the right to live in peace with the Muslims. On the other hand, if they become convinced of the truth of Islam and accept it, they are considered part of the Muslim community.
Never will they be forced to accept the Islamic faith. A basic and definitive Islamic rule states: “There shall be no compulsion in religion.” (2: 256) But they are not given a peaceful status unless they are bound by covenant with the Muslim community on the basis of paying the submission tax.
This last amendment cannot be clearly understood unless we are fully aware of the nature of the inevitable relations between the divine system and other systems opposed to it. We must also understand the nature of the Islamic method of action, with its progressive stages and the different means it employs to face up to a changing situation in human life.
Inevitably, coexistence between the divine system and human systems opposed to it is possible only in certain situations and under specific conditions. These ensure that no material impediments are placed in the way of the implementation of the universal Islamic declaration of the liberation of man from submission to any authority other than God. The divine system wants to prevail so that people are liberated from submission to other human beings and can submit to God alone. By contrast, the other systems want to defend their own status by crushing the movement aiming to establish the divine system in human life.
By nature, the Islamic method of action will confront this human situation with similar and more powerful action, progressing from one stage to another and employing the proper methods that suit every stage. These methods and means are represented in the provisional and final rulings governing relations between the Muslim community and other communities. In order to define the nature of these relations the sūrah explains in this passage the beliefs and attitudes adopted by the people of earlier revelations, making it clear that these are `a form of idolatry,
representing disbelief and are certainly false.’ The passage cites the basis of this judgement. We find that it relies on the actual beliefs of those people and the similarity between these beliefs and those of the unbelievers of old. It also relies on their actions and behaviour.
The Truth of People of Earlier Revelations
The present text states that those people of earlier revelations: 1. Do not truly believe in God and the Last Day;
2. Do not forbid what God and His Messenger have made forbidden; 3. Do not follow the religion of truth;
4. The Jews among them claim that Ezra was the son of God, while the Christians claim that Jesus Christ was the son of God. In making these false claims they are merely echoing the false claims of the unbelievers of old times, Greeks, Romans, Indians and Egyptians, or other idolaters. [We will show that the concept of the Trinity was borrowed by the Christians from old idolatrous beliefs, as were the Christian and Jewish claims that God has a son. None of these was part of the origin of Christianity or Judaism.]
5. They treated their rabbis and monks, as well as Jesus himself, as lords alongside God. Thus they transgressed the principles of God’s oneness they were bid to uphold. As such, they are idolaters;
6. They are hostile to God’s faith, trying to put out God’s light with their mouths. As such, they are unbelievers; and
7. Many of their monks and rabbis devour people’s money and property against all right, and they turn people away from God’s path.
It is on the basis of such beliefs and practices that the truth of the people of earlier revelations is stated, and the final rulings governing their relations with the believers who implement God’s message are defined.
This definitive statement may come as a surprise and may be seen as contrary to what the Qur’ān had stated previously about the people of earlier revelations. Certainly the Orientalists and the Christian missionaries, as well as their disciples make such claims, saying that the Prophet changed his attitude when he felt he was strong enough to confront them.
However, a thorough review of Qur’ānic statements, revealed both in Makkah and Madinah, concerning the people of earlier revelations will clearly show that nothing has changed in the Islamic view about their beliefs. The Qur’ān has always made it
clear that they upheld deviant, false and polytheistic beliefs, while they disbelieved in the true divine religion, or even its portion given to them. The new amendments are confined to the way the Muslim community should deal with them. This is subject to the prevailing practical conditions, which change all the time.
We will look now at some of the Qur’ānic statements about the people of earlier revelations and the concepts and beliefs they uphold. We will then consider their practical attitude to Islam and its followers which led to the final rulings on how to deal with them.
There were no Jewish or Christian communities to reckon with in Makkah. There were only some individuals whom the Qur’ān states to have been overjoyed when they heard of the new message and they believed in Islam. They confirmed that the Prophet Muĥammad was God’s Messenger who confirmed what they had of God’s revelations. Those must have been among the minority of Jews and Christians who continued to believe in God’s oneness. It is in reference to these that Qur’ānic verses like the following ones were revealed: “Those to whom We vouchsafed revelation in
former times believe in this; and whenever it is recited to them, they say: ‘We believe in it, for it is the truth from our Lord. Even before this have we surrendered ourselves to Him.’” (28:
52-53) “Say, ‘You may believe in it or you may not.’ Those who were given knowledge before
it has been revealed fall down on their faces in humble prostration when it is recited to them, and say, ‘Limitless in His glory is our Lord. Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled.’ And upon their faces they fall down, weeping, and [its recitation] increases their humility.” (17:107-109) “Say, ‘Consider, if this be truly [a revelation] from God and yet you deny its truth? — even though a witness from among the Children of Israel bears witness to one like it, and has believed while you glory in your arrogance.’ God does not grace evildoers with His guidance.” (46: 10) “Thus have We bestowed this Book on you from on high. Those to whom We previously gave revelations believe in it, just as some among these do believe in it. None will reject Our revelations other than those who deny the truth.” (29: 47) “Am I to seek for judge anyone other than God, when it is He who has revealed the Book to you, clearly spelling out the truth. Those to whom We previously gave revelations know that it is the truth revealed by your Lord. So, do not be among the doubters.” (6: 114) “Those to whom We have given this revelation rejoice at what has been bestowed on you from on high, but among different factions there are some who deny part of it. Say: ‘I have only been bidden to worship God, and not to associate partners with Him. To Him I pray, and to Him do I return.’” (13:
36)
Similarly, a positive response was given by a number of individuals in Madinah, and we find mention of these in some sūrahs revealed in Madinah. These references make it clear that those people were Christians. The Jews in Madinah, apprehensive about the rise of Islam, took a different attitude to that adopted by some individual Jews in Makkah. “There are indeed among the people of earlier revelations some who believe
in God and in what has been bestowed from on high upon you and in what has been bestowed upon them, humbling themselves before God. They do not barter away God’s revelations for a trifling price. They shall have their reward with their Lord. Swift is God’s reckoning.” (3:
199) “You will certainly find that, of all people, the most hostile to those who believe are the
Jews, and those who associate partners with God; and you will certainly find that the nearest of them in affection to the believers are those who say, ‘We are Christians.’ This is so because there are priests and monks among them and because they are not given to arrogance. When they listen to what has been revealed to God’s Messenger, you see their eyes overflow with tears because of the Truth they recognize. They say: ‘Our Lord, we do believe; so enrol us among those who bear witness to the truth. How could we fail to believe in God and the truth that has come to us when we dearly hope that our Lord will admit us among the righteous?’ And for this their prayer God will reward them with gardens through which running waters flow, where they will abide. Such is the reward of those who do good.” (5: 82-85)
Denying a Known Truth
However, the attitude of these individuals was not representative of the attitude of the majority of the people of earlier revelations in the Arabian Peninsula, particularly the Jews. Once they felt that Islam represented a threat to them, the Jews in Madinah launched a wicked campaign against it, using all the methods mentioned in several places in the Qur’ān. Needless to say, they refused to adopt Islam, and denied the references in their own Scriptures to the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him), and the fact that the Qur’ān confirmed what remained with them of their true revelations. By contrast, those goodly and honest individuals acknowledged all that openly. The Qur’ān records all their denials and points out their deviation and corruption. However, the Qur’ān also includes clear statements of the beliefs of the people of earlier revelations, such as: “When Jesus came with all evidence of the truth, he
said: I have now come to you with wisdom, and to make clear to you some of that on which you are at variance. Hence, fear God and pay heed to me. God is indeed my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him alone: this is a straight way!’ But factions from among them began to hold divergent views. Woe, then, to the evildoers for the suffering [they will endure] on a painful day!” (43: 63-65) “They broke up their unity, through their own wickedness, only after knowledge was given to them. And but for a word that had already gone forth from your Lord, [postponing a decision] until an appointed term, all would have been decided between them. Those who inherited the Scriptures after them are now in grave doubt.” (42: 14) “It was said to them: Dwell in this city and eat of its food whatever you may wish, and say: “Lord, relieve us of our burden,” and enter the gate in humility. We will forgive you your sins, and We will richly reward those who do good. ‘But the wrongdoers among them substituted other words for those which they had been given. Therefore We let loose against them a scourge from heaven in requital for their wrongdoing. Ask them about the town which stood by the sea: how its people profaned the Sabbath. Each Sabbath their fish appeared before them
breaking the water’s surface, but they would not come near them on other than Sabbath days. Thus did We try them because of their disobedience.” (7: 161-163) “Then your Lord declared that He would most certainly raise against them people who would cruelly oppress them till the Day of Resurrection. Your Lord is swift indeed in His retribution, yet He is certainly Much forgiving, Merciful.” (7: 167) “They were succeeded by generations who inherited the Book. Yet these are keen to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of this lower world and say, ‘We shall be forgiven.’ Should some similar pleasures come their way, they would certainly be keen to indulge them. Have they not solemnly pledged through their Scriptures to say nothing but the truth about God? And have they not studied well what is in [the Scriptures]? Surely the life in the hereafter is better for all who are God-fearing. Will you not use your reason?” (7: 169)
The Qur’ānic sūrahs revealed in Madinah provide the final word about the people of earlier revelations and their attitudes. The Qur’ān describes in detail the wicked tactics and the spiteful methods they employ in their campaign against Islam. Examples of these are found in long passages of Sūrahs 2-5 and elsewhere in the Qur’ān. In this sūrah the final verdict on them is given. Here are only a few examples of what the Qur’ān says about them:
Do you hope that they will accept your message when some of them would listen to the word of God then, having understood it, knowingly distort it? When they meet the believers, they say, ‘We believe,’ but when they find themselves alone, they say to one another, Need you inform them that which God has disclosed to you? They will only use it in argument against you before your Lord? Will you not use your reason?’ Do they not know that God is well aware of all that they conceal and all that they reveal? There are among them illiterate people who have no real knowledge of the Scriptures, entertaining only wishful beliefs and conjecture. Woe, then, to those who write down, with their own hands, [something which they claim to be of] the Scriptures, and then say, ‘This is from God’, in order to get for it a trifling price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn. (2: 75-79)
We gave Moses the Book and caused a succession of messengers to follow him. To Jesus, son of Mary, We gave clear proofs and supported him with the Holy Spirit. Why is it that every time a messenger comes to you with a message that does not suit your fancies, you glory in your arrogance, charging some (messengers) with lying and slaying others? They say, ‘Our hearts are sealed. ‘No! God has cursed them for their disbelief. They have but little faith. And now that a Book confirming their own has come to them from God, and they had repeatedly forecast its coming to the unbelievers, they have denied what they know to be the truth. God’s curse be upon the unbelievers! Vile is that for which they have bartered their souls, because they have denied what God has revealed, grudging that He should, by His grace, send down His revelations to whom He chooses from among His servants. Thus they have incurred God’s wrath over and over again. Ignominious suffering is in store for the unbelievers. When it is
said to them, ‘Believe in what God has revealed,’ they say, ‘We believe in what has been revealed to us.’ They deny everything else, although it is the truth, corroborating the revelations they have. Say, ‘Why, then, did you in the past kill God’s prophets, if you were true believers?’ (2: 87-91)
Say: People of earlier revelations, why do you disbelieve in God’s revelations, when God Himself is witness to all that you do?’ Say: ‘People of earlier revelations, why do you try to turn those who have come to believe away from the path of God, seeking to make it appear crooked, when you yourselves bear witness [to its being straight]? God is not unaware of what you do. (3: 98-99)
Are you not aware of those who, having been granted a share of Divine revelations, now believe in falsehood and arrogant deviation [from Divine faith], and they say to the unbelievers that they are better guided than the believers. These are the ones whom God has rejected; anyone whom God rejects shall find none to succour him. (4: 51-52) Unbelievers indeed are those who say: ‘God is the Christ, son of Mary’ The Christ himself said: Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Whoever associates partners with God, God shall forbid him entrance into Paradise and his abode will be the Fire. Wrongdoers will have no helpers. Unbelievers indeed are those who say: ‘God is the third of a trinity’ Of certain, there is no god save the One God. Unless they desist from so saying, grievous suffering will surely befall those of them who are unbelievers. Will they not, then, turn to God in repentance and seek His forgiveness? God is Much-Forgiving, Merciful. The Christ, son of Mary, was but a Messenger: other messengers have passed away before him. His mother was a saintly woman. They both ate food [like other human beings]. Behold how clear We make [Our] revelations to them and behold how perverted they are. (5: 72-75)
A review of these texts and many similar ones in the Qur’ān is sufficient to show that these latest revelations maintain the same view concerning the deviation of the people of earlier revelations from the true divine faith. Their description in this sūrah as deviant, transgressors, unbelievers and idolaters is by no means a new development. We also note that the Qur’ān continues to praise those of them who accept God’s guidance and follow it. Thus we find statements like: “Yet among the folk
of Moses there are some who guide [others] by means of the truth and act justly in its light.”
(7: 159) “Among the people of earlier revelations there is many a one who, if you trust him