Bigotry: The Dark Danger

The Value Placed on the People of the Book in the Qur’an

Muslim men can marry members of the People of the Book. Food prepared by them is lawful for Muslims, and food prepared by Muslims is lawful for them.

Muslims can marry members of the People of the Book, and they and Muslims can eat food prepared by the others:

Today all good things have been made halal [lawful] for you. And the food of those given the Book [Jews and Christians] is also halal for you and your food is halal for them. So are chaste women from among the believers and chaste women of those given the Book before you [Jews and Christians], once you have given them their dowries in marriage, not in fornication or taking them as lovers. But as for anyone who rejects faith, his actions will come to nothing and in the hereafter he will be among the losers. . (Qur'an, 5:5)

This verse describes the value that Muslims place on the People of the Book with various pieces of important detail. According to this verse, a Muslim man is allowed to marry a woman of the People of the Book. This is a significant permission, because as commanded in the verse, “Corrupt women are for corrupt men and corrupt men are for corrupt women, good women are for good men and good men are for good women…” (Qur’an, 24:26), , Muslims have a responsibility to marry good, clean people. This indicates that Jews and Christians are also good, clean people.

In addition, there is a very important criterion in this verse. A Muslim will intend to take a Jewish or Christian woman as his wife, to call her “darling, beloved,” to start a family with her, to spend his life with her and even to spend the eternal life with her. This is the sole person throughout his life with whom he will share all his troubles and all his happiness. These two look after one another when they are ill, and trust one another.

According to the fanatics’ way of thinking, a person should suddenly feel enmity toward the woman he calls “beloved,” with whom he spends his life and entrusts his own life to, the mother of his children, and suddenly declare her to be cursed only because she is a Christian or a Jew. How can he decide, after spending his whole life with her, to say, “This tree has told me that my wife is a Jew and that she is hiding behind it,” and then to kill her? One would have to be profoundly psychologically disturbed to do that. This verse describes the love to be shown to a Jew or Christian by a rational Muslim who heeds the Qur’an.

The verse also bestows a special authorization on Muslims: the authority to eat food prepared by the People of the Book. This is very important. As we know, Muslims have to pay great attention to certain prohibitions when preparing food; pork, and meat from an animal that has not been slaughtered in the name of God, is prohibited in Islam. The fact that food prepared by Jews and Christians is made lawful shows that these people are to be trusted. The same thing also applies to Christians and Jews, and the verse makes food prepared by Muslims lawful for them.

It will also be useful to refer to another expression of friendship here. The People of the Book and Muslims can eat together under the same roof, be one another’s guests, sit down at the same table and play host to one another. This is a description of friendship. What is being described is not an environment based on hatred and killing, but one of love, friendship and brotherhood.

The references in this verse are ones that no fanatic would ever sign up to. This permission granted through the Qur’an is both unlawful in their world, and also a terrifying scenario. Ask the fanatic whether one can marry someone from the People of the Book, or sit down and eat with them as their guest, and he will furiously reject it. Fanatics do not act in compliance with the provisions of the Qur'an, for they deny that it is the Qur'an that imposes commandments.

The fact that food prepared by Jews and Christians is lawful for Muslims is a guarantee that these people can be trusted. That same criterion also applies for Jews and Christians, and according to what the verse says, food prepared by Muslims is also lawful for them.

This is not the only verse to set out the position of the People of the Book. God praises the People of the Book in many of the Qur’an's verses. The related verses include:

Among the people of Moses there is a group who guide by the truth and act justly in accordance with it. (Qur'an, 7:159)

They are not all the same. There is a community among the People of the Book who are upright. They recite God’s signs throughout the night, and they prostrate. They have faith in God and the Last Day, and enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and compete in doing good. They are among the righteous ones. They will not be denied the reward for any good thing they do. God knows those who have fear of God. (Qur'an, 3:113-115)

Among the people of the Book there are some who have faith in God and in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down to them, and who are humble before God. They do not sell God’s signs for a paltry price. Such people will have their reward with their Lord. And God is swift at reckoning. (Qur'an, 3:199)

Those We gave the Book before this have faith in it.

When it is recited to them they say, “We have faith in it; it is the truth from our Lord. We were already Muslims before it came.” (Qur'an, 28:52- 53)

But those of them [the Jews] who are firmly rooted in knowledge, and the believers, have faith in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you: those who perform their prayers and pay alms, and have faith in God and the Last Day – We will pay such people an immense wage. (Qur'an, 4:162)

Those with faith, those who are Jews, and the Christians and Sabaeans, all who have faith in God and the Last Day and act rightly, will have their reward with their Lord. They will feel no fear and will know no sorrow. (Qur'an, 2:62)

Those who have faith and those who are Jews and the Sabaeans and the Christians, all who have faith in God and the Last Day and act rightly will feel no fear and will know no sorrow. (Qur'an, 5:69)

... You will find the people most affectionate to those who have faith are those who say, “We are Christians.” That is because some of them are priests and monks and because they are not arrogant. When they listen to what has been sent down to the Messenger, you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of what they recognize of the truth. They say, “Our Lord, we have faith! So write us down among the witnesses. How could we not have faith in God, and the truth that has come to us, when we long for our Lord to include us among the righteous?” God will reward them for what they say with Gardens with rivers flowing under them, remaining in them timelessly, for ever. That is the recompense of the good-doers. (Qur'an, 5:82-85)

God made a covenant with the tribe of Israel and We raised up twelve leaders from among them. God said, “I am with you. If you perform your prayers and pay alms, and have faith in My messengers and respect and support them, and make a generous loan to God, I will erase your wrong actions from you and admit you into Gardens with rivers flowing under them. Any of you who are irreligious after that have gone astray from the right way.” (Qur'an, 5:12)

As these verses clearly show, pure and sincere Jews and Christians are praised with fine words in the Qur’an and are promised a fine reward by God; God says that He will take these people into paradise. This is an expression of His love for them. How can a Muslim be the enemy of someone whom God loves, is pleased with and welcomes into paradise? That is impossible according to the Qur’an. Such enmity is a crime according to the Qur’an. Therefore, the fanatics who adopt false hadiths as their guide – despite the verses of the Qur’an clearly demonstrating the contrary – are committing an offense in the view of Islam by spreading hostility toward the People of the Book.

Muslims’ Invitation to the People of the Book

Only argue with the People of the Book in the kindest way – except in the case of those of them who do wrong – saying, “We have faith in what has been sent down to us and what was sent down to you. Our God and your God are One and we submit to Him.”(Qur'an, 29:46)

Say, “People of the Book! Come to a proposition which is the same for us and you – that we should worship none but God and not associate any partners with Him and not take one another as lords besides God.” If they turn away, say, “Bear witness that we are Muslims.” (Qur'an, 3:64)

These verses show that the duty of Muslims is not to disparage the People of the Book, force them into a corner, feel hatred for or even kill them. It is simply to summon them to the oneness of God in the most pleasant manner. Monotheism is the fundamental doctrine in all three faiths. Muslims can meet with and speak to the People of the Book, preach to them and call on them to believe in the oneness of God and all the sacred scriptures that have been sent down. Communication, preaching and friendship exist among them. According to the Qur’an, a Muslim has a responsibility to speak kindly to a Jew or a Christian when he sees one and to invite him to believe in the oneness of God using very kind words, rather than jostling him into a corner.