Say, “O People of the Book! ... “Bear witness that we are Muslims.”
Allah-SWT asks the Holy Prophet-SW to call upon the People of the Book to agree upon the belief commonly held by them and Muslims. That common belief is that nothing save Allah-SWT is to be worshiped. No partners are to be appointed with Him-SWT in worships or Divinity whether they are idols or devils, angels or humans. The Message of Unity has been conveyed by every Prophet-AS including Prophets Musa-AS and ‘Isa-AS and can be found in all the Divine Scriptures, whether it be Torah or Bible. All Prophets-AS preached essentially the same concepts of Allah-SWT ’s Unity in Being and in Attributes; and also that He-SWT alone is worthy of all worships and is far too exalted to have any partners. Islam also gives the same Message. So let us concede to these basic tenets that we do not accept anyone as Rabb save Allah-SWT , meaning thereby that we do not bank on anyone for succour or to obey him besides Allah-SWT . If anyone conveying the Divine Message is obeyed, it would not be his obedience but Allah-SWT’s, just as obedience to the Holy Prophet-SW is in reality the obedience to Allah-SWT . Similarly, if a scholar or sage invites people to Allah-SWT , obeying him would indeed be the obedience to Allah-SWT.However, if anyone asks to act against the Shari’ah, he must not be followed. According to Hadith the obedience to creation is forbidden where the Laws of the Creator are likely to be infringed.
Obviously, whenever anyone ignores Allah-SWT’s Laws and obeys someone else it is either out of fear or greed. Such behaviour implies that the former has taken the latter as his Rabb and is practising this belief. If this personality cult, egoism and greed are removed, nothing can stand between a person and the acceptance of truth.
The Preaching Technique
Allah-SWT has taught an exquisite way of preaching to the Holy Prophet-SW. He-SWT asks His-SWT beloved Prophet-SW to invite people to the recognition of the Truth and to pull them out of the quagmire of egoism and selfishness. Once their hearts are cleansed for Allah-SWT , it would be impossible for them to deny the greatness of the Holy Prophet-SW whereby they shall be blessed with faith.
The basic principle and manner of preaching is to acquaint the hearts with the Greatness of Allah-SWT and to sever all hopes associated with others. However, if even these efforts prove futile and people still do not accept the Message, they must be told as a reiteration of Truth, that we, the Muslims, are Allah-SWT’s obedient servants.
In short, the correct beliefs must be presented before them, and they must be called upon to bear witness to the fact that we the Muslims believe in Allah-SWT’s Unity and the Prophethood of Allah-SWT’s Messengers-AS and obey His-SWT Commandments.
O People of the Book!... Allah-SWT is the Patron of the believers.
Allah-SWT tells the People of the Book that they have no right to quarrel over the religion of Prophet Ibrahim-AS when they have failed even to preserve the religion conveyed by their own Prophets Musa-AS and ‘Isa-AS and have lost the teachings of Torah and Bible revealed to them. How can they claim to be the followers of Prophet Ibrahim-AS, when Torah and Bible were revealed much later? Prophet Musa-AS was raised approximately a thousand years after Prophet Ibrahim-AS and Prophet ‘Isa-AS after another two thousand years.
In the light of these facts, the claim made by the People of the Book that they adhere to the principles of Prophet Ibrahim-AS’s religion is absurd. They are the people who even distort the signs about the Holy Prophet-SW, readily available to them in Torah and Bible. They do not accept the truth contained in their own Books, nor do they disclose it to others. It is, therefore, futile to quarrel or debate over the facts altogether unknown to them, which were revealed centuries ago. The truth is that Prophet Ibrahim-AS was neither a Jew nor a Christian. The rules of his-AS religion were different from those of Judaism and Christianity. Indeed he-AS rejected all the false beliefs coined by the people and worshipped only one Allah-SWT.He-AS was not a polytheist but a Unitarian, unlike those who take Prophets ‘Uzair-AS and ‘Isa-AS as Allah-SWT’s sons, and ironically claim to be his-AS followers. His-AS true followers are those who abstained from any indulgence in the polytheism then, and continue to do so even now.
Wilayah Averse To Foul Beliefs
Prophet Muhammad-SW and his-SW Companions-RAU shared some of the religious practices with Prophet Ibrahim-AS like circumcision, sacrificing animals, praying in the direction of K’abah etc. Allah-SWT is indeed the Patron of the believers; which means that no one having foul beliefs can claim to be a Wali. Rather a person guilty of misdeeds cannot claim to be a Wali too as the consummation of faith is achieved through practice.
A section of the People of the Book ... and you know it?
How can they possibly reform themselves? The Jews instead of seeking guidance, are always busy trying to mislead the Muslims while Allah-SWT protects the Muslims against their evil designs. This heinous effort, in turn, increases their contumacy, though they do not realise it! They must be asked that can their claim of being Allah-SWT’s chosen people and their repudiation of His-SWT Commandments possibly co-exist. They are the very people who wilfully deny Allah-SWT’s Ayat, despite the clear signs revealed in their own Books about the raising of Prophet Muhammad-SW, and in face of the fact that the Quran is clearly Allah-SWT’s Book.
So O’ People of the Book! Be mindful of Allah-SWT ! Do not mix up truth with falsehood by innovating practices of your choice in the name of religion. Identical is the state of today’s false claimants of Wilayah who have innovated all sorts of rituals, claiming them to be meritorious, just to satisfy their own vain desires.
And why O’ People of the Book! Do you deliberately conceal; i.e. why don’t you reveal the characteristics of the Holy Prophet-SW given in your Scriptures?
