The Ruling on Calling the Christians "Christians" and the Jews "Israelis"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, is it permissible to say "these are Christians"? We think of them as Christians, following the way of the Prophet of Allah, Musa (peace be upon him)?
Answer:
Calling them Christians is a great error. They are not Christians; rather, they are called the Christians (Nasara), which is their name in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). In historical books, their name is the Christians (Nasara). They are not called "Christians" because "Christians" means followers of Jesus, and they are not currently followers of Jesus. If they were followers of Jesus, they would have believed in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), because Jesus commands following Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
By their disbelief in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), they became not followers of Jesus. Also, they introduced into the religion of Jesus shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry that contradicts the religion of Jesus, such as worshipping the cross and saying that Jesus is the son of Allah or the third of three. This took them out of the religion of Jesus and made them disbelievers, may Allah protect us from that. So, they are never called "Christians." Likewise, the Jews are not called "Israelis." They adopted this name to cover themselves up. Otherwise, Israel is the Prophet of Allah, Ya'qub (peace be upon him). They are called the Jews, as is their name in the Book and the Sunnah, and in historical books. They wanted to escape from this name upon which the curses and the anger of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, have been poured.
Because of the ugliness of their actions, their distortion, and their disbelief. These are names that must remain as they are and not be changed. Even if they change them, we do not engage with them. We call them the Christians (Nasara) and we call them the Jews. We never write "Israel" in our writings, or write or speak "Israel," but rather we say the Jews. Likewise, we say the Christians (Nasara). Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, is it permissible to say "these are Christians"? We think of them as Christians, following the way of the Prophet of Allah, Musa (peace be upon him)?
Answer:
Calling them Christians is a great error. They are not Christians; rather, they are called the Christians (Nasara), which is their name in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). In historical books, their name is the Christians (Nasara). They are not called "Christians" because "Christians" means followers of Jesus, and they are not currently followers of Jesus. If they were followers of Jesus, they would have believed in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), because Jesus commands following Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).
By their disbelief in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), they became not followers of Jesus. Also, they introduced into the religion of Jesus shirk (associating partners with Allah) and idolatry that contradicts the religion of Jesus, such as worshipping the cross and saying that Jesus is the son of Allah or the third of three. This took them out of the religion of Jesus and made them disbelievers, may Allah protect us from that. So, they are never called "Christians." Likewise, the Jews are not called "Israelis." They adopted this name to cover themselves up. Otherwise, Israel is the Prophet of Allah, Ya'qub (peace be upon him). They are called the Jews, as is their name in the Book and the Sunnah, and in historical books. They wanted to escape from this name upon which the curses and the anger of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, have been poured.
Because of the ugliness of their actions, their distortion, and their disbelief. These are names that must remain as they are and not be changed. Even if they change them, we do not engage with them. We call them the Christians (Nasara) and we call them the Jews. We never write "Israel" in our writings, or write or speak "Israel," but rather we say the Jews. Likewise, we say the Christians (Nasara). Yes.
Source
تسمية النصارى مسيحيين — alfawzan.live
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.