Are there any monotheists among the People of the Book?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question : Is it permissible for a monotheist from the People of the Book, meaning one who does not associate partners with Allah and believes that Allah is One, to enter the Sacred Mosque?
Answer : It appears that the questioner does not know the meaning of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). Before answering his question, we clarify for him that tawhid is singling out Allah in worship, and that worship is adherence to Islam. Worship is adherence to Islam. Therefore, this person from the People of the Book cannot be a monotheist; rather, he is a disbeliever in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even if he says that Allah is one God. Although we do not know this about the People of the Book, especially the Christians, the known belief of the Christians is the Trinity. They say that Allah is the third of three, and I seek refuge in Allah from that.
But whatever the case may be, any person from the People of the Book, and the People of the Book are the Jews and the Christians, is not a monotheist in Allah, even if he says that Allah is one God. Because we say that Allah is a God in the sense of being the sole object of worship. So, did you worship Allah?
He did not worship Allah, because worship of Allah cannot be done except according to the Shari'ah of Allah,[Al-Bayyinah 98:5], meaning turning away from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and bid'ah (religious innovation). They are not innovators and not those who associate partners with Allah, but they worship Allah according to His Shari'ah. So we say to the brother from the People of the Book, whether he is a Jew or a Christian, it is not permissible for him to enter the Sacred Mosque, nor to approach the Sacred Mosque, as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said. It is not permissible to approach the Sacred Mosque, meaning he does not enter the boundaries of the Haram, which are called the miles. For this reason, our government, may Allah reward it with good and prolong its success, has prevented the People of the Book from entering the boundaries of the Haram and has made a special route for them to travel from Jeddah to Ta'if. This is from the success that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has granted it, because Allah says [At-Tawbah 9:28]
Answer : It appears that the questioner does not know the meaning of tawhid (the oneness of Allah). Before answering his question, we clarify for him that tawhid is singling out Allah in worship, and that worship is adherence to Islam. Worship is adherence to Islam. Therefore, this person from the People of the Book cannot be a monotheist; rather, he is a disbeliever in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), even if he says that Allah is one God. Although we do not know this about the People of the Book, especially the Christians, the known belief of the Christians is the Trinity. They say that Allah is the third of three, and I seek refuge in Allah from that.
But whatever the case may be, any person from the People of the Book, and the People of the Book are the Jews and the Christians, is not a monotheist in Allah, even if he says that Allah is one God. Because we say that Allah is a God in the sense of being the sole object of worship. So, did you worship Allah?
He did not worship Allah, because worship of Allah cannot be done except according to the Shari'ah of Allah,
And they were not commanded except to worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion, inclining to truth
وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ حُنَفَاءَO you who have believed, indeed the polytheists are unclean, so let them not approach al-Masjid al-Haram after this, their [final] year.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْمُشْرِكُونَ نَجَسٌ فَلَا يَقْرَبُوا الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ بَعْدَ عَامِهِمْ هَٰذَا
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[2 من 216] هل يوجد موحدون من أهل الكتاب؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
