What is your opinion of the one who says that the People of the Book are not disbelievers, even though Allah has ruled that they are disbelievers?
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Question:
May Allah keep you safe, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: In the saying of Allah the Exalted,[Al-Hashr 59:11], he says that in this verse there is half an explicit statement, and in other verses that indicate the disbelief of the People of the Book, namely the Jews and the Christians, what is your guidance regarding the one who says that the People of the Book are not disbelievers, and that they are people of a heavenly religion?
Answer:
As you heard in the lesson, the People of the Book are of two types: a type who are believers, steadfast in their faith, among whom are those who died before the mission while upon their faith and truthfulness, and among whom are those who met the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and believed in him. As for the other type, they are those who disbelieved from among the People of the Book and did not believe in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and among them are those who do not believe in 'Isa (peace be upon him). These are the ones referred to in His saying:[Al-Hashr 59:11]. Yes.
May Allah keep you safe, Your Eminence, father. The questioner says: In the saying of Allah the Exalted,
Have you not considered those who practice hypocrisy, saying to their brothers who have disbelieved among the People of the Scripture
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ نَافَقُوا يَقُولُونَ لِإِخْوَانِهِمُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِAnswer:
As you heard in the lesson, the People of the Book are of two types: a type who are believers, steadfast in their faith, among whom are those who died before the mission while upon their faith and truthfulness, and among whom are those who met the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and believed in him. As for the other type, they are those who disbelieved from among the People of the Book and did not believe in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and among them are those who do not believe in 'Isa (peace be upon him). These are the ones referred to in His saying:
who have disbelieved among the People of the Scripture
الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1519- 4717] ما رأيكم بمن يقول بأن أهل الكتاب ليسوا بكفار مع أن الله حكم بكفرهم؟ -الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.