Who are the People of the Book?
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The fifth question of Fatwa No. ( 7150 ):
Q5: Who are the People of the Book today? The Christians (the Crusaders) are Trinitarians, so they associate partners with Allah, and the Jews (the killers of the prophets) are enemies of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and associate partners with Allah because of their saying (We are the beloveds of Allah - Allah’s hand is bound... etc.), and the Book has been distorted as is well known, so
please answer us frankly and clearly, may Allah reward you with good, and remove the confusion of the confused?
A5: The People of the Book: they are the Jews and the Christians with their shirk (associating partners with Allah), and this shirk existed in them at the time the Qur'an was revealed to our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Indeed, He (Glorified and Exalted is He) informed about the deification by the Christians of Jesus (peace be upon him) and their making him a god alongside Allah, worshipping him with Him, so He the Exalted said:
They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary
لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَThe Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?
وَقَالَتِ الْيَهُودُ عُزَيْرٌ ابْنُ اللَّهِ وَقَالَتِ النَّصَارَى الْمَسِيحُ ابْنُ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ قَوْلُهُمْ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ يُضَاهِئُونَ قَوْلَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْ قَبْلُ قَاتَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ أَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَSay, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."
قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ تَعَالَوْا إِلَى كَلِمَةٍ سَوَاءٍ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمْ أَلا نَعْبُدَ إِلا اللَّهَ وَلاَ نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضًا أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَقُولُوا اشْهَدُوا بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَO People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion
يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لاَ تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْAnd do not say, "Three"; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God
وَلاَ تَقُولُوا ثَلاثَةٌ انْتَهُوا خَيْرًا لَكُمْ إِنَّمَا اللَّهُ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ, and so on from the verses that indicate their shirk (associating partners with Allah) and their kufr (disbelief) at the time of the revelation of the revelation, and He named them the People of the Book in more than one place in the Qur'an. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.