When Quran refers to "people of the Book" is it as friends?

I'll submit a brief hypothesis for discussion. If I'm not mistaken the Quran refers to the people of the Book as Jews and Christians. And I've heard this said to be an example that the three religions are respected and related to one another through the Book.

But I think the term people of the Book sets Jews and Christians apart from Muslims, who worship from the Quran which means not the "Book" like the "Bible" means, but it means the "Recitation" making Muslims people of the Recitation.

So it is in fact a distinction of difference, or apartness. Not one of connection and togetherness?

I think this idea is reinforced by the fact it seems when the Quran mentions the people of the Book it usually is in reference to tolerating them, not being friends or of the same origins.

en.wikipedia.org...

It doesn't refer to Jew's or Christians as friends. Anyone that is not a Muslim is considered an infidel and if they refuse to convert, worthy of death. They do however believe that Jesus was a prophet yet refuse to do what he said. There are major differences between all three.

pstrron
It doesn't refer to Jew's or Christians as friends. Anyone that is not a Muslim is considered an infidel and if they refuse to convert, worthy of death. They do however believe that Jesus was a prophet yet refuse to do what he said. There are major differences between all three.

This.
It's not PC to state it, but the "people of the book" were only tolerated in Mohammed's early years.
Mohammed's life can be fairly neatly divided into two parts... a time of tolerance (while the people of the Arabian Peninsula held the power and the Muslims were militarily inferior), and a time of brutality, enacted once the Islamic forces were powerful enough to force all others into submission.

Once you realize the sequence, and understand that the Muslim concept of "abrogation" (that is, later verses take precedence over and replace the earlier ones), you can see that the tolerance for "people of the book" was limited, and didn't last. As soon as Mohammed had the army to do so, he obliterated the Jews - in a battle that Muslims still celebrate today.

The only "peace" in Islam is the "peace" that exists when all the world is converted or living in submission.

awen....mohammads ''forces'' grew stronger after former polytheists and persecutors, converted to Islam on their own. And Mohammad forgave his enemies after he conquered Mecca, But its not surprising to see christians wish Arabia had remained polytheistic to this day, ISlam did in a few decades what Judaism and christianity failed to do collectively in thousands of years...i.e get rid of Arabias polytheism. Also, read Isaiah 42... Its a biblical prediction of monotheisms victory over the lands of kedar (ishmaels son) and the wilderness (arabian desert)....and the shaming of the idolaters. No biblical prophet or figure ever managed to do this. Only Mohammad fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 42.

op.. The people of the book refer to people who received revelation from God. I.e.. The torah and the gospel. Islam is continuation of the prophetic tradition starting from Adam. Of course, Adam and the early figures such as Noah, Enoch, Abraham were neither Jews nor Christians, but early monotheists.

reply to post by Awen24


More people should know the history of Islam as you do Awen24.

I have read the Quran and know of its history and you are right on the money.

Star for your comments.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n

awen....mohammads ''forces'' grew stronger after former polytheists and persecutors, converted to Islam on their own. And Mohammad forgave his enemies after he conquered Mecca

sk0rpi0n, you are either unknowingly only telling part of the story, or you are white-washing.

While building his forces, supplies, wealth, and goods in the new stronghold of Medina,... Muhammad utterly destabilized the entire economy of Arabia. First by attacking, killing, looting, and robbing unarmed and unprotected Meccan caravan traders. Next, by preemptively committing a genocide against the Jews of Arabia, annihilating them.

After this, the Meccans were forgiven and conquered.

reply to post by FreeMason


May Peace be upon you FreeMason. It's great to have you back! Your recent threads have certainly livened up the place


"People of the Book" does indeed strictly refer to Christians, Jews, Samaritans, Sabians, and Magians. When reading the Qur'an in Arabic, I always have the personal impression when reading the occurance "People of the Book",... that it was speaking in a past-tense tone. "People of the Book", cenceptualized almost as,.... "those who believed before you",..... reading the occurances definitely has a past-tense feel in my opinion. (I'm not saying that the literal words are written in past tense. It is just a personal feeling of past-tense reference).


Although the Qur'an is indeed "The Recitation", in the Qur'an, Allah also calls the Qur'an Al-Kitab, which means "The Book".


So, I do not personally have the opinion that "People of the Book" is meant a contrast to "People of the Recitation".

However, Islam teaches that it is the only correct religion, therefore, "The People of the Book" is almost a derogatory term, inferring that their religions are wrong while Islam is right.

reply to post by Awen24


Quite true, I was just being less aggressive in text. There is no peace until the world is under full subjugation which means either your a Muslim or dead, no tolerance of any other belief. They also believe any land or property ever owned by a Muslim still belongs to Islam and they will take it back any way they can. The same goes for Sharia law, Sharia law is Islam and Islam is Sharia law. There is no separation of the two. Sharia law is incompatible with Judaism and Christianity thus they are not friends.

reply to post by Sahabi

Question to Sahabi - How are non muslims supposed to believe the muslim extremists when they say they want peace and want to accept Christians staying Christian, when the practice of Taqiyya and Kitman in Islam tell us that they think it's okay to lie to accomplish their agendas?? Would you explain Taqiyya and Kitman so we better understand it please? Thank you.

reply to post by FlyersFan


In conceptual essence, Kitman and Taqqiya are synonymously the same thing. Their main differences lie in their root-word etymologies.


These words mean to lie, conceal, hide, or deny their faith. Originally, Kitman and Taqqiya were only allowable during moments of extreme jeopardy. In order to save one's own self or others from direct harm or persecution,... Islam allows its followers to lie at any cost. Even uttering disbelief and blasphemy against Allah and Muhammad was allowable under direct threat.


However, in today's landscape,... many Muslims use the ruling of Taqqiya and Kitman to conceal their belief in or support of violence and extremism. One does not have to be a terrorist in order to believe that violence is agreeable. For example, a Muslim may never intend to kill a single person, however, they may secretly honor jihad and even people like bin Laden.

Extremists use the edict of sanctified lying in order to stay below the radar. Moderate Muslims use the edict of sanctified lying in order to down-play or white-wash jihad, violence, intolerance, or religious superiority complexes.


To be honest, when a non-Muslim is speaking to a Muslim about controversial topics,... it may be impossible to know if the Muslim is sincerely telling the truth, or sugar-coating their ill-will.






P.S.

On another note,... as Islam propagates such a strong belief in the afterlife,... a strong impression of Heavenly Paradise,.... it would seem hypocritical for Allah and Muhammad to sanctify the wickedness of untruth, in order to save a temporary human life,... when they believe they will live forever in Paradise.

Other religions and other philosophies such as Jainism, Buddhism, and Christianity teach that it is better to die for the truth than live for a lie.

When Quran refers to "people of the Book" is it as friends?

It is as friends!!

I was amazed by this verse in the Quran. There are many versions of this verse and do not mean any disrespect to it if I am using a bad translation.

Al- Quran 96:1-2

“Proclaim! (or Read!) In the name Of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created – Created man, out of A (mere) clot Of congealed blood.”

sahabi, you are either unknowingly or willingly smearing the history of Mohammad to suit your own ends. The caravan raids were the Muslims response to persecution by the idolaters and polytheists. You also left out the part where Muslims lost their properties and suffered persecution by the tribes.

pstrron
reply to post by Awen24

 

Sharia law is incompatible with Judaism and Christianity thus they are not friends.

Many jews prefer halal meat over christian foods.....many jews prefer praying in a mosque but would never set foot inside a church. As for christianity, it is a lost case... It is deemed polytheistic by both muslims and jews.

reply to post by sk0rpi0n


The Arabs were/are a proud people. They relish in their reputations and their popularity. This is a cultural aspect. In addition, the close knit tribes and social structure that resulted from the tribal relationships would have meant that almost everyone knew everyone. Point being, the persecuted Muslims would have known exactly which Meccan pagans persecuted them. For example, Abu Lahab ibn Abdul Muttalib was an accounted persecutor.

If the Muslims knew exactly who their persecutors were,.... why attack, murder, and rob the caravan traders who held the economic stability of Arabia on the backs of their camels? Why attack unarmed, unprotected merchants who did not engage in the persecutions?

If you dishonor me, is it right for me to retaliate on the baker who lives in your neighborhood?

This is the logic and truth of the situation, which has been white-washed by Islamic academia.

The Babylonian sacking of Jerusalem...

Where does it say they fled??

pstrron
It doesn't refer to Jew's or Christians as friends. Anyone that is not a Muslim is considered an infidel and if they refuse to convert, worthy of death. They do however believe that Jesus was a prophet yet refuse to do what he said. There are major differences between all three.

That's the radical outlook on it and by about 18% of the Faith as I got in last week in Antrhopology. (Some of these course choices I'm making overlap to topics here so well it's spooky..lol)

I've not personally met a Muslim and only talked to a couple of the many online who would follow that line of thought. One of them, I think was a true terrorist whose IP was out of Pakistan. (years ago on a different site) Even they have a net connection, it seems...

In fact, as a couple have explained to me from a Muslim perspective, 'People of the Book' does refer to Christians and Jews as being at least of the same general type of Faith and worthy of respect, just misguided and ignorant, to put it simply. After all, many of the exact same people from the Bible are talked about in the Quran as well. Different roles...and not necessarily evil vs. good but just not as elevated. Jesus was a Prophet to the Muslims, not a descendant of Allah, of course, as you note. If it helps, this comes from the University of Georgia:

Both Islam and Christianity
1) revere Jesus and assert Jesus' holiness, in the sense that he lived in the world while being pure and free of sin;
2) believe that Mary, Jesus' mother, was decent, pure, and holy;
3) declare that Mary, a virgin, miraculously conceived Jesus;
4) assert that Jesus performed a number of miracles.

Source

I take comparative religion next semester ..but a couple courses I've already had covered this much of it and it's really interesting when the toads blinded by hate are removed to see what the World Faiths actually look like. More similar than not, IMO. (The second part on that link shows differences, for who may be interested)

Sahabi
To be honest, when a non-Muslim is speaking to a Muslim about controversial topics,... it may be impossible to know if the Muslim is sincerely telling the truth, or sugar-coating their ill-will.

Thank you for the information. You have just confirmed what I already suspected to be true.
I appreciate your honesty and your input. I hope others will learn from it and become more
honest with themselves and with others.

A previous poster said that Christianity is a 'lost cause' from his perspective because of the belief in the Holy Trinity. However the approval of lies and deception with Taqiyya and Kitman in Islam tell me that it's a doctrine of the demonic. God doesn't lie. Demons do. And people who use deception to further their religion are evil.

FlyersFan

Sahabi
To be honest, when a non-Muslim is speaking to a Muslim about controversial topics,... it may be impossible to know if the Muslim is sincerely telling the truth, or sugar-coating their ill-will.

Thank you for the information. You have just confirmed what I already suspected to be true.
I appreciate your honesty and your input. I hope others will learn from it and become more
honest with themselves and with others.

A previous poster said that Christianity is a 'lost cause' from his perspective because of the belief in the Holy Trinity. However the approval of lies and deception with Taqiyya and Kitman in Islam tell me that it's a doctrine of the demonic. God doesn't lie. Demons do. And people who use deception to further their religion are evil.

In every religion that humanity have created there are the yin and yang (the true light workers and their opposite the blind lost ones). So there are in Islam also light workers who know things, that the opposite have not experienced since their so call service to god is tainted.

Read about Sufism, Salafist and Wahhabism and you will see why the tree of Islam is not giving of good fruits that love all soul brothers and soul sisters instead of hate the "infidels".

sk0rpi0n
As for christianity, it is a lost case... It is deemed polytheistic by both muslims and jews.

Even though Christianity isn't polytheistic there are some people who are THICK HEADED and refuse to understand or acknowledge the fact that Christianity believes in ONE GOD Who appears in three manifestations - God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. ONE GOD ... three manifestations.

Of course, some of those may really know that Christians believe in one god, but they still run around telling lies and claim that Christians believe in multiple Gods. Taqiyya and Kitman at work. Sick and sad ...