Islam Reflection Paper

Read the excerpts from the Quran. Then, answer the question: Do these passages present a single and easily discernable Islamic attitude toward relations with Jews and Christians? Justify your answer with reference to your understanding of specific Quranic verses.

EXCERPTS FROM THE QURAN:

 

Chapter 2

  1. Lo! those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans whoever believeth in God and the Last Day and doeth right surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

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  1. And they say: None entereth Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian. These are their own desires. Say: Bring your proof (of what ye state) if ye are truthful.
    112. Nay, but whosoever surrendereth his purpose to God while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.
    113. And the Jews say the Christians follow nothing (true), and the Christians say the Jews follow nothing (true); yet both are readers of the Scripture. Even thus speak those who know not. God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they differ.
    114. And who doth greater wrong than he who forbiddeth the approach to the sanctuaries of God lest His name should be mentioned therein, and striveth for their ruin? As for such, it was never meant that they should enter them except in fear. Theirs in the world is ignominy and theirs in the Hereafter is an awful doom.

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  1. And they say: God hath taken unto Himself a Son. Be He glorified! Nay, but whatsoever is in the heaven and the earth, His. All are subservient unto Him.

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  1. And the Jews will not be pleased with thee, nor will the Christians, till thou follow their creed. Say: Lo! the guidance of God is Guidance. And if thou shouldst follow their desires after the knowledge has come unto thee, then wouldst thou have from God no protecting guardian nor helper.

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  1. And guard yourselves against a day when no soul will avail another, nor will compensation be accepted from it, nor will intercession be of use to it; nor will they be helped.

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  1. And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Nay, but (we follow) the religion of Abraham, the upright, and he was not of the idolaters.
    136. Say (O Muslims): We believe in God and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob and the tribes (of Israel), and that which Moses and Jesus received, add that which the Prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered.
  2. And if they believe in the like of that which ye believe, then are they rightly guided. But if they turn away, then are they in schism, and God will suffice thee (for defence) against them. He is the Hearer, the Knower.
    138. (We take our) color from God, and who is better than God at coloring. We are His worshippers.
    139. Say: Dispute ye with us concerning God when He is our Lord and your Lord? Ours are our works and yours your works. We look to Him alone.
  3. Or say ye that Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Do ye know best, or doth God? And who is more unjust than he who hides a testimony which he hath received from God? God is not unaware of what ye do.

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  1. There is no compulsion in religion. The right direction is henceforth distinct from error. And he who rejects false deities and believes in God has grasped a firm hand hold which will never break.

 

Chapter 3

  1. They are not all alike. Among the People of the Scripture (term meaning: “Jews and Christians” specifically) there is a staunch community who recite the revelations of God in the night season, falling prostrate (before Him).
    114. They believe in God and the Last Day, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency, and vie one with another in good works. They are of the righteous.
    115. And whatever good they do, they will not be denied it. God is Aware of those who ward off (evil).

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  1. And Lo! of the People of the Scripture there are some who believe in God and that which is revealed unto you and that which was revealed unto them, humbling themselves before God. They purchase not a trifling gain at the price of the revelations of God. Verily their reward is with their Lord, and Lo! God is swift to take account.

 

Chapter 5

  1. This day are (all) good things made lawful for you. The food of those who have received the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And (lawful too) are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you (ie- Jews and Christians), when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honor, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines.

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  1. God made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel and We raised among them twelve chieftains: and God said: Lo! I am with you. If ye establish worship and pay the poor due, and believe in My messengers and support them, and lend unto God a kindly loan, surely I shall remit your sins, and surely I shall bring you into gardens underneath which rivers flow. Whoso among you disbelieveth after this will go astray from a plain road.
    13. And because of their breaking their covenant, We have cursed them and made hard their hearts. They change words from their context and forget a part of that whereof they were admonished. Thou wilt not cease to discover treachery from all save a few of them. But bear with them and pardon them. Lo! God loveth the kindly.

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  1. They indeed have disbelieved who say: Lo! God is the Messiah, son of Mary. Say: Who then can do aught against God, if He had willed to destroy the Messiah son of Mary, and his mother and everyone on earth? God’s is the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. He createth what He will. And God is Able to do all things.

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  1. How come they unto thee for judgment when they have the Torah, wherein God hath delivered judgment (for them)? Yet even after that they turn away. Such (folk) are not believers.
    44. Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light, by which the Prophets who surrendered (unto God) judged the Jews, and the rabbis and the priests (judged) by such of God’s Scripture as they were bidden to observe, and thereunto were they witnesses. So fear not mankind, but fear Me. And barter not My revelations for a little gain. Whoso judgeth not by that which God hath revealed: such are disbelievers.
    45. And We prescribed for them therein: The life for the life, and the eye for the eye, and the nose for the nose, and the ear for the ear, and the tooth for the tooth, and for wounds retaliation. But whoso forgoeth it (in the way of charity) it shall be expiation for him. Whoso judgeth not by that which God hath revealed: such are wrong doers.
    46. And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the Torah a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil).
    47. Let the People of the Gospel judge by that which God hath revealed therein. Whoso judgeth not by that which God hath revealed; such are evil livers.
    48. And unto thee have We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it. So judge between them by that which God hath revealed, and follow not their desires away from the truth which hath come unto thee. For each We have appointed a divine law and a traced out way. Had God willed He could have made you one community. But that He may try you by that which He hath given you (He hath made you as ye are). So compete one with another in good works. Unto God ye will all return, and He will then inform you of that wherein ye differ.
    49. So judge between them by that which God hath revealed, and follow not their desires, but beware of them lest they seduce thee from some part of that which God hath revealed unto thee. And if they turn away, then know that God’s will is to smite them for some sin of theirs. Lo! many of mankind are evil livers.

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  1. O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians as guardians. They are guardians one to another. He among you who taketh them for a guardian is (one) of them. Lo! God guideth not wrongdoing folk.
    52. And thou seest those in whose heart is a disease race toward them, saying: We fear lest a change of fortune befall us. And it may happen that God will vouchsafe (unto thee) the victory, or a commandment from His presence. Then will they repent of their secret thoughts.

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  1. O ye who believe! Choose not for guardians such of those who received the Scripture before you, and of the disbelievers, as make a jest and sport of your religion. But keep your duty to God if ye are true believers.
    58. And when ye call to prayer they take it for a jest and sport. That is because they are a folk who understand not.
  2. Say: O, People of the Scripture! Do ye blame us for aught else than that we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed aforetime, and because most of you are evil livers

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  1. If only the People of the Scripture would believe and ward off (evil), surely We should remit their sins from them and surely We should bring them into Gardens of Delight.
    66. If they had observed the Torah and the Gospel and that which was revealed unto them from their Lord, they would surely have been nourished from above them and from beneath their feet. Among them there are people who are moderate, but many of them are of evil conduct.

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  1. Lo! those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Sabaeans, and Christians whosoever believeth in God and the Last Day and doeth right there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

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  1. They surely disbelieve who say : Lo! God is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said : O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto God, for him God hath forbidden Paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evildoers there will be no helpers.
  2. They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! God is the third of three; when there is no God save the One God. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve.
    74. Will they not rather turn unto God and seek forgiveness of Him? For God is Forgiving, Merciful.
    75. The Messiah, son of Mary, was no other than a messenger, messengers (the like of whom) had passed away before him. And his mother was a saintly woman. And they both used to eat (earthly) food. See how we make the revelations clear for them, and see how they are turned away!

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  1. Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (ie- the Muslims), the Jews and the idolaters. And thou wilt find the nearest of them in affection to those who believe (to be) those who say: Lo! We are Christians. That is because there are among them priests and monks, and because they are not proud.

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  1. And when God saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside God? he saith: Be glorified It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou art the Knower of Things Hidden.
  2. I spake unto them only that which Thou commandedst me, (saying): Worship God, my Lord and your Lord. I was a witness of them while I dwelt among them, and when Thou tookest me Thou wast the Watcher over them. Thou art Witness over all things.
    118. If Thou punish them, lo! they are Thy slaves, and if Thou forgive them (lo! they are Thy slaves). Lo! Thou, only Thou art the Mighty, the Wise.

 

Chapter 9

  1. Fight against those who do not believe in God and the Last Day of Judgment, and do not forbid what God and his messenger have forbidden, and do not give proper due to the religion of truth, even if it be among the ones given the Scripture, until they pay the tribute into your hand, being brought low.

 

Chapter 22

  1. Sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged; and God is indeed Able to give them victory;
  2. Those who have been driven from their homes unjustly only because they said: Our Lord is God. For had it not been for God’s repelling some men by means of others, cloisters and churches and oratories and mosques, wherein the name of God is oft mentioned, would assuredly have been pulled down. Verily God helpeth one who helpeth Him. Lo! God is Strong, Almighty.

 

Chapter 29

  1. And argue not with the People of the Scripture unless it be in (a way) that is better, save with such of them as do wrong; and say: We believe in that which hath been revealed unto us and revealed unto you; our God and your God is One, and unto Him we surrender.

 

Chapter 41

  1. The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one that is better, then lo! the one– between whom and thee there was enmity– (will be) as a bosom friend.

 

Chapter 60

  1. God does not forbid that you deal kindly and justly with those who do not fight you for the sake of your religion or drive you out of your homes. Lo! God loves the just.
  2. God forbids you only those who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes and helped to drive you out, that you should make friends of them. Whosoever maketh friends of them, such are wrong doers.