THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
No Community Favoured
The Quran says:
The believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans
—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and
do good deeds—will be rewarded by their Lord
they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.
THE QURAN 2: 62
FOUR communities are mentioned in this verse: Muslims, who are the followers of the Prophet Muhammad; Jews who follow the Prophet Moses; Christians, who follow the Prophet Jesus; and Sabeans, who adhered to the teachings of John the Baptist, the Prophet Yahya. The last-mentioned sect resided in Iraq in ancient times, but is now extinct. They were people of the Book, and offered their prayers facing the Kabah in Makkah.
No community is inherently superior to any other.
Here the Muslims have not been mentioned separately, but have been grouped with other communities associated with prophets. This means that all ethnic groups are equal in the sight of God; no community is inherently superior to any other. Only true belief and righteous actions are rewarded with salvation. This is the rule that applies consistently to every community.
No one, whether he calls himself Muslim, Jew, Christian or Sabaean, is exempt from this rule. Belonging to a particular community gives no special status in the eyes of God. God elevates to a high rank only those who have sought to mould their own lives according to His divine scheme.
The lives of those who associate with a prophet during his lifetime are always based on true belief and righteous actions. At that time certain people hear the Prophet’s call. Their spirits are moved by his message: an intellectual revolution takes place within them, filling them with new resolve. Their whole pattern of life changes. Where, previously, they had been guided by personal desires, they now base their lives on the teachings of God, and may truly call themselves followers of the prophets; these are the ones to whom the prophets gave good tidings of eternal blessings in the next world.
The situation changes, however, as time passes. For the generations that follow, religion becomes a kind of national heritage. Tidings, which had been given on the basis of faith and righteous actions come to be considered to be the result of ethnic affiliations.
God does not have a special relationship with
any particular community.
People reckon that they have a special relationship with God that others do not enjoy: one who belongs to a particular community is sure to be saved, notwithstanding the standard of his faith and deeds; paradise is for us, hell for them. But God does not have a special relationship with any particular community. He has regard solely for man’s thoughts and deeds. In the Hereafter, people will be judged according to their deeds and character, and not on the basis of the group to which they belong. o
Creating History Anew
We can create a nation only if
its inhabitants are imbued with
a sense of purpose and, to that end,
we must educate our people: they must have
full knowledge of both the past and the present
if they are to progress towards an ideal future.
We have to inculcate in them the will to work in a
united fashion in spite of their disagreements.
We have to instill in them the courage to
sacrifice their personal feelings and
their short-term interests for
long-term ones. Only then
will it be possible to fashion history anew.