Surah Al-Baqara (2) — Ayah 62

(Ayah 62) ➊ In the verses before and after this verse, there is mention of the favors bestowed upon the Children of Israel and, in contrast, their evil deeds. This verse has come in between due to a special relevance, which is that when the matter reached the imposition of humiliation and misery upon them and their becoming the target of Allah’s wrath, Allah Almighty, according to His custom, deemed it necessary to mention His mercy for them—that not every individual among the Children of Israel is a target of this humiliation, misery, and divine wrath. Allah Almighty was extremely merciful before as well, and the door of repentance is still open. If any among them is characterized by faith and righteous deeds, whether it was before the advent of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)—such as those who, before him, believed in their respective prophets and performed righteous deeds—or among the Jews and Christians in his time who believed, for example, Abdullah bin Salam, Suhaib, and Salman (may Allah be pleased with them), the reward of all is preserved with Allah Almighty. To further reassure the Jews and Christians, Muslims and Sabians were also mentioned alongside, so that Allah’s mercy is not restricted to any particular lineage; the only condition is faith and righteous deeds. [ التحریر والتنویر ]

➋ Some people have tried to prove from this verse that even now, if Christians, Jews, and Sabians remain on their respective religions and perform righteous deeds, they will attain salvation just like Muslims. This is completely wrong, because in the Torah and Gospel, the Children of Israel have been clearly commanded to believe in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). For references, see the footnotes of Surah Al-A'raf (157) and Surah As-Saff (6). Now, if any of them does not believe in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), then he does not even believe in the Torah and Gospel; how can he attain salvation? «{ وَ مَنْ يَّبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْاِسْلَامِ دِيْنًا فَلَنْ يُّقْبَلَ مِنْهُ } » [ آل عمران : ۸۵ ] “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him.” This is what is stated in this verse. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ وَالَّذِيْ نَفْسُ مُحَمَّدٍ بِيَدِهٖ لاَ يَسْمَعُ بِيْ أَحَدٌ مِنْ هٰذِهِ الْاُمَّةِ يَهُوْدِيٌّ وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيٌّ ثُمَّ يَمُوْتُ وَلَمْ يُؤْمِنْ بِالَّذِيْ أُرْسِلْتُ بِهٖ إِلاَّ كَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّارِ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب وجوب الإیمان برسالۃ … : ۱۵۳ ] “By Him in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad (peace be upon him)! There is none from this Ummah, whether Jew or Christian, who hears about me and then does not believe in me, except that he will enter the Fire.”

➌ { الصّٰبِئِيْنَ:} is the plural of { ”صَابِیءٌ“ }, its root is (ص، ب، ء). A person who leaves one religion for another is derived from the expression {’’صَبَأَ نَابُ الْبَعِيْرِ‘‘}, which means the canine tooth of a camel has come out. In one recitation, it is {’’اَلصَّابِيْنَ‘‘}, which is from the same {”الصّٰبِئِيْنَ“} with the hamzah lightened, and some have said rather it is from {’’صَبَا يَصْبُوْ ‘‘}, which means to incline, i.e., he inclined from one religion to another. (Raghib)

That is why, when a person became Muslim, the disbelievers of Quraysh used to call him a Sabi. It appears that, like the Jews and Christians, these people were also upon a heavenly religion, which is why they are mentioned alongside them in this verse. Later, corruption appeared among them and they began to worship the stars. These people used to conceal their religion to the utmost; the Shi'a Ismailis took the practice of concealing religion from them. There are various statements from the Companions and Followers regarding their being People of the Book. [ تفصیل کے لیے دیکھیے: جصاص، الفہرست لابن ندیم، الملل والنحل ]

62. 1 Yahud is derived from Hawadah (meaning love) or Tahood (meaning repentance), so their name was originally given due to repenting or having love for one another. However, the followers of Musa (عليه السلام) are called Yahud.

62. 2 Nasara. Nasara is the plural of Nasrani, just as Sakkari is the plural of Sakran. Its root is Nusrat; they were named this because of helping one another, and they are also called Ansar, as they called ‘Isa (عليه السلام) that in verse (نَحْنُ اَنْصَار اللّٰهِ) 61:14. The followers of ‘Isa (عليه السلام) are called Nasara, who are also called Christians.

62. 3 Sabeans. Sabi'in is the plural of Sabi. These people were certainly, in the beginning, followers of a true religion (that is why the Qur’an mentions them alongside Judaism and Christianity), but later angel worship and star worship entered among them, or they did not remain followers of any religion. That is why irreligious people began to be called Sabi.

62. 4 Some commentators made a mistake in understanding the meaning of this verse, that it is not necessary to accept the Prophethood of Muhammad, but whoever believes in any religion and has faith accordingly and does good deeds will attain salvation. This philosophy is a grave sin. The correct interpretation of the verse is this: When Allah mentioned in the previous verses the evil deeds and rebellion of the Jews and, because of that, their deserving of punishment, a question could arise as to what Allah did or will do with those among the Jews who were true followers of the divine book and lived according to the guidance of their prophet. Allah clarified this: not only the Jews, but also the Christians and Sabeans, in their own times, those who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteous deeds, all of them will attain salvation in the Hereafter. Similarly, Muslims who believe in the Prophethood of Muhammad, if they properly maintain faith in Allah and the Last Day and do righteous deeds, they too will certainly be entitled to the eternal blessings of the Hereafter. No distinction will be made with anyone in salvation in the Hereafter; there will be an impartial decision, whether they are Muslims or Jews, Christians, and Sabeans who passed before the Messenger of the Last Age ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said: “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, any person from this Ummah who hears about me, whether he is a Jew or a Christian, then does not believe in me, he will enter Hell.” Where this is the result of ignoring other Qur’anic verses, there is also a great role in the blameworthy effort to understand the Qur’an without hadith. Therefore, it is absolutely correct to say that the Qur’an cannot be understood without authentic hadith.

62. Indeed, those who (apparently) believe, and those who are Jews, or Christians [80], or Sabians (without a specific religion)—whoever among them truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous deeds, they will have their reward with their Lord. And there will be no fear upon them, nor will they grieve.

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The Alleged Beliefs of the People of the Book:

Both the Jews and the Christians used to say, as in verse ﴿نَحْنُ اَبْنٰؤُا اللّٰهِ وَاَحِبَّاؤُهٗ ﴾ [18: 5], "We are the sons of Allah and His beloved ones." The Jews said this because they were the descendants of the prophets, and the Christians because they were the community of the son of Allah ﴿مسيح ابن مريم﴾, who, according to their belief, was crucified as atonement for the sins of the community. Allah Almighty struck a severe blow to this alleged belief of these people, saying: Whoever, whether he is a Jew, a Christian, or a Sabian (one who changes his religion), believes in Allah and the Last Day and, out of fear of accountability, does righteous deeds—salvation will be only for such a person. Lineage and relationships will be of no use on that Day.