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 ]