Some quote Qur’an 3:113-115 and say there is no need for People of the Book to accept Islam if they are sincere and fit the description of those mentioned in Qur’an 3:113-115. These verses say:
“Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (for the right): they rehearse the signs of God all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in God and the Last Day: they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong: and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: they are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them: for God knows well those that do right.”
In Islam, we respect sincere faith and true righteousness in whatever form they appear. However the reaction of some of those spoken of in the verses above to the Qur’an when they hear and understand it is described in more detail in Qur’an 5:85-89 where Allah says:
“Strongest among men in enmity to the Believers will you find the Jews and Pagans: and nearest among them in love to the Believers will you find those who say, “We are Christians”: because among these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant. And when they listen to the revelation received by the Apostle (Muhammad, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears, for they recognize the truth: They pray: “Our Lord! We believe, write us down among the witnesses. What cause can we have not to believe in God and the truth which has come to us, seeing that we long for our Lord to admit us to the company of the righteous?” And for this their prayer hath Allah rewarded them with Gardens, with rivers flowing underneath – their eternal home (of Paradise), such is the recompense of those who do good. But those who reject Faith and give the lie to our Signs – they shall be companions of Hell-Fire”
Every human being should keep searching for the truth – for God to
“Guide us to and along His Straight Path”.
Sincere searchers of truth (who may be innocently ignorant of the truth of “Islam”) is what the above verses refers to and not to bent denyers of God’s revelation or those who just do not care to know God’s will for them. How can one claim to be really interested in doing good, while at the same time reject or be uninterested in the divine guidance and truth from the All-knowing and All-Wise regarding what is right and what wrong and how to enjoin the right and forbid the wrong.
How many non-Muslims today can claim to belong to the first category described in the Qur’anic verse above? In summary, Allah says:
“You (Muslims) are indeed the best Community that has been brought forth for (the good of) mankind: (in that) you enjoin the doing of what is right, and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and you believe in God. Now if the followers of earlier revelation had attained to (this kind) of faith, it would have been for their own good. Among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors” (Qur’an 3:110).
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