An apparent conflict here?

[Mubashir]

Salam All: A questioner wants to know about an apparent confilct here:
 
Surat 'Āli `Imrān (Family of Imran) - سورة آل عمران
[Sahih International]
 

And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.
 
Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow) - سورة البقرة

Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] - those [among them] who
believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.
------------------------------
Thanks. If this subject has already been dealt with, would appreciate a link to it.

[Adil Husain]

Salamun alaikum ,
Quran says that among the people of the book , there are some people in minority who believes in Allah , do not do shirk , work righteously , and submit to the will of Allah.

2:62 is referring to such kind of people.


"And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be
among the losers."

This can be translated is a more better way i think.

"And whoever desires other than submission to Allah as religion/system - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Here after, will be
 among the losers."

Hope it helps.

[Mubashir]

Thanks for your reply Br Aadil.

Some (as the example below) seem to suggest that other than followers of Qur'an and the blessed Rasool Muhammad, all (Jews, Christians and Sabeans) are going to hell:

".........Please note the following points:

1. The verb used "believed" in 2:62 is in perfect tense equivalent to past tense of English with reference to period of revelation of Quran.

2. Read the verse 2:63 which clarifies that if they act according to original book given to them, then this condition applies.

3. The verb used "seeks" in 3:85 is in imperfect tense equivalent to present and future tense of English with reference to period of revelation of Quran.

In short, verse 2:62 refers position before revelation of Quran and verse 3:65 refers position after revelation of Quran.
Once Quran is revealed see the position in verse 2:137 "So if they believe as ye believe, they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism;"

So, if you read verses in right context, there is no contradiction.

Verify above content yourself by clicking following links:
http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=2&verse=62

http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=3&verse=85

http://www.searchtruth.com/chapter_display_all.php?chapter=2&from_verse=137&to_verse=137&mac&translation_setting=1&show_transliteration=1&show_yusufali=1&show_shakir=1&show_pickthal=1&show_mkhan=1

The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran
corpus.quran.com
Welcome to the Quranic Arabic Corpus, an annotated linguistic resource which shows the Arabic grammar, syntax and morphology for each word in the Holy Quran. Click on an Arabic word below to see details of the word's grammar, or to suggest a correction
----------------------------
[Sigh] with so many different interpretations what are simple commoners supposed to do? Reminds me of an Urdu couplet:

Illahi teray saada dil banday bata aakhir kahan jaayen

(God, where should your simple-minded servants supposed to go for guidance?

[Adil Husain]

Salamun alaikum Brother Mubashir ,

Brother , I do not find any reason  why 2:62 is referring specifically to pre-quranic era ONLY.

2:62  (Yusuf Ali)  Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

2:62  (Shakir)  Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

2:62  (Pickthall)  Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans - whoever believeth in Allah 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.

In corpus.quran , it is translated as 'Those who believed' which can be used while referring to past as well as present situation according to me.

'Those who believed' is referring to peoples who were Muslims , who reverted to Islam(Submission to Allah) before this verse (2:62) was  revealed.  (Muslims during time of Muhammad and past times)


28:51 And We have delivered the message, perhaps they may take heed.
28:52 Those to whom We had given the Book before this, they will believe in it.
28:53 And if it is recited to them, they say: “We believe in it. It is the truth from our Lord. Indeed, we had submitted before it (Arabic - Muslimina)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now what you extract from 3:85 depends on how you translate ISLAM and DEEN as.
'A Religion of Islam' (Islam being untranslated) or 'SYSTEM of SUBMISSION' to Allah.

Please see these articles ,
http://www.quransmessage.com/articles/muslim%20mumin%20FM3.htm
http://www.quransmessage.com/articles/people%20of%20the%20book%20FM3.htm


3:113-114
"Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand: They rehearse the verses 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 good deeds: They are in the ranks of the righteous"

[HOPE]

Peace,

5:69  Those who believe and those who are Jews, Sabeans and Christians- anyone who believes in God and the Last Day, and acts honorably, should have no fear nor will they be saddened.

The criterion seems to be God consciousness.  Other than a Muslim, Jew or a Christian, anyone who has faith in a Super Power alone whether called God/Creator/Rabb/Essence of existence we do not conceive; feels indebted to this Essence and is certain that he will be accountable for his debt in the end is acceptable by Allah.  These verses emphasize that intolerance of different faiths of fellow men should be avoided and left with God.

[Mubashir]

Thank you all for your comments.

Should there be any consideration (keeping other verses of the Qur'an on the subject in mind)  for a disqualifier for 2:62 i.e. it does not include those who believe in a Trinitarian concept of God, or a God with human qualities that comes down and wrestles with man (as stated in the Bible) or comes down to smell the burnt offering.

Need we pay attention to "Unless they believe as you (Muhammad) believe?

[HOPE]

Peace brother Mubashir,

The multiplicity of religions is God's will
"For each of you We have appointed a law and traced out a path and if God had so willed, He would have made you one community"  5:48

If they are not fighting me for my belief or supporting to expel me from my home, there is no reason for me not to be cordial with them.  58:22

Surah 109 reminds me to affirm my own faith rather than expend energy with another's divergence.

[Adil Husain]

Salamun alaikum Brother Mubashir,

Of-course it does not include those who believe in TRINITY or God with HUMAN QUALITIES or any other form of shirk within the category of believers or people of the book.

2:62  (Shakir)  Surely those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah and the Last day and does good, they shall have their reward from their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.

There are 4  categories mentioned in 2:62 and 5:69
1-Believers (who are distinct) , 2- Christians , 3- Jews , 4- Sabiens

And then requirements and outcome is mentioned in later part of those verses.

I don't know what Bible says , but a person can believe in God and the last day based on his UNDERSTANDING , KNOWLEDGE and ANALYSIS of things around him.
We all know that among Orthodox Muslims too , many false stories are famous which contains shirk (like Giving Human Qualities to Allah , Exaggerating the status of Prophet Muhammad , etc)  but many Orthodox Muslims just neglect these stories.

Also majority of Christians do not read and analyze Bible , so the major factor which determines one's concept of God is Analysis of things around them. 
There are many Christians who do not believe in trinity and Jesus as a god.

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”
 -Abraham Lincoln

Only Allah knows best.

[Syed Ijlal Hussain]

Thanks for your reply Br Aadil.

Some (as the example below) seem to suggest that other than followers of Qur'an and the blessed Rasool Muhammad, all (Jews, Christians and Sabeans) are going to hell:

".........Please note the following points:

1. The verb used "believed" in 2:62 is in perfect tense equivalent to past tense of English with reference to period of revelation of Quran.

2. Read the verse 2:63 which clarifies that if they act according to original book given to them, then this condition applies.

3. The verb used "seeks" in 3:85 is in imperfect tense equivalent to present and future tense of English with reference to period of revelation of Quran.

In short, verse 2:62 refers position before revelation of Quran and verse 3:65 refers position after revelation of Quran.
Once Quran is revealed see the position in verse 2:137 "So if they believe as ye believe, they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism;"

So, if you read verses in right context, there is no contradiction.

Verify above content yourself by clicking following links:
http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=2&verse=62

http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=3&verse=85

http://www.searchtruth.com/chapter_display_all.php?chapter=2&from_verse=137&to_verse=137&mac&translation_setting=1&show_transliteration=1&show_yusufali=1&show_shakir=1&show_pickthal=1&show_mkhan=1

The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran
corpus.quran.com
Welcome to the Quranic Arabic Corpus, an annotated linguistic resource which shows the Arabic grammar, syntax and morphology for each word in the Holy Quran. Click on an Arabic word below to see details of the word's grammar, or to suggest a correction
----------------------------
[Sigh] with so many different interpretations what are simple commoners supposed to do? Reminds me of an Urdu couplet:

Illahi teray saada dil banday bata aakhir kahan jaayen

(God, where should your simple-minded servants supposed to go for guidance?

Dear brother Mubashir,

From what I could gather from your post, you seem to support the view that once Quran had been revealed, one HAS to believe in it otherwise there is no salvation (forgive my use of strong words); as long as the revelation was not completed, those following previous scriptures earnestly will be blessed in the hereafter along with believing Muslims.

If I am correct in my deduction on what you have stated, then do let me know; I shall proceed further only then...

Thanks and Peace to all!

Ijlal

[HOPE]

Peace,

5:82-83  I believe we should adopt the attitude of those Christians mentioned in these verses. Be open  to recognize the truth in other religions wherever found and be happy about it.