The priests, pundits and all religious scholars and imams defend the religions they belong to and are neither ready to accept the viewpoint of the other religions and believe in their prophets other than the one they follow. This happens because of very limited scope of viewpoint and the fear that if the later religions are believed in, their own religion will be left redundant.
If we look back and follow the history of prophethood and the Divine religion they preached, it was the same as was embodied in all the four Divine Scriptures. It was also been seen that all religions stem from the father of all prophets, Ibraheem (Abraham, peace be upon him). The only difference being that every new Divine Scripture had something to add upon what was revealed previously. And the lineage of prophets after Abraham finally culminated with the last of the prophets, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, and last of the Divine Scriptures, Qur'an. And unlike man made religious names like Jews and Christians, it is only Islam which addresses all believers who believe in One True God as Muslims, and no other name attributed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
And whenever the Prophet tried to talk to them (Jews and Christians) and asked them to join in the final religion, they would say (as mentioned in 135th verse of Surah 2. Al Baqarah): [This is the tradition of their forefathers] and, contrary to this, they insist: “Only if you become a Jew or a Christian that you will be guided.” [And it was commanded by Allah] to Tell them: Adopt, in fact, the religion of Abraham, who was fully inclined [to His Lord] and was not among the idolaters.
Muslims do not discriminate between the prophets of God – something which the People of other Books do. Muslims do not disprove a directive of God nor refute it and believe in all directives without any discrimination.
And next verse, 136th, then explains that we as Muslims believe in all the prophets right from Abraham, and his following prophets and Divine Scriptures given to them and that we do not We do not discriminate between anyone among them:
قُوۡلُوۡۤا اٰمَنَّا بِاللّٰہِ وَ مَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَیۡنَا وَ مَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلٰۤی اِبۡرٰہٖمَ وَ اِسۡمٰعِیۡلَ وَ اِسۡحٰقَ وَ یَعۡقُوۡبَ وَ الۡاَسۡبَاطِ وَ مَاۤ اُوۡتِیَ مُوۡسٰی وَ عِیۡسٰی وَ مَاۤ اُوۡتِیَ النَّبِیُّوۡنَ مِنۡ رَّبِّہِمۡ ۚ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَیۡنَ اَحَدٍ مِّنۡہُمۡ ۫ۖ وَ نَحۡنُ لَہٗ مُسۡلِمُوۡنَ
[Believers!] Tell them: “We have believed in God and that which has been revealed to us and that which was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and their children and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and to all other prophets by their Lord. We do not discriminate between anyone among them. [All of them are the messengers of God,] and to Him alone we submit.”
"We do not discriminate against any of them" means that we believe in all the Prophets of Allah and reject none. It is obvious that all the Prophets who came from Allah brought the same Truth and invited the people to the same Guidance and Right Way. Hence anyone who follows the Truth must accept all the Prophets. Those who accept one Prophet and reject the other really reject even the one whom they profess to accept. Had they followed the universal Guidance taught by Moses, Jesus and other Prophets, they could not have rejected any other Prophet (i.e. Muhammad, Allah's peace be upon him). As a matter of fact, they were not following the teachings of any Prophet, but merely professing to accept their own Prophets just because their fathers did so. Thus, their real religion was prejudice, race-worship and blind imitation of their forefathers.
Above is explanation by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. Let us now read what other eminent Muslims scholars in various time frames have explained this verse:
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir: (The Muslim believes in all that Allah `revealed and all the Prophets)
Allah directed His believing servants to believe in what He sent down to them through His Messenger Muhammad and in what was revealed to the previous Prophets in general. Some Prophets Allah mentioned by name, while He did not mention the names of many others. Allah directed the believers to refrain from differentiating between the Prophets and to believe in them all. They should avoid imitating whomever Allah described as:
(And wish to make distinction between Allah and His Messengers (by believing in Allah and disbelieving in His Messengers) saying, "We believe in some but reject others,' and wish to adopt a way in between. They are in truth disbelievers) (4:150-151).
Al-Bukhari narrated that Abu Hurayrah said, "The People of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and translate it into Arabic for the Muslims. The Messenger of Allah said:
(Do not believe the People of the Book, nor reject what they say. Rather, say, `We believe in Allah and in what was sent down to us.)'
Also, Muslim, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "Mostly, the Messenger of Allah used to recite:
(We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us) (2: 136), and,
(We believe in Allah, and bear witness that we are Muslims (i.e. we submit to Allah)) (3:52) during the two (voluntary) Rak`at before Fajr.'
Abu Al-`Aliyah, Ar-Rabi` and Qatadah said, "Al-Asbat are the twelve sons of Jacob, and each one of them had an Ummah of people from his descendants. This is why they were called Al-Asbat.' Al-Khalil bin Ahmad and others said, "Al-Asbat among the Children of Israel are just like the tribes among the Children of Isma`il.'' This means that the Asbat are the various tribes of the Children of Israel, among whom Allah sent several Prophets. Moses said to the Children of Israel,
(Remember the favor of Allah to you: when He made Prophets among you, made you kings) (5:20). Also, Allah said,
(And We divided them into twelve tribes) (7:160).
Al-Qurtubi said, "Sibt is the group of people or a tribe all belonging to the same ancestors.' Qatadah said, "Allah commanded the believers to believe in Him and in all His Books and Messengers. '' Also, Sulayman bin Habib said, "We were commanded to believe in the (original) Torah and Injil, but not to implement them.''
Muhammad Asad Explanation:
(...Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and their descendants,) Lit., "the grandchildren" (al-asbat, sing. sibt) - a term used in the Qur'an to describe, in the first instance, Abraham's, Isaac's and Jacob's immediate descendants, and, consequently, the twelve tribes which evolved from this ancestry.
(We make no distinction between any of them) I.e., "we regard them all as true prophets of God".
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
Then the Muslims are called upon to acknowledge and declare an overall unity of faith, from that of Abraham right up to that of Jesus and Muhammad ﷺ.
The principle of the unity and universality of faith, and the unity of all prophets and messengers all through the ages, is the cornerstone of Islamic faith. It lends legitimacy to the Muslim community’s claim to the legacy of Abraham and to the right of trusteeship for God’s religion in this world. It is this principle as a fundamental backbone of Islam that gives it its universal characteristic, which brings people together under the same banner, free of all prejudice or discrimination. It makes the Muslim community open to all people in a spirit of genuine love and peace.
This leads to the conclusion that Islam, in its broad, universal sense, is the true guidance. Its followers shall succeed and prosper while its opponents will never find a firm basis to stand upon. On the contrary, they will live in constant turmoil and confusion.
وَالْأَسْبَاطِ – Used in the Qur’an only to describe tribes connected to Jacob [Ya'qub] – appears 5 times in the Qur’an – of which 4 are immediately after name of Yaqub.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door.
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.
May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.
Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from the following sources:
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Yusuf Ali Translation
- Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Qur'an Wiki
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
- Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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