2. Al-Baqara

Allah chose Abraham because of his swiftness in surrendering, telling him to be faithful and devoted to Him in worship and to humbly do as He instructed. Abraham replied to his Lord saying that he had surrendered in devotion to Him, Who created His servants, providing for them and taking care of their affairs.

Abraham advised his sons to also say, ‘I have surrendered to the Lord of people’; and Jacob told his sons to do the same. They told their sons that Allah had chosen for them the religion of surrendering in devotion, Islam, and to hold on to it tightly until they died, surrendering sincerely to Allah on the inside and the outside.

Were you present at the time of Jacob’s death, when he asked his sons what they would worship after he had died? They replied to him, saying that they would worship Allah, the Lord of his forefathers – Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac – namely, the One Allah without partners; and they said that they surrendered in devotion to Him alone and were bound to Him.

That nation has passed away like other communities. They gained whatever they did in their lives, earning either good or evil; and you will gain what you have earned. You will not be asked about what they did, and they will not be asked about what you do. No one is held to account for the disobedience of another, but everyone is rewarded according to their own actions. You should not be distracted from paying attention to your own behaviour by looking at what those before you did. Nothing will benefit anyone except his own good actions.

The Jews told the Muslims that they would have to be Jews if they were to be rightly guided; and the Christians told them that they would have to be Christians if they were to be rightly-guided. Tell them, O Prophet, in answer, that you follow the religion of Abraham, who turned away from other false ways of life to the way of truth. He did not worship others next to Allah, as some do.

Tell the Jews and Christians who make these baseless claims that you have faith in Allah and the Qur’ān which He revealed to you, and in what He revealed to Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac, and to Jacob, and in what He revealed to the prophets from the descendants of Jacob. Say that you have faith in the Torah which Allah gave to Moses, and the Gospel which He gave to Jesus, and in all the scriptures that He gave to every one of the prophets, with no distinction between them, having faith in all of them, not only having faith in some and rejecting others. Tell them that you humbly surrender to Him alone.

Hold tightly to the religion of Allah which is the natural way of life for you, on the inside and outside. There is no better way of life than the path of Allah, which agrees with our nature, benefiting us in every way and protecting us from evil and corruption. Say that you worship Allah alone and do not worship anything apart from Him.

If the People of the Scripture argue with you, saying they have more right to Allah and His religion than you do because their way of life is older and their scriptures came before yours, then it will not benefit them. Allah is the Lord of everyone, and He is not for them alone. Tell them, O Prophet, that you have your actions which they will not be asked about; and they have their actions which you will not be asked about. Everyone will be rewarded according to what they have done. Tell them that you are sincere to Allah in your worship and in doing as He instructs you, and that you do not worship anything apart from Him.

Or do you say, O People of the Scripture, that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the prophets from Jacob’s descendants were on the path of the Jews or Christians? Ask, O Prophet, in reply to them, whether they are more knowledgeable or is Allah. If they claim that they were Jews or Christians, then what they say is false, because they were sent and died before the Torah and the Gospel were revealed. This shows that what they say is a lie against Allah and His Prophet, and that they hid the truth of what was revealed to them. No one does greater wrong than someone who hides firm evidence that they have from Allah, as some of the People of the Scripture did. Allah is not unaware of what you do, and you will be rewarded accordingly.