Jews and Christians in the Quran
The Quran has a complex and often contradictory relationship with Judaism and Christianity. On one hand, it refers to Jews and Christians as "People of the Book" (Ahl al-Kitab) who received earlier revelations from God. On the other hand, it accuses them of corrupting their scriptures, rejecting truth, and deserving divine punishment. Understanding how the Quran portrays Jews and Christians is essential for evaluating Islam's claims and for understanding Muslim-Jewish and Muslim-Christian relations. The portrait that emerges is deeply troubling and has contributed to centuries of religious conflict.
The Dual Attitude: Initial Respect, Later Hostility
The Quran's treatment of Jews and Christians reflects the chronological development of Muhammad's prophetic career. Early Meccan verses show more openness, while later Medinan verses become increasingly hostile. This shift corresponds to Muhammad's experiences: initial hope that Jews and Christians would accept him as a prophet, followed by rejection and conflict.
Early, more positive verses include:
"Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans—those 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." (Quran 2:62)
This verse appears to grant salvation to righteous Jews and Christians. However, Islamic scholars interpret it to mean those who believed before Islam's revelation or those who convert to Islam. The principle of abrogation means that later, more hostile verses supersede this earlier tolerance.
Later, hostile verses include:
"Fight those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah willingly while they are humbled." (Quran 9:29)
This verse commands Muslims to fight against Jews and Christians until they submit to Islamic rule and pay the jizya tax in a state of humiliation. This is not a defensive command but an offensive one directed at non-Muslims simply for being non-Muslims.
The Accusation of Scripture Corruption
A central Quranic charge against Jews and Christians is that they corrupted their scriptures. This doctrine of tahrif (corruption) is essential to Islamic apologetics because the Bible contradicts the Quran in numerous ways. Rather than acknowledge these contradictions, Islam claims the Bible has been corrupted:
"So woe to those who write the 'scripture' with their own hands, then say, 'This is from Allah,' in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn." (Quran 2:79)
"And indeed, there is among them a party who alter the Scripture with their tongues so you may think it is from the Scripture, but it is not from the Scripture. And they say, 'This is from Allah,' but it is not from Allah. And they speak untruth about Allah while they know." (Quran 3:78)
This accusation is historically and textually insupportable. We have thousands of biblical manuscripts dating from before Islam, and they match our current Bible. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, include Old Testament manuscripts from centuries before Christ that correspond to what we have today. The New Testament is the best-attested document from antiquity, with thousands of manuscripts showing remarkable consistency.
The charge of corruption is not based on textual evidence but on theological necessity: the Quran contradicts the Bible, so the Bible must be wrong. This is circular reasoning that assumes what it needs to prove.
Specific Charges Against Jews
The Quran contains numerous severe accusations against Jews:
"And the Jews say, 'The hand of Allah is chained.' Chained are their hands, and cursed are they for what they say." (Quran 5:64)
"Among the Jews are those who distort words from their [proper] usages and say, 'We hear and disobey' and 'Hear but be not heard' and 'Ra'ina,' twisting their tongues and defaming the religion." (Quran 4:46)
"And you will surely find them the most greedy of people for life—[even] more than those who associate others with Allah." (Quran 2:96)
Perhaps most disturbingly, the Quran contains verses that have been used to justify violence against Jews:
"And [for] their saying, 'Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.' And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them... And those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain." (Quran 4:157-158)
While this verse denies the crucifixion (contradicting all historical evidence), it affirms that the Jews intended to kill Jesus and boasted about it, reinforcing anti-Jewish sentiment.
Most notorious is the hadith about the end times:
"The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say, 'O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.'" (Sahih al-Bukhari 52:177)
This apocalyptic vision of Jewish genocide is not merely historical but eschatological—part of Islam's end-times expectation. It has been cited by terrorist groups like Hamas to justify violence against Jews.
Specific Charges Against Christians
While the Quran's treatment of Christians is somewhat less hostile than its treatment of Jews, it nonetheless contains serious accusations and denials of core Christian beliefs:
"They have certainly disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary' while the Messiah has said, 'O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.'" (Quran 5:72)
"They have certainly disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the third of three.' And there is no god except one God." (Quran 5:73)
"O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, 'Three'; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son." (Quran 4:171)
These verses deny the central tenets of Christianity: Jesus' deity, His divine sonship, the Trinity, and the Incarnation. Christians who affirm these doctrines are labeled as disbelievers destined for punishment.
The Quran also denies the crucifixion, as mentioned above (4:157-158), claiming that someone else was made to look like Jesus and was crucified in His place. This "substitution theory" contradicts all historical evidence and the unanimous testimony of first-century sources.
The Practical Impact: Dhimmi Status
The Quranic teaching about Jews and Christians was codified into Islamic law through the dhimmi system. Jews and Christians living under Islamic rule were classified as dhimmis—protected but inferior subjects who had to pay the jizya tax and accept various legal and social disabilities:
- Prohibited from building new houses of worship or repairing old ones
- Required to dress distinctively so Muslims could identify them
- Forbidden from riding horses (a mark of status)
- Forbidden from bearing arms
- Required to stand in the presence of Muslims
- Their testimony in court was worth less than a Muslim's
- They could not hold authority over Muslims
- Strict penalties for any perceived insult to Islam or Muslims
The jizya had to be paid "while they are humbled" (Quran 9:29). Historical sources describe dhimmis being struck on the head or neck while paying, forced to approach the payment office on foot while Muslims rode, and subjected to verbal abuse to emphasize their inferior status.
While some Muslim apologists today present the dhimmi system as benign "protection," the historical reality was systematic discrimination and humiliation. The system was designed to make non-Muslim life under Islam so difficult that conversion became attractive.
The Historical Consequences
The Quran's teaching about Jews and Christians has had tragic historical consequences:
1. Forced conversions and massacres: Throughout Islamic history, Jewish and Christian communities have faced forced conversions, massacres, and expulsions. The Almohad dynasty in North Africa (12th-13th centuries) gave Jews and Christians the choice of conversion or death. The Armenian genocide of 1915 had religious dimensions, with Armenian Christians targeted by the Ottoman Empire.
2. Systematic discrimination: For 1,400 years, Jews and Christians in Muslim lands lived as second-class citizens under the dhimmi system. While conditions varied by time and place, the underlying principle of Islamic supremacy remained constant.
3. Modern conflicts: The Quran's hostile verses continue to fuel conflicts. Hamas's charter quotes the hadith about stones and trees identifying Jews. ISIS used Quranic verses to justify enslaving and massacring Yazidis and Christians. The persecution of Christians in the Middle East has intensified in recent decades.
4. Interfaith relations: The Quranic portrayal of Jews and Christians as corrupted, cursed, and destined for hell creates fundamental barriers to genuine interfaith understanding. How can there be authentic dialogue when one party's scripture condemns the other's core beliefs as blasphemous disbelief?
The Problem of Quranic Authority
For Muslims who wish to build bridges with Jews and Christians, the Quranic text presents a significant challenge. Unlike the Bible, which contains diverse voices and genres that allow for nuanced interpretation, the Quran is believed to be the direct, unchangeable word of Allah. Its hostile verses cannot be dismissed as products of their time or human cultural limitations—they are eternal divine commands.
Some progressive Muslims attempt to reinterpret these verses as applying only to specific historical contexts. However, classical Islamic scholarship and the tradition of Quranic interpretation do not support such limitations. The jurisprudence of all major Islamic schools of law incorporates these verses into permanent legal principles.
Biblical Contrast: Love for Enemies
The biblical teaching stands in stark contrast to the Quranic approach to religious others:
"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45)
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." (Romans 12:14)
"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all." (Romans 12:18)
While the Bible certainly contains difficult passages, particularly in the Old Testament conquest narratives, the overall biblical trajectory moves toward love, reconciliation, and peace. Jesus embodied this by dying for His enemies: "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
Christianity acknowledges the reality of religious differences while maintaining the dignity and worth of all people as image-bearers of God. Christians are called to speak truth about false teachings while loving those who hold them:
"And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 2:24-25)
There is no biblical equivalent to the jizya, no command to fight unbelievers until they submit and are humbled, no teaching that believers should not take non-believers as friends. The Great Commission is to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19) through proclamation and persuasion, not conquest and coercion.
The Question of Reform
Can Islam reform its teaching about Jews and Christians? This question is hotly debated. Optimists point to Muslim reformers who advocate reinterpretation. Pessimists note that such reformers are often marginalized, sometimes violently, by traditionalists who view reform as apostasy.
The fundamental challenge is that the Quran is considered the direct, perfect, eternal word of Allah. How can eternal divine words be "reformed" without implying that they were wrong in the first place? And if they were wrong, how can the Quran be trusted on anything else?
Christianity faced no such barrier in rejecting anti-Semitism. While Christians throughout history shamefully persecuted Jews, this was always a betrayal of biblical teaching, not an application of it. The Second Vatican Council could affirm Jewish dignity and reject anti-Semitism by returning to biblical principles, not departing from them. Islam has no such resource—its sacred text itself contains the problematic material.
Questions to Consider
- How can there be genuine interfaith dialogue when the Quran labels Jews and Christians as disbelievers destined for hell?
- What is the basis for the Islamic claim that the Bible has been corrupted when we have manuscripts predating Islam that match our current Bible?
- How can we reconcile the "People of the Book" designation with commands to fight against Jews and Christians until they are subdued?
- What does it say about a religion that its end-times expectations include genocide of another religious group?
- Is the dhimmi system compatible with basic human rights and equality?
- Can Islam genuinely reform its teaching about Jews and Christians without abandoning the authority of the Quran?
- How does the Quranic approach to religious others compare with Jesus' teaching to love one's enemies?
- What has been the historical fruit of these teachings in terms of Jewish and Christian flourishing in Muslim lands?