Say to them: "O people of the Book, you have no ground (for argument) until you follow the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to you by your Lord." But what has been revealed to you by your Lord will surely increase rebellion and unbelief in many; so do not grieve for those who do not believe.
Say, “O People given the Book(s)! You are nothing until you establish the Taurat and the Injeel, and what was sent down towards you from your Lord”; and this Book which has been sent down upon you from your Lord will cause many of them to advance in their rebellion and disbelief; so do not at all grieve for the disbelievers.
Say: 'People of the Book, you do not stand on anything, until you perform the Torah and the Gospel, and what was sent down to you from your Lord.' And what has been sent down to thee from thy Lord will surely increase many of them in insolence and unbelief; so grieve not for the people of the unbelievers.
Say: "O followers of the Bible! You have no valid ground for your beliefs -unless you [truly] observe the Torah and the Gospel, and all that has been bestowed from on high upon you by your Sustainer!" Yet all that has been bestowed from on high upon thee [O Prophet] by thy Sustainer is bound to make many of them yet more stubborn in their overweening arrogance and in their denial of the truth. But sorrow not over people who deny the truth:
Say thou: people of the Book! ye rest not on aught until ye establish the Taurat and the Injil and that which hath now been sent down unto you from your Lord. And that which hath been sent down unto thee will surely increase many of them in exorbitance and infidelity; so mourn thou not over and disbelieving people.
Say (O Muhammad SAW) "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! You have nothing (as regards guidance) till you act according to the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), and what has (now) been sent down to you from your Lord (the Quran)." Verily, that which has been sent down to you (Muhammad SAW) from your Lord increases in many of them their obstinate rebellion and disbelief. So be not sorrowful over the people who disbelieve.
Say, “O People of the Scripture! You have no basis until you uphold the Torah, and the Gospel, and what is revealed to you from your Lord.” But what is revealed to you from your Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief, so do not be sorry for the disbelieving people.
Say to them: 'People of the Book! You have no solid ground to stand on unless you establish the Torah and the Gospel and all that had been revealed to you from your Lord. Indeed the message revealed to you from your Lord will aggravate insurgence and unbelief in many of them. So do not grieve for those who disbelieve.
Say: "O People of the Scripture! You have nothing till you act according to the Tawrah, the Injil, and what has (now) been sent down to you from your Lord (the Qur'an)." Verily, the revelation that has come to you from your Lord makes many of them increase in rebellion and disbelief. So do not grieve for the people who disbelieve.
Say O People of the Scripture! Ye have naught (of guidance) till ye observe the Torah and the Gospel and that which was revealed unto you from your Lord. That which is revealed unto thee (Muhammad) from thy Lord is certain to increase the contumacy and disbelief of many of them. But grieve not for the disbelieving folk.
Say, ‘O People of the Book! You do not stand on anything until you observe the Torah and the Evangel and what was sent down to you from your Lord.’ Surely many of them will be increased in rebellion and unfaith by what has been sent down to you from your Lord. So do not grieve for the faithless lot.
Say: 'People of the Book, you are not upon anything until you establish the Torah and the Gospel and that which is sent down to you from your Lord' And that which is sent down to you (Prophet Muhammad) from your Lord will surely increase the tyranny and disbelief of many of them. But do not grieve for the unbelieving nation.
Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord." And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.
(Muhammad), tell the People of the Book, "You have nothing unless you follow the Old and New Testaments and that which (the Quran) God has revealed to you." Whatever has been revealed to you (Muhammad) from your Lord will only increase their disbelief and rebellion (against you). Do not grieve for the unbelieving people.
Say: O followers of the Book! you follow no good till you keep up the Taurat and the Injeel and that which is revealed to you from your Lord; and surely that which has been revealed to you from your Lord shall make many of them increase in inordinacy and unbelief; grieve not therefore for the unbelieving people.
Qul y<u>a</u> ahla alkit<u>a</u>bi lastum AAal<u>a</u> shayin <u>h</u>att<u>a</u> tuqeemoo a<b>l</b>ttawr<u>a</u>ta wa<b>a</b>linjeela wam<u>a</u> onzila ilaykum min rabbikum walayazeedanna katheeran minhum m<u>a</u> onzila ilayka min rabbika <u>t</u>ughy<u>a</u>nan wakufran fal<u>a</u> tasa AAal<u>a</u> alqawmi alk<u>a</u>fireen<b>a</b>
Say, "People of the Book, you have no ground to stand on until you observe the Torah and the Gospel and what is revealed to you from your Lord." What is revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in rebellion and in their denial of the truth. But do not grieve for those who deny the truth.
Say: "O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord." It is the revelation that cometh to thee from thy Lord, that increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. But sorrow thou not over (these) people without Faith.
قُلْ يَٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَىْءٍ حَتَّىٰ تُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةَ وَٱلْإِنجِيلَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم مَّآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَٰنًا وَكُفْرًا فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
Say, O Messenger: You – Jews and Christians – have no religious basis, unless you practice what is in the Torah and the Gospel and practice the Qur’ān that has been revealed to you. Your faith is not valid until you have faith in it and practice it. That which has been revealed to you from your Lord will increase the disobedience and disbelief of many of the People of the Scripture because of their envy. So do not be sad over these disbelievers: In the believers who follow you there is sufficient goodness.
Say, O Messenger: You – Jews and Christians – have no religious basis, unless you practice what is in the Torah and the Gospel and practice the Qur’ān that has been revealed to you. Your faith is not valid until you have faith in it and practice it. That which has been revealed to you from your Lord will increase the disobedience and disbelief of many of the People of the Scripture because of their envy. So do not be sad over these disbelievers: In the believers who follow you there is sufficient goodness.
<p>Sequence</p><p>Earlier, the people of the Book were persuaded to embrace Islam. Mentioned now is the futility of their current approach which they claimed to be the God's truth while it was unworkable in the sight of Allah, insufficient for salvation and dependant on Islam as the only source of salvation. Then, as an antidote to their insistence on remaining disbelievers after being warned, there are words of comfort for the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The mention of Tabligh of Din had appeared in between as based on particular need and congruity.</p><p>Commentary</p><p>Follow the Divine Shari` ah: Instruction for the people of the Book</p><p>In the first verse (68), the people of the Book, that is, the Jews and Christians were instructed to follow the Divine Shari` ah by making it clear that they would be reduced to nothing if they chose not to abide by the injunctions of the Shari` ah. In other words, if they do not ad-here to the Shari` ah of Islam, all their achievements shall stand wasted. To them Allah had given the privilege of being the progeny of prophets. Then, they had the intellectual excellence of the Torah and the Injil as well. Added to this was the presence of many men of Allah among them who went through strenuous spiritual exertions in their search for truth. But, for all this to be valid and weighty the one binding condition was that they should follow the Divine Shari` ah. Without it, no genealogical superiority will work, nor would their intellectual excellence or their spiritual strivings become the means of their salvation.</p><p>This statement provides for Muslims too the crucial guidance that there is no way of Dervishes or path of spiritual realization (Suluk  Tariqat) or repeated strivings to achieve spiritual goals (Mujahadah and Riyadat) or extra-sensory spiritual illumination (Kashf) or having visitations of inspiration (Ilham) which can become the source of spiritual achievement or salvation in the sight of Allah unless there is full adherence to the Shari'ah.</p><p>To prove one's obedience to the Divine Shari` ah, the instruction given in this verse is to follow three things. These are the Torah and Injil which had been revealed earlier for the Jews and Christians while the third one is: وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ , that is, what has been revealed to you from your Lord.</p><p>According to the consensus of the majority of commentators, the Sahabah and the Tabi` in, it means the Holy Qur'an which was sent for the universal community of inviters to faith - including the Jews and Christians - through the (midmost) medium of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Therefore, the verse comes to mean unless you act in accordance with the injunctions brought by the Torah, the Injil and the Qur'an - correctly, fully and totally - no lineal or intellectual excellence of yours shall be valid or acceptable with Allah.'</p><p>At this point one may wonder why, in this verse, rather than mentioning Qur'an by its brief name, as was done with the Torah and the Injil., a long sentence : (and what has been revealed to you from your Lord) has been used. What is the wisdom behind it? It is possible that it may be carrying a hint to what was said by the Holy Prophet ﷺ in which he disclosed that the way he was given the Qur'an which is a treasure of knowledge and wisdom, also given to him were other sources of knowledge and insight, which could be called, in a certain aspect, the explication of the Holy Qur'an as well. The words of the Hadith are:</p><p>الا انّی اوتیت القرآن و مثلہ معہ الا یوشک رجل شبعان علی اریکتہ یقول علیکم بھذا القرآن فما وجدتم فیہ من حلال فأحلوہ وما وجدتم فیہ من حرام فحرّموہ وان ما حرم رسول اللہ (ﷺ) کما حرم اللہ۔ (ابوداؤد ، ابن ماجہ، دارمی وغیرہا)</p><p>Remember! I have been given the Qur'an and, with it, (many fields of knowledge) like it - lest, in times to come, some sated man reclining on his couch were to say: For you this Qur'an is sufficient - what you find Halal in it, take that as Halal; and what you find Harm in it, take that as Haram - although, what the Messenger of Allah has declared to be Harm is like what Allah has declared to be Harm. (Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Darimi  others)</p><p>Three Kinds of Ahkam</p><p>The Qur'an itself is a testimony of this subject. It says:	وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ ﴿3﴾ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ ﴿4﴾ which means that the Holy Prophet ﷺ does not say anything on his own - whatever he says is all revealed to him from Almighty Allah; and under conditions when he says something based on his Ijtihad (fully deliberated judgment) and Qiyas (analogical de-duction) - following which he receives no guidance contrary to it - then, consequently, that Qiyas and Ijtihad too hold the same legal force as that of an injunction revealed through Wahy.</p><p>In a nutshell, we can say that, out of the injunctions (Ahkam) given 	to the Ummah by the Holy Prophet ﷺ first come those which have been mentioned clearly in the Holy Qur'an. Then, there are those which have not been mentioned in the Qur'an clearly, instead of which, they were revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ through a separate Wahy (Wahy Ghayr Matlu: Revelation not recited). Thirdly, the command which he gave as based on his Ijtihad and Qiyas - following which no command was revealed by Almighty Allah - then, that too takes the legal force of a revealed injunction. It is obligatory to follow all these three kinds of injunctions. They are included within the purview of وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ (What has been revealed to you from your Lord).</p><p>It is also possible that the use of the longer sentence: وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ (and what has been revealed to you from your Lord) in place of the likely brief name of Qur'an in this verse may have been preferred so as to indicate that the following of all injunctions given in the Qur'an or given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ is equally mandatory.</p><p>Another point worth noting in this verse is that the Jews and Christians have been asked to follow the injunctions of all three Books, that is, the Torah, the Injil and the Qur'an - although, some of them abrogate others. The Injil abrogates some injunctions of the Torah and the Qur'an abrogates many injunctions of the Torah and the Injil. How then, could the sum of three be followed in action?</p><p>The answer is clear. Since every incoming Book changed some injunctions of the outgoing Book, it becomes obvious that following the replaced modality, in itself, amounts to acting in accordance with both Books. Following and acting in accordance with abrogated injunctions is against the requirement of both Books.</p><p>Allah consoles His Prophet ﷺ</p><p>To console the Holy Prophet ﷺ it was said at the end that there will be many among the people of the Book who would fail to benefit by the Divine magnanimity shown to them. They may even react adversely by increasing the tempo of their disbelief and hostility. Let this be no cause of grief to him, nor should he have any sympathetic concern for them.</p>
SequenceEarlier, the people of the Book were persuaded to embrace Islam. Mentioned now is the futility of their current approach which they claimed to be the God's truth while it was unworkable in the sight of Allah, insufficient for salvation and dependant on Islam as the only source of salvation. Then, as an antidote to their insistence on remaining disbelievers after being warned, there are words of comfort for the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The mention of Tabligh of Din had appeared in between as based on particular need and congruity.CommentaryFollow the Divine Shari` ah: Instruction for the people of the BookIn the first verse (68), the people of the Book, that is, the Jews and Christians were instructed to follow the Divine Shari` ah by making it clear that they would be reduced to nothing if they chose not to abide by the injunctions of the Shari` ah. In other words, if they do not ad-here to the Shari` ah of Islam, all their achievements shall stand wasted. To them Allah had given the privilege of being the progeny of prophets. Then, they had the intellectual excellence of the Torah and the Injil as well. Added to this was the presence of many men of Allah among them who went through strenuous spiritual exertions in their search for truth. But, for all this to be valid and weighty the one binding condition was that they should follow the Divine Shari` ah. Without it, no genealogical superiority will work, nor would their intellectual excellence or their spiritual strivings become the means of their salvation.This statement provides for Muslims too the crucial guidance that there is no way of Dervishes or path of spiritual realization (Suluk  Tariqat) or repeated strivings to achieve spiritual goals (Mujahadah and Riyadat) or extra-sensory spiritual illumination (Kashf) or having visitations of inspiration (Ilham) which can become the source of spiritual achievement or salvation in the sight of Allah unless there is full adherence to the Shari'ah.To prove one's obedience to the Divine Shari` ah, the instruction given in this verse is to follow three things. These are the Torah and Injil which had been revealed earlier for the Jews and Christians while the third one is: وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ , that is, what has been revealed to you from your Lord.According to the consensus of the majority of commentators, the Sahabah and the Tabi` in, it means the Holy Qur'an which was sent for the universal community of inviters to faith - including the Jews and Christians - through the (midmost) medium of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Therefore, the verse comes to mean unless you act in accordance with the injunctions brought by the Torah, the Injil and the Qur'an - correctly, fully and totally - no lineal or intellectual excellence of yours shall be valid or acceptable with Allah.'At this point one may wonder why, in this verse, rather than mentioning Qur'an by its brief name, as was done with the Torah and the Injil., a long sentence : (and what has been revealed to you from your Lord) has been used. What is the wisdom behind it? It is possible that it may be carrying a hint to what was said by the Holy Prophet ﷺ in which he disclosed that the way he was given the Qur'an which is a treasure of knowledge and wisdom, also given to him were other sources of knowledge and insight, which could be called, in a certain aspect, the explication of the Holy Qur'an as well. The words of the Hadith are:الا انّی اوتیت القرآن و مثلہ معہ الا یوشک رجل شبعان علی اریکتہ یقول علیکم بھذا القرآن فما وجدتم فیہ من حلال فأحلوہ وما وجدتم فیہ من حرام فحرّموہ وان ما حرم رسول اللہ (ﷺ) کما حرم اللہ۔ (ابوداؤد ، ابن ماجہ، دارمی وغیرہا)Remember! I have been given the Qur'an and, with it, (many fields of knowledge) like it - lest, in times to come, some sated man reclining on his couch were to say: For you this Qur'an is sufficient - what you find Halal in it, take that as Halal; and what you find Harm in it, take that as Haram - although, what the Messenger of Allah has declared to be Harm is like what Allah has declared to be Harm. (Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Darimi  others)Three Kinds of AhkamThe Qur'an itself is a testimony of this subject. It says:	وَمَا يَنطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ ﴿3﴾ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَىٰ ﴿4﴾ which means that the Holy Prophet ﷺ does not say anything on his own - whatever he says is all revealed to him from Almighty Allah; and under conditions when he says something based on his Ijtihad (fully deliberated judgment) and Qiyas (analogical de-duction) - following which he receives no guidance contrary to it - then, consequently, that Qiyas and Ijtihad too hold the same legal force as that of an injunction revealed through Wahy.In a nutshell, we can say that, out of the injunctions (Ahkam) given 	to the Ummah by the Holy Prophet ﷺ first come those which have been mentioned clearly in the Holy Qur'an. Then, there are those which have not been mentioned in the Qur'an clearly, instead of which, they were revealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ through a separate Wahy (Wahy Ghayr Matlu: Revelation not recited). Thirdly, the command which he gave as based on his Ijtihad and Qiyas - following which no command was revealed by Almighty Allah - then, that too takes the legal force of a revealed injunction. It is obligatory to follow all these three kinds of injunctions. They are included within the purview of وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ (What has been revealed to you from your Lord).It is also possible that the use of the longer sentence: وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّ‌بِّكُمْ (and what has been revealed to you from your Lord) in place of the likely brief name of Qur'an in this verse may have been preferred so as to indicate that the following of all injunctions given in the Qur'an or given by the Holy Prophet ﷺ is equally mandatory.Another point worth noting in this verse is that the Jews and Christians have been asked to follow the injunctions of all three Books, that is, the Torah, the Injil and the Qur'an - although, some of them abrogate others. The Injil abrogates some injunctions of the Torah and the Qur'an abrogates many injunctions of the Torah and the Injil. How then, could the sum of three be followed in action?The answer is clear. Since every incoming Book changed some injunctions of the outgoing Book, it becomes obvious that following the replaced modality, in itself, amounts to acting in accordance with both Books. Following and acting in accordance with abrogated injunctions is against the requirement of both Books.Allah consoles His Prophet ﷺTo console the Holy Prophet ﷺ it was said at the end that there will be many among the people of the Book who would fail to benefit by the Divine magnanimity shown to them. They may even react adversely by increasing the tempo of their disbelief and hostility. Let this be no cause of grief to him, nor should he have any sympathetic concern for them.
<h2 class="title">There is no Salvation Except through Faith in the Qur'an</h2><p>Allah says: O Muhammad, say,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">يَـأَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ</div><p>(O People of the Scripture! You have nothing...) meaning no real religion until you adhere to and implement the Tawrah and the Injil. That is, until you believe in all the Books that you have that Allah revealed to the Prophets. These Books command following Muhammad and believing in his prophecy, all the while adhering to his Law. Before, we explained Allah's statement,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيراً مِّنْهُم مَّآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَـناً وَكُفْراً</div><p>(Verily, the revelation that has come to you from your Lord makes many of them increase in rebellion and disbelief.)</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَلاَ تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَـفِرِينَ</div><p>(So do not grieve for the people who disbelieve), Do not be sad or taken aback by their disbelief. Allah said next,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ</div><p>(Surely, those who believe) referring to Muslims,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ</div><p>(those who are the Jews) who were entrusted with the Tawrah,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَالصَّـبِئُونَ</div><p>(and the Sabians. ..) a sect from the Christians and Magians who did not follow any particular religion, as Mujahid stated. As for the Christians, they are known and were entrusted with the Injil. The meaning here is that if each of these groups believed in Allah and the Hereafter, which is the Day of Judgement and Reckoning, and performed good actions, which to be so, must conform to Muhammad's Law, after Muhammad was sent to all mankind and the Jinns. If any of these groups held these beliefs, then they shall have no fear of what will come or sadness regarding what they lost, nor will grief ever affect them. We discussed a similar Ayah before in Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62.</p>
There is no Salvation Except through Faith in the Qur'anAllah says: O Muhammad, say,يَـأَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ(O People of the Scripture! You have nothing...) meaning no real religion until you adhere to and implement the Tawrah and the Injil. That is, until you believe in all the Books that you have that Allah revealed to the Prophets. These Books command following Muhammad and believing in his prophecy, all the while adhering to his Law. Before, we explained Allah's statement,وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيراً مِّنْهُم مَّآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَـناً وَكُفْراً(Verily, the revelation that has come to you from your Lord makes many of them increase in rebellion and disbelief.)فَلاَ تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَـفِرِينَ(So do not grieve for the people who disbelieve), Do not be sad or taken aback by their disbelief. Allah said next,إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ(Surely, those who believe) referring to Muslims,وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ(those who are the Jews) who were entrusted with the Tawrah,وَالصَّـبِئُونَ(and the Sabians. ..) a sect from the Christians and Magians who did not follow any particular religion, as Mujahid stated. As for the Christians, they are known and were entrusted with the Injil. The meaning here is that if each of these groups believed in Allah and the Hereafter, which is the Day of Judgement and Reckoning, and performed good actions, which to be so, must conform to Muhammad's Law, after Muhammad was sent to all mankind and the Jinns. If any of these groups held these beliefs, then they shall have no fear of what will come or sadness regarding what they lost, nor will grief ever affect them. We discussed a similar Ayah before in Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62.