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Wikipedia tells me:

In Islam, the Muslim scripture, the Qur'an, is taken to represent the completion of these scriptures, and to synthesize them as God's true, final, and eternal message to humanity. Because the People of the Book recognize the God of Abraham as the one and only god, as do Muslims, and they practice revealed faiths based on divine ordinances, tolerance and autonomy is accorded to them in societies governed by sharia (Islamic divine law).

That indicates to me that "the book" refers to Qur'an. Therefore Christians and Jews are included under the umbrella of the "People of the Book" only because our sacred books are "pre-echoes" of the Qur'an itself. Given that many Christians reject the idea that the Qur'an completes the scriptures, just as many Jews reject the idea that Jesus completes the Tanakh, wouldn't we be rejecting "the book"?

On the other hand, is having an authoritative set of Scriptures from God via His prophets the essence of being a "People of the Book"? The Wikipedia article seems to say that the designation has more to do with worshiping the one, true God of Abraham as being the key determinate.

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Related: islam.stackexchange.com/questions/7/who-are-ahlul-kitab – user37 Jul 2 '12 at 16:47
@HaLaBi: Thanks. I don't know Arabic and would never have made the connection myself. ;-) – Jon Ericson Jul 2 '12 at 17:30
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I don't think this is a duplicate - the exact question asked is different, although the two are definitely related. – Ansari♦ Jul 2 '12 at 17:37
Definitely not a duplicate.. – user37 Jul 2 '12 at 18:03

3 Answers

up vote 6 down vote

Good question! It's not one specific book - that Arabic word used is "Kitab", which, literally, means "the writing" or the Scripture. For example, Jesus (peace be upon him) is quoted in the Qur'an as saying:

[Jesus] said, "Indeed, I am the servant of Allah . He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet. [Maryam:30]

(emphasis mine) The word used in the Arabic here is, again, al-kitab.

So to answer your question, the "book" refers to scripture that has been divinely revealed by God to His Prophets (may peace be upon them all). The books that we know of (aside from the Qur'an) are the Torah, Zabur, and Injil - roughly corresponding to the Torah, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel.

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There are also the scriptures of Abraham and the scriptures Moses (which are different from Torah). Aya – Tamer Shlash Jul 2 '12 at 17:29
+1 @Mr.TAMER - yup, the list of three is not exhaustive. The Prophets of Israel had other scriptures. – Ansari♦ Jul 2 '12 at 17:31
Christians actually have 4 gospels that we consider canonical and Jesus wrote none of them. There are also many second- and third-century documents that claim to be gospels (i.e., biographies of Jesus). Does Islam acknowledge the Gospels that Christianity does as Scripture? (I assume Paul's letters and the other parts of the Christian New Testament are not included.) – Jon Ericson Jul 2 '12 at 17:36
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@JonEricson I don't think we take a stand on what is canonical and what is apocryphal. As far as Muslims are concerned, the Injil is what was revealed to Jesus (peace be upon him). I don't know enough about Christian history to know how this was codified and preserved (although I am very curious). – Ansari♦ Jul 2 '12 at 17:39
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My understanding, from my reading, is that the Injil (the scripture given to Jesus) has not been preserved. Although it's frequently referred to as the Gospel, it's not the same thing as the four Christian Gospels. – David Wallace Jul 3 '12 at 0:53
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up vote 2 down vote

This is indeed a very interesting question.

Note that Quran doesn't refer to "people of the books" but uses the singular "the book". From Quran's perspective there seems to be one book in this regard. For example, in verse 2:113 it is said that Jews and Christians read "the book". There are many similar verses where it is said that Jews/Christians read the book (verse 2:44). It is also stated that Moses was given the book (verse 2:53). Quran also seems to refer to itself as the book in several places e.g. verse 2:2.

From what Quran describes it seems that the Jews and Christian at the time of the prophet had access to the book (though according to Quran Injil and Torah has been altered to some extend). This is because Quran states that there are believers among people of the book that read the book the way it should be read (verse 3:113).

On the other hand there are verses that mention "books" like verses 2:285, 4:136, 66:12, and 98:3. There are also verses where "the book" is mentioned in addition to other books like Torah and Injil e.g. verses 3:3, 3:48, 5:110, 3:184.

There are also verses where "the book" is used in the same way that "the prophethood" is used, i.e. as a more general concept, e.g. verses 29:27 and 57:26.

In summery, it seems that "the book" in "people of the book" in Quran is more general concept and does not refer exclusively to a particular book.

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+1 interesting idea. Do you know whether a notable scholar has interpreted "al-kitab" to mean the more general concept of revelation? Also I think if you take al-kitab to mean "the writing", then in each context it makes sense. – Ansari♦ Jul 5 '12 at 18:48
@Ansari, I looked up a little bit but couldn't find any reference. It may help to check the way "کَتَبَ" and other words from this root are used in Quran, e.g. verses 2:178, 2:180, 2:183 seem to suggest some kind of scared laws/orders that God asks believers to follow. – Kaveh Jul 5 '12 at 19:44
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The construction Ahl ul Kitaab (people of the book) has been used in contrast with the word Ummi. Kitaab means law in this construction. Ummi means unlettered i.e. those who were not bestowed with divine law.

After Ishmael, no prophet came to Arabs with divine guidance. That's why local Jews and Christian started calling Arabs as Ummi and distinguished themselves as people of the 'divine law'

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