Do modern-day Jews, Sabians and Christians have "nothing to fear or to regret" (Qur'an 5:69)?

Question

Below are two translations of Qur'an 5:69 from IslamAwakened:

Indeed, those who have believed [in Prophet Muhammad] and those [before Him] who were Jews or Sabeans or Christians - those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness - no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.
_{Qur'an 5:69; Sahih International}

Rest assured that the believers (Muslims), the Jews, the Sabians and the Christians - whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does righteous deeds - will have nothing to fear or to regret.
_{Qur'an 5:69; Farook Malik}

The Sahih International translation applies only to believers prior to the Prophet Muhammad. The Farook Malik translation applies to Jews, Sabians and Christians in general. I'm not sure which of these is accurate.

Question: Do modern-day Jews, Sabians and Christians have "nothing to fear or to regret" (Qur'an 5:69)?

Answer 1

If they learn of the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and reject him and continue on their original religion, then they will have "fear and regret" in the afterlife. Because rejecting Muhammad is an act of Kufr and every Kafir shall be in hellfire - which is a cause of fear and regret.

Perhaps the most explicit evidence for this is the following verse and hadith:

• إن الذين يكفرون بالله ورسله ويريدون أن يفرقوا بين الله ورسله ويقولون نؤمن ببعض ونكفر ببعض ويريدون أن يتخذوا بين ذلك سبيلا أولئك هم الكافرون حقًّا وأعتدنا للكافرين عذابًا مهينًا

  Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and wish to discriminate between Allah and His messengers and say, "We believe in some and disbelieve in others," and wish to adopt a way in between -

  Those are the disbelievers, truly. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

  ^{— Quran 4:150-151}

  The people meant by this verse are specifically the Jews and Christians who believe in some prophets while disbelieving in others.

  This verse says that there can be no distinction between "Belief in Allah" and "Belief in the messengers", and there can be no concession for a person to believe in some prophets while disbelieving in others. Further the verse labels those who do so as disbelievers (Kafir) and gives them tidings of punishment in the hereafter.

• لا يسمع بي أحد من هذه الأمة يهودي ولا نصراني ثم لم يؤمن بالذي أرسلت به إلا كان من أصحاب النار

  Whoever amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state, he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire.

  ^{— Sahih Muslim}

  This hadith explicitly says that the Jews and Christians shall be in hell if they disbelieve in Muhammad ﷺ.

There are also several other verses which prove the same, such as:

• ومن يبتغ غير الإسلام دينا فلن يقبل منه وهو في الآخرة من الخاسرين

  And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.

  ^{— Quran 3:85}

  The above verse states that every religion other than Islam will be among the losers in the hereafter. Christianity and Judaism are religions other than Islam.

• ومن يكفر بالله وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر فقد ضل ضلالا بعيدا

  And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.

  ^{— Quran 4:136}

  The Christians and Jews disbelieve in the Quran (one of the books) and in Muhammad ﷺ (one of the prophets) and so they fall under this verse. Those who are far astray can not hope to have no fear or regret.

• ومن يكفر بالإيمان فقد حبط عمله وهو في الآخرة من الخاسرين

  And whoever denies the faith - his work has become worthless, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers.

  ^{— Quran 5:5}

  This is specifically talking about the Jews and the Christians, because it comes right after the permission to eat their food and marry their women, to show that those actions do not imply their salvation.

• ومن لم يؤمن بالله ورسوله فإنا أعتدنا للكافرين سعيرا

  And whoever has not believed in Allah and His Messenger - then indeed, We have prepared for the disbelievers a Blaze.

  ^{— Quran 48:13}

  "His Messenger" means Muhammad ﷺ. The Jews and Christians do not believe in him and so fall under the threat of this verse.

• ولن ترضى عنك اليهود ولا النصارى حتى تتبع ملتهم قل إن هدى الله هو الهدى ولئن اتبعت أهواءهم بعد الذي جاءك من العلم ما لك من الله من ولي ولا نصير

  And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, "Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance." If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper.

  ^{— Quran 2:120}

  The verse says that if we were to adopt Judaism or Christianity then we would have no helpers or protectors against Allah. This warning makes no sense if the followers of these religions are among those who would have nothing to fear.

• ولو أن أهل الكتاب آمنوا واتقوا لكفرنا عنهم سيئاتهم ولأدخلناهم جنات النعيم

  And if only the People of the Scripture had believed and feared Allah, We would have removed from them their misdeeds and admitted them to Gardens of Pleasure.

  ^{— Quran 5:65}

  This verse says that the People of the scripture will not be in Paradise unless they believe, and it also implies that they do not currently believe. If they will not be in paradise then they must be in Hell.

• يا أيها الذين أوتوا الكتاب آمنوا بما نزلنا مصدقا لما معكم من قبل أن نطمس وجوها فنردها على أدبارها أو نلعنهم كما لعنا أصحاب السبت وكان أمر الله مفعولا

  O you who were given the Scripture, believe in what We have sent down [to Muhammad], confirming that which is with you, before We obliterate faces and turn them toward their backs or curse them as We cursed the sabbath-breakers. And ever is the decree of Allah accomplished.

  ^{— Quran 4:47}

  This verse warns the Jews and Christians of punishment for not believing in the Quran.

• إن الذين كفروا من أهل الكتاب والمشركين في نار جهنم خالدين فيها أولئك هم شر البرية

  Indeed, they who disbelieved among the People of the Scripture and the polytheists will be in the fire of Hell, abiding eternally therein. Those are the worst of creatures.

  ^{— Quran 98:6}

  This verse states that the Jews and Christians will be in Hellfire for disbelieving in Muhammad and the Quran (98:2).

• The vast majority of Christians believe in the divinity of Jesus (عليه السلام) and in Trinity. The Quran says that they are disbelievers and that they shall be in hell fire and are forbidden to enter paradise:

  لقد كفر الذين قالوا إن الله هو المسيح ابن مريم وقال المسيح يا بني إسرائيل اعبدوا الله ربي وربكم إنه من يشرك بالله فقد حرم الله عليه الجنة ومأواه النار وما للظالمين من أنصار

  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." Indeed, he who associates others with Allah - Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.

  ^{— Quran 5:72}

• And there are several which say that the disbelievers will be in Hellfire for eternity and there are several verses which say that the Jews and Christians are disbelievers - so it can be deduced that Jews and Christians will be in Hell fire.

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Next regarding the verse which you have asked about: There are three major Tafsirs of 2:62 and 5:69:

• This verse means that if the Jews, Christians and Sabeans etc. convert to Islam (the Shariah given to Muhammad ﷺ) they will be saved, regardless of their past disbelief.

  Take note of the bold part in the verse:

  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

  This means those who accepted Islam after being Jews, Christians or Sabians - because belief in Allah requires accepting His message and messengers.

  The Quran states that in reality the Jews and Christians do not currently believe in Allah and the last day:

  الذين لا يؤمنون بالله ولا باليوم الآخر ... من الذين أوتوا الكتاب

  Those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day ... from those who were given the Scripture

  ^{— Quran 9:29}

  And 'belief in Allah' was explained by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as follows:

  وقال ‏"‏ هل تدرون ما الإيمان بالله ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قالوا الله ورسوله أعلم ‏.‏ قال ‏"‏ شهادة أن لا إله إلا الله وأن محمدا رسول الله

  He asked them, "Do you know what is meant by belief in Allah?

  They said, "Allah and His Apostle know best."

  Thereupon the Prophet (ﷺ) said, "To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is His Apostle ... "

  ^{— Bukhari and Muslim}

  And the verse quoted at the top of this post (Quran 4:150-151) also clarifies that belief in all the Messengers is essential for belief in Allah.

  Those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and wish to discriminate between Allah and His messengers and say, "We believe in some and disbelieve in others," and wish to adopt a way in between - Those are the disbelievers, truly.

  Hence verse 2:62 and 5:69 is to be interpreted as follows:

  Indeed, those who believed (including hypocrites) and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans - those who (after that reformed and truly) believed in Allah (by accepting Islam completely) 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

  And this interpretation fits the context of 2:62 and 5:69. And it also reconciles with all the other verses quoted above which warn of punishment to the Jews and Christians - because it just means that whoever repents and believes in Islam would be forgiven for his past disbelief.

• This verse was revealed in reference to the companions of Salman the Persian. They believed in the previous revelations and awaited the arrival of Muhammad (ﷺ) but were unaware of him.

• It means the people who died in the past, before the Prophet. The righteous Jews till the arrival of Jesus and the righteous Christians till the arrival of Muhammad (ﷺ). That is because they believed in all the Messengers sent till that time and every Messenger taught and affirmed belief in past and future Messengers including belief in Muhammad (ﷺ) (see e.g. 7:157, 3:81, 48:29).

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Ref: Tafsir Ibn Kathir , Tafsir al-Baghawy, Tafsir al-Qurtubi

Related questions:

• Does hell consist of 7 levels? (first half )
• Do the disbelievers include People of the Book?
• Can the Jews and Atheists be forgiven, since Allah might forgive any sins other than Shirk (4:48)?
• Do Islamic pre-modern scholars think the trinity is polytheism or not?

Answer 2

In the name of God, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

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Your question: Do modern day Jews, Christians and Sabians have nothing to fear or to regret?

That depends on each person, because some they have heard of Islam but have rejected and they have to fear and those Christians, Jews and Sabians in our days Whoever did not heard of Islam correctly or never heard of Islam must at already do good and believe in one God because God Says:

”Indeed, those who have believed [in Prophet Muhammad] and those [before Him] who were Jews or Sabeans or Christians - those [among them] who believed in God and the Last Day and did righteousness - no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.”

Qur'an 5:69; Sahih International

Now in our days we have Google, Tv and radios and so on and they can hear the message of Islam but those who did not heard correctly and died in that state will not be punished, but a messenger will come to them on the Day of Resurrection to inform them the correct message of Islam and those who rejected will go to Hell and hide who accepted will go to Heaven as per Quran says and there are some who have been given a correct message in this world and some they reject it and some accept it and they’ll be punished those who reject it and die in state of rejection because God Says:

”...And We never punish until We have sent a Messenger (to give warning).” [al-Israa’ 17:15].

It is also mention by prophet Muhammad this but it is narrated in Saheeh Muslim that the Prophet , said: “By him in whose hand is the life of Muhammad, he who amongst the community of Jews or Christians hears about me but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state (of disbelief), shall be but one of the denizens of the Hellfire.”

A person who has never heard of Islam or the Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of God be upon him), and who has never heard the message in its correct and true form, will not be punished by God if he dies in a state of kufr (disbelief). If it were asked what his fate will be, the answer will be that God will test him on the Day of Resurrection: if he obeys, he will enter Paradise and if he disobeys he will enter Hell.

CONCLUSION: Also a disbeliever who did not heard of Islam also in our days maybe because he/she did not had access to it or simply never heard of it will not be punished but will be tested on the Great Day and only those who died in state of rejection of the Truth(Islam) will have to regret or they’ll have to fear of God wants. And those who did not understood the message of Islam in correct form will not be punished but will be tested in a Great Day.

God Says:

”Lo! those who believe, and those who are Jews, and Sabaeans, and Christians - Whosoever believeth in God and the Last Day and doeth right - there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.”

I think this applies to those who lived before the appearance of Islam and the Prophet. And died without hearing it.

I hope I gave you good answer. If there’s anything wrong please tell me.

References:

1. https://islamqa.info/en/1244

2. https://www.quora.com/Are-non-Muslims-going-to-heaven-according-to-Islam

Answer 3

My understanding is very simple on this topic,

A Muslim is simply any one who 1) believes in the one God, 2) believes in the last day, 3) does righteous deeds Q3:114 n others

We get everything wrong when we are made to believe that Islam was innitiated by Muhammad,

Islam us not a religion but a righteous system of God which has been the norm since the beginning.

So one does not need to believe in Muhammad message to be a Muslim