Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

"The word ahl means those who occupy with one the same tent, the family or inmates, relative, folk, kin, kinfolk, family, people, members, followers, etc. Under these meanings, the word ahl occurs 31 times in the Koran. According to another view, it is derived from ahala, meaning to demonstrate (the family). The word kitab, comes from the root word kataba, meaning to write down. The word kitaba occurs in the Koran for the Divine Books revealed to various prophets. Thus, the term ahl al-kitab means the possessors of the scriptures or the people of the Book. This term in Koran denotes the Jews and Christians, the repositories of the earlier books, al-Tawrat (the Torah), al-Zabur (the Psalms), and al-Injil (the Gospel).

The word ahl al-kitab occurs 54 times for Christians and Jews. Once in the Koran, the Christians are called ahl al-injil (Gospel People) in 5:47. Some 14 times the Christians are named al-nasara (sing. al-nasrani). The phrase yahud or hud occurs 9 times in the Koran for the Jews, the Sabi'un (the Sabians, a Jewish-Christian sect in Iraq) occurs three times.

The word ahl al-kitab is used for Jews and Christians as believers of a revealed religion to distinguished them from the heathens (ummiyun) who lived in Arab. Koran says: "And a party of the people of the scripture say: Believe in that which hath been revealed unto those who believe at the opening of the day, and disbelieve at the end thereof, in order that they may return" (3:72). The reference here is to some Jews of Medina. Koran further says: "O people of the scripture! You have naught (of guidance) till you observe the Torah and Gospel and that which was revealed unto you from your Lord. That which is revealed unto (Muhammad) from thy Lord is certain to increase the contumacy and disbelief of many of them. But grieve not for the disobeying folk" (5:68)

The Prophet seems to have never held any grievance against the people of the scripture. The Prophet said, "He who wrongs a Jew or a Christian will have myself as his accuser on the day of judgement" (Baladhuri, p. 162). Just after the migration, the Prophet had signed a document, by which he regulated the relationship between the Muslims and the Jews. This document is truly the first of its kind in the history of religious freedom and cornerstone in declaring them the human rights which mankind strove for centuries to acquire.

As a matter of fact, the Prophet never forced any of the followers of the scriptures to change their religion. Despite the fact that the people of the Book have different Divine Books, they have one common belief among them, they all believe in the Unity of God.

The Present Imam made this point quite explicit when he said: "I would remind my jamat that the meaning of ahl al-kitab, the people of the Book, is the acceptance by not only Muslims but non-Muslims of the Unity of God, Monotheism. Those of you who know the history of Islam will recognize this, that it is said that Muslims should build bridges with people who are the people of the Book and that is a statement which is made in many circumstances not only in the Hadith but in the Koran itself" (London: April 24, 1985).

When the Imam asks his followers to build bridges between them and others, he wants to use these bridges as a vehicle to transfer the best of their tradition in order to assist in building a healthy society in which they have made their homes. This should be done without fear or apprehension because the Muslims and other people of the Book have many things in common.

AHL AL-SUNNA [ see SUNNIS ]