Chapter 2: Surat Al-Baqarah (The Cow), verse 62

Translation:

Believers, Jews, Christians and Sabaeans—all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do what is right—shall be rewarded by their Lord; they shall have nothing to fear or to regret.

Tafsir (Commentary):

Four communities are mentioned in this verse: Muslims, who are followers of the Prophet Muhammad; Jews who follow the Prophet Moses; Christians, who maintain their allegiance to the Prophet Jesus; and Sabeans, who claimed to adhere to the teachings of John the Baptist, the Prophet Yahya. The last-mentioned sect resided in Iraq in ancient times, but is now extinct. They were people of book, and offered their prayers facing the Ka’aba in Mecca.

Here the Muslims have not been mentioned separately, but have been grouped with other communities associated with prophets. This means that, as ethnic groups, all are equal in the sight of God; no community is inherently superior to any other. Only true belief and righteous actions can earn a person salvation. This is a rule that applies consistently to every community. No one, whether he calls himself Muslim, Jew, Christian or Sabaean, is exempt from this rule. There is no special status in the eyes of God on the basis of belonging to a particular community. The only ones whom God elevates to a high rank are those who have sought to mould their own lives according to His divine scheme.

The lives of those who associate with a prophet during his lifetime are always based on true belief and righteous actions. At that time certain people hear the Prophet’s call. Their spirits are moved by his message: an intellectual revolution takes place within them, filling them with new resolve. Their whole pattern of life changes. Where, previously, they had been guided by personal desires, they now base their lives on the teachings of God. These are the ones who could truly call themselves followers of the prophets, and these are the ones to whom the prophets gave good tidings of eternal blessings in the next world.

The situation changes, however, as time goes on. For the generations that follow, religion becomes a kind of national heritage. Tidings which had been given on the basis of faith and righteous actions come to be considered the result of ethnic affiliations. People reckon that they have a special relationship with God that others do not enjoy: one who belongs to a particular community is sure to be saved, notwithstanding the standard of his faith and deeds; paradise is for “us,” hell for “them.”

But God does not have a special relationship with any particular community. He has regard solely for man’s thoughts and deeds. In His presence people will be judged according to the manner in which they themselves have acted, and not on the basis of the group to which they belong.