INTERRELIGIOUS RELATIONS

Generalisation and the People of the Book Although some Qur’ānic verses condemn certain beliefs of the People of the Book, as Farid Esack notes, the Qur’ān “naturally dealt only with the behaviour and beliefs of those of the People of the Book with whom the early Muslim community were in actual social contact.”51 In addition, the Qur’ān avoids generalisation when it comes to the beliefs of the Peo. [...] Adding to this, when it comes to the notion of distortion (taḥrīf), the Qur’ān castigates only “a section of the People of the Book,” not all of them.53 This idea is confirmed by Q 4:46: “Some Jews distort the meaning of [revealed] words: they say, “We hear and disobey.”” Similarly, when the term kufr (disbelief) is used in the Qur’ān to refer to the beliefs of the People of the Book, it does not. [...] Indeed, unlike the interpretations of many classical commentators on the Qur’ān and some Muslim scholars of the modern period who argue that the verse in question prevents social and friendly relations between Muslims and the People of the Book, the intention of the verse, most likely, is not to generalise about the People of the Book. [...] Based on the aforementioned reports provided by al-Ṭabarī of the possible occasions for the revelation of Q 5:51, we cannot determine whether the verse was revealed in the early Medinan period of Prophet Muhammad’s life (around the time of the Battle of Badr) or somewhat later (in the midst of the conflict between Muslims and the Jewish tribes).64 However, one of the common features found in all r. [...] Interreligious Relations 11 If we contextualise Q 5:51 within the Medinan context and the tensions that existed at the time between Muslims and the People of the Book, we can attain a better understanding of the content of this verse.73 Indeed, Q 5:51 was revealed in the aforementioned context and reflects the contextual and extant enmity between Muslims and the People of the Book, and the proscri.