Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Constance E. Padwick, Muslim Devo-

tions: A Study of Prayer-Manuals in Common Use (1961. 

Reprint, Rockport, Mass.: Oneworld, 1996), 152–166, 

220–232.

People of the Book

 

(Arabic: 

ahl al-kitab; 

alternately “those who have been given the 

book” [

alladhina utu al-kitab])

Muslims believe that their religion is related to that 

of the Jews and Christians through the 

holy

 

books

God has revealed in human history to his proph-

ets. This belief is evident when they call Jews and 

Christians “People of the Book,” signifying that 

they understand the q

Uran

 to be related to the 

t

orah

 of m

oses

, the Psalms (Zabur) of d

avid

, and 

the  g

ospel

 of J

esUs

. All three holy books have 

their origin in a single divine source—God. As 

Muslims encountered new people they also used 

this designation for Zoroastrians of i

ran

, Sabians 

(identified with the Mandeans of southern i

raq

 or 

the Yazidis of northern Iraq/southeastern t

Urkey

), 

Hindus, Buddhists, and Sikhs. In the light of the 

historical evidence the use of this designation, 

therefore, was somewhat flexible, especially out-

side the Middle East. In terms of the 

sharia

 the 

People of the Book held special legal status under 

Muslim rule. As the people granted protection 

(ahl al-dhimma, or dhimmis), Jews and Christians 

enjoyed minority legal status that allowed them 

to have their own religious authorities and follow 

their own religious laws, as long as they paid the 

jizya

 tax (irregularly enforced), remained loyal to 

the state, and did not attempt to convert Mus-

lims or otherwise undermine the religion of the 

state—Islam.

The source for the labeling Jews, Christians, 

and others as People of the Book is the Quran, 

where the phrase occurs 31 times (plus an addi-

tional 21 times in the alternative phrasing). It 

occurs predominantly in the chapters that Mus-

lim tradition ascribes to the m

edina

 period of 

m

Uhammad

’s career, between 622 and 632. This 

was when he and his followers had to negoti-

ate their relations as a religious minority with 

other religious and social groups, as reflected in 

the so-called Constitution of Medina. A number 

of quranic verses depict relations of the faithful 

Muslims (muminin) with others in terms of the 

commonalities of their belief in one God and his 

prophets, as reflected in Q 29:46–47 and 3:64, 84. 

Many of the passages, however, reflect adversarial 

relations between the three Abrahamic religions, 

based largely on the assertion that Jews and Chris-

tians did not recognize Muhammad as a prophet 

and that some of them had joined with the idola-

ters and disbelievers (for example, Q 2:105, 109). 

This latter charge was connected with the Jewish 

anticipation of a messianic savior and the Chris-

tian belief in J

esUs

 as the son of God, as stated 

in sura 9 Repentance, where some of the most 

polemical statements against the People of the 

Book are to be found. There believers are urged, 

“Fight those who have been given the Book who 

do not believe in God and the Last Day, who do 

not forbid what God and his prophet have forbid-

den, and do not follow the true religion until they 

pay the jizya tax with their own hands. They are 

contemptible” (Q 9:29).

K  548