Encyclopedia of Islam

People of the Book

---

The designation of non-Muslims as People 

of the Book has experienced a revival in recent 

decades. Progressive and modern-minded Mus-

lims have invoked its egalitarian connotations 

to further their efforts at interreligious 

dialogUe

and greater religious and cultural pluralism. On 

the other hand, radical Islamist movements have 

drawn from the more polemical verses in the 

Quran concerning the People of the Book to jus-

tify attacking and subjugating them. For many 

Muslims the concept today is primarily an aspect 

of the heritage of the past, one that must give way 

to modern 

secUlarism

, nationalism, and the con-

struction of individual identities that differ from 

those of confessional religious communities.

See also  c

hristianity

 

and

  i

slam

; 

dhimmi

;  h

in

-

dUism

 

and

  i

slam

; 

idolatry

; J

Udaism

 

and

  i

slam

; 

kafir

; 

umma

.