Shirk Of Ahl-ul-Kitab After Itmam-e-Hujjat And The Definition Of Ahl-ul-Kitab
Dr. Irfan Shahzad, can you please cite some evidence indicating that Makkans called themselves Mushrik before the Qur’aan called them as such or the Jews used the title Ahlul-kitaab for themselves before the Qur’aan used this title for them? Also, if the Qur’aan called people only what they called themselves, then who were the people who called themselves kuffar or munafiqeen?
None of the verses that you quoted prove that Makkans called themselves Mushriks before the Qur’aan gave them this title and that the Jews used the title of ahlul kitab before the Qur’aan mentioned them as such. Even, the verses you quoted are totally irrelevant to the point under discussion. They do not even mention the title of Mushrikeen, rather they mention only their behaviour by mentioning الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا. You have made a simple matter unnecessarily complicated. The simple reality is that: When the Prophet SAAWS started his mission, the community got divided into two groups who were identified as believers and disbelievers. When the Jews came into picture, there was a need to identify two groups of disbelievers. For that reason, those who had adopted Shirk as their deen were called Mushrik, and those who believed in the earlier books and claimed to believe in one God, were called Ahlul-kitaab. So the community was identified as three groups: Believers (Muslims) and two groups of disbelievers (Mushrik and Ahlul-kitaab) so that the Qur’aanic guidance could be directed to each group specifically according to their needs.