At the same time, Allah condemns the religious groups which are still available, the Jews and the Christians, for changing the Book and He mentions that they have corrupted the Book and that they write some things with their own hand, they pen some things and say this is from Allah but it is not from Allah [see 3:78]. And likewise He condemns them for changing the religion of Allah and for innovating like Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa in soorat al-Hadeed [see 57:27] condemns the Christians for inventing ar-rahbaaniyya or to be like a monk, not to get married, and to live a life away from women, marriage and alike. And likewise, Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa condemns them for raising `Eesaa ibn Maryam to a status above his by claiming that he is son of Allah [see 9:30]. The Qur'aan says they have disbelieved those who say the Messiah is the son of Allah [see 5:17, 72]. And Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa says that they have disbelieved those who say that Allah is one of a trinity [see 5:73]. And Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa condemns them, saying that they have taken their rabbis and their priests as lords besides Allah and they have taken the Messiah the son of Mary also as a lord besides Allah and they were commanded only to worship Allah alone. This is a verse in soorat at-Taubah, the ninth soorah of the Qur'aan [see 9:31]. And the Prophet sallAllahu `alaihi wa sallam explained how they took their rabbis and priests besides Allah as lords in the sense that they obeyed them in what they knew was forbidden by Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa. In other words, these rabbis and monks and priests would forbid something which was made lawful to them by Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa and they would obey them in that. Or they would make to them something lawful which was forbidden by Allah and they would obey them in that [as reported by Ahmad, at-Tirmidhee and Ibn Jareer], like for instance with the Christians and the issue of multi-marriages, having more than one wife. The Christians have forbidden this even though Allah has made it lawful for them. And, in fact, they find in their books the Prophets are mentioned having more than one wife. And likewise the Christians have made for themselves lawful to eat the flesh of swine, pig's meat, pork, and this is something which has been forbidden by the laws of Allah. So they by them obeying them in these matters they have taken them as lords besides Allah.

"And indeed, there is among them a party who alter the Scripture with their tongues so you may think it is from the Scripture, but it is not from the Scripture. And they say, 'This is from Allah', but it is not from Allah. And they speak untruth about Allah while they know." [Aal `Imraan (3):78]

"Then We sent following their footsteps [i.e. traditions] Our messengers and followed [them] with Jesus, the son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel. And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy and monasticism, which they innovated; We did not prescribe it for them except [that they did so] seeking the approval of Allah. But they did not observe it with due observance. So We gave the ones who believed among them their reward, but many of them are defiantly disobedient." [Al-Hadeed (57):27]

"The Jews say, 'Ezra is the son of Allah'; and the Christians say, 'The Messiah is the son of Allah.' That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how they are deluded?" [At-Taubah (9):30]

"They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary. Say, 'Then who could prevent Allah at all if He intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?' And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and Allah is over all things competent." [Al-Maa'idah (5):17]

"They have certainly disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary' while the Messiah has said, 'O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.' Indeed, he who associates others with Allah - Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers." [Al-Maa'idah (5):72]

"They have certainly disbelieved who say, 'Allah is the third of three.' And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment." [Al-Maa'idah (5):73]

"They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah (i.e. by their obedience to them rather than to what Allah revealed), and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary (i.e. by their worship of him in conjunction with Allah). And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with him." [At-Taubah (9):31]

The problem is as I said, is that an argument has appeared or an idea which is I believe very much popular in the United States, saying that the Jews and Christians are believers and we are all from the Abrahamic faith. And this is a very dangerous concept. Indeed, it can lead a person to disbelieve in Islaam. And that is because whoever claims that a non-believer is a believer or says that the non-believers' religion is true or doubts concerning the non-believer, whether he is a non-believer, he has left Islaam, by the concensus of the scholars.

So those people who say that the Christians and Jews are believers or who doubts concerning the disbelief of the Christians and Jews, they have said a statement which takes them outside of the fold of Islaam. And if they were brought in front of an Islamic court and the proofs were established against them, to the degree where they would have no excuse for themselves, in other words, verses from the Qur'aan were repeated to them, the statements of the Prophet sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam were repeated to them, so there was no chance of misunderstanding, no chance of confusion, they would be given a chance to repent. And then, in an Islaamic state, if they did not recant that belief within three days they would be executed as an apostate. And, the apostate when he is executed, it is not like the execution of a murderer. See, when a murderer - a Muslim who may commit a murder - is executed, he is still a Muslim, his family still inherits from his wealth, he is still buried in an Islaamic graveyard, we still make Salaatul-Janaza upon him, because he is a Muslim. Yes, he committed a sin and that sin necessitates that the murderer is killed. That is, if the family of the killed does not forgive him or doesn't accept the blood money as a recompense for the murder, but if they insist that al-Qisaas or equality is charged upon him, that person is executed for committing murder. But at the same time that person is still a Muslim. But when a person dies as an apostate, he has reverted out of Islaam, so therefore he dies as if he was a Jew or a Christian. And he will not win Allaah's Paradise because these are matters that throw you out of Islaam just like there are matters which nullify your ablution, your wudoo' . A person makes wudoo' - he is in a state of purity. He does something from the nullifiers of wudoo', those things which negeate the state of purity, he is no longer in that state of purity, he has to repeate his wudoo. And likewise when someone nullifies his testimony of faith, he has to repeat his testimony of faith to come back into religion and he has to deny what he previously said which took him out of the religion and free himself from that.

This concept of the Abrahamic faiths was raised and we can look at the Qur'aan and we find a very clear verse concerning this, that shows that these people who say that the Jews and Christians and Muslims all share the Abrahamic faith are liars and that they do not read the Qur'aan themselves. What is the proof? Allaah said in the Qur'aan,

"Verily Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a Haneef and a Muslim and he was not from the mushriks" [see 3:67].

What does this verse mean? The Jews claimed that the Abraham was the first Jew, so therefore Allaah negates this. So Abraham was not a Jew. And the Christians claim that Abraham was a Christian in the sense that they believe that he believed in trinity, that his act of sacrifice of his son who they say is Ishaaque even though it is the Prophet Ismaa'eel `alaihis salaam, they say that was a sign of the coming if the sacrifice of the son of god which was to come in `Eesaa son of Maryam - this is a lie which they have invented. And Allaah negates that Abraham was a Christian. And then Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa tells us that Ibraaheem was a Haneef. The word "haneef" in Arabic means to swerve, so in this case Ibraaheem, he swerved from the false beliefs that his people were upon to the true faith of tauheed. And then Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa says that he was a Muslim. And the Muslim is the one who submits to Allaah in tauheed and in obedience to Him. And then Allaah says he is not from the pagans. and this is important because you might imagine that during the time of the Prophet sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam there were certain tribes which were the descendants of the Prophet Abraham, among which is the tribe of Quraish. And the tribe of Quraish being descendants of the Prophet Abraham `alaihis salaam and also being the ones who lived by the Ka`bah felt that they had some sort of special quality, and Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa refuted that to them saying that "Abraham was not from the pagans" so you people from Quraish and Makkah who are his descendants know that Abraham was not on your religion. And that even though you might be the blood descendants of Ibraaheem `alaihis salaam, Ibraaheem was a Muslim, he was upon the relgion of Muhammad sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam who you are fighting. And so therefore Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa explains to them that Abraham was not from the pagans. And that is why Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa then says that the closest of mankind to Ibrahim are those who followed him and this Prophet and the believers, meaning us, the muslims [see 3:68]. We are closest to Abraham. Likewise, when Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa tells us in the Quran that the Jews and Christians say, "Be a Jew or a Christian you'll be guided" [see 2:135], in other words, Jews say be Jews and you’ll be guided and Christians say be Christians and you’ll be guided. What was the response from Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa? Allaah told the Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu `alaihi wa sallam to say, "Nay we are following the religion of Abraham who was a Haneef and who was not from the pagans" [see 2:135]. In other words, if they say be Jew or Christian and Allaah says, no, we follow the religion of Abraham, this means the religion of Abraham is different than Judaism and Christianity. If I say to you for instance, let’s say we have three pieces of fruit in front of you: grapefruit, orange and apple. And I say take the grapefruit or orange and you say, no, I want the apple. That means that apple is diff than grapefruit and orange. So when the Christians and the Jews said to Muslims be Jews and Christians and you’ll be guided and the verse came down saying, no, follow the religion of Abraham, it shows that the religion of Abraham is different than the religion of the Jews and the Christians. And likewise Allaah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa, as we said in the verse before, said "Abraham was neither a Jew or Christian", so therefore this claim that the Jews and Christians are from this thing called the Abrahamic faith and the Jews and Christians and Muslims have therefore some special bond that should draw us together to work to fix the environment (i.e. specifically because of that 'bond'), or whatever they want us to do, is a false call.

Likewise, they have made lawful for themselves, adultery is now lawful in Christian countries. It is no longer a crime. And also the acts of homosexuals are lawful in Christian contries.

And likewise do they follow the true religion of Islaam? Allah says in the Qur’aan in soorat Aali-`Imraan:

"Innad-deena `indAllahil Islaam." The true religion with Allah is Islaam [3:19].

And He says:

"And whoever seeks a religion other than Islaam it will not be accepted of him and in the Hereafter he will be of the losers" [3:85].

Do the Christians follow the true relgion? Are they Muslims? No. That’s why they call themselves Christians. Where they to be muslims, why would they call themselves Christians? So therefore when Allah subhaanahu wa ta`aalaa says these four qualities which apply upon them completely, he says from those who have disbelieved or from those who have been given the book, this is them.