authorization to treat everything that had been forbidden as lawful; on the contrary, he said,

“Whatever Allah has declared pure, do not call impure.”

What Allah pronounced impure in the Torah remains impure and has not been rendered pure—unless the Messiah himself abrogates the ruling. Thus the disciple did not allow them pork or the rest of the prohibited things, if, as they claim, his word is protected from error.

Nor did the Messiah make lawful every item that Allah had forbidden in the Torah; he only lifted some of the restrictions that had been placed on them. For that reason, failing to forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden is one of the decisive traits that warrant fighting the Christians, as the Exalted says:

“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day, who do not hold unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have declared unlawful, and who do not follow the religion of truth, from among those who were given the Book, until they pay the jizyah with their own hands while they are humbled.” ⦗Repentance 9:29⦘

It has also been reported that the various Christian sects pronounced anathema upon one another in their seven councils and elsewhere—accounts too lengthy to relate—thus confirming His words:

“We sowed among them enmity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection.” ⦗The Table Spread 5:14⦘

Hence their claim, “Whoever disagrees with us, we curse him,” is meaningless, for every faction among them both curses and is cursed. Their mutual cursing neither establishes truth nor refutes falsehood; truth is established only by the proofs and signs brought by the messengers, as He, the Most High, said:

“Mankind were but one community; then Allah sent the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and warners, and He sent down with them…”