the Arabs, while at the same time containing passages that show he was sent to all created beings; this would merely prove that, after first being commissioned only to them, he was subsequently sent to others as well, and that Allah later made his summons universal after it had once been particular. There is, therefore, no contradiction between the two. All the more so given that not a single verse in the Quran confines his mission to the Arabs. What the Quran does contain is a confirmation that he was sent to them, just as it confirms that he was sent to Quraysh—and that in no way conflicts with the wider scope.

It likewise confirms that he was sent to the People of the Book, as in His words:

“O you who have been given the Scripture, believe in what We have sent down” (Surah al-Nisaʾ 4:47).

And it affirms that he was sent to the Children of Israel, as in the address, “O Children of Israel.” This particular address to the Jews does not negate that universality. At times his message is directed to the Jews and at other times to the Christians; his addressing and inviting one of the two groups is not at odds with his addressing and inviting the other. In his Book there is discourse directed to the believers from his own community, calling them to the ordinances of their religion, and this in no way conflicts with his addressing and inviting the People of the Book. The Quran also contains the command to fight the People of the Book—namely the Christians—until they pay the jizyah in humble submission.