And the Most High says:

“O People of the Scripture! There has now come to you Our Messenger, making clear to you much of what you used to hide of the Scripture.” (Al-Māʾidah 5:15)

And His words:

“O People of the Scripture! There has now come to you Our Messenger, after a pause in the sequence of messengers, clarifying matters for you lest you say, ‘No bearer of glad tidings and no warner ever came to us.’ So there has come to you a bearer of glad tidings and a warner, and Allah has power over all things.” (Al-Māʾidah 5:19)

Given this, it is known that the proof is established by the Qur’an only against the one to whom it actually reaches, as He says: “so that I may warn you thereby, and whomsoever it reaches.” (Al-Anʿām 6:19)

Therefore, whoever receives part of the Qur’an but not the rest, the proof is binding upon him regarding what has reached him, not regarding what has not. When the meaning of certain verses becomes unclear and people dispute about the interpretation of a verse, the matter in dispute must be referred back to Allah and His Messenger. If people exert themselves to grasp what the Messenger—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—intended, the one who attains the correct understanding receives two rewards, while the one who errs still receives one.

Nothing prevents the same from being said about the People of the Scripture before us: whoever among them was not reached by all the texts of the Scripture before us, the proof is established against him only with respect to what did reach him. As for whatever of it whose meaning was concealed from them and they strove to understand it, then if—