As for the peoples who came before him, they had to rely on one prophet after another; that very need made room for inspired muhaddathūn (people granted inner inspiration). For this reason, when Jesus son of Mary descends among Muhammad’s community, he will judge only by the law of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Given that, the testimony of Jesus, the disciples, and all who believed in him—affirming that the Torah is truth and that Moses is a messenger—does not prevent the Jews from being unbelievers, because they altered the Torah’s law and rejected both Jesus and the Gospel. How, then, could the testimony of Muhammad and his nation—that the Gospel was sent down from Allah and that Jesus is a messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—shield the Christians from unbelief when they have altered the Gospel’s law and denied Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and the legislation of the Quran?

As for those among them who confess that Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is the Messenger of Allah to the Arabs, or who accept much of what the Quran has brought, their belief does not exempt them from unbelief if they reject any part of his message. Indeed, whoever denies anything that the messengers have conveyed from Allah is an unbeliever, even if he affirms most of what they brought, as the Exalted says:

“Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and seek to make a distinction between Allah and His messengers by saying, ‘We believe in some and disbelieve in others,’ and desire to take a middle path—those are the true unbelievers, and We have prepared for the unbelievers a humiliating punishment.” (Quran 4:150–151)

And the Exalted also said: