the People of the Book belongs to the People of the Book. They are unbelievers who adhere to an altered and abrogated scripture, and they will remain eternally in the Fire of Hell, as will all other categories of unbelievers. Nevertheless, Allah Most High has legislated that they be allowed to remain upon payment of the jizyah tax, and has made their food lawful and permitted marriage to their women.

Fifth:

Those among the People of the Book who disbelieve in the Quran are unbelievers, even if their forefathers were believers. Their punishment in the Hereafter is no lighter than that of someone whose father was not one of the People of the Book. Indeed, noble ancestry is more likely to aggravate their unbelief than to mitigate it. Someone whose father was a Muslim and who then apostatizes is guilty of graver unbelief than someone who himself embraced Islam and then apostatized.

For this reason, scholars differed concerning someone born upon the fitrah (natural disposition) who apostatizes and then returns to Islam: is his repentance accepted? There are two opinions, both reported from Ahmad.

Accordingly, someone whose father belonged to the People of the Book before the abrogation and alteration, but who, when Allah sent Jesus and Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—disbelieved in them both and in what they brought from Allah, and followed the altered and abrogated scripture, is guilty of one of the gravest forms of unbelief. His unbelief is no lighter than that of someone who personally entered this altered religion. Nor does his lineage alone give him any special standing with Allah or His Messenger. His forefathers’ religion does not benefit him when he differs from them, for his forefathers were Muslims at that time.

Allah’s religion is Islam in every age. Whoever believes in Allah’s Books and Messengers in any age is a Muslim, and whoever disbelieves in any of Allah’s Books or Messengers is not a Muslim, whatever age he lives in.