Sura-29 [Al-'Ankabut mecca 85 ]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:

وَلَا تُجَادِلُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ إِلَّا بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ ...

29:46 [Ali] And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation),

C3472. Mere disputations are futile. In order to achieve our purpose as true standard-bearers for Allah, we shall have to find true common grounds of belief, as stated in the latter part of this verse, and also to show by our urbanity, kindness, sincerity, truth, and genuine anxiety, for the good of others, that we are not cranks or merely seeking selfish or questionable aims.

... إِلَّا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْهُمْ...

unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury):

C3473. Of course those who are deliberately trying to wrong or injure others will have to be treated firmly, as we are guardians of each other. With them there is little question of finding common ground or exercising patience, until the injury is prevented or stopped.

...وَقُولُوا آمَنَّا بِالَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَأُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ...

but say,

"We believe in the Revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you;

...وَإِلَهُنَا وَإِلَهُكُمْ وَاحِدٌ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ ﴿٤٦﴾

Our Allah and your Allah is one;

and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)."

C3474. That is, the religion of all true and sincere men of Faith is, or should be, one; and that is the ideal of Islam.

وَكَذَلِكَ ...

29:47. And thus

C3475. It is in this spirit that all true Revelation comes from Allah. Allah is One, and His Message cannot come in one place or at one time to contradict His Message in another place or at another time in spirit, though there may be local variations according to the needs or understanding of men at any given time or place.

... أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ فَالَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ ...

(it is) that We have sent down the Book to thee. So the People of the Book believe therein,

C3476. The sincere Jews and Christians found in the holy Prophet a fulfillment of their own religion. For the names of some Jews who recognized and embraced Islam, see n. 3227 to 26:197.

Among the Christians, too, the Faith slowly won ground. Embassies were sent by the holy Prophet in the 6th and 7th years of the Hijrah to all the principal countries round Arabia, viz., the capital of the Byzantine Empire (Constantinople), the capital of the Persian Empire (Madain), the Sasanian capital known to the West by the Greek name of Ctesiphon, (about thirty miles south of modern Baghdad), Syria, Abyssinia, and Egypt. All these (except Persia) were Christian countries.

In the same connection an embassy was also sent to Yamama in Arabia itself (east of the Hijaz) where the Banu Hamfa tribe was Christian, like the Harith tribe of Najran who voluntarily sent an embassy to Madinah.

All these countries except Abyssinia eventually became Muslim, and Abyssinia itself has a considerable Muslim population now and sent some Muslim converts to Madinah in the time of the Prophet himself.

As a generalization it is true that the Jewish and the Christian peoples as they existed in the seventh century of the Christian era have been mainly absorbed by Islam, as well as the lands in which they predominated.

Remnants of them built up new nuclei. The Roman Catholic Church conquered new lands among the northern (Germanic) Pagans and the Byzantine Church among the eastern (Slavonic) Pagans, and the Protestantism of the 16th century gave a fresh stimulus to the main ideas for which Islam stands, viz., the abolition of priest craft, the right of private judgment, the simplification of ritual, and the insistence upon the simple, practical, everyday duties of life.

...وَمِنْ هَؤُلَاء مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِهِ...

as also do some of these (pagan Arabs):

C3477. The Pagan Arabs also gradually came in until they were all absorbed in Islam.

...وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الْكَافِرُونَ ﴿٤٧﴾

and none but Unbelievers reject Our Signs.

Asad’s Version:

29:46 [Asad] And do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in a most kindly manner - unless it be such of them as are bent on evildoing 42 - and say: "We believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you: for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that We [all] surrender ourselves."

29:47 For it is thus 43 that We have bestowed this divine writ from on high upon thee [O Muhammad]. And they to whom we have vouchsafed this divine writ believe in it - just as among those [followers of earlier revelation] there are some who believe in it. And none could knowingly reject Our messages unless it be such as would deny [an obvious] truth:

Yuksel - 29:46 Do not argue with the people of the book except in the best manner; except for those who are wicked amongst them; and say, "We acknowledge what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god and your god is the same; to Him we peacefully surrender."

29:47 Similarly, We have sent down to you the Book. Thus, those whom We have given the book will acknowledge it. Also, some of your people will acknowledge it. The only ones who mock Our signs are the ingrates

[[Asad note 42 : Sc., ”and are therefore not accessible to friendly argument”: the implication being that in such cases all disputes should a priori be avoided. …………]