Amatulla’s comment:
The Quran addresses the people of the Books: Jews, Christians and the rest of mankind, as prophets and Books were sent to every segment (umma) of humanity one time or another, to feel commonality and brotherhood on the basis of the fundamental idea of worshipping one God. The emphasis on this root and the most important idea of a religion is to establish harmony and a broader sense of unity in mankind. The main thrust of this -- and similar verses in the Quran -- is to find commonality in the essence of religion that aims to dissuade people from the ever lurking propensity to magnify lesser differences, create ‘us versus them’ mentality, promote prejudices and hatemongering, and help generate conflicts and destructive modus operandi in humanity. One group of clerics or sect, to maintain their prominence and power structure, target all other that disagree and ascribe the others sinners, degraded, and enemies. This is a dangerous and destructive propensity that exists along the length and breadth of humanity. The Quran is invalidating such a stand and inviting all to find commonality on the basis of ‘worshipping One and Only God.’ The essence of the Book is same as that of other religious scriptures -- to live in peaceful coexistence in humanity.
Sura-3, Al-Imran, Medina 89
The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:
قُلْ
يَا أَهْلَ
الْكِتَابِ
تَعَالَوْاْ
إِلَى كَلَمَةٍ
سَوَاء بَيْنَنَا
وَبَيْنَكُمْ
...
3:64. Say:
"O People of the Book!
come to common terms as between us and you:
...أَلاَّ نَعْبُدَ إِلاَّ اللّهَ وَلاَ نُشْرِكَ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَلاَ يَتَّخِذَ بَعْضُنَا بَعْضاً أَرْبَابًا مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ...
that we worship none but God;
that we associate no partners with Him;
that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than God."
...فَإِن تَوَلَّوْاْ فَقُولُواْ اشْهَدُواْ بِأَنَّا مُسْلِمُونَ ﴿٦٤﴾
If then they turn back, say:
"Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to God's will)."
Transliteration Qul ya_ ahlal kita_bi ta'a_lau ila_ kalimatin sawa_'im bainana_ wa bainakum alla_ na'buda illalla_ha wa la_ nusyrika bihi syai'aw wa la_ yattakhiza ba'duna_ ba'dan arba_bam min du_nilla_h(i), fa in tawallau fa qu_lusyhadu_ bi anna_ muslimu_n(a).
Other translations:
3: 64
Asad
Say: “O followers of earlier revelation! Come unto that tenet which we and you hold in common [note 49]: that we shall worship none but God, and that we shall not ascribe divinity to aught beside Him, and that we shall not take human beings for our lords beside God [note 50]. And if they turn away, then say: “Bear witness that it is we who have surrendered ourselves unto Him.”
Pickthall
Say: O People of the Scripture. Come to an agreement between us and you: that we shall worship none but Allah, and that we shall ascribe no partners unto Him, and that none of us shall take others for lords beside Allah. And if they turn away, then say: Bear witness that we are they who have surrendered (unto Him).
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Ali’s comments:
402 In the abstract the People of the Book would agree to all three propositions. In practice they fail. Apart from doctrinal lapses from the unity of the One True God, there is the question of a consecrated Priesthood (among the Jews it was hereditary also), as if a mere human being-Cohen, or Pope, or Priest, or Brahman, could claim superiority apart from his learning and the purity of his life, or could stand between man and Allah in some special sense. The same remarks apply to the worship of saints. They may be pure and sincere, but no one can protect us or claim Lordship over us except Allah. For Rabb, see i. 2. n. Abraham was a true Prophet of God, but he could not be called a Jew or a Christian as he lived long before the Law of Moses or the Gospel of Jesus was revealed. (3.64) ]
Asad’s comments
49 Lit., "a word [that is] equitable between you and us". The term kalimah, primarily meaning "word" or "utterance", is often used in the philosophical sense of "proposition" or "tenet".
50 Lit., "that we shall not take one another for lords beside God". Since the personal pronoun "we" obviously applies to human beings, the expression "one another" necessarily bears the same connotation. In its wider implication, the above call is addressed not merely to the Christians, who attribute divinity to Jesus and certain aspects of divinity to their saints, but also to the Jews, who assign a quasi-divine authority to Ezra and even to some of their great Talmudic scholars (cf 9:30-31).