Jews and Christians are referred to in the Qur’ān as the ‘People of the Book’ – meaning their origins lie in scripture revealed by God. However, these scriptures have not remained untouched by human insertions and have been distorted. When each prophet was sent, the people of that era were obliged to follow him and would be defined as people of the truth or simply ‘Muslims’ – so when Moses came – people were obliged to follow him and these Jews were Believers. When Jesus came, people were obligated to know accept him as the Prophet of God and not doing so would remove them from being defined as Believers – even though they may have accepted Moses as a prophet. These Christians were now the Believers till the time the Prophet Muhammad was sent. After which
Any person claiming to submit to the will of God would have to accept the prophethood of Muham-mad and not doing so would excommunicate them from being a true Believer in God.