Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Brother Burhan,

As salamu alaikum. I got the following attachment from a friend and I hope, inshaallah you will be able to give a satisfactorily answers. I myself am also curious to know them, especially the first one from Surah Al Ma'idah, verse 69 (identical to Sura Bakarah, verse 62). I am puzzled by the Present tense usage, like it says about Jews, Christians and Sabians who follow their scripture and it says that they will be rewarded and they have no reason to grief. The usage

of present tense ( the word 'follow') may give a hint that Jews and Christians and Sabians, if they follow their scripture, they will be in Heaven. So they don't need to convert to Islam. Had the verse used the word "followed" (instead of "follow") in the past tense form, then there would not have been any difficulty to understand it.

I look forward to getting your reply. Please also reply the 2nd question in the attachment.

Sincerely,

(A brother in Islam)

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer: