To our honorable sheikh:

May the peace, mercy and blessing of Allah be upon you. I have a question I would like Your Excellency to explain to me. To begin with, what is the precise difference between a mushrik and a kafir? Then, how do we understand the Saying of the Most High (interpretation of the meaning):

{And do not marry the mushrikât until they believe…}

[Al-Baqarah 2:221]

And His Saying (interpretation of the meaning):

{Made lawful to you this day are the tayyibat (all kinds of lawful food). The food (the meat of slaughtered, permissible animals) of the People of the Scripture is lawful for you and yours is lawful for them. And the chaste women from the believers and chaste women from those who were given the Scripture before your time (are lawful to you in marriage)…}

[Al-Ma'idah 5:5]

And also the Saying of the Most High (interpretation of the meaning):

{And the Jews say: Ezra is the son of Allah, and the Christians say: the Messiah is the son of Allah… * They took their rabbis and monks as lords besides Allah (by obeying them in things which they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allah) and (they also took as their lord) the Messiah, the son of Mary, while they were commanded (in the Torah and the Gospel) to worship none but One God. There is no (true) god but Him. Praise and glory be to Him! He is far above that which they associate (with Him)!}

[Al-Tawbah 9:30-31]

The first ayah (verse) prohibits marrying mushrikât [feminine plural] and the second permits it, while the third one places Jews and Christians in the category of mushrikeen [masculine, or general, plural]. In light of this, what is the ruling on marrying women from the People of the Scripture despite the fact that the Qur'an describes the People of the Scripture in general as mushrikeen?

May Allah reward you well.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful,

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his household, his companions and those who have followed him. To proceed:

Surat ul-Ma'idah was one of the final chapters of the Qur'an to be sent down, and in it was related the permission to marry women from among Ahl ul-Kitab (the People of the Scripture), despite the fact that they meet the definition of shirk (association of others in the Divinity of Allah). Therefore, this is a specification of the verse in Surat ul-Baqarah which prohibits marrying mushrikât until they believe. Some of the People of Knowledge have another approach in combining the two verses. It is said that the People of the Scripture, despite the fact that the definition of shirk is fulfilled in them, this appellation does not apply to them in the general use of the term; rather, it applies to those who do not attribute themselves to a Divinely-revealed religion. As in the Saying of the Most High (interpretation of the meaning):

{Verily, those who disbelieve [in the religion of Islam, the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad (s)] from among the People of the Scripture and the mushrikeen will abide in the Fire of Hell. They are the worst of creatures.}

[Al-Bayyinah 98:6]

And Allah Almighty is the Most High, and He knows best.