As mentioned earlier that I am in discussion with one of my brother in Islam regarding eating of meat presented by the Ahl e Kitab on which God's name has not been pronounced at the time of Slaughter.

The third question put to me was that whether this definition of 'Nasaaraa' can be substantiated for the saying of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or his companions.

One of the examples quoted to me was that when Hazrat Umer (ra) went to Jerusalem he called the Christians living there with the name of Nasaraa although he should have called them Masehee.

Mohammad Azam
United States of America

I have presented the basis of my understanding of the word 'Nasaaraa' in my article title 'Directives of the Shari`ah regarding Edibles' and in one of my responses titled 'Do the words "Torat" and "Injeel" in the Qur'an refer to the Original Uncorrupted Scriptures?'.

As for the application of the same word (i.e., 'Nasaaraa') for the Pauline Christians, it was because of the similarity in the basic beliefs of the Pauline Christians with the Judeo-Christians. This extended usage of the word 'Nasaaraa' for the Pauline Christians was similar to the extended usage of the word 'Muslim' for many of the new and deviant sects that did not even exist at the time of the Prophet (pbuh).

Thus, this extended usage of the word does not by itself imply that the Qur'an had used the word for those Christians, who were not even present in the environment in which the Qur'an was revealed.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Moiz Amjad
February 11, 2003