Jurisprudential Examination of Purity of the People of the Book: An Analytical Review

Muslims nowadays need to be present on the international stage. This involves living together with non-Muslims, especially the People of the Book. This sort of life and interaction has different political, cultural, economic, and military aspects. The belief that non-Muslims are impure (najes) causes hardship to the Muslims; and is incompatible with human dignity, which is acknowledged by The Quran and the tradition of the Prophet. Reason tells us that man is pure by nature unless he comes into contact with impure things, which is only accidental. This research is concerned with a critical examination of the problem of the impurity of non-Muslims based on arguments derived from The Quran and traditions.