Title: Further Queries on God's Law relating to Messengers Question/Comments: Thank you for your response. I think you didn't get the last part of my question. My question was, why did Prophet (pbuh) gave the punishment of Jizya on Magians when they were polytheists because according to God's law relating to messengers, only the monotheistic people are subjected to Jizya punishment. Secondly, do you agree with Syed Qutb's explanation that initial wars waged by Prophet (pbuh) and companions (ra) were primarily to restore the rights for the people to accept or reject Islam and secondarily to establish the God's law on earth. What is the flaw you see in his explanation? Please Comment. Regards, Mohd India Answer: It is quite clear from the writings of Muslim scholars like Ibn Hazam etc. that the Majoos were in fact one of the people of the book and in their basis were believers in the oneness of God. However, the belief of two gods had emerged in them over time and had almost completely overshadowed their ascription to the belief in the oneness of God. As a result, insofar as the implementation of the punishment of rejecting the messenger was concerned, the Prophet (pbuh) grouped the Majoos with the people of the book. On the other hand, with respect to maintaining social ties and relations with them was concerned, the Prophet (pbuh) grouped them with the polytheists. Thus, with respect to the punishment of rejecting the Mesenger (pbuh), Jizyah was imposed on the Majoos but with respect to maintaining social relations with them was concerned, marriage with people ascribing to this creed was considered prohibited for Muslims. As far as your second question is concerned, if you would kindly take a look at my earlier responses, you shall see that my opinion with respect to the wars fought by the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions is not the same as that expressed by Syed Qutb. In these earlier responses, I have also tried to elaborate the bases of my opinion, in this respect. I do not consider it necessary, therefore, to comment on the opinion of Syed Qutb. Regards, Moiz Amjad August 3, 2002