PEOPLE OF THE BOOK

The People of the Book is an Islamic phrase used for Jews and Christians.  Islam teaches that Moses and Jesus were given books by allah, the Torah (Tawraat) and Gospel (Injeel).  

Muslims will try to use the phrase as if it is a good thing, a compliment even.  Well - IT'S NOT!

Quran (9:29) - "Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued." 

The people of the book get to pay jizya to stay alive and keep their faith.  They don't have to convert or die, as the idolaters, polytheists, atheists, agnostics and all other non-Muslims have to do.  Sounds ok, right?  WRONG!  Jews and Christians have to pay "protection money" in order to keep their faith, but who do we pay to?  Muslims.  And who do we need protection from?  Muslims!  Well, that's a pretty good racket, isn't it?  Wouldn't it be better for the "people of the book" if Muslims just left us alone?!  No, they can't do that.  They have to fight until all religion is for allah.  By being subjugated, the people of the book are now less than Muslims and admit that Islam is best.  It's submission - what Islam is truly all about.  People of the book can live as long as they become dhimmis, a lesser class of people in Islam.  Discrimination, hatred and intolerance are built into Islam.

According to Tafsir Ibn Kathir, on Quran 9:29:

Paying Jizyah is a Sign of Kufr and Disgrace

Allah said,

﴿حَتَّى يُعْطُواْ الْجِزْيَةَ﴾

(until they pay the Jizyah), if they do not choose to embrace Islam,

﴿عَن يَدٍ﴾

(with willing submission), in defeat and subservience,

﴿وَهُمْ صَـغِرُونَ﴾

(and feel themselves subdued.), disgraced, humiliated and belittled. Therefore, Muslims are not allowed to honor the people of Dhimmah or elevate them above Muslims, for they are miserable, disgraced and humiliated. Muslim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said,

«لَا تَبْدَءُوا الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى بِالسَّلَامِ، وَإِذَا لَقِيتُمْ أَحَدَهُمْ فِي طَرِيقٍ فَاضْطَرُّوهُ إِلَى أَضْيَقِه»

(Do not initiate the Salam to the Jews and Christians, and if you meet any of them in a road, force them to its narrowest alley.)

http://www.islam-universe.com/tafsir/

Don't be fooled by Muslims.  The "People of the Book" are not friends with Muslims, not equal to Muslims and will be killed or converted if they don't pay the jizya, protection money.

Qur'an (5:51) - "O you who believe! do not take the Jews and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other; and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people."

The Language of the Quran

It's a common refrain from Muslims that the Quran cannot be understood except in its original Arabic. This is the last-ditch defense when they are trapped by the impenetrable lack of coherency in the quran. Often a critic will point out a theological absurdity, only to be told, "That's not what it means at all! You have to read it in the original Arabic!"

Well, I have four translations, all reputable, all made by Muslims, and they all say substantially the same thing. Yet you folks tell us that these four linguistic scholars are wrong, that it says something else. But you can't tell us what that something else is, and the scholars who translated it apparently couldn't either.

So why did Allah give down a scripture in a language that defies translation? Does Arabic contain concepts that no other language on the earth has? I find that difficult to believe, since the written Arabic was still in development when Muhammad cited his hallucinations.

Or, an alternate theory is that the poetic content of the verses are so mind-numbingly hypnotic that it blinds the listener from the absurdities it contains. There is a precedent for this: Many songs throughout history reached astonishing levels of popularity in spite of the fact that their lyrical content was gibberish.

There's plenty of forensic evidence that the Quran is simply not only in ancient Arabic, but an obscure dialect unique to the region of Mecca. There are Hadith stating that when possible, suras are to be recited in the dialect of the Qaraysh.

Let's look at the Bible for example. The original Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek. Hebrew, because that was the language of the Jews, and Greek, because the New testament authors sought to have their work available to the widest possible audience, and that meant Greek, which was common throughout most of the region, thanks to the conquests of Alexander.

Greek and Hebrew appear to share some commonality of phrases, since some terms and concepts can be translated directly between the two without effort. The Greek does lose some of its depth of meaning when translated into other languages - "Holy Spirit" for example is better rendered "Sacred Breath," although both understandings were wrapped into the Greek phrase, Haggia Pneuma.

Nevertheless, the Bible has been translated into hundreds of languages from the original documents, and retains its meaning and glory, no matter what language it's in. The Quran, apparently loses meaning if it's not in Arabic - or so our Muslim brothers tell us. I have a friend who speaks Arabic as a cradle language who says this is bullshit - it's just as incoherent in Arabic as it is in English.