A friend forwarded a question to me on Whatapp qouted: “If Muslims believe in all religions, why are Christians and Jews considered infidels in Islam?”
And my answer was: Muslims believe that God has given the world only one religion to follow ever since the time of Adam. And that religion is Islam (submission to the will of the one indivisible God). The Jews and Zoroastrians may call it by a different name, but it is the same religion since the first man on Earth.
The Quran does not mention Christianity but it mentions Nasara or Nazarenes. The Nazarenes were the followers of Jesus after Jesus departed from Earth. Included among the Nazarenes were Maryam and other family members of Jesus as well as the apostles. They followed the Jewish beliefs, upheld the laws of the Prophets, ate only kosher food and observed the Sabbath. The Nasara are among the “people of the book”.
Some time later, Paul of Tarsus joined the Nazarenes and eventually formed his own group, breaking the Nazarenes into two groups. Paul’s group became the Christians with beliefs far removed from the original Nazarenes. The original Nazarenes may still be around today in small numbers (they were reported to stilll exist in the 10th century) while the Christian group has grown into the religion with the most followers.
I believe that when the Quran mentions “people of the book” it is a reference to Jews and the original Nazarenes, not the Christians. The Quran considers the Christians to be unbelievers:
Indeed, those who say, “Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,” have fallen into disbelief. Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Who has the power to prevent Allah if He chose to destroy the Messiah, son of Mary, his mother, and everyone in the world all together?” To Allah ˹alone˺ belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything in between. He creates whatever He wills. And Allah is Most Capable of everything. (Quran 5:17)
Since Muslims are not allowed to marry unbelievers, this means than Muslim men may not marry a Christian woman. The permission to marry a Nasara woman does not apply to Christians.
