followers during his tenure on Earth and, with his ascension, the religion that he had brought degenerated rapidly. Over the next two centuries, those who believed in Jesus were oppressed because they had no political power. Therefore, we cannot say that the early Christians dominated the unbelievers in the sense indicated by the verse given above.
At present, Christianity is so far removed from its original state that it no longer resembles the religion taught by Jesus. In this case, “And I will place the people who follow you above those who are unbelievers until the Day of Resurrection” carries a clear message: There has to be a group of Jesus’ followers who will exist until the Last Day. Such a group will emerge in his second coming, and those who follow him at that time will dominate the unbelievers until the Last Day.
2. “There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in him before he dies…”
In the Qur’an, we read that:
There is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in him before he dies; and on the Day of Resurrection he [Jesus] will be a witness against them. (Qur’an, 4:159)
The phrase “there is not one of the People of the Book who will not believe in him before he dies” is very interesting. Some scholars believe that the “him/it” in this verse refers to the Qur’an instead of Jesus, and so understand it to mean that the People of the Book will believe in the Qur’an before they die. However, it is beyond dispute that the same word in the preceding two verses refers to Jesus.
Another point we need to make here has to do with the interpretation of “before he dies.” Some believe that this stands for
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