Dealing with the People of the Scripture from an Islamic Perspective

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah In general , the tolerant Sharia of Islam urges on treating people in a kind manner that observes justice and non-abuse .In this regard, .Allah ,The Exalted said : “God does not forbid you in regard to those who did not wage war against you on account of religion and did not expel you from your homes, that you should treat them kindly and deal with them justly. Assuredly God loves the just.”{Al-Mumtahanah/8}.Also , The prophet (PBUH) said :” One who oppresses a covenant taker ,denies what is rightfully his ,burdens him beyond his capacity ,or takes something from him without his consent ,will have Me as his litigant on the Day of Resurrection.”Narrated by Abu-Da`ood(3052). Kind treatment is reflected in the fact that it is permissible for Muslims to visit them(The People of the Book : Jews ,Christians…etc.) and share their joy and grief .Moreover ,there is no harm in eating their food if it does not contain alcohol or pork ,and to deal with them in buying and selling as well as other lawful transactions. Prophet Muhammad(PBUH) is our ultimate role model in kindness to the Jews who lived in Medina ,and Prophetic Sunnah is replete with hadiths indicative of that .For example ,He accepted the invitation of the Jewish woman to have food with her, He visited the sick Jewish boy ,and he received the Christians of Najran in his mosque and honored them. The same treatment continued during the reign of the Rightly Guided Caliphs ,namely the document given by the Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab to the Christians in Jerusalem, called "The Covenant of Omar " or “The Pact of Omar”. He gave them an assurance of protection for their lives, property, churches in addition to other rights and freedoms .And God knows best.