Two verses earlier, Jews and Christians tied salvation to religious identity: no one would enter the Garden unless they were Jewish or Christian. Verse 112 answered that the criterion is not a community’s name, but “whoever surrenders their whole orientation to The God while doing good.” Now verse 113 shows another consequence of the same exclusivism: each group not only considers itself to possess the right path, but dismisses the other altogether.

“The Christians stand on nothing.”

And from the other side:

“The Jews stand on nothing.”

This is no longer criticism of a particular belief. It is a wholesale dismissal of the other side. A person can say that a certain belief is mistaken and offer evidence. But “you stand on nothing” is a much broader judgment, setting aside at once whatever truth the other person possesses.

Alongside these reciprocal judgments, the Qur’an adds a short sentence:

“While they recite the Book.”

The problem is not a lack of religious scripture. They read the Book, yet reading it does not prevent group prejudice from dominating their judgment. A few verses later, the Qur’an uses a different expression:

“They recite it as it ought to be recited.” Al-Baqarah 2:121.

This difference deserves attention. Reciting the Book is not the same as giving its recitation its due. The Book may be on a person’s tongue without yet becoming the standard by which they judge.

The Qur’an then says:

“Likewise, those who do not know said something like what they said.”

The verse does not say that Jews and Christians are themselves “those who do not know.” It compares their speech. Yet the comparison is weighty: people who recite the Book speak like people who do not know. Possessing scripture does not, by itself, protect anyone from speaking ignorantly.

Earlier, in Al-Baqarah 2:62, the Qur’an named Jews, Christians, and Sabians without entrusting salvation to any of these names. It made faith in The God and the Last Day, together with righteous action, the criterion. Dismissing a group altogether merely because of its name is therefore inconsistent with the criterion the Qur’an had already established.

The still more important point comes at the end:

“The God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they differed.”

Both sides pronounced categorical judgments upon one another. At the end, the Qur’an takes final judgment out of the hands of both. Ultimate judgment belongs neither to Jews nor to Christians, nor to any sect that considers itself the heir to truth.

This does not mean that people cannot discuss whether a belief is right or wrong in this life. The Qur’an itself criticizes particular beliefs, gives reasons, and distinguishes truth from falsehood. But criticizing a belief is not the same as claiming final authority over people’s destinies. The verse reserves the position of ultimate judge for The God.

Al-Ma’idah 5:48 repeats the same principle in different language. After discussing differing prescribed religious ways, it says:

“Compete with one another in good deeds.”

And then:

“To The God you will all return, and He will inform you about that over which you differed.”

In Al-Hajj 22:67–69, too, after the discussion of differing rites, the conclusion returns to the same point:

“The God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which you differed.”

The Qur’anic pattern is therefore clear: differences and disagreements exist; truth can be discussed and argued for; but no human being should occupy the seat of the ultimate judge.

This verse must also be a mirror for Muslims. If a Muslim recites the Qur’an but treats their own sect as the whole of truth, using the same language—“they stand on nothing”—about other Muslims or followers of other religious laws, they have repeated under a new name the error they read about among Jews and Christians. Possessing the Qur’an does not prevent prejudice, just as possessing scripture did not prevent it in those two groups. For exclusive claims to salvation, see Paradise Is Not the Monopoly of One Sect or One Religious Law; for the distinction between religion itself and historical religious laws, see Religion, Surrender, and Religious Law in the Qur’an. The criterion remains the same: we should not read the Book to confirm judgments we have already formed. We should let the Book correct the standard by which we judge.

• Al-Baqarah 2:62— Religious names, and the return to faith and righteous action as the criterion.
• Al-Baqarah 2:111— Restricting the Garden to a religious identity.
• Al-Baqarah 2:112— Surrendering one’s orientation to The God and doing good, rather than a community’s name.
• Al-Baqarah 2:121— Reciting the Book as it ought to be recited, in contrast to merely reciting it.
• Aal Imran 3:113— “They are not all alike”: the People of the Book are not all the same.
• Al-Ma’idah 5:48— Differing prescribed religious ways, competing in good deeds, and everyone’s ultimate return to The God.
• Al-Ma’idah 5:68— The expression “you stand on nothing” with establishing revelation as its criterion, not identity alone.
• Al-Hajj 22:67–69— Differing rites and leaving final judgment over disagreement to The God.