Surah Maidah ayat 68 Tafsir Quran 5:68

﴿قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُم مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ ۗ وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم مَّا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَانًا وَكُفْرًا ۖ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ﴾
[ المائدة: 68]

5:68 Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord." And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.

Say ‘O People of the Scripture you have no basis in religion on which to rely until you observe the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to you from your Lord’ by implementing what is therein including believing in me Muhammad (s). And what has been revealed to you from your Lord of the Qur’ān will surely increase many of them in insolence and disbelief because of their disbelief in it; so do not grieve for the disbelieving folk if they do not believe in you in other words do not be concerned with them.

Say to them: O you Ahl AL-Kitab, you bend on a system of faith not standing upon the vantage ground of truth until you comply with the precepts of AL-Tawrah and AL-Injil and all that has been sent down to you from Allah, your Creator. But the more Allah bestows on you O Muhammad of His bounty, the more do many of them err for infirmity of purpose and display their transgressive infirmities of themselves and sink deeper in infidelity under the vexations of their minds. Therefore, do not grieve over those who are infidels indeed

There is no Salvation Except through Faith in the Qur'an Allah says: O Muhammad, say, يَـأَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ ( O People of the Scripture! You have nothing... ) meaning no real religion until you adhere to and implement the Tawrah and the Injil.
That is, until you believe in all the Books that you have that Allah revealed to the Prophets.
These Books command following Muhammad and believing in his prophecy, all the while adhering to his Law.
Before, we explained Allah's statement, وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيراً مِّنْهُم مَّآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَـناً وَكُفْراً ( Verily, the revelation that has come to you from your Lord makes many of them increase in rebellion and disbelief. ) فَلاَ تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَـفِرِينَ ( So do not grieve for the people who disbelieve ), Do not be sad or taken aback by their disbelief.
Allah said next, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ( Surely, those who believe ) referring to Muslims, وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ ( those who are the Jews ) who were entrusted with the Tawrah, وَالصَّـبِئُونَ ( and the Sabians.
.. ) a sect from the Christians and Magians who did not follow any particular religion, as Mujahid stated.
As for the Christians, they are known and were entrusted with the Injil.
The meaning here is that if each of these groups believed in Allah and the Hereafter, which is the Day of Judgement and Reckoning, and performed good actions, which to be so, must conform to Muhammad's ﷺ Law, after Muhammad ﷺ was sent to all mankind and the Jinns.
If any of these groups held these beliefs, then they shall have no fear of what will come or sadness regarding what they lost, nor will grief ever affect them.
We discussed a similar Ayah before in Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62.

(5:68) Say to them: 'People of the Book! You have no solid ground to stand on unless you establish the Torah and the Gospel and all that had been revealed to you from your Lord. *97 Indeed the message revealed to you from your Lord will aggravate insurgence and unbelief in many of them. *98 So do not grieve for those who disbelieve.

Say, "O People of the Scripture, you meaning

*97).
By 'establishing the Torah and the Gospel' is meant observing them honestly and making them the law of life.

It should be noted here that the Scriptures which comprise the Bible consist of two kinds of writings.
One was composed by the Jewish and Christian authors themselves.
The second consists of those portions which have been recorded as either the injunctions of God or as the utterances of Moses, Jesus and other Prophets.
Such portions are those in which it has been categorically stated that God said so and so, or that a particular Prophet said so and so.
If we were to exclude the portions belonging to the first category and carefully study those belonging to the second we would notice that their teachings are not perceptibly different from those of the Qur'an.
It is true that the second category has not altogether escaped the tamperings of translators, scribes and exegetes, and the errors of oral transmitters.
Nevertheless, one cannot help feeling that the teachings embodied in the second category call man to the same pure monotheism as the Qur'an, that they propound those very beliefs propounded by the Qur'an and that they direct man to the same way of life as that to which the Qur'an seeks to direct him.
Hence, had the Jews and the Christians adhered to the teaching attributed in their Scriptures to God and the Prophets they would certainly have become a truth-loving and truth-oriented group of people and would have been able to see in the Qur'an that very light which illuminates the earlier divine Scriptures.
There would then have been no question of their abandoning their religion in order to follow the Prophet ( peace be on him ).
To follow him would have caused neither break nor discontinuity; they would simply have gone one stage further along the same road.

*98).
Instead of reflecting on this seriously and dispassionately, they were seized by a fit of intransigence which intensified their opposition.

 

There is no Salvation Except through Faith in the Qur'an Allah says: O Muhammad, say, يَـأَهْلَ الْكِتَـبِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَىْءٍ ( O People of the Scripture! You have nothing... ) meaning no real religion until you adhere to and implement the Tawrah and the Injil.
That is, until you believe in all the Books that you have that Allah revealed to the Prophets.
These Books command following Muhammad and believing in his prophecy, all the while adhering to his Law.
Before, we explained Allah's statement, وَلَيَزِيدَنَّ كَثِيراً مِّنْهُم مَّآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ طُغْيَـناً وَكُفْراً ( Verily, the revelation that has come to you from your Lord makes many of them increase in rebellion and disbelief. ) فَلاَ تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَـفِرِينَ ( So do not grieve for the people who disbelieve ), Do not be sad or taken aback by their disbelief.
Allah said next, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ( Surely, those who believe ) referring to Muslims, وَالَّذِينَ هَادُواْ ( those who are the Jews ) who were entrusted with the Tawrah, وَالصَّـبِئُونَ ( and the Sabians.
.. ) a sect from the Christians and Magians who did not follow any particular religion, as Mujahid stated.
As for the Christians, they are known and were entrusted with the Injil.
The meaning here is that if each of these groups believed in Allah and the Hereafter, which is the Day of Judgement and Reckoning, and performed good actions, which to be so, must conform to Muhammad's ﷺ Law, after Muhammad ﷺ was sent to all mankind and the Jinns.
If any of these groups held these beliefs, then they shall have no fear of what will come or sadness regarding what they lost, nor will grief ever affect them.
We discussed a similar Ayah before in Surat Al-Baqarah 2:62.

( Say ) O Muhammad: ( O People of the Scripture! ) i.e. the Jews and Christians. ( You have naught ) of the religion of Allah ( till ye observe the Torah and the Gospel ) until you truly believe in what is in the Torah and the Gospel ( and that which was revealed unto thee (Muhammad ) from your Lord) in all Scriptures given to all messengers. ( That which is revealed unto you (Muhammad ) from your Lord) the Qur’an ( is certain to increase the contumacy ) constancy in disbelief ( and disbelief ) and firmness in disbelief ( of many of them ) of their disbelievers. ( But grieve not for the disbelieving folk ) do not be saddened for their destruction in their state of disbelief, if they do not believe.

Say (O Muhammad SAW) "O people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians)! You have nothing (as regards guidance) till you act according to the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel), and what has (now) been sent down to you from your Lord (the Quran)." Verily, that which has been sent down to you (Muhammad SAW) from your Lord increases in many of them their obstinate rebellion and disbelief. So be not sorrowful over the people who disbelieve.

Page 119 English transliteration