How can the verse, "Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans – whoever believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness – will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve," be reconciled with the fact that the religion with Allah is Islam?

The verse mentioned includes believers in Muhammad, peace be upon him; Jews who believed in Moses and died in that state before the advent of Jesus or lived to see him and believed in him; Christians who believed in Jesus and died in that state before the advent of Muhammad or lived to see him and believed in him; and the Sabeans. All those among them who believed in Allah and the Last Day and affirmed the Prophet sent to them and died in that state, will have their reward with their Lord.

As for anyone who lived to see the Prophet, peace be upon him, and rejected his message and did not believe in him, he is a disbeliever, and nothing but Islam will be accepted from him. Islam is the religion of Allah, with which He sent all His prophets, and its meaning is submission and surrender to Allah and affirming all His messengers, as stated by Allah Almighty: "Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam" (Aal 'Imran: 19), and "And whoever desires other than Islam as religion - never will it be accepted from him, and he will be in the Hereafter among the losers" (Aal 'Imran: 85). And Allah commanded the prophets to establish the religion and not to be divided in it.

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one from this nation, be he a Jew or a Christian, hears of me, then dies without believing in that with which I have been sent, except that he will be among the inhabitants of the Fire" (Narrated by Muslim).

Thus, there is no contradiction between the aforementioned verse and the other verse: "Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam."