will they grieve.)
There are two other verses in the Holy Qur’an which are somehow similar to this one but there is a little difference:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالصَّابِئِينَ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَلَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
(Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad] – those [among them] who 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.) (Al-Baqara: 62)
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالصَّابِئِينَ وَالنَّصَارَىٰ وَالْمَجُوسَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ
(Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Sabeans and the Christians and the Magians and those who associated with Allah – Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, over all things, Witness.) (Al-Hajj: 17)
Let’s put the three verses and analyze them in order to understand the Qur’anic meanings. Here is the verse of our study in Surat Al-Ma’idah: “Sabeans” came before “Christians”, while in the verse of Surah (Al-Baqarah) “Christians” came before “Sabeans”. The syntax rule is broken in the Arabic word of “Sabeans” in the verse of our study to pay the attention that they are not with those Jews, Christians and Muslims. “Sabeans” are a sect who were following the religion of Noah (PBUH) then they deviated and worshiped the planets and angels. Hence the Sabeans have another subject. So Allah (swt) requires them to return to faith and do righteous deeds. Hence this verse is a purification of faith and the speech here is directed to those who believe just by their tongues and not in action. It is not enough to believe in Allah (swt) and the Last Day only; rather, I must not lie, nor cheat, nor bribe, nor kill or loot, and have to remove harm from the way and initiate with the salutation of peace, and possess all good morals, and do righteous deeds. As for the verse in Surat Al-Hajj, Allah (swt) adds the Magians (who worshipped the fire) and those who associated with Allah. For this, its end is not like the conclusions of the other two verses in Surat Al-Baqarah, and in Surah Al-Maida, for the sake of suiting the meaning. Thereof, syntax changes according to the meaning.