111. " and they said: ` none shall enter paradise except one who
is a jew or a christian.' such are their fancies. say:
` bring your proof, if you are truthful '."
112. " yes! whoever submits himself entirely to allah,
and he is a doer of good, his reward is with his lord; no fear shall be
upon them, nor shall they grieve."

commentary:

in the above verses, the qur'an has referred to one of the other
vain, inappropriate statements of a group of the jews and the
christians, and then, it has responded to them with a knockdown
answer. it is as thus:

" and they said: ` none shall enter paradise except one who is a jew
or a christian '. ..."

in reply to them, at first, it says:

"... such are their fancies. ...", and they will never reach such
wishes. then, addressing the prophet (p.b.u.h.) it says:

"... say: ` bring your proof, if you are truthful '. "  

* * * *

every claim needs its own proof for verification. when the fact
became clear that they had not any proof for their claim and that their
insistence that paradise was exclusively theirs, which was merely a bare
desire of theirs, the essential basic criterion for entering paradise was
given, as a general law in this verse, as it says:

" yes! whoever submits himself entirely to allah,
and he is a doer of good,
his reward is with his lord; ..."

therefore, "...no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve."

in short, the fact is that entering paradise, the reward of allah,
and attaining felicity and salvation in the coming eternal life is exclusive
to no tribe or particular race, but these merits belong to the ones who
have the following two attributes:

the first attribute is that the person should submit himself wholly
to the commands of allah, and obey all of his commandments without
considering any difference between this ordinance or that one. it
should not be so that he accepts those commandments that are
compatible with what he considers his benefit and puts aside those that
are opposite to that which he desires. yes, such ones are entirely
submitted to allah's will.

the second attribute is that the effect of faith is illustrated in
their deeds in the form of good actions. these people are good to all
human beings in all of their affairs.

by this statement, in fact, the qur'an, as a general rule, nullifies
the inappropriate racial bigotries, and absolutely dismisses true
salvation and happiness from the confinement of a special tribe. to sum
it up, the verse distinguishes faith and good deeds as criterion for true
felicity.