You also mentioned: "Also terms such as 'ahlul Kitab' or 'Mushrikun' are not a separate category to Kaafir but a sub-category of it. Your proof was the following Verse "lam ya kunil ladhina kafaru min ahlil kitabi wal mushrikina... (Those who disbelieved (kafaru) amongst the People of the Book and the Polytheists) {98:1]. Imam Ibn Hazm (rh) said, "every kaafir is a mushrik and every mushrik is a kaafir." [al-Fisl]"
Please note that the Arabic here in this verse states clearly 'min ahlil kitaab' which as you mentioned translates as "FROM AMONG the People fo the Book". This means that kufr (disbelief) can be found AMONGST the people of the book, yet arguably so can Iman (Faith, Belief) be found AMONGST the People of Scripture by the very same logic of this Quranic verse! Moreoever, there are verses in the Quran which explicitly state that "among the People of Scripture are those who believe" (ie have imaan!). For example:
"And truly among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and that which has been sent down unto you, and that which has been sent down unto them, humble before God, not selling God’s signs for a paltry price. They shall have their reward with their Lord. Truly God is swift in reckoning." (3:199)
and:
"They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book there is an upright community who recite the revelations of God in the watches of the night, falling prostrate. They believe in God in and the Last Day, and enjoin righ conduct and forbid indecency, and compete with one another in good works. These are of the righteous. And whatever good they do, they will not be denied it; and God knows the pious" (3:113-114).
Now, we can circumvent such verses through hermeneunetical strategies and explain away the literal meaning of this verse by claiming that those of the People of the Book that Allah (God) Intended here were those who ended up converting to the Islam of Muhamamd (pbuh) and therefore are no longer of the category of ahl al kitaab and are now Muslim, or we can just leave such verses to speak for themselves in their literal sense, and in light of the context we find ourselves in view them as valid proof that in principle and in fact there are sincere and pious people of faith in all revealed religions and that it is sufficient to know that Allah knows who they are! And because of this awareness of God's awareness of who true believers are in any religion including Islam, should we not give the "benefit of the doubt" (husni zunn) to each and every human being we meet in our lives--Muslim and non-Muslim-- by default!?
This second approach is much more in tune with facilitating a deeper appreciation of other religions and their followers and their own distinct appreciation of the Sacred in our pluralist context of mutual dialogue. As already mentioned, not every 'ahl al kitaab' is a kaafir (disbeliever) or mushrik (polytheist). If this was the case, God would not have used the term 'ahl al kitaab' in the Quran in the first place! This distinction of terms is significant and obviously necessary. Moreover, there would be no reason whatsoever to protect the places of worship of the 'ahl al kitaab' (and even 'ahl al dhimma') which our Sacred Law obliges us to do, if such places of worship truly were places in which pure and explicit forms of shirk (polytheism) occured, and not "...monastaries, churches, synagogues and mosques, wherein the Names of God are oft-invoked", according to the Quran 22:40.
The forms of worship attributed to the 'People of Scripture' should be differentiated from the forms of polytheism which the Quran and the Sunnah EXPLICITLY reject. The "Triumph" of Makkah (Mecca) is a specific example where exclusive commands were given to remove the idols of the polytheists of Makkah from the Kaaba--only in the context of re-claiming the Original House of Worship which belongs to God Alone and no one else, in light of Islam's own Self-Definition of being a "return" to the primordial religion of Pure Monotheism whose original house of worship was the Kaaba built by Adam (pbuh)--the First Man and First Prophet. I pray you see the difference here between what exactly the Quran as God's Revealed Word defines as polytheism, and what is defined as revealed rites which differ in forms of worship but whose origin is God through a particular form of Revelation. For the Quran says:
"Unto each community We have given sacred rites (mansakan) which they are to perform; so let them not dispute with thee about the matter, but summon them unto thy Lord" (22:67-68)
Please note that the Arabic here in this verse states clearly 'min ahlil kitaab' which as you mentioned translates as "FROM AMONG the People fo the Book". This means that kufr (disbelief) can be found AMONGST the people of the book, yet arguably so can Iman (Faith, Belief) be found AMONGST the People of Scripture by the very same logic of this Quranic verse! Moreoever, there are verses in the Quran which explicitly state that "among the People of Scripture are those who believe" (ie have imaan!). For example:
"And truly among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and that which has been sent down unto you, and that which has been sent down unto them, humble before God, not selling God’s signs for a paltry price. They shall have their reward with their Lord. Truly God is swift in reckoning." (3:199)
and:
"They are not all alike. Among the People of the Book there is an upright community who recite the revelations of God in the watches of the night, falling prostrate. They believe in God in and the Last Day, and enjoin righ conduct and forbid indecency, and compete with one another in good works. These are of the righteous. And whatever good they do, they will not be denied it; and God knows the pious" (3:113-114).
Now, we can circumvent such verses through hermeneunetical strategies and explain away the literal meaning of this verse by claiming that those of the People of the Book that Allah (God) Intended here were those who ended up converting to the Islam of Muhamamd (pbuh) and therefore are no longer of the category of ahl al kitaab and are now Muslim, or we can just leave such verses to speak for themselves in their literal sense, and in light of the context we find ourselves in view them as valid proof that in principle and in fact there are sincere and pious people of faith in all revealed religions and that it is sufficient to know that Allah knows who they are! And because of this awareness of God's awareness of who true believers are in any religion including Islam, should we not give the "benefit of the doubt" (husni zunn) to each and every human being we meet in our lives--Muslim and non-Muslim-- by default!?
This second approach is much more in tune with facilitating a deeper appreciation of other religions and their followers and their own distinct appreciation of the Sacred in our pluralist context of mutual dialogue. As already mentioned, not every 'ahl al kitaab' is a kaafir (disbeliever) or mushrik (polytheist). If this was the case, God would not have used the term 'ahl al kitaab' in the Quran in the first place! This distinction of terms is significant and obviously necessary. Moreover, there would be no reason whatsoever to protect the places of worship of the 'ahl al kitaab' (and even 'ahl al dhimma') which our Sacred Law obliges us to do, if such places of worship truly were places in which pure and explicit forms of shirk (polytheism) occured, and not "...monastaries, churches, synagogues and mosques, wherein the Names of God are oft-invoked", according to the Quran 22:40.
The forms of worship attributed to the 'People of Scripture' should be differentiated from the forms of polytheism which the Quran and the Sunnah EXPLICITLY reject. The "Triumph" of Makkah (Mecca) is a specific example where exclusive commands were given to remove the idols of the polytheists of Makkah from the Kaaba--only in the context of re-claiming the Original House of Worship which belongs to God Alone and no one else, in light of Islam's own Self-Definition of being a "return" to the primordial religion of Pure Monotheism whose original house of worship was the Kaaba built by Adam (pbuh)--the First Man and First Prophet. I pray you see the difference here between what exactly the Quran as God's Revealed Word defines as polytheism, and what is defined as revealed rites which differ in forms of worship but whose origin is God through a particular form of Revelation. For the Quran says:
"Unto each community We have given sacred rites (mansakan) which they are to perform; so let them not dispute with thee about the matter, but summon them unto thy Lord" (22:67-68)
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