What is Ruling on Zaid who says that Jew and Christian after the announcement of Prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ have a choice whether to follow or not to follow the Sharia. Instead they can believe in the Messengerhood of the Muhammad & still follow their Torah / Bible (old scriptures). (Knowing that they are abridged & not in original form)

1. Belief in the Prophet ﷺ necessarily entails obedience and submission

Qur’an

فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ
“By your Lord, they do not truly believe until they make you judge in what they dispute…”
Surah An Nisa 4:65

This verse explicitly ties īmān to accepting the Prophet ﷺ as the binding authority.

﴿وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ﴾
“It is not for a believing man or woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, to have any choice.”
Surah Al Ahzab 33:36

So belief without submission is rejected by the Qur’an itself.

2. The Sharīʿah of Muhammad ﷺ abrogates previous Sharīʿahs

Qur’an

وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ
“Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him.”
Surah Aal ʿImran 3:85

Islam here means the final law brought by Muhammad ﷺ, not previous dispensations.

إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا
“Indeed, I am the Messenger of Allah to you all.”
Surah Al Aʿraf 7:158

A universal messenger necessarily brings a universally binding law.

3. Following previous scriptures after the Prophet ﷺ is invalid even if unaltered

Hadith

“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, if Moses were alive, he would have no choice but to follow me.”
Musnad Ahmad, authenticated by scholars

This establishes that even a prophet of a previous Sharīʿah would be bound by the Sharīʿah of Muhammad ﷺ, let alone his followers.

Qur’an

الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيَّ
“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet…”
Surah Al Aʿraf 7:157

Guidance is explicitly conditioned on following him, not parallel adherence to earlier laws.

4. Scholarly consensus (Ijmaʿ)

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah states:

“Whoever believes that anyone is permitted to follow a law other than the law of Muhammad ﷺ is a disbeliever by consensus of the Muslims.”

Imam An Nawawi:

“There is consensus that the Sharīʿah of Muhammad ﷺ abrogated all previous Sharīʿahs.”

Qadi Iyad in Ash Shifa:

“Whoever claims that obedience to him ﷺ is not obligatory has disbelieved.”

This is not a disputed issue in Sunni theology.

Final theological conclusion

After the advent of Muhammad ﷺ:

• Belief without submission is invalid
• Previous Sharīʿahs are abrogated
• Claiming optional adherence to Islam after believing in the Prophet ﷺ is kufr
• This is established by Qur’an, Sunnah, and ijmaʿ

So Zaid’s position is not merely an error, but a direct contradiction of foundational Islamic doctrine.