Intolerance is in the Eye of the Beholder: Revisiting the status of the Other in the Quran This paper seeks to reconcile the tension between the obvious meaning of Quranic text - with regards to the 'people of the book' - and the historical interpretation of the text as enshrined in Islamic orthodoxy. I seek to wade through the efforts by classical and contemporary Islamic interpreters and try to provide a contextual understanding of my finding that the Quran is more pluralistic, open and tolerant than its followers and especially its traditional interpreters. Consider the following two verses of the Quran: Those who believe, and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and do good deeds, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve (Quran 2:62 and 5:69). And if one seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him; and he is among the losers in the Hereafter (Quran 3:85). Today liberal and conservative Muslims are divided over which of the above two verses should determine Muslim relations with other faith communities. The first verse is inclusive and clearly indicates that those who are good people have nothing to worry. This status of fundamental moral equality of all people can become the basis for political equality in a multicultural, multi-religious society. But some Muslims who believe that only Islam has the Truth and only Muslims are good people, rely on 3:85 exclusively arguing that it is not only the ultimate source for defining Muslim-non-Muslim relations but also abrogates both 2:62 and 5:69. The most commonly used source for this argument is the exegesis of Al Tabari who on the authority of Ibn Abbas claims that after the advent from Prophet Muhammad no other religion except Islam will be accepted from anyone. I propose to systematically revisit the interpretation of this verse, examine the context of its revelation and cross examine it with other references in the Quran and classical interpretations. I shall also revisit the theory of abrogation. My goal is to show that pluralism in Muslim understanding has been limited by an exercise of interpretive preference and not by uncontestable evidence form the Quran.