Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:101

"And when a messenger came to them" is an adverbial expression of time for "cast aside" (nabadha). The sentence is a conjunction to the preceding one, falling under the scope of the denunciation. The pronoun refers to the Children of Israel, not merely their scholars. The "Messenger" is Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him; the use of the indefinite noun serves to denote his magnificence. It has been said that it refers to Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him, and that it is treated as a verbal noun meaning "message," as in the verse: “The slanderers have lied; I have not spoken of Laila to them, nor did I send them with a messenger (risalan).”

"From Allah" is linked to "came" or to an implied word serving as an adjective for the Messenger to provide further glorification, for the status of the messenger is determined by the status of the Sender.

"Confirming what is with them," that is, the Torah, in the sense that he—may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him—arrived with the description mentioned therein, or because he informed them that it is the speech of Allah, the Exalted, sent down to His prophet Musa (Moses), peace be upon him, or that he confirmed the rules of monotheism, the foundations of the religion, the narratives of nations, admonitions, and wisdom contained within it, or because he revealed the mysteries they had asked him about. Some interpreted "what" in a general sense to include all divine books revealed before. Ibn Abi Abla read musaddiqan in the accusative case as a circumstantial qualifier for the indefinite noun described by the following phrase.

"A party of those who were given the Book"—meaning the Torah—"cast it aside." These are the Jews who lived during the time of the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, not those who lived during the time of Sulayman (Solomon), peace be upon him, as some have mistakenly imagined due to the sequence. For "casting aside" at the time of the Prophet’s arrival cannot be attributed to them (the latter). The mention of this "casting aside" is singularized, despite its inclusion in the Almighty’s saying, "Is it that whenever they made a covenant..." because it is the greatest of their crimes and because it acts as a preamble for what follows.

"Being given" refers either to the granting of its knowledge, in which case the relative pronoun refers to their scholars, or to its mere revelation to them, in which case it refers to them all. The text does not say "a party from them" so as to signal the complete contradiction between what was established for them in the relative clause and the "casting aside" that emanated from them.

"The Book of Allah" is the object of "cast aside," and it refers to the Torah, according to what has been narrated from al-Suddi, who said: "When Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, came to them, they contested him with the Torah. The Torah and the Furqan (Quran) agreed, so they cast aside the Torah and adopted the Book of Asaf and the sorcery of Harut and Marut, which did not agree with the Quran. This is the meaning of His saying: 'And when a messenger came to them,' etc." This is supported by the fact that "casting aside" requires a prior state of holding it—which is true regarding the Torah—and that when a known noun is repeated as a known noun, the second is identical to the first. Furthermore, the censure of them for casting aside the Book they were given, while acknowledging its truth, is more severe, for it indicates that their action was merely out of obstinacy and insolence. The meaning of "casting aside" it is the abandonment of its rulings or the descriptions of the Prophet, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, contained within it.

It is also said that it refers to the Quran. Abu Hayyan supports this by noting that the discourse is regarding the Messenger, so the meaning becomes: he confirms what is in their hands of the Torah, whereas they, conversely, deny what he brought of the Quran, abandon it, and do not believe in it after they were obligated to receive it with acceptance. It is also said it refers to the Gospel, but this is baseless. He attributed the "Book" to the Noble Name (Allah) to glorify it and to highlight the magnitude of the audacity they committed in disbelieving in it.

"As if they did not know" is a circumstantial sentence, meaning they cast it aside acting like those who do not know it is the Book of Allah, or do not know it at all, or do not know it with precision, nor do they recognize the proofs of his prophethood—may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him—contained within it. This is based on the assumption that "the learned" is intended, and it signals that their knowledge of it is firm, yet they feign ignorance. In the first two interpretations, there is an added exaggeration regarding their turning away from the proofs of prophethood in the Torah. Whoever interpreted the "Book of Allah" as the Quran made the object of the ignorance "that it is the Book of Allah," i.e., as if they do not know the Quran is the Book of Allah, despite this being established and certain for them. This points to the fact that they cast it aside not out of doubt, but out of transgression and envy. To make the object "that he is a truthful prophet" is far-fetched.

The two verses—the Almighty's saying, "Is it that whenever they made a covenant," and His saying, "And when a messenger came to them"—indicate, based on the possibility that the majority were not the ones "casting aside," that the Jews were four groups: a group who believed in the Torah and upheld its duties (the believers of the People of the Book, who are the minority referred to in "Rather, most of them do not believe"); a group who openly cast aside the covenants and transgressed the limits (those intended by "a party of them cast it aside"); a group who did not act openly but "cast it aside" due to their ignorance (the majority); and a group who clung to it outwardly while casting it aside in secret (the hypocrites).