Al-Baqarah: (75) Do you then hope that they will believe in you...

Know that when the Almighty mentioned the ugly deeds of the ancestors of the Israelites up to this point, He then explained the ugly deeds of the Israelites who were present in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Al-Qaffal (may Allah have mercy on him) said that what Allah the Exalted mentioned in this Surah concerning the stories of the Children of Israel serves several purposes:

1. Evidence for the Prophethood of Muhammad (PBUH): It demonstrates the truthfulness of Muhammad's (PBUH) prophethood because he reported these stories without having learned them, which could only be through revelation. Both the People of the Book and the Arabs benefit from this evidence. The People of the Book know these stories and, upon hearing them from Muhammad without any discrepancy, realize he must have received them through revelation. The Arabs see that the People of the Book confirm Muhammad's reports.

2. Enumeration of Blessings upon the Israelites: It recounts the immense favors Allah bestowed upon their ancestors—deliverance from Pharaoh after being oppressed and enslaved, victory, being made prophets and kings, establishment on earth, the splitting of the sea, the destruction of their enemy, and the sending down of light and clarity via the Torah. It also mentions Allah's pardon for their sins, such as worshipping the calf, breaking covenants, and demanding to see Allah openly. Furthermore, it recalls the water brought forth from the rock in the wilderness, the descent of Manna and Quail, and the shading of the sun by clouds. Allah reminds them of these ancient and recent blessings.

3. Forewarning about their Past Transgressions: It informs the Prophet (PBUH) about the precedence of their disbelief, opposition, contention, stubbornness against the prophets, and the extreme nature of their defiance compared to previous nations. After witnessing clear signs, they worshipped the calf shortly after Moses (PBUH) departed from them, indicating their dullness. When commanded to enter the gate prostrating and saying Hittah (relieve us of our sins), promising forgiveness and increase for the good-doers, they altered the saying and became transgressors. They asked for lentils and onions instead of Manna and Quail. They refused to accept the Torah after believing in Moses and guaranteeing their obedience, even when the mountain was raised above them. They violated the Sabbath by hunting. When commanded to sacrifice the cow, they confronted Moses, saying, {Do you take us in ridicule?} (Al-Baqarah: 67). Their hearts hardened further after witnessing the raising of the dead. Thus, Allah seems to say: If these were their actions toward their own people and their dealings with the Prophet whom Allah honored them through and saved them from servitude by means of, then it is not surprising how their successors deal with Muhammad (PBUH). Therefore, O Prophet and believers, be patient with what you see of their obstinacy and turning away from the truth.

4. Warning to the contemporary People of the Book: It warns the People of the Book present in the Prophet's time that punishment might descend upon them just as it did upon their ancestors for those counted transgressions.

5. Warning to the Arab Polytheists: It warns the Arab polytheists that punishment might descend upon them as it did upon those Jews.

6. Argument against the Polytheists regarding Resurrection: It serves as an argument against the Arab polytheists who deny the Resurrection while affirming the initial creation, which is implied by His saying: {Thus does Allah bring the dead back to life} (Al-Baqarah: 73).

Having established this, we say: The Prophet (PBUH) was intensely eager for people to accept the truth and embrace faith. His chest felt constrained due to their stubbornness and rebellion. Therefore, Allah recounted the stories of the Israelites' immense obstinacy despite witnessing clear signs, as a consolation to His Messenger regarding the lack of acceptance and response he was seeing from the People of the Book in his time. Then the Almighty said: {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?}

Herein lie several issues:

There are two views:

1. The view of Ibn Abbas: This is a specific address to the Prophet (PBUH) alone, as he is the caller and the one sought for response. Although the wording is general, we restrict it to the specific due to this contextual clue. It is narrated that when the Prophet (PBUH) arrived in Medina and called the Jews to the Book of Allah, and they denied him, this verse was revealed.

2. The view of Al-Hasan: This addresses the Messenger and the believers. Al-Qadi said this is more fitting to the apparent meaning, because although the Prophet (PBUH) is the primary caller, some of his Companions also called people to faith, presented evidence, and drew attention to it. Thus, it is correct for the Almighty to say, {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?} intending the Messenger and those among his Companions who were like him. If this is correct, there is no reason to abandon the apparent meaning.

The intended meaning of {that they will believe in you} refers to the Jews present in the time of the Prophet (PBUH), because hope regarding their belief is appropriate for them, and its opposite (despair) is also appropriate. Hope is only valid concerning the future, not the actual past.

They mentioned several reasons for this improbability (of their belief):

1. Do you hope they will believe in you, even though they did not believe in Moses (PBUH), who was the means by which Allah saved them from humiliation, favored them above all, and manifested successive miracles through him while severe punishment befell the rebels?

2. Do you hope they will believe and show affirmation, when those among them who knew the truth did not confess it but rather altered and substituted it?

3. Do you hope these people will believe you through rational consideration and deduction, when a group of their ancestors heard the Word of Allah and knew it was true, yet they remained obstinate?

One might ask: They are obligated to believe in Allah. So what is the benefit of saying, {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?}

The answer is that it affirms what they were called to, even if the belief is directed to Allah, as in His saying: {So believe in him, Lot} (Al-Anbiya: 78), where belief was affirmed after acknowledging his prophethood and confirmation. Alternatively, it could mean they believe for your sake and because of your insistence in calling them, making the addition (to you) meaningful.

They differed on who this party refers to:

• Some said it refers to those present in the time of Moses (PBUH), because Allah described this party as hearing the Word of Allah. Those who heard the Word of Allah were the people at the appointed time (Miqat).
• Others said it refers to those present in the time of Muhammad (PBUH). This is closer because the pronoun in {And a party of them} refers back to what preceded, namely those intended by Allah's saying: {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?}, and we established that the hope concerned the belief of those present in Muhammad's time.

If it is argued that those who heard the Word of Allah were only those present at the Miqat, we reply: We do not concede that. It is possible for someone who heard the Torah to be described as having "heard the Word of Allah," just as one of us can be said to have "heard the Word of Allah" when the Qur'an is recited to him.

There are issues concerning this:

Issue 1:

Al-Qaffal said that tahrif (alteration) means changing and substituting. Its root is deviation from something. Allah says: {except as a combatant maneuvering for battle or merging with a troop} (Al-Anfal: 16). Alteration is inclining something away from its truth. It is said of a pen that it is muharraf if its tip is crooked and not straight.

Issue 2:

Al-Qadi said that alteration is either in the wording or in the meaning. Carrying the alteration to changing the wording is preferable to changing the meaning. If the Word of Allah remains in its form, and they change its interpretation, they are only changing its meaning, not the audible text itself. If it can be interpreted as changing the wording—as narrated from Ibn Abbas that they added to it and subtracted from it—that is preferable. If that is not possible, it must be interpreted as changing the meaning, even if the text remains fixed. This is only impossible if the Word of Allah has become established through continuous transmission (tawatur), like the Qur'an. Before that stage, altering the wording itself is not impossible, but this requires investigation. If their alteration affects the establishment of the proof based on it, Allah must prevent it. If it does not affect the proof, its occurrence is valid. Therefore, the alteration applicable to speech must be categorized as we mentioned. As for altering the meaning, it can be valid to some extent where the Messenger's intent is not necessarily known. Once that intent is known, alteration becomes impossible for them, as we mentioned previously regarding their knowledge of the contrary, just as it is impossible now for someone to interpret the prohibition of pork, carrion, and blood as applying to something else.

Issue 3:

Know that if we hold that the alterers were those present in Moses' time, it is most likely that they altered what was not connected to the matter of Muhammad (PBUH). It is narrated that a group of the seventy chosen men heard the Word of Allah when Moses spoke on Mount Sinai, what Moses was commanded and what he was forbidden. Then they said: We heard Allah say at the end: If you can do these things, do them, and if you choose not to do them, there is no harm. However, if we hold that the alterers were those present in Muhammad's time, it is most likely that the intended alteration concerns the command of Muhammad (PBUH). This could be altering the description and attributes of the Messenger, or altering the laws, such as altering the ruling of stoning. The apparent meaning of the Qur'an does not indicate what exactly they altered.

Issue 4:

One might ask: How does the action of some in altering necessitate despair regarding the belief of the rest? The obstinacy of some does not negate the affirmation of others.

Al-Qaffal answered this by saying: It is possible that the meaning is: How can these people believe, when they take their religion and learn it from people who deliberately alter out of obstinacy? Those people only teach them what they have altered and deviated from the truth, and the followers accept nothing else and pay no attention to the people of truth. This is like saying to a man: How can you succeed when your teacher is so-and-so (meaning, you learn only from him and not from others).

Issue 5:

They differed regarding {Do you then hope?}:

• Some said Allah made them despair of the belief of this group—a specific body of people.
• Others said He did not make them despair absolutely, but only made it improbable due to their alteration, substitution, and obstinacy. They compare it to saying, "We do not hope our slaves and servants will own our lands." We do not cut off the possibility of them owning them, but we deem it unlikely.

One might argue that His saying {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?} is a rhetorical question expressing denial, which implies a definite certainty that they will not believe. Belief in someone whom Allah has informed will not believe is impossible. In that case, the established interpretations regarding certainty revert to what was previously mentioned.

The meaning is that they knew its truth and the falsehood of what they fabricated, so they were deliberately obstinate, proceeding with it intentionally. Therefore, the speech must be interpreted to mean that the knowledgeable among them did that for certain worldly aims, as Allah clarifies later in {And they purchased with it a little price} (Aal-Imran: 187) and {They recognize him as they recognize their own sons} (Al-Baqarah: 146; Al-An'am: 20). It must also be that their number was small, because it is not permissible for a large group to conceal what they believe, as if we allowed that, the truth-teller could not be distinguished from the falsehood-teller, no matter how large the number.

One might ask: Is {after they had understood it, while they knew} not a repetition without benefit?

Al-Qaffal answered this in two ways:

1. After they had understood it: Allah intended a meaning, and they interpreted it with a false interpretation, knowing that it was not Allah's intended meaning.
2. They understood Allah's intended meaning, and they knew that the false interpretation would incur sin and punishment from Allah. When they deliberately altered while knowing the sin involved, their harshness and audacity were greater. Since the purpose was to console and patiently support the Messenger (PBUH) regarding their obstinacy, the greater their obstinacy, the stronger the consolation.

In the verse, there are two issues:

Issue 1:

Al-Qadi said that His saying {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?}, as previously interpreted, indicates that their belief is dependent on themselves. If it were by Allah's creation within them, the state of hope regarding them would not change based on the description of the party mentioned earlier. Consequently, it would not be a valid consolation for the Messenger (PBUH) and the believers, because, under that view, their state of belief depends on Allah creating it, and its removal depends on Him not creating it. Furthermore, Allah magnifying their sin in altering it by doing so while knowing its truth implies this. If it were by His creation, whether they knew or not would not change the situation, and His attribution of the alteration to them as a form of blame indicates this. Know that the discussion on this has been repeated many times, so there is no benefit in repetition.

Issue 2:

Abu Bakr Al-Razi said that the verse indicates that the knowledgeable, obstinate person is further from guidance and closer to despair than the ignorant person, because His saying {Do you then hope that they will believe in you?} implies the removal of hope for their guidance due to their persistent rejection of the truth after knowing it.