And when the Almighty mentioned the disgraces of the Jews and the ugliness of their deeds, and explained that they intended to kill Jesus (peace be upon him) and that they did not achieve that goal, but rather Jesus attained the greatest position and the noblest rank, the Almighty then stated that these Jews, who were extreme in their enmity, none of them will leave this world except after believing in him, saying: **{And there is none of the People of the Book except that he will surely believe in him before his death}** (An-Nisa: 159).

Know that the word **{إنّ}** (*inna*) here carries the meaning of the negative particle **(ما)** (*ma*), as in the verse **{And there is none of you except that he will pass over it}** (Maryam: 71). Thus, the meaning becomes: "And there is no one from the People of the Book except that he will surely believe in him." However, we see that most Jews die without believing in Jesus (peace be upon him).

The answer to this apparent contradiction is twofold:

**The First Way:** What is narrated from Shahr ibn Hawshab, who said: Al-Hajjaj told me, "I never read this verse without having some doubt in my mind, for I strike the neck of a Jew without hearing that from him." So I told him, "When the Jew is at the point of death, the angels strike his face and back, saying, 'O enemy of God! Jesus came to you as a Prophet, and you denied him.' He then says, 'I believe that he is the servant of God.' And to the Christian, they say, 'Jesus came to you as a Prophet, and you claimed he was God and the son of God.' He says, 'I believe that he is the servant of God.' So the People of the Book believe in him, but at a time when that belief does not benefit them." Al-Hajjaj sat up straight and asked, "From whom did you narrate this?" I replied, "Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Hanafiyyah narrated it to me." He then began tapping the ground with a stick and said, "You have taken this from a pure source." It is also narrated from Ibn Abbas that he interpreted it this way. 'Ikrimah said to him, "What if he falls from the roof of a house, or burns, or a lion eats him?" He replied, "He will speak it in the air, and his soul will not depart until he believes in him." This is supported by the recitation of Ubayy [ibn Ka'b] who read it as **{إلا ليؤمنن به قبل موته}** (*illa li-yu'minanna bihi qabla mawtih*) with a *dammah* on the *nun* (implying plural agreement), meaning: "And there is none among them except that they will surely believe in him before their death," because the singular pronoun (*ahad*) can refer to the plural. The author of *Al-Kashshaf* said: The benefit in God informing us of their belief in Jesus before their death is that since they know that belief in him is inevitable, it is better for them to believe when that belief benefits them rather than when it does not benefit them.

**The Second Way** to answer the original question is that His saying **{before his death}** means **before the death of Jesus** (peace be upon him). The intent is that the People of the Book who are alive during the time of his descent must believe in him. Some theologians have stated that his descent from heaven to the world is not prevented, but rather, he will descend when the religious obligations (*takalif*) are lifted, or in a manner that he is not recognized. For if he descended while the obligations remained and he was recognized as Jesus (peace be upon him), he would either have to be a Prophet—but there is no Prophet after Muhammad (peace be upon him)—or not a Prophet, which is impossible for Prophets. I find this objection weak because the chain of Prophethood ends with the mission of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Therefore, after his mission, that period ended. It is not far-fetched that after his descent, Jesus would become a follower of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Then the Almighty said: **{And on the Day of Resurrection, he will be a witness against them}**. It is said that he will testify against the Jews that they denied and slandered him, and against the Christians that they associated partners with him. Similarly, every Prophet is a witness over his nation. Then the Almighty said:

**{So for the wrongdoing of those who were Jews We forbade them certain good things which had been lawful for them, and for their hindering many from the way of Allah, And for their taking of usury, though it was forbidden to them, and for their consuming of the wealth of people wrongfully. And We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.}** (An-Nisa: 160-161)