Surah Al-Baqarah — Verse 75

O believers, do not expect, after knowing their true nature and how stubborn they are, that they will be truthful and respond to you. A group of their scholars heard the word of Allah, revealed to them in the Torah, and then changed its words and meanings after they had understood what it really meant; and they did this fully aware of the seriousness of the crime.

Do you (faithful believers) covet that they will believe in your religion inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it (75)And when they (Jews) meet those who believe (Muslims), they say, "We believe," but when they meet one another in private, they say, "Shall you (Jews) tell them (Muslims) what Allah has revealed to you that they (Muslims) may argue with you (Jews) about it before your Lord?" Have you (Jews) then no understanding (76)Know they (Jews) not that Allah knows what they conceal and what they reveal (77)

Allah said,

أَفَتَطْمَعُونَ

(Do you covet) O believers,

أَن يُؤْمِنُوا لَكُمْ

(That they will believe in your religion) meaning, that these people would obey you? They are the deviant sect of Jews whose fathers witnessed the clear signs but their hearts became hard afterwards. Allah said next,

وَقَدْ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ 

(Inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it) meaning, distort its meaning,

مِن بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ

(after they understood it). They understood well, yet they used to defy the truth,

 وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

(knowingly), being fully aware of their erroneous interpretations and corruption. This statement is similar to Allah's statement,

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَاقَهُمْ لَعَنَّاهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَاضِعِهِ

(So, because of their violation of their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts grow hard. They change the words from their (right) places)(5:13).

Qatadah commented that Allah's statement;

 ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

(Then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it) "They are the Jews who used to hear Allah's Words and then alter them after they understood and comprehended them." Also, Mujahid said, "Those who used to alter it and conceal its truths; they were their scholars." Also, Ibn Wahb said that Ibn Zayd commented,

يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ

(used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it) "They altered the Tawrah that Allah revealed to them, making it say that the lawful is unlawful and the prohibited is allowed, and that what is right is false and that what is false is right. So when a person seeking the truth comes to them with a bribe, they judge his case by the Book of Allah, but when a person comes to them seeking to do evil with a bribe, they take out the other (distorted) book, in which it is stated that he is in the right. When someone comes to them who is not seeking what is right, nor offering them bribe, then they enjoin righteousness on him. This is why Allah said to them,

أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

(Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and every act of obedience to Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves, while you recite the Scripture (the Tawrah)! Have you then no sense?)(2:44)"

Allah said next,

وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ 

(And when they (Jews) meet those who believe (Muslims), they say, "We believe", but when they meet one another in private...). Muhammad bin Ishaq reported that Ibn 'Abbas commented,

وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا

(And when they (Jews) meet those who believe (Muslims), they say, "We believe") "They believe that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah, 'But he was only sent for you (Arabs)'" However, when they meet each other they say, "Do not convey the news about this Prophet to the Arabs, because you used to ask Allah to grant you victory over them when he came, but he was sent to them (not to you)." Allah then revealed,

وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ قَالُوا أَتُحَدِّثُونَهُم بِمَا فَتَحَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ لِيُحَاجُّوكُم بِهِ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ

(And when they (Jews) meet those who believe (Muslims), they say, "We believe," but when they meet one another in private, they say, "Shall you (Jews) tell them (Muslims) what Allah has revealed to you, that they (Muslims) may argue with you (Jews) about it before your Lord?") meaning, "If you admit to them that he is a Prophet, knowing that Allah took the covenant from you to follow him, they will know that Muhammad is the Prophet that we were waiting for and whose coming we find foretold of in our Book. Therefore, do not believe in him and deny him." Allah said,

أَوَلَا يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ

(Know they (Jews) not that Allah knows what they conceal and what they reveal?).

Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "When the Jews met the believers they used to say, 'We believe.' When they met each other, some of them would say, 'Do not talk to the companions of Muhammad about what Allah has foretold in your Book, so that the news (that Muhammad is the Final Messenger) does not become a proof for them against you with your Lord, and, thus, you will win the dispute.'" Further, Abu Al-'Aliyah said about Allah's statement,

أَوَلَا يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ

(Know they (Jews) not that Allah knows what they conceal and what they reveal?), "Meaning their secret denial and rejection of Muhammad ﷺ, although they find his coming recorded in their Book." This is also the Tafsir of Qatadah. Al-Hasan commented on,

أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ

(That Allah knows what they conceal), "What they concealed refers to when they were alone with each other away from the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ. Then they would forbid each other from conveying the news that Allah revealed to them in their Book to the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ, fearing that the Companions would use this news (about the truth of Muhammad ﷺ) against them before their Lord."

وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ

(And what they reveal?) meaning, when they said to the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ,

ءَامَنَّا

(We believe), as Abu Al-'Aliyah, Ar-Rabi' and Qatadah stated.

The Muslims used to take great pains in trying to make the Jews accept Islam. Having recounted so many stories of the perversity of the Jews, the Holy Qur'an points out to the Muslims that they cannot expect such a people to be sensible, and asks them not to worry much about them. For, some of the Jews have been committing an even more heinous sin - they used to change and distort the Word of Allah in spite of knowing the ignominy of such a deed. So, the Holy Qur'an wants the Muslims to realize that men who are so enslaved to their desires and so shameless in their pursuit of evil, cannot be expected to listen to anyone.

The "Word of Allah" mentioned in the verse refers to the Torah which the Jews had "heard" from the prophets, and the distortion pertains to the changes made in the words themselves or in the sense or in both; or it refers to the words of Allah which the seventy men had heard directly on the Mount Tur طور (Sinai) where they had gone to seek divine confirmation of what Sayyidna Musa (Moses (علیہ السلام) ) had been telling and the distortion pertains to their declaration before their people that Allah had promised to forgive them if they could not act upon certain commandments.

The Jews who were the contemporaries of the Holy Prophet ﷺ may not have themselves been involved in some of these transgressions, but since they did not abhor the misdeeds of their forefathers, they are to be considered as their counterparts.

One of the reasons for the promptness with which the people of Madinah recognized the Prophet Muhammad, and believed in him, was that they had often heard from their Jewish neighbours of the coming of a final prophet. They had, therefore, been expecting his arrival. The Jews then were responsible for the Muslims’ initial fervour for Islam. It was only natural that the Muslims, in their turn, should hope that the Jews would unhesitatingly accept the prophethood of Muhammad. With every hope of a positive response, it was with sublime feelings that they called on the Jews to join them in their belief in the Prophet. How shocked the Muslims were, then, when they found that, contrary to their expectations, the Jews were not ready to accept their invitation to accept Islam. Rather, their efforts had the opposite effect, for the Prophet’s opponents took the opportunity to ask the Muslims, ‘How are you so sure about the prophethood of Muhammad? If he were truly a prophet, the Jews would have been the first to believe in him, for their knowledge of what is written in the scriptures is greater than yours.’ But acceptance of a truth is not dependent upon knowledge alone; one has also to be sincere. As for the Jews, they had already altered their own scriptures, though they knew them to be the word of God. Seeking out loopholes in any part of the Holy scriptures that did not conform to their wishes, they altered the word of God at will; religion was subordinated to their worldly interests. However true something may be, if one is bent on denial and intentional distortion, one is sure to find some justification or the other for it. Such a perverse attitude finally leads to deliberate misrepresentation of the true word of God. One who has such irreverent attitude towards the divine scriptures can never appreciate the gravity of matters concerning God: he hears the word of God, but he can always find words to show that the commandment does not apply to him; he believes in God, but his insensitivity makes him commit acts of flagrant rebellion against Him which no one who really believes that God is watching over him, and hearing what he says, would ever dare to perpetrate.