And He refuted the false pretensions of the Jews and the Christians. The former said,
“None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew,”
[al-Baqarah: 111]
while the latter said,
“None shall enter Paradise unless he be a Christian.”
In answer, He declared:
“Indeed—not so. Whoever submits his whole self to Allah and excels in good deeds shall have his reward with his Lord; no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve.”
[al-Baqarah: 112]

He also laid bare the unbelief of both Jews and Christians in the very matters for which their condition has become well known. Yet the group most frequently mentioned in this surah is the Jews, just as the group most frequently mentioned in Surah Aal ʿImran is the Christians. The reason is that this surah was revealed soon after his arrival in Madinah, where the Jews were his neighbors; Aal ʿImran, however, was sent down later, toward the end of events, after the Christian delegation from Najran had come to him. That surah also contains the institution of Hajj, once Allah had cleansed Mecca of the idolaters. Consequently, in the earliest period the bulk of his summons was addressed to the polytheists, for they were his neighbors.