—out of envy toward the Arabs, even though they knew with certainty that he was the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Consequently, Allah revealed these verses: “When there came to them what they recognized, they refused to believe in it” (al-Baqarah 2:89).

Ibn Ishaq also narrated—from ‘Asim ibn ‘Umar ibn Qatadah al-Ansari, later al-Zhafari—through men of his own clan, who said:

“One of the things that summoned us to Islam—alongside Allah’s mercy and guidance—was that we used to hear statements from Jewish men while we were still idol-worshipping pagans. They were people of the Scripture and possessed knowledge we did not have, and there was continual hostility between us and them. Whenever we inflicted on them something they disliked, they would say to us: ‘The time is close for a prophet to be sent. When he appears, we shall follow him and, together with him, annihilate you as ‘Ad and Iram were annihilated.’ We heard this from them repeatedly. Then, when Allah did send His Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—indeed a messenger from Allah, we heeded his call, recognizing in him what they had threatened us with, and we hastened to him first. Thus we believed in him while they disbelieved, and it was concerning us and them that these verses were revealed.”