inward conviction; then renounce it at the end of the day, saying, ‘We examined our books and consulted our scholars, and found that Muhammad is not as he claims; his falsehood has become clear to us.’ If you do this, his companions will doubt their religion, suspect him, and say, ‘They are the People of the Scripture, and they know more about him than we do.’ Thus, they will turn back from their religion.” (1)

Mujahid, Muqatil, and al-Kalbi (2) said: This concerned the direction of prayer. When it was changed toward the Ka‘bah, that distressed the Jews. So Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf said to his companions, “Believe in what was sent down to Muhammad concerning the Ka‘bah, and pray toward it at the beginning of the day. Then disbelieve and return to your own direction of prayer at the end of the day, so that they may say, ‘These are the People of the Scripture, and they know better,’ and thus return to our direction of prayer.” Allah Most High then disclosed their secret to His Messenger and revealed:

“And a group among the People of the Scripture said, ‘Believe at the beginning of the day in what has been sent down to the believers, and disbelieve at its end, so that perhaps they may turn back.’”

The beginning of the day is called its “face” because it is its finest part and the first thing that confronts the observer’s sight. “And disbelieve at its end, so that perhaps they may turn back”—that is, so that they may doubt and turn back from their religion.

“And do not believe anyone except one who follows your religion. Say, ‘Indeed, true guidance is Allah’s guidance: that anyone should be given the like of what you have been given, or that they should argue with you before your Lord.’ Say, ‘Indeed, bounty is in Allah’s hand; He grants it to whom He wills. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing.’ (73)”

Regarding His saying, Most High, “And do not believe anyone except one who follows your religion”: this is connected to the earlier statement of the Jews to one another: “And do not believe”—that is, do not credit—“anyone except one who follows your religion,” who agrees with your religious community. The lām in liman is supplementary; that is, do not credit anyone except one who follows your Jewish religion. This is like His saying, “Say, ‘Perhaps some of what you seek to hasten has drawn close behind you’” (al-Nahl 72), meaning: has drawn close behind you.

“Say, ‘Indeed, true guidance is Allah’s guidance.’” This is a statement from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that true elucidation is His alone. They then differed regarding it. Some said that this is an intervening statement between two passages, while what follows remains connected to the preceding speech, reporting what the Jews said to one another. Its meaning is: Do not believe anyone except one who follows your religion; and do not believe that anyone should be given the like of what you have been given of knowledge, Scripture, wisdom, and signs—such as the manna and quails, the parting of the sea, and other wondrous favors. Nor believe that they will contend with you before your Lord, for your religion is sounder than theirs. This is the meaning of Mujahid’s statement.

It was also said that the Jews told their lowly followers, “Do not believe anyone except one who follows your religion—that anyone should be given the like of what you have been given of knowledge”; that is, lest anyone be given it. The negative particle is implicit here, as in His saying, “Allah makes clear to you lest you go astray” (al-Nisa’ 176), meaning: lest you go astray. In other words: Do not credit them, lest they come to know what you know and thereby have superiority over you in knowledge; and lest they contend with you before your Lord, saying, “You knew that our religion was true.” This is the meaning of Ibn Jurayj’s statement.

Al-Hasan and al-A‘mash recited it as in yu’ta, with a kasrah on the initial alif. According to this reading, the Jews’ statement ends with His saying, “except one who follows your religion,” and what follows is Allah Most High’s speech. He says: Say, O Muhammad, “Indeed, true guidance is Allah’s guidance: that anyone should be given”—where the particle an carries the sense of negation,