(75–78) “Do you then hope that they will believe you, when a group of them used to hear the word of Allah and then knowingly distort it after having understood it? * When they meet those who believe, they say, ‘We believe.’ But when they are alone with one another, they say, ‘Will you tell them what Allah has disclosed to you, so that they may use it to argue against you before your Lord? Do you not understand?’”

This dashes the believers’ hopes that the People of the Book will believe. That is, do not hope that they will believe, for their condition (1) affords no grounds for such hope. They used to distort the word of Allah after having understood and known it, ascribing to it meanings that Allah did not intend so as to make people think that these were from Allah, when they were not from Allah. If this is how they treat their own scripture—which they regard as their honor and religion—using it to turn people away from the path of Allah, how could it be hoped that they would believe you? That is among the most unlikely of things.

He then mentioned the condition of the hypocrites among the People of the Book, saying: “When they meet those who believe, they say, ‘We believe.’” Thus, they professed belief to them verbally with their tongues, though it was not in their hearts. “But when they are alone with one another”—with no one present who did not belong to their religion—they say to one another: “Will you tell them what Allah has disclosed to you?” That is, will you profess belief to them and tell them that you are like them, thereby furnishing them with evidence against you?

They will say, “They have acknowledged that what we follow is true and what they follow is false,” and will use that to argue against you before your Lord. “Do you not understand?” That is, do you have no reason, so that you might refrain from furnishing evidence against yourselves? This is what they say to one another.