(91–93) “When it is said to them, ‘Believe in what Allah has revealed,’ they say, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us,’ while they disbelieve in what came thereafter, even though it is the truth confirming what they possess. Say, ‘Why, then, did you formerly kill Allah’s prophets, if you are believers?’ Indeed, Moses came to you with clear proofs, yet afterward you took the calf for worship while you were wrongdoers. And when We took your covenant and raised Mount Sinai above you, saying, ‘Hold firmly to what We have given you and listen,’ they said, ‘We hear and disobey.’ Their hearts became infused with devotion to the calf because of their disbelief. Say, ‘Wretched indeed is what your faith commands you to do, if you are believers.’”
That is, when the Jews were commanded to believe in what Allah had revealed to His Messenger—namely, the Quran—they grew arrogant and defiant. “They say, ‘We believe in what was revealed to us,’ while they disbelieve in what came thereafter”—that is, in the other revealed Books. Yet they are obligated to believe unconditionally in whatever Allah has revealed, whether it was revealed to them or to others. This is the faith that brings benefit: belief in what Allah revealed to all His messengers.
As for making distinctions among the messengers and the Books, and claiming to believe in some but not others, this is not faith at all; rather, it is sheer disbelief. Allah the Exalted therefore said: “Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers, wish to make a distinction between Allah and His messengers, and say, ‘We believe in some and disbelieve in others,’ wishing to take a path in between—it is they who are truly disbelievers.”
Allah, Exalted is He, gives them a conclusive response here and confronts them with an argument from which they cannot escape. He refutes their disbelief in the Quran on two grounds. First, He says, “Even though it is the truth.” Since it is the truth in all that it contains—its accounts, commands, and prohibitions—and it comes from their Lord, disbelieving in it is therefore disbelief in Allah and in the truth He revealed.
Then He says, “Confirming what they possess”—that is, it accords with all the truth indicated therein and stands as a guardian over it.
Why, then, do you believe in what was revealed to you while disbelieving in its counterpart? Is this anything but blind partisanship and the pursuit of desire rather than guidance?
Moreover, the Quran’s confirmation of what they possess means that it constitutes evidence for them establishing the truth of the scriptures in their hands. They have no way to establish their truth except through it. If they disbelieve in and deny the Quran, they become like someone who makes a claim supported by a proof and evidence that he alone possesses, whose claim can be established only if his evidence remains intact, but who then proceeds to discredit and deny his own proof and evidence. Is this not foolishness and madness? Their disbelief in the Quran therefore amounted to disbelief in what they possessed and the invalidation of it.
Allah the Exalted then refuted their claim to believe in what had been revealed to them, saying: “Say to them, ‘Why, then, did you formerly kill Allah’s prophets, if you are believers? Indeed, Moses came to you with clear proofs’”—that is, clear evidence demonstrating the truth—“yet afterward you took the calf for worship,” meaning after Moses had come to you, “while you were wrongdoers.” You had no excuse for doing so.
“And when We took your covenant and raised Mount Sinai above you, saying, ‘Hold firmly to what We have given you and listen’”—that is, listen with acceptance, obedience, and compliance—“they said, ‘We hear and disobey.’” Such became their condition, and “their hearts became infused with devotion to the calf” (1) because of their disbelief.
“Say, ‘Wretched indeed is what your faith commands you to do, if you are believers.’” That is, you claim to possess faith and pride yourselves on following the true religion, yet you killed Allah’s prophets and took the calf as a god besides Allah when Moses, Allah’s prophet, was absent from you. You accepted his commands and prohibitions only after being threatened and after Mount Sinai was raised above you. You committed yourselves in word but violated that commitment in deed. What, then, is this faith you claim to possess, and what is this religion?
If this is faith, as you allege, then wretched indeed is the faith that drives its adherent to transgression, disbelief in Allah’s messengers, and persistent disobedience. It is well known that true faith commands a person to do every good and forbids every evil. This made their falsehood clear and exposed their contradiction.