and saw that he was not from among them, they disbelieved in him out of envy of the Arabs, although they knew that he was Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah then said:

‘But when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allah is upon the disbelievers.’”

As for the hadith narrated from Abd al-Malik ibn Hārūn ibn Antara, from his father, from Sa'īd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbās, who said:

“The Jews of Khaybar used to fight with Sukayna, and whenever they met in battle, the Jews were defeated. They therefore sought refuge in this supplication: ‘O Allah, we ask You by the right of Muhammad, the unlettered Prophet whom You promised to bring forth for us at the end of time, to grant us victory over them.’ Whenever they offered this supplication, they defeated Ghatafān. But when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sent, they disbelieved in him. Allah Most High then revealed:

‘Although previously they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved—but when there came to them that which they recognized, they disbelieved in it.’”

Al-Hākim narrated this hadith in his Mustadrak and said: “Necessity compelled me to include it.” This is among the things for which scholars criticized him, for Abd al-Malik ibn Hārūn is among the weakest narrators. Scholars of hadith narrators regard his reports as abandoned; indeed, they regard him as a liar. What Yahyā ibn Ma'īn and other leading scholars said about him has already been mentioned.

I say:

This hadith is among them, as is the other hadith he narrates from Abū Bakr, as mentioned earlier. Further evidence of this is that, by agreement of the scholars of Quranic exegesis and the Prophet’s biography, the words of Allah Most High:

“Although previously they used to pray for victory against those who disbelieved”

were revealed specifically concerning the Jews who originally lived near Medina, such as Banū Qaynuqā', Qurayza, and al-Nadīr. They were the ones who formed alliances with al-Aws and al-Khazraj, and with whom the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concluded a treaty when he arrived in Medina. Then, when they broke the treaty, he fought them