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ʾam turīdūna ʾan tasʾalū rasūlakum ka-mā suʾila mūsā min qablu wa-man yatabaddali l-kufra bi-l-ʾīmāni fa-qad ḍalla sawāʾa s-sabīli
Would you question your Apostle as Moses was questioned formerly? Whoever changes faith for unfaith certainly strays from the right way.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verse 108
Or do you desire to question your Messenger (Muhammad) as Moses was questioned aforetime? And he who exchanges Faith for infidelity, he has surely strayed from the right way. (2:108)
Occasion of Revelation
In the books you may find some apparently different occasions of revelation for this verse, but their conclusions are nearly the same. A few of them are as follows: One of the occasions of revelation upon the above verse has been narrated by Ibn Abbas. It is stated that once Wahab Ibn Zayd and Rafi’ Ibn Harmalah came to the Holy Prophet (S) and asked him to bring a letter from Allah for them to read and then they might believe. Or, it happened that he (S) was asked to make some streams appear and flow for them so that they might follow him.
Some other commentators have said that a group of Arabs wanted from the Prophet of Islam (S) the same things that the Jews wanted from Moses (‘a). They asked him to show the Lord clearly so that they could see Him with their own eyes and then they would believe. As a response to them for their demand, the above verse was revealed.
Some Futile Pretexts
The addressees, in this verse, are some Muslims whose Faith was feeble, or the pagans. The Jews are not mentioned directly in this verse but, as we will explain later, it is not far removed from the story of the Jews. It was, perhaps, after the event of the change of the Qiblah that some of Muslims and pagans, affected by the temptations of the Jews, requested some vain and futile demands from the Holy Prophet (S), the examples of which were cited in the above. Allah, the Almighty, forbade them to ask such questions. The Qur’an says:
Or do you desire to question your Messenger (Muhammad) as Moses was questioned aforetime?... (2:108)
But you have decided, indeed, to evade believing by the acceptance of these vain pretexts. In view of the fact that this action is a way of exchanging Faith for blasphemy, at the end of the verse it adds:
…And he who exchanges Faith for infidelity, he has surely strayed from the right way. (2:108)
It should be noted that Islam has never prevented people from asking scientific or logical questions, as well as asking the Prophet (S) to perform miracles in order to prove the Divine rightfulness of his prophecy, because the means of gaining understanding and Faith are the same. But there were some people who asked some futile questions and demanded some irrational pretexts in order to shirk the invitation of the Holy Prophet (S).