Al Baqarah

الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءهُمْ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقاً مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ

Those to whom We have given the (earlier) Book, recognize him (the Prophet) as they recognize their sons, but a group of them most surely conceal the truth while they know (it). (2:146).

الْحَقُّ مِن رَّبِّكَ فَلاَ تَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْمُمْتَرِينَ

The Truth is from your Lord, therefore be not one of the doubters. (2:147).

Following the former discussions about the obstinacy and bigotry of a party of the People of the Book, the first verse of the above says:

Those to whom We have given the (earlier) Book, recognize him (the Prophet) as they recognize their sons... (2:146)

They have learnt about his name and his specific characteristics in their religious books.

...but a group of them most surely conceal the truth while they know (it). (2:146)

Some of them, of course, having seen those clear signs of the promised Prophet (S) embraced Islam. It is quoted from, Abdillah Ibn Salam, who previously had been one of the Jewish scholars and then accepted Islam, that he said that from before, he knew the Prophet of Islam (S) better than he knew his son,³ and the other scholars knew the Prophet of Islam well, too. This verse uncovers an important fact. It denotes that the earlier Divine Books had contained a very vivid and distinct illustration of the physical and spiritual characteristics of the Prophet of Islam (S). It had been so clear that those who were acquainted with those Books could draw a clear image of him in their minds.

Can anybody imagine that any name or description about the Prophet of Islam’s (S) characteristics could not be found mentioned in the Torah and the Evangel? Certainly not, because, as the above verse indicates, the Prophet of Islam (S) was announced openly and very clearly before their eyes by his epithets that were cited in the books of the ‘People of the Book’. If this statement were not true, might the scholars of the ‘People of the Book’ not rise against it?

Would they not present their books to him and insist that he should prove his claim thereby according to their Books? Was it possible that even one of their learned men would surrender to the invitation of the Prophet of Islam (S) without sufficient cause? Thus, such verses in the Holy Qur’an are, themselves, clear evidence for them to the rightfulness of the prophethood of the Prophet of Islam (S). Then, to emphasize upon the former statements about the change of the Qiblah or the ordinances of Islam in general, it says:

The Truth is from your Lord, therefore be not one of the doubters. (2:147).

The announcement to the Holy Prophet (S) that he, in fact, is the Apostle from Allah sounds to some as a consolation to the Holy Prophet himself (S) so that he would never doubt when the enemies sneered or scorned upon either the change of the Qiblah or about other problems, even if all of them allied with each other against him. As it was mentioned before, any warning or threat addressed to the Holy Prophet (S) is always and invariably meant, not for the Holy Prophet (S), but for his followers. He never doubted in the Divine revelation because the revelation was, for him, on the level of ‘certainty of sight’.

Footnotes

1. 3. Al-Manar, Vol. 2 and Al-Tafsir al-Kabir, Fakhr al-Razi, Vol. 4, p. 128.