Short answer
The Qur'an praises and rebukes the Children of Israel (the descendants of Jacob, who was also called Israel), much as their own prophets did. It calls the Torah "guidance and light" (5:44). It says that among Moses' people is a group "who guide and do justice in the light of truth" (7:159). It also has hard verses. It says that some broke the covenant and killed prophets, and were cursed (5:13, 5:78, 3:112). Moses said as much: "Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you" (Deuteronomy 9:24). The Qur'an judges by faith and deeds, never by birth. "Not all of them are alike" (3:113), and the door stays open (5:65). A Muslim may marry a Jewish woman and eat Jewish food (5:5). Below, each hard verse is quoted whole, with how the classical commentators (early scholars who explain the Qur'an) read it.
Full explanation
Judged by faith and deeds, never by birth
The Qur'an honours the upright of Israel in every age. It says the prophets, "the rabbis and the doctors of law" judged by the Torah, the Law given through Moses (5:44). It says God (﷾) preferred Israel "to all other" (2:47). It holds the door open: "We should indeed have blotted out their iniquities" (5:65). This is the Torah's own pattern. It has curses on the rebellious, then the covenant remembered when they confess. What the Qur'an asks of Israel is what the Torah asks. It asks them to keep the covenant, and to heed the prophet God (﷾) promised to raise up (Deuteronomy 18:18).
“It was We who revealed the law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.”
“Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and that I preferred you to all other (for My Message).”
“If only the People of the Book had believed and been righteous, We should indeed have blotted out their iniquities and admitted them to gardens of bliss.”
“And they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their treachery which they committed against Me, and also that they have walked contrary unto Me. I also will walk contrary unto them, and bring them into the land of their enemies; if then perchance their uncircumcised heart be humbled, and they then be paid the punishment of their iniquity; then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.”
“O Children of Israel! call to mind the (special) favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfil your covenant with Me as I fulfil My Covenant with you, and fear none but Me.”
“I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him.”
5:82 and 5:51, the verses quoted most
The two verses quoted most are 5:82 and 5:51. Verse 5:82 speaks to the Prophet (ﷺ): "wilt thou find". It names the Jews and the idolaters as the strongest in enmity to the believers. It names those who say "We are Christians" as the nearest in love. Al-Tabari (died 923) is one of the early commentators on the Qur'an. He reads 5:82 as God (﷾) telling the Prophet (ﷺ) what he would meet. He ties its praise to particular Christians of the Prophet's (ﷺ) time who heard the Qur'an and believed. Among them were the envoys of the Negus, the king of Abyssinia (Ethiopia). The Arabic wording, la-tajidanna, is a strong future tense addressed to the Prophet (ﷺ): it tells him what he would find among the people he met. It is a statement, not a rule about Jews in any later age, and it gives Muslims no command. Nor is it a verdict on every Jew: the same Qur'an says "Not all of them are alike" (3:113). Verse 5:51 forbids taking Jews and Christians as awliya'. Yusuf Ali's translation, used on this site, renders the word "friends and protectors". Al-Tabari explains it as helpers and allies against the believers. He holds the ban general for all believers. He is certain it came down about a hypocrite, a man who claimed Islam without holding it. That man kept such an alliance out of fear. The next verse shows such men, afraid "lest a change of fortune bring us disaster" (5:52). The same chapter lets a Muslim marry a Jewish woman (5:5).
“Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, "We are Christians": because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.”
Al-Tabari reads the verse as God telling the Prophet (ﷺ), whom his gloss names, what he would find: the Jews and the idol-worshippers strongest in enmity to those who believed in him. He ties the praise to Christians who heard the Qur'an and believed: the Negus of Abyssinia and his envoys, or people on the law of Jesus who then accepted Islam. He explains their nearness by their devotion and their humility before the truth. He contrasts them with the Jews the verse speaks of, who, he says, had long been used to killing prophets and altering revelation. That is the charge of 2:61 and 3:112, which Israel's own confession in Nehemiah 9:26 also makes.
“Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right.”
“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”
“Those in whose hearts is a disease - thou seest how eagerly they run about amongst them, saying: "We do fear lest a change of fortune bring us disaster." Ah! perhaps Allah will give (thee) victory, or a decision according to His will. Then will they repent of the thoughts which they secretly harboured in their hearts.”
Al-Tabari explains the verse as forbidding believers to take Jews and Christians as helpers and allies (ansar wa-hulafa') against the people of faith. He gives three possible occasions, among them Ubada ibn al-Samit giving up his alliance with Jewish allies while Abd Allah ibn Ubayy kept his. He says no report fixing the occasion is sound enough to rely on. He is certain it came down about a hypocrite who kept such an alliance out of fear, as the next verse (5:52) shows. He holds the ban general for all believers, whatever its occasion.
“This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).”
The curse verses: 5:13, 5:64, 5:78 and 9:30
Four verses speak of a curse, and each names a deed or a saying. Verse 5:13 says God (﷾) cursed those who broke the covenant. Yet it excepts "a few" from its charge of deceit, and ends "forgive them, and overlook". Verse 5:64 condemns the saying "Allah's hand is tied up" with "be they accursed". Ibn Abbas was the Prophet's (ﷺ) cousin and an early authority on the Qur'an. He says the saying meant God (﷾) is stingy, not that His hand is bound. Ikrima, a student of Ibn Abbas, says the verse came down about one man, Finhas the Jew. The verse adds "Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment". Al-Tabari reads this as between Jews and Christians. Verse 5:78 lays the curse on "those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith", through David and Jesus. Both were sons of Israel rebuking their own people. Ibn Abbas says this curse stands in every scripture, from the Torah to the Qur'an. The cause is in 5:79: they did not forbid one another the wrongs they did. Verse 9:30 condemns the saying that Ezra ('Uzair) is a son of God. It ends "Allah's curse be on them". Al-Tabari records two reports of who said it: one man, or a group of Jews who came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in Medina.
“But because of their breach of their covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard; they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the message that was sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few - ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): for Allah loveth those who are kind.”
“The Jews say: "Allah's hand is tied up." Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh to thee from Allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief.”
Al-Tabari explains that "Allah's hand is tied up" meant that God is miserly and holds back His bounty, since Arabs speak of giving as the work of the hand. He reports Ibn Abbas: they did not mean that God's hand is bound, but that He is stingy and keeps back what He has. Ikrima says the verse came down about Finhas the Jew. Al-Tabari reads "Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment" as between the Jews and the Christians, as Mujahid does. He reads "Every time they kindle the fire of war" as their gathering to rise against their opponents, which God scatters; Mujahid says it is the war against Muhammad (ﷺ). He reads their striving "to do mischief" as these Jews and Christians disobeying God, rejecting His signs and denying His messengers.
“Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses.”
Al-Tabari reports Ibn Abbas that those of the Children of Israel who disbelieved were cursed in every scripture: in the Torah in Moses' time, in the Psalms in David's, in the Gospel in Jesus', and in the Qur'an in Muhammad's (ﷺ). He gives the cause from the next verse (5:79): they did not forbid one another the wrongs they did.
“The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!”
Al-Tabari records two views of who said "'Uzair is the son of Allah". One says it was one man, named as Finhas. The other, from Ibn Abbas, names Sallam ibn Mishkam, Nu'man ibn Awfa, Sha's ibn Qays and Malik ibn al-Sayf. These men asked the Prophet (ﷺ) how they could follow him when he did not hold Ezra to be God's son. He also reports Ibn Abbas that the saying arose because Ezra restored the Torah after it had been forgotten.
Humiliation and affliction: 2:61, 3:112 and 7:167
Verses 2:61 and 3:112 speak of humiliation, and both give the reason. Verse 3:112 speaks of the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians. It says shame is pitched over them "wherever they are found". It names the cause: "they rejected the Signs of Allah, and slew the prophets". Verse 2:61 gives the same cause. Al-Tabari reads 3:112 of the Jews who rejected the Prophet (ﷺ), wherever they lived, in Muslim lands or others. The verse excepts those "under a covenant (of protection)"; the Arabic word is habl, a rope. Al-Tabari reads the rope as the covenant that kept their lives, property and children safe. He also calls the account a reminder so that they might turn back, and a warning to Muslims. The verse speaks of God's (﷾) judgement; it gives no one a part in carrying it out. The next verse after 3:112 begins "Not all of them are alike" (3:113). Verse 7:167 comes after the story of the Sabbath-breakers, and al-Tabari reads it of the Jews. It says God (﷾) would send against them, "to the Day of Judgment", those who would afflict them. Ibn Abbas reads this as the jizya, taken by the Prophet (ﷺ) and his community. The jizya was a tax paid by non-Muslims under Muslim rule. Whatever Ibn Abbas meant by it, the verse gives no Muslim and no state any task against Jews today. The verse ends "Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful". The next verse says God (﷾) tried them "that they might turn" (7:168). The Torah sets the same curse on a broken covenant: "among these nations shalt thou have no repose" (Deuteronomy 28:65). Yet God (﷾) says "I will not reject them" (Leviticus 26:44). None of these verses gives a Muslim leave to wrong anyone: justice is commanded toward all (5:8, 60:8).
“Shame is pitched over them (Like a tent) wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) from Allah and from men; they draw on themselves wrath from Allah, and pitched over them is (the tent of) destitution. This because they rejected the Signs of Allah, and slew the prophets in defiance of right; this because they rebelled and transgressed beyond bounds.”
“And remember ye said: "O Moses! we cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech thy Lord for us to produce for us of what the earth groweth, -its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, Its garlic, lentils, and onions." He said: "Will ye exchange the better for the worse? Go ye down to any town, and ye shall find what ye want!" They were covered with humiliation and misery; they drew on themselves the wrath of Allah. This because they went on rejecting the Signs of Allah and slaying His Messengers without just cause. This because they rebelled and went on transgressing.”
Al-Tabari reads the verse of the Jews who rejected Muhammad (ﷺ): humiliation was laid on them wherever they were, in the lands of the Muslims or of the idolaters. He reports al-Hasan that this community found them paying the jizya to the Magians, and that God humbled them and set them beneath the feet of the Muslims. He explains the "rope" (habl) as the covenant and pledge of safety that kept their lives, property and children safe. He holds that the exception does not lift the humiliation: it stays on them with that covenant or without it. He gives the cause from the verse: rejecting God's signs, killing prophets, disobeying and transgressing. He says God told of the shame and wrath that came on those who broke His limits for two reasons. It was a reminder to them, so that they might turn back. And it was a warning to "our community" not to follow their path and meet the same end.
“Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right.”
“Behold! thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. Thy Lord is quick in retribution, but He is also Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
“We broke them up into sections on this earth. There are among them some that are the righteous, and some that are the opposite. We have tried them with both prosperity and adversity: In order that they might turn (to us).”
Al-Tabari reads 7:167 as God declaring that He would send against the Jews, to the Day of Judgment, those who would make them suffer. He records that this was said to be the Arabs. They fought those who neither accepted Islam nor paid the jizya, and for those who paid it, it was a mark of lowliness. He reports Ibn Abbas: it is the jizya, and those who impose it are Muhammad (ﷺ) and his community, to the Day of Judgment. On the verse's end he says God is quick to punish those who earn it by unbelief and disobedience. He forgives whoever repents and returns to obeying Him. On 7:168 he reads "the righteous" as those who believe in God and His messengers. He says God described them so before they turned from their religion and before Jesus was sent to them. He reads "that they might turn" as a call to return to obeying God and to repent.
“And among these nations shalt thou have no repose, and there shall be no rest for the sole of thy foot; but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and languishing of soul.”
“And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.”
“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.”
“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.”
The "apes" verses: 2:65, 7:166 and 5:60
Three verses speak of people turned into apes. Verses 2:65 and 7:166 tell of Sabbath-breakers in one town by the sea (7:163). God (﷾) said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected". Verse 5:60, addressed to the "people of the Book" (5:59), speaks of past people "of whom some He transformed into apes and swine". The Prophet (ﷺ) said that God (﷾) gave those He transformed no offspring and no descendants. He added that apes and swine existed before them. So the transformed left no one alive today, and using these verses as an insult against Jews is a misuse.
“And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."”
“Ask them concerning the town standing close by the sea. Behold! they transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath. For on the day of their Sabbath their fish did come to them, openly holding up their heads, but on the day they had no Sabbath, they came not: thus did We make a trial of them, for they were given to transgression.”
“When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."”
“Say: "O people of the Book! Do ye disapprove of us for no other reason than that we believe in Allah, and the revelation that hath come to us and that which came before (us), and (perhaps) that most of you are rebellious and disobedient?"”
“Say: "Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from Allah? those who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath, those of whom some He transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!"”
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud reports that apes, and, a narrator thinks, swine, were mentioned before the Prophet (ﷺ) as people transformed. He said that God gave those He transformed no offspring and no descendants, and that apes and swine existed before that.
Three more hard verses: 3:110, 62:5 and 2:96
Three more verses are often quoted. Verse 3:110 first holds Muslims to account. They are the best of peoples only while they enjoin right, forbid wrong and believe. Of the People of the Book it says that some have faith, "but most of them are perverted transgressors". Verse 62:5 compares those given the Law of Moses who failed in it to a donkey carrying books. Ibn Abbas makes the donkey the likeness of anyone who reads the Book and does not follow it. The prophet Jeremiah said the like of the scribes of his day: "in vain hath wrought the vain pen of the scribes". Verse 2:96, like 5:82, speaks to the Prophet (ﷺ): "Thou wilt indeed find them". Al-Tabari reads 2:94-96 as a challenge put to the Jews of Medina and their rabbis, in the Prophet's (ﷺ) time. They had claimed the Hereafter, the life to come, as theirs alone (2:94). If it were theirs, they would not fear death, yet they are "most greedy of life". Jeremiah rebuked the same false trust in a calling: "The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD". The Qur'an asks Muslims the same question: "Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter?" (9:38).
“Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors.”
“The similitude of those who were charged with the (obligations of the) Mosaic Law, but who subsequently failed in those (obligations), is that of a donkey which carries huge tomes (but understands them not). Evil is the similitude of people who falsify the Signs of Allah: and Allah guides not people who do wrong.”
Al-Tabari explains the donkey as carrying books of knowledge it cannot use. So are those given the Torah who did not act on it, and did not believe in Muhammad (ﷺ), whom it told them to follow. He reports Ibn Abbas: God made this the likeness of anyone who reads the Book and does not follow what is in it.
“How do ye say: ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us’? Lo, certainly in vain hath wrought the vain pen of the scribes.”
“Thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life,-even more than the idolaters: Each one of them wishes He could be given a life of a thousand years: But the grant of such life will not save him from (due) punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do.”
“Say: "If the last Home, with Allah, be for you specially, and not for anyone else, then seek ye for death, if ye are sincere."”
Al-Tabari reads 2:94 as an argument God gave His Prophet (ﷺ) against the Jews living around him in Medina. By it, he says, God exposed their rabbis and scholars. They claimed the Hereafter was theirs alone, and were challenged to wish for death if they were truthful. He reads 2:96 as spoken to the Prophet (ﷺ), of those same Jews. He says they feared death because they knew what awaited them for their unbelief.
“Trust ye not in lying words, saying: ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, are these.’”
“O ye who believe! what is the matter with you, that, when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, ye cling heavily to the earth? Do ye prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter.”
Israel's own prophets said it first
The core charges are not new. They are already in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, spoken in God's (﷾) name. They are rebellion, a broken covenant, a Law carried but not kept, and prophets killed. Moses told Israel they had been rebellious "from the day that I knew you". Isaiah calls Israel children who rebelled. He too sets Israel below a beast of burden: the ass knows its master's crib, "But Israel doth not know". Jeremiah says the scribes' pen has worked in vain, much as 62:5 speaks of a Law carried and not kept. He curses the man who will not hear the covenant, as 5:13 does. The prayer in Nehemiah 9 confesses that Israel "slew Thy prophets". Chronicles tells how they stoned the prophet Zechariah in the Temple court, at the king's command. That is the charge of 2:61 and 3:112. Numbers 11 has the cucumbers, onions and garlic of 2:61. Jews accept these words from their own prophets. So the hard verses are not a new kind of speech about Israel. The main question is whether the Qur'an comes from the same God (﷾).
“Remember, forget thou not, how thou didst make the LORD thy God wroth in the wilderness; from the day that thou didst go forth out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.”
“Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you.—”
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For the LORD hath spoken: Children I have reared, and brought up, And they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master’s crib; But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children that deal corruptly; They have forsaken the LORD, They have contemned the Holy One of Israel, They are turned away backward.”
“How do ye say: ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us’? Lo, certainly in vain hath wrought the vain pen of the scribes.”
“and say thou unto them: Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Cursed be the man that heareth not the words of this covenant,”
“Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and slew Thy prophets that did forewarn them to turn them back unto Thee, and they wrought great provocations.”
“And the spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people, and said unto them: ‘Thus saith God: Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, He hath also forsaken you.’ And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.”
“And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: ‘Would that we were given flesh to eat! We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all; we have nought save this manna to look to.’—”
Who the praise verses mean
The Qur'an's verses of praise must be read as exactly as its hard verses. The commentators read most of them of people who believed in the Prophet (ﷺ) when he came. Al-Tabari reports Ibn Abbas that 3:85 came after 2:62. He takes this to mean Ibn Abbas held 2:62 abrogated, that is, replaced by the later verse. Al-Tabari's own reading needs no abrogation. He reads 3:113-115 of Abdullah ibn Salam and the other Jews of Medina who accepted Islam with him. He reads 3:199 of the Muslims among the Jews and Christians. He reads 5:66's "party on the right course" as those who say the truth about Jesus. Mujahid, another student of Ibn Abbas, calls them the Muslims of the People of the Book. Al-Tabari reads 7:159 plainly, of a righteous group of Moses' people. So these verses are not praise of Jews as Jews. They praise faith and deeds, in Moses' time and in the time of the Prophet (ﷺ).
“Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Al-Tabari reads "any who believe in Allah and the Last Day", said of Jews, Christians and Sabians, as belief in Muhammad (ﷺ) and what he brought, kept until death. He reports al-Suddi that a Jew's faith had been to hold to the Torah and the way of Moses until Jesus came. Mujahid and al-Suddi say the verse came about Christians Salman al-Farisi had known, who died before the mission of the Prophet (ﷺ). He reports Ibn Abbas that God afterwards revealed 3:85, and takes this to mean Ibn Abbas held 2:62 abrogated. He himself prefers his first reading, which he finds closer to the plain text.
“Not all of them are alike: Of the People of the Book are a portion that stand (For the right): They rehearse the Signs of Allah all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration. They believe in Allah and the Last Day; they enjoin what is right, and forbid what is wrong; and they hasten (in emulation) in (all) good works: They are in the ranks of the righteous. Of the good that they do, nothing will be rejected of them; for Allah knoweth well those that do right.”
Al-Tabari reports Ibn Abbas that 3:113-115 came down when Abdullah ibn Salam, Tha'laba ibn Sa'ya, Usayd ibn Sa'ya, Asad ibn Ubayd and other Jews accepted Islam. Some rabbis who did not had said that only their worst had followed him. Al-Tabari prefers this reading: the verses praise the believers among the People of the Book, a group holding fast to God's Book. He also reports Qatada: not all the people perished; God had a remnant among them.
“And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book, those who believe in Allah, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to Allah: They will not sell the Signs of Allah for a miserable gain! For them is a reward with their Lord, and Allah is swift in account.”
Al-Tabari gives three readings of 3:199: the Negus of Abyssinia; Abdullah ibn Salam and those with him; or the Muslims among the Jews and Christians. He prefers the last, Mujahid's, since the verse names the People of the Book without limit. Even if it came down about the Negus, he says, it covers all who, like him, followed the Prophet (ﷺ) after following the Torah and the Gospel.
“If only they had stood fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the right course: but many of them follow a course that is evil.”
Al-Tabari reads "stood fast by the Law, the Gospel" as acting on what the books agree in, above all belief in God's messengers. He reads "all the revelation that was sent to them" as the Qur'an brought by Muhammad (ﷺ). He reads "a party on the right course" (umma muqtasida) as those who say the truth about Jesus. They call him God's messenger and word, neither making him a son of God nor slandering his birth. Mujahid says they are the Muslims of the People of the Book.
“Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth.”
Al-Tabari explains the verse plainly: among the Children of Israel is a group that holds to the truth, acts by it, and judges justly by it. He adds reports, without ruling on them, of one tribe of Israel that disowned the killing of the prophets and was taken by God to a far land.
The same measure for Muslims
A Jewish reader will ask whether the Qur'an holds its own people to this standard. It does. Verse 3:110 calls Muslims the best of peoples only while they enjoin right, forbid wrong and believe. Verse 47:38 warns Muslims that if they turn back, God (﷾) will put another people in their place. Ibn Abbas reads the donkey of 62:5 as anyone who reads the Book and does not follow it. Those words fit a Muslim with the Qur'an as well. Al-Tabari also reads 3:112 as a warning to his own community. The prophet Amos gives the measure: the nearer the calling, the stricter the account. The Qur'an exempts no one by birth, Muslims included.
“Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors.”
“Behold, ye are those invited to spend (of your substance) in the Way of Allah: But among you are some that are niggardly. But any who are niggardly are so at the expense of their own souls. But Allah is free of all wants, and it is ye that are needy. If ye turn back (from the Path), He will substitute in your stead another people; then they would not be like you!”
Al-Tabari explains the donkey as carrying books of knowledge it cannot use. So are those given the Torah who did not act on it, and did not believe in Muhammad (ﷺ), whom it told them to follow. He reports Ibn Abbas: God made this the likeness of anyone who reads the Book and does not follow what is in it.
Al-Tabari reads the verse of the Jews who rejected Muhammad (ﷺ): humiliation was laid on them wherever they were, in the lands of the Muslims or of the idolaters. He reports al-Hasan that this community found them paying the jizya to the Magians, and that God humbled them and set them beneath the feet of the Muslims. He explains the "rope" (habl) as the covenant and pledge of safety that kept their lives, property and children safe. He holds that the exception does not lift the humiliation: it stays on them with that covenant or without it. He gives the cause from the verse: rejecting God's signs, killing prophets, disobeying and transgressing. He says God told of the shame and wrath that came on those who broke His limits for two reasons. It was a reminder to them, so that they might turn back. And it was a warning to "our community" not to follow their path and meet the same end.
“You only have I known of all the families of the earth; Therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities.”
How a Muslim is told to treat Jews
In daily life, the law is plain. A Muslim may eat the food of the People of the Book and marry a chaste woman among them (5:5). He may deal kindly and justly with all who do not fight him for his faith or drive him from his home (60:8). Hatred of others must never turn him from justice (5:8). The Prophet (ﷺ) grew angry when a Muslim slapped a Jew who had sworn by Moses, and he spoke of Moses with honour. He stood for a Jew's funeral and said: is it not a soul?
“This day are (all) things good and pure made lawful unto you. The food of the People of the Book is lawful unto you and yours is lawful unto them. (Lawful unto you in marriage) are (not only) chaste women who are believers, but chaste women among the People of the Book, revealed before your time,- when ye give them their due dowers, and desire chastity, not lewdness, nor secret intrigues if any one rejects faith, fruitless is his work, and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost (all spiritual good).”
“Allah forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allah loveth those who are just.”
“O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do.”
Abu Hurayra reports that a Jewish trader swore by the One who chose Moses above all people, and a Muslim of Medina slapped him for it. The Jew complained to the Prophet (ﷺ), who grew angry, until the anger showed on his face, and said: do not prefer any of Allah's prophets over another. He added that on the Day of Resurrection he may find Moses already standing, holding the Throne, and that he does not say anyone is better than Jonah son of Matta.
Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla reports that Sahl ibn Hunayf and Qays ibn Sa'd stood up at al-Qadisiyya when a funeral passed. They were told it was the funeral of one of the land's protected non-Muslims. They said the Prophet (ﷺ) had once stood for a funeral, and when told it was a Jew's, he said: is it not a soul? Al-Bukhari places it under the chapter heading "whoever stood for the funeral of a Jew".
Verse by verse
Qur'an 5:82 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 82
“Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews and Pagans; and nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say, "We are Christians": because amongst these are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not arrogant.”
Cited for
Critics say the Qur'an names Jews as the worst enemies of Muslims, for all time.
The response
The verse speaks to the Prophet (ﷺ): "wilt thou find". Its Arabic wording, la-tajidanna, is a strong future tense addressed to him. Al-Tabari reads it so, and ties its praise to particular Christians who believed in him. It is a statement, not a command, and not a rule about Jews in any later age. Nor is it a verdict on every Jew: the same Qur'an says "Not all of them are alike" (3:113). Its praise is for some Christians. The Qur'an praises believers from among the Jews in 3:113-115 and 5:66, and the upright of Moses' people in 7:159. The same book lets a Muslim marry a Jewish woman (5:5). A standing command of enmity cannot sit beside that.
Where it lands — A statement of what the Prophet (ﷺ) would find, not a command about Jews in every age.
Qur'an 9:30 — Surat al-Tawba (The Repentance), verse 30
“The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!”
Cited for
No Jew ever called Ezra the son of God. The verse shows the Qur'an does not know Judaism.
The response
No surviving Jewish text uses those words, and this page does not claim one does. The verse reports a saying. Its verb, qalat, "said", is also used of the Christians, so the tense alone does not limit it. The limit comes from the reports. Al-Tabari's reports name one man, or a group of Jews who came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in Medina. Ibn Abbas says the saying arose because Ezra restored the Torah after it was forgotten. The Talmud, the collection of rabbinic teaching, praises Ezra for that same deed. When the Torah was forgotten, he came up from Babylon and re-established it (Sukkah 20a).
Where it lands — The verse condemns a saying the commentators place among some Jews of Medina; it is not a claim about Jewish creed.
Qur'an 7:167 — Surat al-A'raf (The Heights), verse 167
“Behold! thy Lord did declare that He would send against them, to the Day of Judgment, those who would afflict them with grievous penalty. Thy Lord is quick in retribution, but He is also Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”
Cited for
Critics say verse 7:167 promises Jews suffering until the end of time, and that Ibn Abbas names the Muslims as the ones who bring it.
The response
Ibn Abbas reads the verse as the jizya, taken by the Prophet (ﷺ) and his community. Al-Tabari calls the jizya a mark of lowliness. Neither reading gives any Muslim or any state a task against Jews today. He also reads the "rope" of 3:112 as a covenant that kept lives, property and children safe. The Torah, too, has God (﷾) send a nation against Israel: "The LORD will bring a nation against thee from far" (Deuteronomy 28:49). It warns: "among these nations shalt thou have no repose" (Deuteronomy 28:65). The verse ends "Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful": al-Tabari says God (﷾) forgives whoever repents and returns to obeying Him. It gives a Muslim no leave to wrong anyone. Verse 5:8 commands justice even toward those he dislikes.
Where it lands — A warning of what a broken covenant brings, as in the Torah, with mercy for those who return; it licenses no wrong to anyone and gives no one a task against Jews.
Leviticus 26:44 — Torah, Vayikra, chapter 26, verse 44
“And yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.”
Cited for
God's covenant with Israel is eternal. He will never reject Israel, so any book that says He cursed them is not from Him.
The response
Leviticus 26:44 comes after the curses of the same chapter, which fall on Israel for breaking the covenant. It promises that God (﷾) will not destroy Israel utterly, and 26:40-42 says He remembers the covenant when Israel confesses its iniquity. The Qur'an says the same, and never says God (﷾) cast off Israel as a people. Even 7:167 ends "Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful". It calls them to keep their covenant as He keeps His (2:40). Keeping it now means: "believe in what I reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you" (2:41). And it promises to blot out their sins if they believe (5:65).
Where it lands — Both books curse the covenant broken and promise mercy on return; the Qur'an says the return now includes the revelation that confirms the Torah.
Qur'an 2:62 — Surat al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 62
“Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Cited for
Even the Qur'an's praise is only for Jews who became Muslims; its commentators say 2:62 was abrogated.
The response
Most commentators read the praise of those who believed in the Prophet (ﷺ) when he came, and this page says so. Al-Tabari reports Ibn Abbas that 3:85 came after 2:62. He takes it to mean Ibn Abbas held 2:62 abrogated, that is, replaced. His own reading needs no abrogation. For Jews, Christians and Sabians (a group the verse names beside them), belief in 2:62 means belief in Muhammad (ﷺ). Judaism, too, ties reward to accepting what God (﷾) revealed. Rabbi Joshua (1st-2nd century) taught that the righteous of the nations have a share in the World to Come, the life after death. Maimonides, a 12th-century Jewish legal scholar, adds a condition. The non-Jew must keep the seven laws of Noah because God (﷾) commanded them through Moses. Judaism does not ask a non-Jew to become a Jew, but Islam asks everyone to follow the last messenger. That is not a double standard: the Qur'an says he was sent "unto you all" (7:158). The Qur'an also praises Israel's upright before the Prophet (ﷺ): the prophets and rabbis of 5:44, and 7:159.
Where it lands — Both faiths tie reward to accepting what God (﷾) revealed; Islam holds that this now includes the last messenger, sent to all.
Qur'an 5:51 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 51
“O ye who believe! take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends and protectors: They are but friends and protectors to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them (for friendship) is of them. Verily Allah guideth not a people unjust.”
Cited for
Critics say Muslims are forbidden to be friends with Jews.
The response
Awliya' here means allies and protectors. Al-Tabari explains it as helpers and allies against the believers. The next verse shows who was doing it: men who kept an alliance because they feared a change of fortune. Friendship is another matter. A Muslim may marry a Jewish woman, and no one can be forbidden to befriend his own wife. Verse 60:8 permits kindness and justice to all who do not fight Muslims for their faith or drive them from their homes.
Where it lands — The verse forbids taking them as helpers and allies against the believers; kindness and justice are allowed by 60:8, and marriage by 5:5.
Qur'an 5:64 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 64
“The Jews say: "Allah's hand is tied up." Be their hands tied up and be they accursed for the (blasphemy) they utter. Nay, both His hands are widely outstretched: He giveth and spendeth (of His bounty) as He pleaseth. But the revelation that cometh to thee from Allah increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred till the Day of Judgment. Every time they kindle the fire of war, Allah doth extinguish it; but they (ever) strive to do mischief on earth. And Allah loveth not those who do mischief.”
Cited for
Critics say the Qur'an curses the Jewish people and wishes them enmity for ever.
The response
The verse condemns a saying, and Ikrima says it came down about one man, Finhas the Jew. Ibn Abbas says the saying meant God (﷾) is stingy. The Tanakh answers the same doubt: "Is the LORD'S hand waxed short?" (Numbers 11:23). Zephaniah rebukes men who say "The LORD will not do good". The curse falls on the saying and on those who said it. Al-Tabari, with Mujahid, reads "Amongst them we have placed enmity and hatred" as between Jews and Christians. Verse 5:14 says the same of the Christians. Neither is a command to Muslims to hate anyone. Mujahid reads "the fire of war" as the war against the Prophet (ﷺ). Two verses later, 5:66 says "There is from among them a party on the right course". Verse 5:13 excepts "a few" from its charge of deceit and says "forgive them".
Where it lands — The curse is on a saying and on the covenant broken, as in the prophets. It names deeds, not a people by birth, and commands no one to hate.
Isaiah 1:2-4 — Nevi'im, Yeshayahu, chapter 1, verses 2-4
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For the LORD hath spoken: Children I have reared, and brought up, And they have rebelled against Me. The ox knoweth his owner, And the ass his master’s crib; But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider. Ah sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A seed of evil-doers, Children that deal corruptly; They have forsaken the LORD, They have contemned the Holy One of Israel, They are turned away backward.”
Cited for
When Isaiah rebukes Israel he speaks as one of the family. The Qur'an is an outsider attacking a people. Christians used the prophets' words against Jews for centuries; the Qur'an does the same.
The response
Isaiah's rebuke is not his own: "For the LORD hath spoken". Amos gives the rule: "You only have I known... Therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities". The nearer the calling, the stricter the account. Christian writers once used these same prophets to say God (﷾) had rejected Israel for good. The Qur'an does not say that. It still calls the Children of Israel to their covenant (2:40), and warns Muslims that they too can be replaced (47:38). The Qur'an also speaks as God's (﷾) word, and it gives Israel's calling in the same breath (2:47). So the question is not who spoke, but whether the Qur'an comes from the God (﷾) who spoke through Isaiah.
Where it lands — A rebuke's standing depends on whether God (﷾) sent it, not on the speaker's family.
Qur'an 3:110 — Surat Al Imran (The Family of Imraan), verse 110
“Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah. If only the People of the Book had faith, it were best for them: among them are some who have faith, but most of them are perverted transgressors.”
Cited for
The Qur'an calls Muslims the best of peoples and Jews transgressors. It holds Jews to a standard it never applies to Muslims.
The response
Verse 3:110 makes Muslims the best only while they enjoin right, forbid wrong and believe. Verse 47:38 warns them that God (﷾) will replace them if they turn back. Ibn Abbas reads the donkey of 62:5 as anyone who reads the Book and does not follow it. Those words fit a Muslim with the Qur'an as well. Al-Tabari also reads 3:112 as a warning to Muslims. And the Prophet (ﷺ) took a Jew's side against a Muslim who struck him.
Where it lands — The Qur'an's measure is faith and deeds for everyone; Muslims are warned by the same verses.
Qur'an 2:61 — Surat al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 61
“And remember ye said: "O Moses! we cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech thy Lord for us to produce for us of what the earth groweth, -its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, Its garlic, lentils, and onions." He said: "Will ye exchange the better for the worse? Go ye down to any town, and ye shall find what ye want!" They were covered with humiliation and misery; they drew on themselves the wrath of Allah. This because they went on rejecting the Signs of Allah and slaying His Messengers without just cause. This because they rebelled and went on transgressing.”
Cited for
The Qur'an blames the Jews of Medina for what their ancestors did: "remember ye said" (2:61). That is collective, inherited guilt.
The response
The Qur'an rejects inherited guilt in plain words: "no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another" (6:164). Of the patriarchs and their line it says: "They shall reap the fruit of what they did, and ye of what ye do!" (2:134). Merit does not pass by birth, and neither does guilt. Its "ye" speaks to a people as one line through time, as the Tanakh does. Israel is told to "confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers" (Leviticus 26:40). The Psalm prays: "We have sinned with our fathers" (Psalm 106:6).
Where it lands — Guilt is personal in the Qur'an; its "ye" addresses a people through time, as Leviticus 26:40 and Psalm 106:6 do.
Perspectives
A Jewish reading
Many Jewish readers take the Qur'an's verses on Jews as polemic: attacks born of the conflicts in Medina. The Torah says God's covenant with Israel can never be broken. When Israel's prophets rebuke, they speak inside the family, and they end in comfort.
God promises that even in exile He will not reject Israel or break His covenant with them.
Rebuttal
The Qur'an never says God (﷾) cast off Israel as a people. Leviticus 26 itself curses a broken covenant before this promise, and has God (﷾) remember His covenant when Israel confesses (26:40-42). The Qur'an keeps that pattern: it calls Israel to its covenant (2:40) and promises to blot out their sins if they believe (5:65).
Israel will not cease to be a nation before God while the sun, moon and stars keep their order.
Rebuttal
The Qur'an never says God (﷾) cast off Israel; it still calls the Children of Israel to keep their covenant (2:40). The question is only whether keeping it now includes the revelation that confirms the Torah (2:41).
Calling Jews the strongest in enmity and forbidding alliance with them reads as hostility to a people.
Rebuttal
Verse 5:82 tells the Prophet (ﷺ) what he would find, and commands nothing. Verse 3:113 adds "Not all of them are alike". Al-Tabari explains 5:51 as a ban on alliances against the believers. And the same chapter lets a Muslim marry a Jewish woman (5:5). Verse 60:8 permits kindness and justice to all who do not fight Muslims for their faith or drive them from their homes.
No surviving Jewish text calls Ezra a son of God, so 9:30 misdescribes Judaism.
Rebuttal
True: no surviving Jewish text uses those words. The verse reports a saying, and al-Tabari's reports name one man, or a group of Jews who came to the Prophet (ﷺ) in Medina. It condemns what some said; it is not a claim about Jewish creed.
Even the Qur'an's praise is for Jews who became Muslims, as its own commentators say.
Rebuttal
Largely true, and this page says so, though 5:44 and 7:159 praise Israel's upright before the Prophet (ﷺ). Judaism too ties reward to accepting what God (﷾) revealed, as Maimonides, a 12th-century Jewish legal scholar, rules for non-Jews. Islam holds that this now includes the last messenger, sent "unto you all" (7:158).
The charge that Israel killed its prophets echoes Christian polemic against Jews.
Rebuttal
Israel's own scripture makes the charge first: Nehemiah's prayer confesses that Israel "slew Thy prophets" (Nehemiah 9:26). Christian writers later used such verses to say God (﷾) had rejected Israel for good. The Qur'an never says that, and it still calls Israel to its covenant (2:40).
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an speaks to Israel as its prophets did. It praises the faithful, rebukes the rebellious, and holds the door open. It judges by faith and deeds, never by birth, and it holds Muslims to the same measure.
Most of the Qur'an's hard verses repeat charges made by Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Nehemiah's prayer.
The Qur'an says not all of the People of the Book are alike, and praises the upright of Moses' people.
God (﷾) promises to blot out the sins of the People of the Book if they believe and do right.
Islamic law lets a Muslim marry a Jewish woman and eat Jewish food, and commands justice to all.
The Prophet (ﷺ) stood for a Jew's funeral and was angered when a Muslim struck a Jew.
The Qur'an warns Muslims that God (﷾) will replace them if they turn back.