And when He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned their harshness, He concluded it with cursing them. He had previously mentioned their Book multiple times and referred to the Gospel by giving 'Isa, peace be upon him, clear signs. He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned their disbelief in this Book, which is the purpose of the Surah, describing it as guidance, and in this Messenger who brought it as evidence of their drowning in disbelief. For they, despite their initial acceptance of him, blessings and peace be upon him, before his prophethood, against those who opposed them, and their rejoicing in him, bearing witness to their joy at his coming, were the furthest people from his call, continuing in disbelief and adhering to misguidance. So this evidence was clearer than the first for the people of that era. And His saying, 'And when a Book came to them,' means: a comprehensive Book for all guidance due to its greatness, being 'from Allah,' encompassing all attributes of perfection. Then He mentioned from the things they loved in following it His saying, 'Confirming what is with them' [Al-Baqarah: 91], through the tongue of a Prophet they knew the truth of his matter through matters that their Book bears witness to, and by this Book confirming him through the miraculous nature of its composition and the affirmation of its meaning to their Book. The answer is omitted, and what follows indicates that they disbelieved in it. In that is a decisive evidence against them, for their Book would bear witness to their disbelief. And when He clarified the testimony of their Book, He followed it with their testimony so that they would not distort the meaning of that. He said, 'And they were,' meaning: while they were. And since their initial acceptance was at some time, He affirmed the connection and said, 'before,' meaning: before his coming.

'They seek victory' means: they ask Allah for victory by the name he brought, seeking blessings in mentioning him.

'Against those who disbelieved' means: that they were not unaware of him, but rather they were the most knowledgeable of people about him. They had prepared themselves to believe in him. And despite all of that, 'when there came to them' the message of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, the knowledge of 'what they knew' means: of his truthfulness regarding what was mentioned of his attributes in their Book,

'They disbelieved in it' as an excuse based on various clear falsehoods, among them their claim that Jibril, peace be upon him, is their enemy and he is the one bringing it. Al-Thalabi and Al-Wahidi narrated that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'Abdullah ibn Suriyya argued with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about certain matters. When the proof became clear against him, he said: Which angel comes to you from the heavens? He said: Jibril. And Allah did not send a Prophet except that he is his ally - and in another narration: And he asked him about who descends upon him with revelation, and he said: Jibril. He said: That is our enemy; if it were someone else, we would have believed in you.'

Ibn Ishaq said in the Sirah: Abdullah ibn Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Husayn al-Makki narrated to me from Shahr ibn Hawshab al-Ash'ari that a group of Jewish scholars came to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and said: "Tell us about four things we will ask you about. If you do so, we will follow you, believe you, and have faith in you." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to them: "You have the covenant of Allah and His pledge that if I inform you of that, you will certainly believe me." They said: "Yes." He said: "So ask what you wish!" They said: "Then inform us: How does a child resemble its mother when the sperm is from the man?" The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I ask you by Allah and by His days among the Children of Israel: Do you not know that the sperm of the man is thick and white, and the sperm of the woman is thin and yellow? Whichever of them prevails over the other, that is what the child resembles." They said: "O Allah, yes." They said: "Then inform us about your sleep?" He said: "I ask you by Allah and by His days among the Children of Israel: Do you not know that the one who claims that I do not sleep, his eye sleeps while his heart is awake?" They said: "O Allah, yes." He said: "So likewise is my sleep; my eye sleeps while my heart is awake." They said: "Then inform us about what Israel prohibited for himself." He said: "I ask you by Allah and by His days among the Children of Israel: Do you not know that his most beloved food and drink was the milk of camels and their meat? And that he complained of a complaint, and Allah healed him from it, so he prohibited upon himself what he loved most as a thankfulness to Allah? So he prohibited upon himself the meat of camels and their milk?" They said: "O Allah, yes." They said: "Then inform us about the soul." He said: "I ask you by Allah and by His days: Do you know Gabriel, who comes to me?" They said: "O Allah, yes, but he is an enemy to us, and he is an angel who only comes with severity and bloodshed. If it were not for that, we would have followed you." Then Allah revealed about them: "Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel, for he has brought it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah, confirming what was before it and a guidance and glad tidings for the believers" [Al-Baqarah: 97] until His saying: "Or whenever they make a covenant, a party of them throws it away. Rather, most of them do not believe" [Al-Baqarah: 100]. The origin of this is in Al-Bukhari in the creation of Adam, the Hijrah, and the tafsir from Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him - from narrations that gathered between their words - he said: "The Prophet of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, came to Medina, that is, in the Hijrah, until he said: Then he came walking until he settled beside the house of Abu Ayyub, may Allah be pleased with him. He was narrating to his family when Abdullah ibn Salam heard of him while he was among the date palms for his family, hastening to put down what he was gathering for them, and came while it was with him. He heard from the Prophet of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, then he returned to his family. The Prophet of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Which of our houses is closest?" He mentioned his settling with Abu Ayyub, may Allah be pleased with him. Then he said: "When the Prophet of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, came, Abdullah ibn Salam, may Allah be pleased with him, came and said: I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah and that you have come with the truth! The Jews know that I am their leader, the son of their leader, their most knowledgeable, and the son of their most knowledgeable. Call them and ask them about me before they know that I have embraced Islam, for if they know that I have embraced Islam, they will say about me what is not in me." In another narration: Abdullah ibn Salam reached the arrival of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, while he was in the land gathering for them, so he came to him and said: "I will ask you about three things that no one knows except a prophet: What is the first sign of the Hour? What is the first food that the people of Paradise will eat? And from what does the child take after his father and from what does he take after his maternal uncles?" - and in another narration: "And from what does the child take after his father or after his mother?" - The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Gabriel has just informed me of them." Abdullah said: "That is the enemy of the Jews among the angels." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, recited this verse: "Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel, for he has brought it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah" [Al-Baqarah: 97]. As for the first sign of the Hour: it is a fire that gathers the people from the east to the west. And as for the first food that the people of Paradise will eat: it is the liver of a fish - and in another narration: the fish. And as for the resemblance in the child, when a man has relations with a woman and his water precedes hers, then the resemblance is to him, and if hers precedes, then the resemblance is to her - and in another narration: "And if the water of the man precedes the water of the woman, the child takes after him, and if the water of the woman precedes, she takes after him." He said: "I bear witness that you are the Messenger of Allah." Then he said: "O Messenger of Allah, the Jews are a people of deceit. If they know of my Islam before you ask them, they will deceive me before you." So the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, sent for them, and they entered upon him - and in another narration: The Jews came and Abdullah entered the house - and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to them: "O assembly of Jews! Woe to you! Fear Allah, for by Allah, there is no deity but Him, you know that I am the Messenger of Allah and that I have come to you with the truth, so embrace Islam." They said: "We do not know that." They said to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and he said it three times. He said: "Which man among you is Abdullah ibn Salam?" They said: "That is our leader, the son of our leader, our most knowledgeable, and the son of our most knowledgeable, our best, and the son of our best." He said: "What if he embraces Islam?" They said: "Far from it! He would not embrace Islam" - and in another narration: "May Allah protect him from that." He said: "O Ibn Salam, go out to them." He went out and said: "I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. O assembly of Jews, fear Allah, for by Allah, there is no deity but Him, you know that he is the Messenger of Allah and that he has come with the truth." They said: "You have lied," and they said: "You are the worst of us and the son of the worst of us," and they fell upon him and belittled him. He said: "This is what I feared, O Messenger of Allah." Then the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, expelled them." And Al-Wahidi in the reasons for revelation narrated from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: "I used to go to the Jews when they were studying the Torah, and I was amazed at the agreement of the Qur'an with the Torah and the agreement of the Torah with the Qur'an. They said: 'O Umar! No one is more beloved to us than you.' I said: 'Why?' They said: 'Because you come to us and visit us.' I said: 'I only come to marvel at the confirmation of the Book of Allah, some of it confirming others and the agreement of the Torah with the Qur'an and the agreement of the Qur'an with the Torah.' While I was with them one day, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, passed behind me, and they said: 'This is your companion, so stand up to him.' I turned and saw the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, entering a small door from the city. I approached them and said: 'I ask you by Allah and what He has revealed to you from the Book: Do you know that he is the Messenger of Allah?' Their leader said: 'He has asked you by Allah, so inform him.' They said: 'You are our leader, so inform him.' Their leader said: 'We know that he is the Messenger of Allah.' I said: 'Then I will destroy you if you know that he is the Messenger of Allah, and then do not follow him.' They said: 'We have an enemy among the angels and peace among the angels.' I said: 'Who is your enemy and who is your peace?' They said: 'Our enemy is Gabriel.' I said: 'And who is your peace?' They said: 'Mikail.' I said: 'I bear witness that it is not permissible for Gabriel to oppose the peace of Mikail, and it is not permissible for Mikail to make peace with the enemy of Gabriel, and they are both, along with those with them, enemies to those who oppose them and peace to those who make peace with them.' Then I stood up and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, received me - meaning the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him - and said: 'O son of Al-Khattab, shall I not recite to you verses?' He recited: 'Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel, for he has brought it down upon your heart' [Al-Baqarah: 97] until he reached 'And none deny it except the disobedient' [Al-Baqarah: 99]. I said: 'By the One who sent you with the truth, I did not come to you except to inform you of the words of the Jews, and here is the Subtle, the All-Aware has preceded me with the news!' Umar said: 'Indeed, I saw myself in the religion of Allah harder than a stone.'

I have asked some of the virtuous among the Jews present in our time about their enmity towards Gabriel, peace be upon him, but he did not allow himself to speak openly and said: 'That is not to be given.'

This hadith has also been narrated by Ishaq ibn Rahawaih in his Musnad from Al-Sha'bi from Umar, may Allah be pleased with him. Our Sheikh Al-Busairi said: It is a sound mursal narration. In it, he said to them: 'And what is their status with their Lord?' They said: 'One of them is on His right and the other is on the other side. And I bear witness that they and their Lord are peace for whoever makes peace with them and war for whoever fights them.'