الآية رقم (76) - وَإِذَا لَقُواْ الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ قَالُواْ آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلاَ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىَ بَعْضٍ قَالُواْ أَتُحَدِّثُونَهُم بِمَا فَتَحَ اللّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ لِيُحَآجُّوكُم بِهِ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ أَفَلاَ تَعْقِلُونَ
(76) - “And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We have believed"; but when they are alone with one another, they say, "Do you talk to them about what Allah has revealed to you so they can argue with you about it before your Lord?" Then will you not reason?ˮ
The upper hand and the word was for the Muslims in Medina during the time of the Prophet . Therefore, the Jews would say, “We have believed”, if they met the believers. However, when they were alone with one another, they would say: “Do not tell them of what has been said in the Torah, lest they use it to argue with you about it before your God!”. The argument will always be in the hands of our religion.
The Torah contained the characteristics of the Prophet r, as stated by Abdullah Bin Sal’lam, one of the Rabbis among the Jews who embraced Islam[1]: “Verily, I can find the description of the characteristics of the Prophet r clearly in the Torah until it is as if I know him.” The Jews would distort the parts of the Torah which mentioned the characteristics of the Prophet r. Then, a group of them would constantly remind each other not to talk to any one of the Muslims about what is in their Book concerning the characteristics of the Prophet r. This was so that the Muslims would not use it as an argument against them. Thus, Allah refutes what they say by saying:
[1] Anas Ibn Malik Narrated: Abdullah bin Salam heard the news of the arrival of Allah’s Messenger (at Medina). So, he came to the Prophet and said: “I will ask you about three things which nobody knows unless he truly is a prophet. Firstly, what is the first portent of the Hour? What is the first meal of the people of Paradise? And what makes a baby look like its father or mother?”. The Prophet said, “Just now Jibril has informed me about that.” Abdullah said: “Jibril? He, among the angels is the enemy of the Jews.” The Prophet said: “As for the first portent of the Hour, it will be a fire that will collect the people from the East to West. And as for the first meal of the people of Paradise, it will be the caudate (i.e. extra) lobe of the fish liver. And if a man’s discharge proceeded that of the woman, then the child resembles the father, and if the woman’s discharge proceeded that of the man, then the child resembles the mother.” On hearing that, Abdullah said, “I testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that you are the Messenger of Allah.” (Sahih al-Bukhari: Prophets (كتاب أحاديث الأنبياء), Chapter: The Creation of Adam and his offspring, No: 3329.