Muhammad: Break with the JewsMuhammad and that which was sent down previous to him and as trusting
in the Resurrection. The vv. 5f refer to "unbelievers" and hypocrites, who
only profess to believe in Allah and the end Judgment, and the vv. 19f seem
to contain a sermon of Muhammad, which is addressed "O you people."
The vv. 1-19a are thought to have been composed in about the beginning of
2 AH by some Western Qur'an scholars. The vv. 28f give a narrat^22 ive
about Adam, which is pretty much in keeping with the earlier Qur'anic
stories about him, and the vv. 38f open with the phrase "O you children of
Israel." In v. 38 the notion about "keeping covenant" is referred to, and
afterwards admonitions are given to accept the Qur'an, not to hide the truth
(v. 39), to pray, give alms and bow down (v. 40). The narratives about
Pharaoh, Moses and the calf (vv. 46f), which are actually directed to the
"children of Israel" (as part of the preceding sermon) reveal some
modifications and improvements on earlier Qur'anic versions of these
accounts. The short story in the vv. 55f, about the Jewish dietary laws (cf.
Qur'an 7:161f), has now been added to the Moses narrative. Th^23 e v. 59
states that "those who believe" and the Jews, Christians and Sabians, who^24
believe in God and the Resurrection and practice good, will be rewarded
and will have nothing to fear. The v. 61 again relates how the
Sabbath-violators of the children of Israel were allegedly turned into apes
(cf. 7:166), and the vv. 63f indicate that Muhammad confused the law about
the red heifer (Num. 19:2f) with the heifer whose neck was to be broken for
someone killed by an unknown (Dt. 21:1f). The v. 70 seems to ref^25 er to a
group of the Jews who are accused of intentionally altering God's word
after having understood it, and v. 71 must also apply to the Jews, who
appear to have decided not to tell Muhammad or the Muslims about the
Bible, because the information the Jews give is simply being used against
them. The vv. 73f indicate that there were unlearned (or possibly
proselytes) among the Jews who did not know "the Book." In this^26 same
passage those are condemned, who write out "the Book" with their hands
and claim that their work is from God, with the object of selling it. Thus^27
Muhammad still seems to have been averse to the notion of God's word
being copied out by hand, although he must have later change^28 d his mind.
The v. 74 appears to be about the Jews and God keeping covenant, but a
description of the covenant with the children of Israel (vv. 77f) contains
some pretty novel ideas, such as speaking only good things about people
and performing (the ritual) prayer. The covenant referred to in the vv. 78f
may also have been the constitution which Muhammad made in Medina,
which the Jews are said to have broken later. The v. 81 mentions Moses as