قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ هَادُوا إِن زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ لِلَّهِ مِن دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ (6)
(62:6) Tell them: 'O you who have become Judaised, *10 if you arrogantly fancy that you are Allah's favourites *11 to the exclusion of all people, then wish for death, if you are truthful in your claim.' *12
*10) This point is noteworthy. It has not been said: "O Jews". but "O you who have became Jcws, or who have adopted Judaism", the reason being that the way of life brought by the Prophet Moses (peace be on him) and the Prophets after and before him, was Islam itself. None of those Prophets was a Jew, nor bad judaism been born in their time, but Judaism as such came into being much later. It is ascribed to the tribe which descended from Judah, the fourth son of the Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him). When after the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him 1 his kingdom broke into two parts, this tribe became ruler over the state which came to be known as Judaea. The other tribes of the Israelites established their separate state which became famous as Samaria. Then Assyria not only destroyed Samaria but also wiped out those Israelite tribes which had founded that state. After that only the decedents of Judah besides those of Benjamin remained. Who because of the predominance of the descendents of Judah, began to be called the "Jcws" . Judaism is the name of the framework of the doctrines, customs, and religious rules and regulations which the priests, rabbis and Iearned men'of this race prepared according to their own ideas, theories and trends for many centuries. This framework started being shaped in the 4th century B.C. and continued to develop till the 5th century A.D. It contains a very small element of the Divine guidance brought by the Messengers of AIIah, and even that element has been corrupted That is why at many places in the Qur'an they have been addressed as alladhina hadu "O you who have become Jews". AII of these were not the Israelites but there were among them also converts who had embraced .ludaism. .Whenever in the Qur'an the children of Israel have been addressed, the words 'sad are: "O children of Israel", and where the followers of Judaism have been addressed, the words are; alladhina hadu "O you who have become Jews" .
*11) At several places in the Qur'an their claim has been described in detail, as in AI Baqarah: 111: "They say: none shall enter Paradise unless he be a Jew', in AI-Baqarah: 80: "The fire of Hell is not going to touch us, and even if it does at aII, it will be only for a few days', and in AI-Ma'idah: 18: "We are the sons of AIIah and His beloved ones." Sane such claims arc also found in the books of the Jews themselves The world at least knows that they regard there. selves as the chosen people of God, and cherish the false notion that Cod has a special relationship with them, which is not shared by any other human group or class.
*12) This has been stated for the second time in the Qur'an, addressing the .lews First, in Al-Baqarah: 94-96, it was said: "Say to them: If the abode of the Hereafter with AIIah is exclusively reserved for you and Trot for the rest of mankind, then you should long for death, if you are sincere in your claim. Believe it that they will never wish for it, for (they arc fully aware of) what they have sent before them for the Hereafter. And Allah knows well the mentality of the transgressors. You will find that of aII mankind, they are the greediest for life; any they are even greedier than the idolators. Each one of them longs to have a life of a thousand years, but a long life can by no means remove them away from the Doom, for AIIah is watching whatever they are doing." Now the same thing has been repeated here. But this is not a mere repetition. In the verses of Al-Baqarah, it was said when no war had yet take place between the Muslims and the Jews. In this Surah it was reiterated at the time when after several battles their power in Arabia had been finally and absolutely, crushed. These battles and their results proved by experience and observation that what had been said in AI-Baqarah was correct. In Madinah and Khaiber the Jewish strength was much superior to that of the Muslims both in numbers and in resources. Then they had the pagans of Arabia and the hypocrites of Madinah also as their allies who were bent upon wiping out the Muslims. But in spite of this great disparity in numbers the Muslims overwhelmed the Jews mainly because they were least afraid of dying for the cause of Allah; they were rather fond of it, and would enter the battlefield fully prepared to embrace death. For they believed that they were fighting in the way of God and had complete faith that the one who fell martyr in His way would be blessed with Paradise. Contrary to this, the Jews were not prepared to fight and lay down their life for any cause, neither the cause of God, nor the cause of their nation nor for their own self, properties and honour. They only loved to live, in whatever way or fashion it be. T his had made them cowardly.