Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 75

Mufti Taqi Usmani

(O Muslims) do you still fancy that they will believe you, although a group of them used to hear the word of Allah, and then, having understood it, used to distort it knowingly?

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Do you ˹believers still˺ expect them to be true to you, though a group of them would hear the word of Allah then knowingly corrupt it after understanding it?

Ruwwad Translation Center

Do you [O believers] hope that they would respond to your call to believe, while a party of them used to hear the word of Allah then distort it knowingly after understanding it?

A. J. Arberry

Are you then so eager that they should believe you, seeing there is a party of them that heard God's word, and then tampered with it, and that after they had comprehended it, wittingly?

Abdul Haleem

So can you [believers] hope that such people will believe you, when some of them used to hear the words of God and then deliberately twist them, even when they understood them?

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Covet ye then that they would believe for you whereas surely a Party of them hath been hearing the Word of Allah and then reverting it after they have understood it, While they know.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Can ye (o ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it.

Abul Ala Maududi

O Muslims, do you then expect that these people will accept your invitation and become believers? whereas there have always been among them some who have been hearing the Word of God, understanding it well and then perverting and tampering with it knowingly.

Ahmed Ali

How do you expect them to put their faith in you, when you know that some among them heard the word of God and, having understood, perverted it knowingly?

Ahmed Raza Khan

So O Muslims, do you wish for the Jews to accept faith in you whereas a group of them used to listen to the Words of Allah, and then after having understood it, purposely changed it?

Ali Quli Qarai

Are you then eager that they should believe you, though a part of them would hear the word of Allah and then they would distort it after they had understood it, and they knew [what they were doing]?

Ali Ünal

(O community of the believers!) Do you hope that those people (whose hearts have become more hardened than rocks and who have continually shown disloyalty to God,) will believe you (and believe in the Prophet Muhammad, and in the Book he brought and the Religion he preaches)? (It is surely not possible) when there has been a party among them that hear the Word of God, and then, after they reasoned and judged it (to be the Word of God), have tampered with it knowingly.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Do you (O Muslims!) expect that they will believe you while (you see) there are some of them who hear the Word of Allâh and then tamper with it after having fully understood it, and they know (that this way of theirs is wrong)?

English Literal

Do you covet that they believe to you, and (there) had been a group/party from them (that) was hearing God`s speech/conversation (words), then they alter/distort/change it from after what they understood/comprehended it , and they know?

Faridul Haque

So O Muslims, do you wish for the Jews to accept faith in you whereas a group of them used to listen to the Words of Allah, and then after having understood it, purposely changed it?

Hamid S. Aziz

Do you hope that they should believe you when already a sect of them have heard the word of Allah and then perverted it knowingly after they had understood it?

Hilali & Khan

Do you (faithful believers) covet that they will believe in your religion inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah [the Taurat (Torah)], then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it?

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Do you then hope that they would believe in you, and a party from among them indeed used to hear the word of Allah, then altered it after they had understood it, and they know (this).

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Do you then hope that they would believe in you, and a party from among them indeed used to hear the Word of Allah, then altered it after they had understood it, and they know (this).

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Have ye any hope that they will be true to you when a party of them used to listen to the word of Allah, then used to change it, after they had understood it, knowingly?

Muhammad Sarwar

Do you, the believers in truth, desire the unbelievers to believe you? There was a group among them who would hear the word of God and understand it. Then they would purposely misinterpret it.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Do you then hope that they will believe in you, when some of them have already heard the Word of Allah and knowingly tampered with it, after they understood it!

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Do you (faithful believers) covet that they will believe in your religion inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it

Wahiduddin Khan

Do you then hope that they will believe in you when some of them have already heard the word of God and then, after having understood it, they knowingly perverted it?

Talal Itani

Do you hope that they will believe in you, when some of them used to hear the Word of God, and then deliberately distort it, even after understanding it?

Tafsir jalalayn

Are you then so eager, O believers, that they, the Jews, should believe you, seeing there is a party of them, a group of their rabbis, that heard God's word, in the Torah, and then tampered with it, changing it, and that, after they had comprehended it, [after] they had understood it, knowingly?, [knowing full well] that they were indulging in mendacity (the hamza [at the beginning of the verb a-fa-tatma`n] is [an interrogative] for rejection, in other words, `Do not be so eager, for they have disbelieved before').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

There was little Hope that the Jews Who lived during the Time of the Prophet could have believed

Allah said,

أَفَتَطْمَعُونَ



Do you covet, (O believers),

أَن يُوْمِنُواْ لَكُمْ

That they will believe in your religion,

meaning, that these people would obey you? They are the deviant sect of Jews whose fathers witnessed the clear signs but their hearts became hard afterwards.

Allah said next,

وَقَدْ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَمَ اللّهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ

Inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it,

meaning, distort its meaning,

مِن بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ

after they understood it,

They understood well, yet they used to defy the truth,

وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ



knowingly.

being fully aware of their erroneous interpretations and corruption.

This statement is similar to Allah's statement,

فَبِمَا نَقْضِهِم مِّيثَـقَهُمْ لَعنَّـهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا قُلُوبَهُمْ قَاسِيَةً يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَّوَضِعِهِ

So, because of their violation of their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts grow hard. They change the words from their (right) places. (5;13)

Qatadah commented that Allah's statement;
ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
(Then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it)

"They are the Jews who used to hear Allah's Words and then alter them after they understood and comprehended them."

Also, Mujahid said,

"Those who used to alter it and conceal its truths; they were their scholars."

Also, Ibn Wahb said that Ibn Zayd commented,
يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَمَ اللّهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ
(used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it),

"They altered the Tawrah that Allah revealed to them, making it say that the lawful is unlawful and the prohibited is allowed, and that what is right is false and that what is false is right. So when a person seeking the truth comes to them with a bribe, they judge his case by the Book of Allah, but when a person comes to them seeking to do evil with a bribe, they take out the other (distorted) book, in which it is stated that he is in the right. When someone comes to them who is not seeking what is right, nor offering them bribe, then they enjoin righteousness on him. This is why Allah said to them,

أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ وَتَنسَوْنَ أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَـبَ أَفَلَ تَعْقِلُونَ

Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and every act of obedience to Allah) on the people and you forget (to practice it) yourselves, while you recite the Scripture (the Tawrah)! Have you then no sense!" (2;44)
The Jews knew the Truth of the Prophet , but disbelieved in Him

Allah said next