وَلَن تَرْضَىٰ عَنكَ ٱلْيَهُودُ وَلَا ٱلنَّصَٰرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ تَتَّبِعَ مِلَّتَهُمْ ۗ قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى ٱللَّهِ هُوَ ٱلْهُدَىٰ ۗ وَلَئِنِ ٱتَّبَعْتَ أَهْوَآءَهُم بَعْدَ ٱلَّذِى جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ ۙ مَا لَكَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ مِن وَلِىٍّۢ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ
Wa lan tardaa 'ankal Yahoodu wa lan Nasaaraa hattaa tattabi'a millatahum; qul inna hudal laahi huwalhudaa; wa la'init taba'ta ahwaaa'ahum ba'dal lazee jaaa'aka minal 'ilmimaa laka minal laahi minw waliyyinw wa laa naseer
And never will the Jews or the Christians approve of you until you follow their religion. Say, "Indeed, the guidance of Allah is the [only] guidance." If you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would have against Allah no protector or helper.
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The Quran & revelation
2:120Ayah 1286
37 ayahs in Al-Baqara are strongly about the Quran and revelation. This is one of them.
← Previous on The Quran & revelation2:113The Jews say "The Christians have nothing [true] to stand on," and the Christians say,Next on The Quran & revelation →2:121Those to whom We have given the Book recite it with its true recital. They [are the ones who] believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it
Tafsir
Scholars largely agree on this ayah
Never will the Jews be pleased with you neither the Christians not until you follow their creed their religion Say ‘God’s guidance that is Islam is the true guidance’ besides which there is only error. And if you were wa-la-in the lām is for oaths to follow their whims hypothetically speaking whims to which they are calling you after the knowledge the Divine revelation that has come to you you shall have against God neither friend to protect you nor helper to defend you against Him.
Related Hadiths
“You will most certainly follow the ways of those who came
before you, arm’s length by arm’s length, forearm’s length by
forearm’s length, hand span by hand span, until even if they
entered a
hole of a mastigure (lizard) you will enter it too.” They
said: “O
Messenger of Allah, (do you mean) the Jews and the
Christians?” He
said: “Who else?”
"A Jew said to his companion: 'Accompany us to this Prophet.' So his companion said: 'Do not say: "Prophet". For if he hears you (say that) then he will be very happy.' So they went to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to question him about nine clear signs. So he said to them: 'Do not associate anything with Allah, nor steal, nor commit unlawful intercourse, nor take a life which Allah has made prohibited prohibited, except for what is required (in the law), nor hasten to damage the reputation of one of power so that he will be killed, nor practice magic, nor consume Riba, nor falsely accuse the chaste woman, nor turn to flee on the day of the march, and for you Jews particularly, to not violate the Sabbath.'" He said: "So they kissed his hands and his feet, and they said: 'We bear witness that you are a Prophet.' So he (ﷺ) said: 'Then what prevents you from following me?' They said: 'Because Dawud supplicated to his Lord that his offspring never be devoid of Prophets and we feared that if we follow you then the Jews will kill us.'"
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The example of Muslims, Jews and Christians is like the example of a man who
employed laborers to work for him from morning till night for specific wages. They worked till
midday and then said, 'We do not need your money which you have fixed for us and let whatever we
have done be annulled.' The man said to them, 'Don't quit the work, but complete the rest of it and
take your full wages.' But they refused and went away. The man employed another batch after them
and said to them, 'Complete the rest of the day and yours will be the wages I had fixed for the first
batch.' So, they worked till the time of `Asr prayer. Then they said, "Let what we have done be
annulled and keep the wages you have promised us for yourself.' The man said to them, 'Complete the
rest of the work, as only a little of the day remains,' but they refused. Thereafter he employed another
batch to work for the rest of the day and they worked for the rest of the day till the sunset, and they
received the wages of the two former batches. So, that was the example of those people (Muslims) and
the example of this light (guidance) which they have accepted willingly.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "You will follow the wrong ways, of your predecessors so completely and literally
that if they should go into the hole of a mastigure, you too will go there." We said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!
Do you mean the Jews and the Christians?" He replied, "Whom else?" (Meaning, of course, the Jews
and the Christians.)
"A Jew said to his companion: 'Accompany us to this Prophet.' So his companion said: 'Do not say: "Prophet," for if he hears you calling him a Prophet then he will be happy.' So they went to the Prophet (ﷺ) to question him about Allah, the Most High, saying: And indeed we gave Musa nine clear signs (17:101). So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to them: 'Do not associate anything with Allah, nor commit unlawful intercourse, nor take a life which Allah has made prohibited, except for what is required (in the law), nor steal, nor practice magic, nor hasten to damage the reputation of an innocent person in front of a ruler, so that he will be killed, nor consume Riba, nor falsely accuse the chaste woman, nor turn to flee on the day of the march (i.e. flee from war).' - Shu'bah was in doubt - 'and for you Jews particularly, to not violate the Sabbath.'" He said: "So they kissed his hands and his feet and they said: 'We bear witness that you are a Prophet.' So he said: 'Then what prevents you from accepting Islam?' They said: 'Because Dawud supplicated to his Lord, that his offspring never be devoid of Prophets, and we feared that if we follow you then the Jews will kill us.'"
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