Transliteration:( Allazeena aatainaahumul kitaaba ya'rifoonahoo kamaa ya'rifoona abnaaa'ahum wa inna fareeqam minhum layaktumoonal haqqa wa hum ya'lamoon )
"Those to whom We gave the Scripture recognize him (Nabi Muhammad ﷺ) as they recognize their own sons [306]. And, certainly, a group of them knowingly concealed [307] the truth."
This verse asserts that the People of the Book (especially the Yahud) recognized the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ with such certainty and clarity as a father recognizes his own son.
🔎 The comparison to a father's recognition has two significant points:
A father recognizes his son with certainty, based on tangible proof like facial features, lineage, and instinct.
– Similarly, the Jewish scholars recognized the Holy Prophet ﷺ through clear signs found in their scriptures.
A father’s recognition of the son precedes the son’s recognition of the father.
– In the same way, the scholars of the People of the Book had knowledge about the coming of the Prophet ﷺ even before his blessed birth, while the general Arabs and others came to know him only after his message became public.
📌 Knowing the Prophet ﷺ is not sufficient—true Imaan is in believing in him.
Knowing and believing are two different realities.
There were two categories among the Jewish religious scholars:
The first group, due to jealousy and arrogance, deliberately hid the truth about the Prophet ﷺ—despite recognizing him clearly.
– They withheld his qualities from the public, fearing the loss of their status and control.
The second group, like Hazrat Abdullah bin Salam (RA) and Ka’b al-Ahbar (RA), embraced faith in the Prophet ﷺ after comparing his signs with their scriptures.
📌 This teaches a critical lesson:
The sin of knowingly concealing the truth, especially by learned scholars, is far worse than the mistakes of the ignorant.
Religious knowledge, when misused for pride or personal gain, becomes a burden leading to destruction.
145. And even if you were to bring to the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) all the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they would not follow your Qiblah (prayer direction), nor are you going to follow their Qiblah. And they will not follow each other’s Qiblah. Verily, if you follow their desires after that which you have received of knowledge (from Allah), then indeed you will be one of the wrongdoers.
Allah describes the Jews’ disbelief, stubbornness and defiance of what they know of the truth of Allah’s Messenger , that if the Prophet brought forward every proof to the truth of what he was sent with, they will never obey him or abandon following their desires. In another instance, Allah said:
(Truly, those, against whom the Word (wrath) of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) (10:96, 97)
This is why Allah said here:
(And even if you were to bring to the People of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) all the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they would not follow your Qiblah (prayer direction)).
Allah’s statement:
(…nor are you going to follow their Qiblah ), indicates the vigor with which Allah’s Messenger implements what Allah commanded him. Allah’s statement also indicates that as much as the Jews adhere to their opinions and desires, the Prophet adheres by Allah’s commands, obeying Him and following what pleases Him, and that he would never adhere to their desires in any case. Hence, praying towards Bayt Al-Maqdis was not because it was the Qiblah of the Jews, but because Allah had commanded it. Allah then warns those who knowingly defy the truth, because the proof against those who know is stronger than against other people. This is why Allah said to His Messenger and his Ummah:
(Verily, if you follow their desires after that which you have received of knowledge (from Allah), then indeed you will be one of the wrongdoers.)
(2:146) Those to whom We have given the Scripture recognize the place (towards which one must turn in Prayer) as fully as they recognize their own sons,[148] this even though a group of them knowingly conceals the Truth.
148. ‘To recognize something as well as one recognizes one’s sons’ is an Arabic idiom. It is used with regard to things which one knows without the least shadow of a doubt. The Jewish and Christian scholars were well aware that the Ka’bah had been constructed by Abraham and that Jerusalem had been built by Solomon some thirteen hundred years after that, and that in his time it was made the qiblah. This is an unquestionable historical fact and they knew it to be so.
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