Transliteration:( Allazeena qaalooo innal laaha 'ahida ilainaaa allaa nu'mina liRasoolin hatta ya'tiyanaa biqurbaanin ta kuluhun naar; qul qad jaaa'akum Rusulum min qablee bilbaiyinaati wa billazee qultum falima qataltumoohum in kuntum saadiqeen )
“Those who say: ‘Allah has given us a promise that we may not believe in any Messenger unless he shows us such a sacrifice which the fire consumes [415].’ Please declare: ‘There came to you Messengers before me bearing clear signs [416] and with this order which you are speaking [417]. So why did you kill them, if you are truthful? [418]’”
Reason for Revelation: The Jews arrogantly claimed that they were instructed in the Taurat not to believe in any Prophet unless he brought a specific miracle—that of a sacrificial animal consumed by fire from the sky.
They said to the Holy Prophet ﷺ, “Because you have not shown us this miracle, we will not believe in you.” This verse was revealed to refute this excuse, as it was not a condition universally applicable to all Messengers.
The verse responds: “Messengers came to you before me with clear signs”—referring to the fact that every Prophet brought miracles, though not all performed the miracle of fire-consuming sacrifice.
Despite these clear signs and undeniable proofs, the Jews still rejected and harmed those Prophets, showing that their demand was not sincere.
Indeed, some Prophets, such as Hazrat Zakariya and Hazrat Yahya (peace be upon them), did bring the very miracle the Jews demanded—a heavenly fire consuming a sacrifice. Yet the Jews killed them.
This exposes the hypocrisy of their argument: they asked for a miracle, yet rejected and murdered those who fulfilled the condition they insisted upon.
The verse then challenges: “If you were truthful in your claim that you would believe in Prophets who bring this miracle, then why did you kill them?”
This makes it clear that their statements were nothing but excuses to cover their stubborn disbelief. Although the past Prophets were killed by their forefathers, these Jews inherit the blame because of their approval and defense of those crimes.
The tafsir of Surah Imran verse 183 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Imran ayat 181 which provides the complete commentary from verse 181 through 184.
(3:183) To those who say: ‘Allah has directed us that we accept none as Messenger until he makes an offering that the fire will consume’, say: ‘Other Messengers came to you before me with clear signs, and with the sign you have mentioned. So why did you slay them, if what you say is true?[129]
129. The Bible mentions at several places that the token of Divine acceptance of a person’s sacrificial offering was the appearance of a mysterious fire which consumed the offering. (See Judges 6: 20-1 and 13: 19-20; 2 Chronicles 7: 1-2.) The Bible does not state, however, that the consuming fire was an indispensable token of prophethood and that anyone not endowed with that miracle could not be a Prophet. The Jews in discussing the claim of Muhammad (peace be on him) to be a Messenger of God brought up the question of this miraculous sign, and used it as a pretext for denying that claim. There was even clearer evidence of the Jews’ hostility to Truth: they had not hesitated to murder a number of Prophets who had been endowed with the miracle of consuming fire. The Bible mentions, for example, the Prophet Elijah who had challenged the worshippers of Ba’l to sacrifice a bull, promising that he too would sacrifice a bull. He stated that the offering of the one who was truthful would be consumed by the miraculous fire. The confrontation took place before a large crowd and it was Elijah’s sacrifice which was consumed by the fire. This so antagonized the Ba’1-worshipping Queen that the henpecked King decided to put the Prophet Elijah to death. Elijah was forced to leave his homeland and take refuge in the mountains of Sinai. (See 1 Kings 18 and 19.) The Jews are told in effect: ‘How dare you ask for the miracle of the consuming fire when in the past you have not even refrained from murdering Prophets who performed that miracle?’
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