2:97 Test to Muhammad

One of the funniest Hadith is on this verse:

Sahih Al Bukharee, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 7:

'Abdullah bin Salam heard the news of the arrival of Allah's Apostle (at Medina) while he was on a farm collecting its fruits. So he came to the Prophet and said, "I will ask you about three things which nobody knows unless he be a prophet. Firstly, what is the first portent of the Hour? What is the first meal of the people of Paradise? And what makes a baby look like its father or mother?'. The Prophet said, "Just now Gabriel has informed me about that." 'Abdullah said, "Gabriel?" The Prophet said, "Yes." 'Abdullah said, "He, among the angels is the enemy of the Jews." On that the Prophet recited this Holy Verse:--
"Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel (let him die in his fury!) for he has brought it (i.e. Qur'an) down to your heart by Allah's permission." (2.97) Then he added, "As for the first portent of the Hour, it will be a fire that will collect the people from the East to West. And as for the first meal of the people of Paradise, it will be the caudite (i.e. extra) lobe of the fish liver. And if a man's discharge proceeded that of the woman, then the child resembles the father, and if the woman's discharge proceeded that of the man, then the child resembles the mother." On hearing that, 'Abdullah said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, and that you are the Apostle of Allah, O, Allah's Apostle; the Jews are liars, and if they should come to know that I have embraced Islam, they would accuse me of being a liar." In the meantime some Jews came (to the Prophet) and he asked them, "What is 'Abdullah's status amongst you?" They replied, "He is the best amongst us, and he is our chief and the son of our chief." The Prophet said, "What would you think if 'Abdullah bin Salam embraced Islam?" They replied, "May Allah protect him from this!" Then 'Abdullah came out and said, "I testify that None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah." The Jews then said, "Abdullah is the worst of us and the son of the worst of us," and disparaged him. On that 'Abdullah said, "O Allah's Apostle! This is what I was afraid of!"
(http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah/bukhari/060.sbt.html)

This whole story sound like Muslim fairy tale,and have a lot of loopholes:

Abdullah bin Salam said to Muhammad - "I will ask you about three things which nobody knows unless he be a prophet."

1.There's no such test or questions in any of the Jewish scripts.
2.So did Abdullah had the questions only or also the the answers?
If he had only the questions - How can he know if Muhammad answers are correct?
If he had also the answers - How can he know Muhammad didn't heard the answers from someone who knows ?

One of the questions was:
And what makes a baby look like its father or mother?'.

So it's a scientific question

The answer was:
And if a man's discharge proceeded that of the woman, then the child resembles the father, and if the woman's discharge proceeded that of the man, then the child resembles the mother."

This is not true!!!
This is a wrong scientific fact!!!

2:97 Enemy of Gabriel

YUSUFALI: Say: Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel-for he brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by Allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe,-

To Whom this verse refer to?

Tafsir of Ibn Kathir say:
Imam Abu Ja`far bin Jarir At-Tabari said, "The scholars of Tafsir agree that this Ayah (2: 97-98) was revealed in response to the Jews who claimed that Jibril (Gabriel) is an enemy of the Jews and that Mika'il (Michael) is their friend.'' Al-Bukhari said, "Allah said, (http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=2&tid=2769)

So again,the Jews accused that they claim that Gabriel is their enemy.
Well,I search the Jewish scripts and there no such claim!!!

I asked Muslim guy about it and here's his answer:

i have consulting a few scholars and i have been told that there is no mention of animosity towards gabriel in any jewish scripture. however the perticular ayah is addressing the general attitude of the jews that prevailed at that time towards him.

So as a conclusion we can surly say that Quran don't talk about Jews in General,the Quran only talk about Jews of Medina!

2:94-96 Desire for Death

YUSUFALI:Say: "If the last Home, with Allah, be for you specially, and not for anyone else, then seek ye for death, if ye are sincere." But they will never seek for death, on account of the (sins) which their hands have sent on before them. and Allah is well-acquainted with the wrong-doers. Thou wilt indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life,-even more than the idolaters: Each one of them wishes He could be given a life of a thousand years: But the grant of such life will not save him from (due) punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do.

Dr naik commentary on those verse:

When the Jews came to the Muslims to have a confrontation, they said the last home with Allah, i.e. paradise, is especially meant for the Jews only and not for anyone else.

The Qur’an ask the Jews to seek death, if they were sincere and spoke the truth. The Qur’an continues and says that they (the Jews) will never seek death, because of the sins that they have committed. The only thing that Jews had to do at the time of Prophet (Pbuh) in order to win the argument and to prove the Qur’an wrong was to call for their own death. Even if any one of the Jews would have opted to say, "I beseech the Lord for my death" just for namesake, not that he actually had to die, the Qur’an would have been proved false. It was so easy to prove the Qur’an wrong. (http://www.irf.net/irf/dtp/dawah_tech/ques20i.htm)

So according Dr naik This Test is based on 2 assumptions about the Jewish belief:

1.Jews Believe that Heaven is just For Jews.Gentiles (Non-Jewish) Won't Enter Heaven.

2.Jews Believe that As long as you're a Jew you will enter Heaven immediately,regardless to your good or bad deeds.

Are those assumptions true?

Is Heaven only for Jews?

'Anyone who accepts upon himself the fulfillment of these Seven Mitzvot and is precise in their observance is considered one of the Pious among the Gentiles and will merit a share in the World to Come. This applies only when he accepts them and fulfills them because the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded them in the Torah and informed us through Moses, our teacher, that even previously, Noah's descendants were commanded to fulfill them. However, if he fulfills them out of intellectual conviction, he is not a resident alien, nor of the Pious among the Gentiles, but rather, of their wise men.'(Rambam's Hilchos Melachim 8:11)

(For more reading about the 7 laws of Gentiles see here: http://www.noachide.org.uk/html/seven_laws.html)

So the answer is no - according to Jewish belief the righteous of all nations will enter Heaven.

Is Jews Enter Heaven,regardless to his bad deeds?

Certain sins are punished by the sinner being "cut off from his people." See, for example, Gen. 17:14 and Ex. 31:14. This punishment is referred to as kareit (kah-REHYT) (literally, "cutting off," but usually translated as "spiritual excision"), and it means that the soul loses its portion in the World to Come.

Nevertheless, we definitely believe that your place in the Olam Ha-Ba(World to come) is determined by a merit system based on your actions, not by who you are or what religion you profess.
( http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm)

So Jews don't have insurance policy to Enter Heavens!

Conclusion

This whole Test,that Muhammad did to Jews was based on his false knowladge of the Jewish belief!

Moreover There's a big diffrance between the 2 religions about where to focus:

Judaism is not focused on the question of how to get into heaven. Judaism is focused on life and how to live it.

2:89-91 Quran Confirm the Torah

And when there comes to them a Book from Allah, confirming what is with them,- although from of old they had prayed for victory against those without Faith,- when there comes to them that which they (should) have recognised, they refuse to believe in it but the curse of Allah is on those without Faith. (2:89 by YUSUFALI)

a book from Allah is Quran and this verse is pointed to the Jews,saying that Quran confirm what is with them.
what is with them is Torah.
Basic math will lead us that Muhammad say that Quran confirm the Torah!

Muslims nowadays can't accept the idea that Quran confirm the Torah,saying the Torah was corrupted days before Muhammad and the Quran came to correct the corruption of the scripts,is this verse can tolerate this?

lets do a logic exercise:
If Jews,in Muhammad days,had a corrupt script - the verse should say that Quran came to correct what is with them!!!
The verse say implicit that Quran came to confirm what Jews had - Torah!!!

There will be muslims who would say that the what is with them isn't about the Torah,the script but about the revelation of the prophets like what YUSUFALI translate in 2:41
And believe in what I reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you

The answer for that is in 2:91
When it is said to them, "Believe in what Allah Hath sent down, "they say, "We believe in what was sent down to us:" yet they reject all besides, even if it be Truth confirming what is with them.

In this verse the Jews say that they only believe in what was sent down to us ,that can't be interpreted elsewhere - Jews Believe only in Torah.
Muhammad say :even if it be Truth confirming what is with them.

So Muhammad say implicit that the Quran confirm the Torah!

2:83-85 Muhammad believed in Torah

YUSUFALI:And remember We took a covenant from the Children of Israel (to this effect): Worship none but Allah; treat with kindness your parents and kindred, and orphans and those in need; speak fair to the people; be steadfast in prayer; and practise regular charity. Then did ye turn back, except a few among you, and ye backslide (even now).
And remember We took your covenant (to this effect): Shed no blood amongst you, nor turn out your own people from your homes: and this ye solemnly ratified, and to this ye can bear witness.
After this it is ye, the same people, who slay among yourselves, and banish a party of you from their homes; assist (Their enemies) against them, in guilt and rancour; and if they come to you as captives, ye ransom them, though it was not lawful for you to banish them. Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?- and on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For Allah is not unmindful of what ye do.

What's the story behind those verses?

The Jewish tribes who lived on the outskirts of Medina had concluded an alliance with the Arab tribes of Aws and Khazraj. When the Arab tribes fought against one another each Jewish tribe fought on the side of its allies.when the war ended the captives were ransomed.

So on the one hand the Jews fight each other although it is forbidden in the Jewish law but on the other hand they ransomed the captives cause it's a very important Jewish law.

Muhammad criticize the Jews that they not following the Jewish law completeness.

What's Muhammad viewpoint about the Jewish book?

And remember We took a covenant from the Children of Israel (to this effect): Worship none but Allah; treat with kindness your parents and kindred, and orphans and those in need; speak fair to the people; be steadfast in prayer; and practise regular charity. Then did ye turn back, except a few among you, and ye backslide (even now). And remember We took your covenant (to this effect): Shed no blood amongst you, nor turn out your own people from your homes: and this ye solemnly ratified, and to this ye can bear witness. (2:83-84)

In those verses Muhammad call the Jews to remember the Laws that were given to them in Mount Sinai.According those laws they should fight each other.

After this it is ye, the same people, who slay among yourselves, and banish a party of you from their homes; assist (Their enemies) against them, in guilt and rancour; and if they come to you as captives, ye ransom them, though it was not lawful for you to banish them. Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? but what is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?- and on the Day of Judgment they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For Allah is not unmindful of what ye do. (2:85)

In this verse Muhammad criticize the Jews not following their laws.
His words are:
Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest?

So what can we learn from this?

Muhammad believed that the Jewish book a.k.a Torah was given to the Jews by Moses,So he can't understand how they not obey the law they shouldn't fight each other!

And it confirmed in 2:87 -We gave Moses the Book ... It's the same book Muhammad talked about on 2:85,the book the Jews should believe in...

2:79 Is Bible corrupted?

YUSUFALI:Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.

There's a debate about this verse is it say Bible is corrupted:

http://towardsislam.com/commentary2-ak47.php

Lets look at a snapshot of the Jewish world in Muhammad life:

The Jews were spread all over the world after the Romans ruined Israel,and exiled the Jews(70 AD).

The most powerful Jewish community was in Babylon-Iraq,where the Talmud was written before Muhammad days.

Each Community had their own Bible,the same bible as others communities.

So if someone what to claim that the bible was corrupted,it should happen way before 70 AD!

Now,Lets see what does the quran say?

YUSUFALI:Behold! when they meet the men of Faith, they say: "We believe": But when they meet each other in private, they say: "Shall you tell them what Allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your Lord?"- Do ye not understand (their aim)? Know they not that Allah knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal? And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book, but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture. Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby And they say: "The Fire shall not touch us but for a few numbered days:" Say: "Have ye taken a promise from Allah, for He never breaks His promise? or is it that ye say of Allah what ye do not know?" (2:76-80)

In those verses Muhammad criticize the people in his life time,he doesn't talk about the past but talk about the present of his time!If someone corrupted the bible it was way before Muhammad life,but Muhammad didn't talked about it at all!

Muhammad criticize people not the scripts!

So this verse is irrelevant to the question of whether Muhammad claimed the bible corrupted!

2:76 What The jews hide?

Yusuf Ali :Behold! when they meet the men of Faith, they say: "We believe": But when they meet each other in private, they say: "Shall you tell them what Allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your Lord?"- Do ye not understand (their aim)?

According do Yusuf Ali ,this verse is another accusation Muhammad throw on the Jews:

The immediate argument applies to the Jews of Medina, but the more general argument applies to the people of Faith and the people without Faith, as we shall see below. If the Muslims of Medina ever entertained the hope that the Jews in their city would as a body welcome Muhammad Mustafa as the Prophet prophesied in their own books, they were mistaken. In Deut. xviii. 18, they read: "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee." (i.e., like unto Moses) which was interpreted by some of their doctores as referring to Muhammad, and they came into Islam. The Arabs are a kindred branch of the Semitic family, and are correctly described in relation to the Jews as "their brethren"; and there is no question that there was not another Prophet" like unto Moses" until Muhammad came; in fact the PostScript of Deuteronomy, which was written many centuries after Moses, says: "There arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." But the Jews as a body were jealous of Muhammad, and played a double part. When the Muslim community began to grow stronger they pretended to be of them, but really tried to keep back any knowledge of their own Scriptures from them, lest they should be beaten by their own arguments.(Yusuf Ali's Commentary from QuranTrans)

well again we return to the ridiculous Muslims claim that the verse in Deuteronomy 18:18 is about Muhammad...

I won't write it again just read here:

http://readquran.blogspot.com/2006/12/muhammad-in-jewish-scriptures.html