ONE AYAT A DAY
۞ اَفَتَطْمَعُوْنَ اَنْ يُّؤْمِنُوْا لَكُمْ وَقَدْ كَانَ فَرِيْقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَسْمَعُوْنَ كَلَامَ اللّٰهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُوْنَهٗ مِنْۢ بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوْهُ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُوْنَ
Afa taṭma‘ūna ay yu'minū lakum wa qad kāna farīqum minhum yasma‘ūna kalāmallāhi ṡumma yuḥarrifūnahū mim ba‘di mā ‘aqalūhu wa hum ya‘lamūn(a).
Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allāh and then distort it [i.e., the Torah] after they had understood it while they were knowing?
There was little Hope that the Jews Who lived during the Time of the Prophet could have believedAllah said,أَفَتَطْمَعُونَ(Do you covet) O believers,أَن يُؤْمِنُواْ 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 كَلَـمَ اللَّهِ 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 the…