﴿ وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ كِتَٰبٌۭ مِّنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌۭ لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ وَكَانُوا۟ مِن قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِحُونَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ فَلَمَّا جَآءَهُم مَّا عَرَفُوا۟ كَفَرُوا۟ بِهِۦ ۚ فَلَعْنَةُ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ ﴾

“And whenever there came unto them a [new] revelation from God, confirming the truth already in their possession-and [bear in mind that] aforetime they used to pray for victory over those who were bent on denying the truth -: whenever there came unto them something which they recognized [as the truth], they would deny it. And God's rejection is the due of all who deny the truth.”

The Jews of Arabia behaved similarly with the Prophet Muhammad. They had seen prophecies of the coming of a final prophet in their scriptures, and had eagerly anticipated his arrival. When he comes, they used to say, we will join with him in a grand alliance against the pagans and idolators. But these proved to be empty words on their part, a pretence aimed at consolidating their status as undisputed guardians of divine faith. When the Prophet came, the truth of their position was exposed. They were shown to be steeped in bigotry, reluctant to believe in a prophet who did not come from the Jewish race. They could not dispute the authentic indications presented by the Quran in support of his prophethood; all they could say was, ‘It all sounds very impressive, but our ancestral religion is good enough for us. Our hearts are sealed and we will not accept anything besides the faith we have inherited from our forefathers.’