(And they say: Be Jews or Christians, then ye will be rightly guided…) [2:135]. Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “This was revealed about the Jewish leaders of Medina: Ka‘b ibn al-Ashraf, Malik ibn al-Sayf, Wahb ibn Yahudha, Yasir ibn Akhtab, and also about the Christians of Najran. This is because when they argued with the Muslims regarding religion, each one claimed to have a better right to the religion of Allah, exalted is He, than anyone else. The Jews said: ‘Our Prophet Moses is the best of prophets, and our Scripture is the best of Scriptures and our religion is the best of religions’. They disbelieved in Jesus, the Gospel, Muhammad and the Qur’an. The Christians on the other hand said: ‘Our Prophet Jesus is the best of prophets, and our Scripture, the Gospel, is the best of Scriptures and our religion is the best of religions’. They disbelieved in Muhammad and the Qur’an. Both the Jews and Christians said to the believers: ‘Follow our religion, for there is no other true religion except ours’. And they invited the believers to follow their religion”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
