References to Jews in the
Koran
The Koran is divided into 114 chapters called suras. The following are translations of passages found in these suras that are related to Jews.
As in any translation, the original language is not always easy to render in English, and this particular translation uses more temperate language than some others. Sometimes the specific mention of Jews is not explanatory, so we then include the next relevant lines. Some of the more disparaging references are highlighted in bold.
The
Cow
[2.40] O children of Israel!
call to mind My favor which I bestowed on
you and be faithful to (your) covenant with
Me, I will fulfill (My) covenant with you;
and of Me, Me alone, should you be afraid.
[2.47] O children of Israel!
call to mind My favor which I bestowed on
you and that I made you excel the nations.
[2.62] Surely those who believe,
and those who are Jews, and the Christians,
and the Sabians, whoever believes in Allah
and the Last day and does good, they shall
have their reward from their Lord, and there
is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve.
[2.83] And when We made a
covenant with the children of Israel: You
shall not serve any but Allah and (you shall
do) good to (your) parents, and to the near
of kin and to the orphans and the needy, and
you shall speak to men good words and keep
up prayer and pay the poor-rate. Then you
turned back except a few of you and (now too)
you turn aside.
[2.88] And they say: Our
hearts are covered. Nay, Allah has cursed
them on account of their unbelief; so
little it is that they believe.
[2.98] Whoever is the enemy
of Allah and His angels and His apostles and
Jibreel and Meekaeel, so surely Allah is
the enemy of the unbelievers.
[2.111] And they say: None
sh all enter the garden (or paradise) except
he who is a Jew or a Christian. These are
their vain desires. Say: Bring your proof
if you are truthful.
[2.113] And the Jews say: The Christians do
not follow anything (good) and the Christians
say: The Jews do not follow anything (good)
while they recite the (same) Book. Even thus
say those who have no knowledge, like to what
they say; so Allah shall judge between them
on the day of resurrection in what they differ.
[2.120] And the Jews will
not be pleased with you, nor the Christians
until you follow their religion. Say: Surely
Allah's guidance, that is the (true) guidance.
And if you follow their desires after the
knowledge that has come to you, you shall
have no guardian from Allah, nor any helper.
[2.121] Those to whom We
have given the Book read it as it ought to
be read. These believe in it; and whoever
disbelieves in it, these it is that are the
losers.
[2.122] O children of Israel,
call to mind My favor which I bestowed on
you and that I made you excel the nations.
[2.135] And they say: Be Jews or Christians,
you will be on the right course. Say: Nay!
(we follow) the religion of Ibrahim, the Hanif,
and he was not one of the polytheists.
[2.140] Nay! do you say
that Ibrahim and Ismail and Yaqoub and the
tribes were Jews or Christians? Say: Are you
better knowing or Allah? And who is more unjust
than he who conceals a testimony that he has
from Allah? And Allah is not at all heedless
of what you do.
[2.211] Ask the Israelites
how many a clear sign have We given them;
and whoever changes the favor of Allah after
it has come to him, then surely Allah is severe
in requiting (evil).
[2.246] Have you not considered
the chiefs of the children of Israel after
Musa, when they said to a prophet of theirs:
Raise up for us a king, (that) we may fight
in the way of Allah. He said: May it not be
that you would not fight if fighting is ordained
for you? They said: And what reason have we
that we should not fight in the way of Allah,
and we have indeed been compelled to abandon
our homes and our children. But when fighting
was ordained for them, they turned back, except
a few of them, and Allah knows the unjust.
The
Family of Imran
[3.23] Have you not considered
those (Jews) who are given a portion of the
Book? They are invited to the Book of Allah
that it might decide between them, then a
part of them turn back and they withdraw.
[3.24] This is because they
say: The fire shall not touch us but for a
few days; and what they have forged deceives
them in the matter of their religion.
[3.49] And (make him) an
apostle to the children of Israel: That I
have come to you with a sign from your Lord,
that I determine for you out of dust like
the form of a bird, then I breathe into it
and it becomes a bird with Allah's permission
and I heal the blind and the leprous, and
bring the dead to life with Allah's permission
and I inform you of what you should eat and
what you should store in your houses; most
surely there is a sign in this for you, if
you are believers.
[3.67] Ibrahim was not a
Jew nor a Christian but he was (an) upright
(man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the
polytheists.
[3.93] All food was lawful
to the children of Israel except that which
Israel had forbidden to himself, before the
Taurat was revealed. Say: Bring then the Taurat
and read it, if you are truthful.
The
Women
[4.46] Of those who are
Jews (there are those who) alter words from
their places and say: We have heard and we
disobey and: Hear, may you not be made to
hear! and: Raina, distorting (the word) with
their tongues and taunting about religion;
and if they had said (instead): We have heard
and we obey, and hearken, and unzurna it would
have been better for them and more upright;
but Allah has cursed them on account of
their unbelief, so they do not believe
but a little.
[4.47] O you who have been
given the Book! believe that which We have
revealed, verifying what you have, before
We alter faces then turn them on their backs,
or curse them as We cursed the violaters of
the Sabbath, and the command of Allah shall
be executed.
[4.50] See how they forge
the lie against Allah, and this is sufficient
as a manifest sin.
[4.160] Wherefore for the
iniquity of those who are Jews did We disallow
to them the good things which had been made
lawful for them and for their hindering many
(people) from Allah's way.
[4.161] And their taking
usury though indeed they were forbidden it
and their devouring the property of people
falsely, and We have prepared for the unbelievers
from among them a painful chastisement.
The
Dinner Table
[5.12] And certainly Allah
made a covenant with the children of Israel,
and We raised up among them twelve chieftains;
and Allah said: Surely I am with you; if you
keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and believe
in My apostles and assist them and offer to
Allah a goodly gift, I will most certainly
cover your evil deeds, and I will most certainly
cause you to enter into gardens beneath which
rivers flow, but whoever disbelieves from
among you after that, he indeed shall lose
the right way.
[5.13] But on account of
their breaking their covenant We cursed
them and made their hearts hard; they
altered the words from their places and they
neglected a portion of what they were reminded
of; and you shall always discover treachery
in them excepting a few of them; so pardon
them and turn away; surely Allah loves those
who do good (to others).
[5.18] And the Jews and the
Christians say: We are the sons of Allah and
His beloved ones. Say: Why does He then chastise
you for your faults? Nay, you are mortals
from among those whom He has created, He forgives
whom He pleases and chastises whom He pleases;
and Allah's is the kingdom of the heavens
and the earth and what is between them, and
to Him is the eventual coming.
[5.32] For this reason did
We prescribe to the children of Israel that
whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter
or for mischief in the land, it is as though
he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive,
it is as though he kept alive all men; and
certainly Our apostles came to them with clear
arguments, but even after that many of them
certainly act extravagantly in the land.
[5.33] The punishment
of those who wage war against Allah and His
apostle and strive to make mischief in the
land is only this, that they should be murdered
or crucified or their hands and their feet
should be cut off on opposite sides or they
should be imprisoned; this shall be as
a disgrace for them in this world, and in
the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement,
[5.41] O Apostle! let not
those grieve you who strive together in hastening
to unbelief from among those who say with
their mouths: We believe, and their hearts
do not believe, and from among those who are
Jews; they are listeners for the sake of a
lie, listeners for another people who have
not come to you; they alter the words from
their places, saying: If you are given this,
take it, and if you are not given this, be
cautious; and as for him whose temptation
Allah desires, you cannot control anything
for him with Allah. Those are they for whom
Allah does not desire that He should purify
their hearts; they shall have disgrace
in this world, and they shall have a grievous
chastisement in the hereafter.
[5.42] (They are) listeners
of a lie, devourers of what is forbidden;
therefore if they come to you, judge between
them or turn aside from them, and if you turn
aside from them, they shall not harm you in
any way; and if you judge, judge between them
with equity; surely Allah loves those who
judge equitably.
[5.43] And how do they make
you a judge and they have the Taurat wherein
is Allah's judgment? Yet they turn back after
that, and these are not the believers.
[5.44] Surely We revealed the Taurat in which
was guidance and light; with it the prophets
who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged
(matters) for those who were Jews, and the
masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors,
because they were required to guard (part)
of the Book of Allah, and they were witnesses
thereof; therefore fear not the people and
fear Me, and do not take a small price for
My communications; and whoever did not judge
by what Allah revealed, those are they that
are the unbelievers.
[5.51] O you who believe! do not take the Jews
and the Christians for friends; they are friends of each other;
and whoever amongst you takes them for a friend, then surely he is one
of them; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.
[5:57] O you who believe! do not take for guardians
those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those
who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers; and be careful
of (your duty to) Allah if you are believers.
[5.59] Say: O followers of
the Book! do you find fault with us (for aught)
except that we believe in Allah and in what
has been revealed to us and what was revealed
before, and that most of you are transgressors?
[5.60] Say: Shall I inform you of (him who is) worse
than this in retribution from Allah? (Worse is he) whom Allah has cursed
and brought His wrath upon, and of whom He made apes and swine,
and he who served the Shaitan; these are worse in place and more erring
from the straight path.
[5.63] Why do not the learned men [rabbis] and the
doctors of law prohibit them from their speaking of what is sinful and
their eating of what is unlawfully acquired? Certainly evil is that
which they work.
[5.64] And the Jews say:
The hand of Allah is tied up! Their hands
shall be shackled and they shall be cursed
for what they say. Nay, both His hands
are spread out, He expends as He pleases;
and what has been revealed to you from your
Lord will certainly make many of them increase
in inordinacy and unbelief; and We have put
enmity and hatred among them till the day
of resurrection; whenever they kindle a fire
for war Allah puts it out, and they strive
to make mischief in the land; and Allah
does not love the mischief-makers.
[5.69] Surely those who
believe and those who are Jews and the Sabians
and the Christians whoever believes in Allah
and the last day and does good-- they shall
have no fear nor shall they grieve.
[5.70] Certainly We made
a covenant with the children of Israel and
We sent to them apostles; whenever there came
to them an apostle with what that their souls
did not desire, some (of them) did they call
liars and some they slew.
[5.72] Certainly they disbelieve
who say: Surely Allah, He is the Messiah,
son of Marium; and the Messiah said: O Children
of Israel! serve Allah, my Lord and your Lord.
Surely whoever associates (others) with Allah,
then Allah has forbidden to him the garden,
and his abode is the fire; and there shall
be no helpers for the unjust.
[5.73] Certainly they disbelieve
who say: Surely Allah is the third (person)
of the three; and there is no god but the
one God, and if they desist not from what
they say, a painful chastisement shall
befall those among them who disbelieve.
[5.78] Those who disbelieved
from among the children of Israel were cursed by the tongue of Dawood and Isa, son of Marium;
this was because they disobeyed and used to
exceed the limit.
[5.79] They used not to forbid
each other the hateful things (which) they
did; certainly evil was that which they did.
[5.80] You will see many
of them befriending those who disbelieve;
certainly evil is that which their souls have
sent before for them, that Allah became displeased
with them and in chastisement shall they abide.
[5.81] And had they believed
in Allah and the prophet and what was revealed
to him, they would not have taken them for
friends but! most of them are transgressors.
[5.82] Certainly you will
find the most violent of people in enmity
for those who believe (to be) the Jews and
those who are polytheists, and you will certainly
find the nearest in friendship to those who
believe (to be) those who say: We are Christians;
this is because there are priests and monks
among them and because they do not behave
proudly.
[5.86] And (as for) those
who disbelieve and reject Our communications,
these are the companions of the flame.
[5.110] When Allah will say:
O Isa son of Marium! Remember My favor on
you and on your mother, when I strengthened
you I with the holy Spirit, you spoke to the
people in the cradle and I when of old age,
and when I taught you the Book and the wisdom
and the Taurat and the Injeel; and when you
determined out of clay a thing like the form
of a bird by My permission, then you breathed
into it and it became a bird by My permission,
and you healed the blind and the leprous by
My permission; and when you brought forth
the dead by My permission; and when I withheld
the children of Israel from you when you came
to them with clear arguments, but those who
disbelieved among them said: This is nothing
but clear enchantment.
The
Cattle
[6.146] And to those who
were Jews We made unlawful every animal
having claws, and of oxen and sheep We made
unlawful to them the fat of both, except such
as was on their backs or the entrails or what
was mixed with bones: this was a punishment
We gave them on account of their rebellion,
and We are surely Truthful.
The
Elevated Places
[7.105] (I am) worthy of
not saying anything about Allah except the
truth: I have come to you indeed with clear
proof from your Lord, therefore send with
me the children of Israel.
[7.134] And when the plague
fell upon them, they said: O Musa! pray for
us to your Lord as He has promised with you,
if you remove the plague from us, we will
certainly believe in you and we will certainly
send away with you the children of Israel.
[7.137] And We made the
people who were deemed weak to inherit the
eastern lands and the western ones which We
had blessed; and the good word of your Lord
was fulfilled in the children of Israel because
they bore up (sufferings) patiently; and We
utterly destroyed what Firon and his people
had wrought and what they built.
[7.138] And We made the
children of Israel to pass the sea; then they
came upon a people who kept to the worship
of their idols. They said: O Musa! make for
us a god as they have (their) gods. He said:
Surely you are a people acting ignorantly:
The
Immunity
[9.30] And the Jews say: Uzair is the son of Allah;
and the Christians say: The Messiah is the son of Allah; these are the
words of their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved
before; may Allah destroy them; how they are turned away!
[9:34] O you who believe! most surely many of the doctors
of law [rabbis] and the monks eat away the property of men falsely,
and turn (them) from Allah's way; and (as for) those who hoard up gold
and silver and do not spend it in Allah's way, announce to them a painful
chastisement....
Jonah
[10.90] And We made the
children of Israel to pass through the sea,
then Firon and his hosts followed them for
oppression and tyranny; until when drowning
overtook him, he said: I believe that there
is no god but He in Whom the children of Israel
believe and I am of those who submit.
[10.93] And certainly We
lodged the children of Israel in a goodly
abode and We provided them with good things;
but they did not disagree until the knowledge
had come to them; surely your Lord will judge
between them on the resurrection day concerning
that in which they disagreed.
The
Bee
[16.118] And for those who
were Jews We prohibited what We have related
to you already, and We did them no injustice,
but they were unjust to themselves.
The
Children of Israel
[17.2] And We gave Musa
the Book and made it a guidance to the children
of Israel, saying: Do not take a protector
besides Me;
[17.4] And We had made known
to the children of Israel in the Book: Most
certainly you will make mischief in the
land twice, and most certainly you will behave
insolently with great insolence.
[17.101] And certainly We
gave Musa nine clear signs; so ask the children
of Israel. When he came to them, Firon said
to him: Most surely I deem you, O Musa, to
be a man deprived of reason.
[17.104] And We said to
the Israelites after him: Dwell in the land:
and when the promise of the next life shall
come to pass, we will bring you both together
in judgment.
Marium
[19.58] These are they on
whom Allah bestowed favors, from among the
prophets of the seed of Adam, and of those
whom We carried with Nuh, and of the seed
of Ibrahim and Israel, and of those whom We
guided and chose; when the communications
of the Beneficent God were recited to them,
they fell down making obeisance and weeping.
Ta
Ha
[20.47] So go you both to
him and say: Surely we are two apostles of
your Lord; therefore send the children of
Israel with us and do not torment them! Indeed
we have brought to you a communication from
your Lord, and peace is on him who follows
the guidance;
[20.48] Surely it has been
revealed to us that the chastisement will
surely come upon him who rejects and turns
back.
[20.80] O children of Israel!
indeed We delivered you from your enemy, and
We made a covenant with you on the blessed
side of the mountain, and We sent to you the
manna and the quails.
[20.94] He said: O son of
my mother! seize me not by my beard nor by
my head; surely I was afraid lest you should
say: You have caused a division among the
children of Israel and not waited for my word.
The
Pilgrimage
[22.17] Surely those who
believe and those who are Jews and the Sabeans
and the Christians and the Magians and those
who associate (others with Allah)-- surely
Allah will decide between them on the day
of resurrection; surely Allah is a witness
over all things.
[22.40] Those who have been
expelled from their homes without a just cause
except that they say: Our Lord is Allah. And
had there not been Allah's repelling some
people by others, certainly there would have
been pulled down cloisters and churches and
synagogues and mosques in which Allah's name
is much remembered; and surely Allah will
help him who helps His cause; most surely
Allah is Strong, Mighty.
The
Poets
[26.17] Then send with us
the children of Israel.
[26.22] And is it a favor
of which you remind me that you have enslaved
the children of Israel?
[26.59] Even so. And We
gave them as a heritage to the children of
Israel.
[26.197] Is it not a sign
to them that the learned men of the Israelites
know it?
The
Ant
[27.76] Surely this Quran
declares to the children of Israel most of
what they differ in.
The
Adoration
[32.23] And certainly We
gave the Book to Musa, so be not in doubt
concerning the receiving of it, and We made
it a guide for the children of Israel.
The
Believer
[40.53] And certainly We
gave Musa the guidance, and We made the children
of Israel inherit the Book,
Ornaments
of Gold
[43.59] He was naught but
a servant on whom We bestowed favor, and We
made him an example for the children of Israel.
The
Smoke
[44.30] And certainly We
delivered the children of Israel from the
abasing chastisement,
The
Kneeling
[45.16] And certainly We
gave the Book and the wisdom and the prophecy
to the children of Israel, and We gave them
of the goodly things, and We made them excel
the nations.
The
Sandhills
[46.10] Say: Have you considered
if it is from Allah, and you disbelieve in
it, and a witness from among the children
of Israel has borne witness of one like it,
so he believed, while you are big with pride;
surely Allah does not guide the unjust people.
The
Banishment
[59.2] He it is Who caused
those who disbelieved of the followers of
the Book to go forth from their homes at the
first banishment you did not think that they
would go forth, while they were certain that
their fortresses would defend them against
Allah; but Allah came to them whence they
did not expect, and cast terror into their
hearts; they demolished their houses with
their own hands and the hands of the believers;
therefore take a lesson, O you who have eyes!
[59.3] And had it not been
that Allah had decreed for them the exile,
He would certainly have punished them in this
world, and in the hereafter they shall have
chastisement of the fire.
The
Ranks
[61.6] And when Isa son
of Marium said: O children of Israel! surely
I am the apostle of Allah to you, verifying
that which is before me of the Taurat and
giving the good news of an Apostle who will
come after me, his name being Ahmad, but when
he came to them with clear arguments they
said: This is clear magic.
[61.7] And who is more unjust
than he who forges a lie against Allah and
he is invited to Islam, and Allah does not
guide the unjust people.
[61.14] O you who believe!
be helpers (in the cause) of Allah, as~ Isa
son of Marium said to (his) disciples: Who
are my helpers in the cause of Allah? The
disciples said: We are helpers (in the cause)
of Allah. So a party of the children of Israel
believed and another party disbelieved; then
We aided those who believed against their
enemy, and they became uppermost.
The Congregation
[62.6] Say: O you who are
Jews, if you think that you are the favorites
of Allah to the exclusion of other people,
then invoke death If you are truthful.
Sources: Humanities
Text Initiative
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