ٱلَّذِينَ ءَاتَيْنَٰهُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ يَعْرِفُونَهُۥ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَآءَهُمُ ۘ ٱلَّذِينَ خَسِرُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ فَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
2:147.
Commentary:
This verse describes the second way by which God bears testimony to the truth of the Holy Prophet, i.e. through the previous Scriptures. The previous Books contain prophecies which clearly apply to the Holy Prophet and definitely point him out as the Promised One, and it is by means of these prophecies that God bears witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet. It may be asked, if the People of the Book recognize the Holy Prophet as having come in fulfilment of the prophecies contained in their scriptures, why do they not accept him? This question the Quran answers in the words, But those who ruin their souls will not believe, meaning that the People of the Book will not believe because their souls are lost and they have no sense of honesty and faith left in them.
The words, Those to whom We gave the Book recognize him as they recognize their sons, are based on a very deep spiritual truth. A Prophet, or for that matter any object of faith, is not recognized in the beginning, as one recognizes the sun or the moon. He is recognized only as a father recognizes his son with great probability but not with dead certainty. Faith must always begin in the region of the unseen.
2:147.
A Prophet (or for that matter anything pertaining to faith) is not recognized in the beginning. He is recognized only as a father recognizes his son, more as a matter of probability than of dead certainty. Faith must always begin in the region of the unseen.