Some asked to Shahr: “What was your purpose in saying this to him?

Some asked to Shahr: “What was your purpose in saying this to him?” He said: “I wanted to irritate him”. 3- Abu al-Qasim Balkhi has also given the same interpretation. 4- Zajjaj considered this view as weak. He says: “Those who remain until the return of ‘Isa are of a small number and the verse refers to the faith of the totality of the people of the Book. But it is possible to say that the totality of the People of the Book say, ‘We believe in that ‘Isa who will come at the End of Time’”.

5- According to ibn ‘Abbas –according to another tradition-, Mujahid, Dhahhaq, ibn Sirin, and Juwaybir, the pronoun hi in “bihi” (“in him”) refers to ‘Isa and the pronoun hi in “ mawtihi” (“his death”) refers to a book, which means that each and every Jew or Christian who leave this world believe in ‘Isa before their death, and this is when there are no longer any duties or obligations and when death is certain. But this belief does not bring any advantage or benefit to them.

The reason why the Jews and the Christians are both referred to here is that they are both on the wrong path, the Jews because of their blasphemy and the Christians because of their exaggeration and excess. 6- The meaning of the verse is that the people of the Book will believe in the before their death (“ bihi” then would refer to Muhammad). Tabari considered this view as weak. He says that if this is true, then the People of the Book should not be considered unbelievers.

To this, Shaykh Tabarsi answers that “Tabari’s comment is not pertinent because their belief occurs after the obligations and duties of this life but before death and at a time when it no longer offers any advantage for them. On the other hand, the weakness of this view lies in the fact that the name of the Prophet does not occur in these verses and there is no reason to refer to the pronoun hi to the Prophet when the name of ‘Isa is pronounced in these verses.

It is then reasonable to refer to the pronoun as ‘Isa.” B- Tafsir al-Mizan by Allamah Tabataba’i Tabataba’i (5) comments that the word “ In” at the beginning of the verse is an adverb of negation and means “and there is none” and that in the expression “ min ahl al-Kitab” (“of the People of the Book”) the subject has been deleted which was the word ahad (one) and the expression is then read as “ ahad min ahl al-Kitab” (“one of the People of the Book”).