When the Prophet of Islam (S) recited Surah Yasin for them...

When the Prophet of Islam (S) recited Surah Yasin for them, they shed tears of joy and embraced Islam.[^1] Some other commentators have said that these verses have been sent down in relation to a group of Christians from Najran, (a city in the North of Yemen), who came to the Prophet of Islam (S) and heard the verses of the Qur’an and believed in Islam; ^2 while some others believe that they are in relation to Najashi and his companions.

^3 However, these verses are a lively witness to the fact that a group of the learned persons of the People of the Book believed in Islam when they heard the verses of the Qur’an, because it was impossible that the Prophet (S) to say such a thing while no one of the people of the Book had believed in him. If it were so, the pagans of Mecca would immediately reject it and could protest it earnestly.

The Holy Qur’an implies that the People of the Book (from among the Jews and Christians) may believe in the Qur’an because they find it consistent with the signs that they have found in their own heavenly Book. It says: “Those to when We gave the Book before this (Qur’an), they believe in it.” It is interesting that these people were a group of the People of the Book, but the verse refers to them as ‘the People of the Book’ without mentioning any quality.

“And when it is recited to them, they say: ‘We believe in it, verily it is the truth from our Lord, verily even before it we had surrendered.” 54. “These shall be granted their reward twice for that they patiently endured, and avert evil with good, and spend out of the sustenance We have provided them with. The seekers of the Truth are searching for the Truth and it does not matter for them who says it, what race he is and in what language he speaks.

Of course, if there is receptivity in a person, he may believe in the truth, but if the ground is not prepared, there is no hope of faith even with the continuation of citation of the Qur’an.