Produce your proof: Muslim exegesis, the Hadith, and the Jews

Judaism, Wntr-Spring, 2004 by Khaleel Mohammed

  And if it were to be said: What is the proof that those whom God has
  thus described, and recounted their affair in the Qur'an are actually
  as described? The response is:
    (1) From al-Sha'bi from Adi b. Hatim: The Messenger of God said to
  me: the Maghdubi alayhim are the Jews.
    (2) From Abbad b. Hubaysh from Adi b. Hatim: The Messenger of God
  said to me: Certainly the Maghdubi alayhim are the Jews.
    (3) From Murri b. Qatari from Adi b. Hatim: I asked the Messenger of
  God about the words of God "not the maghdubi alayhim" "and he
  responded: They are the Jews.
    (4) From al-Jurayri from Abd Allah b. Shaqiq: A man came to the
  Messenger of God while he was laying siege to Wadi al-Qura, (12) and
  asked "Who are those people who you are encircling, O Messenger of
  God? He replied: "The "maghudbi alayhim: the Jews."
    (5) Essentially the same as the above, with a different set of
  tradents.
    (6) Budayl b. al-'Uqayli from Abdullah b. Shaqiq, that someone who
  had heard from the prophet informed him that while the prophet was at
  Wadi al Qura, on horseback, a man asked him: O Messenger of God! Who
  are these? He responded: "The Maghdubi alayhim: and he indicated the
  Jews.
    (7) Essentially same as above with a different set of tradents.
    (8) From Al-Dihhak from Ibn Abbas: "al maghdubi alayhim" are the
  Jews, with whom God is angry.
    (9) Abi Saleh from Ibn Abbas, as well as from Ibn Mas'ud, as well as
  from several companions of Muhammad, "The maghdubi alayhim are the
  Jews."
    (10) From Sufyan from Mujahid: "The maghdubi alayhim are the Jews."
    (11) From Abu Ja'far from Rabi': The maghdubi alayhim are the Jews."
    (12) Ibn Jurayj from Ibn Abbas: "The maghdubi alayhim are the Jews."
    (13) Ibn Wahb from Ibn Zayd: "The maghdubi alayhim are the Jews."
    (14) Ibn Zayd from his father: "The maghdubi alayhim are the Jews."
  (13)

The foregoing exegesis of al-Tabari has been cited in detail because, although many of the later exegetes relied on his material without acknowledging the source, his influence is manifest in their work.

Ibn Kathir's argument is structured much like al-Tabari's. He, however, adds that those who have incurred Divine anger are those who have corrupt desires; in fact they know the truth, but reject it. The misguided are those who have no knowledge, and are therefore prone to error, and therefore cannot be on the path to truth. These two qualities are found in the Jews and the Christians. He then relates several traditions, noting that the Jews have left aside deeds that are based on sound knowledge of the divine, and the Christians have left aside appropriate knowledge. For this reason, anger was reserved for the Jews, and misguidance became the lot of the Christians. The reason for such specification is that one who KNOWS, and then does not act accordingly deserves anger, while one who does not know, such as the Christians, who were seeking something, did not do so in the proper way, and thus went astray. Both Jew and Christian have incurred anger and misguidance, but the Jews have been specified for anger because of what God has said of them: "He whom God cursed and waxed angry against." Of the Christians, God has said: "They went astray from olden times, and lead many astray, and they strayed from the even path." To buttress his position, he states that Ibn Abi Hatim (d. 938) said: I do not know that there is any difference of opinion among the exegetes about this interpretation."