Encouraging the Children of Israel to embrace Islam

Allah commanded the Children of Israel to embrace Islam and to follow Muhammad ﷺ. He also reminded them with the example of their father Israel, Allah's Prophet Ya`qub, as if saying, "O children of the pious, righteous servant of Allah who obeyed Allah! Be like your father, following the truth." This statement is similar to one's saying, "O you son of that generous man! Do this or that" or, "O son of the brave man, engage the strong fighters," or "O son of the scholar, seek the knowledge," and so forth. Similarly, Allah said,

ذُرِّيَّةَ مَنْ حَمَلْنَا مَعَ نُوحٍ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَبْدًا شَكُورًا

The Surah Al-Baqarah begins by speaking of the Holy Qur'an itself, and tells us that although it provides guidance to all men, yet only true Muslims will derive a full benefit from it. The Sarah proceeds to warn the disbelievers against the grievous punishment which awaits them in the other world, and also to delineate the misdeeds of the two kinds of disbelievers - those who deny openly, and the hypocrites. Then, addressing all the three groups, it urges upon them to worship Allah alone, and, presenting the Holy Qur'an as a miracle which cannot be imitated by man, invites them to have faith in it. Next, the Surah recounts how Adam (علیہ السلام) was created to be the vice regent of Allah, and thus shows the omnipotence and wisdom of Allah so that men may realize why they must obey and worship Him and never be disobedient to Him.

Now, in the days of the Holy Prophet ﷺ there were two kinds of people among the disbelievers and the hypocrites. On the one hand were mushrikin مشرکین ، idolaters and associators who did not possess any religious knowledge, were even otherwise mostly illiterate, and followed the customs of their forefathers - for example, the inhabitants of Makkah in general whom the Holy Qur'an calls the Ummiyyun اُمیون (the illiterate). On the other hand were those who believed in the earlier prophets, had a knowledge of the earlier Divine Books like the Torah and the Evangile, and were known as being well-educated. Some of them were the followers of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) (Moses), but did not accept Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) (Jesus) as a prophet - these were the Yahud یہود or the Jews. Others were the followers of Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) ، but did not believe that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was, being a prophet, divinely protected against all sin - these were the Nasara نصارا or the Christians. On account of their belief either in the Torah or the Evangel or in both, the Holy Qur'an calls these two groups Ahl al-Kitab اھل الکتاب (the people of the Book). Being well-educated, they were respected and trusted by the people around them, and their opinion had a great deal of weight. If they came to the straight path, others too could be expected to follow their example۔