Home > Surah 42 - The Consultation
This verse continues the Meccan narrative that the "Religion of Truth" was always singular and clear. It addresses why, if the message was one, there are now so many competing groups.
It explicitly states that the schisms in the Judeo-Christian world were caused by human pride (rivalry), NOT by a failure or loss of the divine text.
Surah 42:14:
And they were not divided until after the knowledge came unto them, through rivalry among themselves; and if it had not been for a Word that had gone forth from thy Lord for a appointed term, it would have been settled between them. And lo! those who have inherited the Scripture after them are in hopeless doubt concerning it.
The verse states that division only occurred after "The Knowledge" (Al-'Ilm) arrived.
If "The Knowledge" refers to the Scripture, then the Scripture must have been intact and clear for people to be able to divide over it.
You don't have a schism over a non-existent or corrupted book. Rivalry requires a shared object of value.
The Quran admits that the "Knowledge" (the Bible) was the foundational truth. If that "Knowledge" teaches the Divinity of Christ, then the "division" wasn't about whether Jesus is God, but perhaps about how that authority is expressed in the Church.
The Quran attributes the division to Baghyan (rivalry/insolence).
Islamic apologists often claim the Bible was "corrupted" (Tahrif) because people wanted to change the words. But Surah 42:14 says they divided because they were arrogant and rivalrous.
If the problem was moral (pride), then the text remained a witness against them. A thief doesn't change the law; he just breaks it.
This verse identifies the Jews and Christians as people who possess the truth but are too proud to agree on it. This validates the 7th-century Bible as the "Knowledge" they were fighting over.
The verse says the current generation (the 7th-century People of the Book) have "inherited the Scripture" but are in "hopeless doubt."
If they are the heirs, they have the physical property (the Book).
If they are in "hopeless doubt" regarding their inheritance, why does the Quran in Surah 10:94 tell Muhammad to ask them to remove his doubt?
You cannot find certainty from people who are in "hopeless doubt." If the heirs are confused and their inheritance is a mess, the Quran’s appeal to them as a benchmark for Muhammad’s truth is a massive logical failure.
Surah 42:14 admits that division only came 'after the knowledge' was given to the People of the Book.
This means that the 'Knowledge' (the Bible) was clear and intact before the rivalry started.
Islam says the Bible is corrupted, but their own Book says the problem was 'rivalry,' not 'lost text.' They didn't lose the knowledge; they lost their humility.
If they 'inherited the Scripture'—as this verse says—then they were holding the physical truth in their hands in the 7th century.
Either the 'Knowledge' they inherited is the truth (meaning the Bible is the standard), or they inherited a lie (meaning God allowed His 'Knowledge' to become a source of 'hopeless doubt'). If they are in hopeless doubt about their Book, why did your Prophet seek them out to confirm his own message?"
The phrase ba‘di mā jā’ahumu-l-‘ilm menas the revelation was successfully delivered. If it was delivered and then "inherited," the "rivalry" among the heirs doesn't change the "knowledge" in the vault.