12. The Condition of the Hearts of the Christians & the Jews | Sh Husain Modjtehedi | Muharram 2026

Event: Lecture Series for Ashra-e-Muharram 1448 Venue: Heiat Karbala, North York, Toronto, Ontario Date: June 26th, 2026 Why is it that the Qur'ān says that the Jews had the most enmity towards the believers while the Christians were the closest to them. This builds on the topic of the hardening of the hearts and we want to take away why these two groups of disbelievers treated the truth in such opposite ways. "You will surely find the most intense in enmity toward the believers to be the Jews and those who associate partners with Allah; and you will surely find the nearest of them in affection to the believers those who say, 'We are Christians.' That is because among them are priests and monks, and because they are not arrogant." (5:82) Both communities believed in God, had prophets, had scripture, expected the coming of another messenger. The Jews were actually waiting for the final Prophet. The Christians also had prophecies about him. So why the different reactions? 1.⁠ ⁠Istikbār (Arrogance) Allah says after mentioning the prophets: أَفَكُلَّمَا جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَىٰ أَنفُسُكُمُ اسْتَكْبَرْتُمْ "Whenever a messenger came to you with what your souls did not desire, you became arrogant..." (2:87) They rejected revelation when it challenged their desires. 2.⁠ ⁠Love of Position One of the recurring Qur'anic criticisms is that some religious elites feared losing authority. The Qur'an says: الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَعْرِفُونَهُ كَمَا يَعْرِفُونَ أَبْنَاءَهُمْ وَإِنَّ فَرِيقًا مِّنْهُمْ لَيَكْتُمُونَ الْحَقَّ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ "Those to whom We gave the Book recognize him as they recognize their own sons." (2:146) They concealed the signs out of envy or fear of losing leadership. Today as well, when the religion of Islam threatens their casinos, their bars, their pornography industry, their central banking system, their high interest loan scams, they feel threatened because their stream of income is on the line, their power is on the line, their capitalistic and ego-centric world is on the line so they prefer to reject the truth and employ all of their armies to oppose it in full force.