The Jews were very rude towards the Messenger of Allah in his presence and during his speech. They would backbite him and greet him in an abusive way, which indicated their bad morals. It was narrated on the authority of ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said, “Some of the Jews came to the Prophet and said, “As-Saamu ‘Alaykum, O Abu Al-Qaasim [death be on you].” ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said to them, “Death be on you, and may Allah curse you and shower His wrath upon you!” The Prophet said: “Be calm, O ‘Aa’ishah! You should be kind and lenient, and beware of harshness and bad words.” She said to the Prophet “Have not you heard what they [the Jews] said?” He said: “Have not you heard what I said [to them]? I said the same to them, and my invocation against them will be accepted, while theirs against me will be rejected [by Allah].” She said, “Then, Allah revealed the verses in which He Says (what means): {Have you not considered those who were forbidden from private conversation, then they return to that which they were forbidden and converse among themselves about sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger? And when they come to you, they greet you with that [word] by which Allah does not greet you and say among themselves, “Why does Allah not punish us for what we say?” Sufficient for them is Hell, which they will [enter to] burn, and wretched is the destination.} [Quran 58:8]
This verse shows the rancor that dominated the souls of the Jews and drove them to use all methods and means against Islam to get rid of its Messenger and control the Muslims. Their invocation against the Prophet to die using similar sounds of words of greeting and pretending to salute him manifests their cowardice and weakness when they resort to such behavior.
The one who follows the same approach as what the Jew did by greeting the Prophet saying, “As-Saamu ‘Alaykum [death be on you]” instead of “As-Salamu ‘Alaykum [peace be on you]” lives a psychological crisis that resulted from losing glory that he thought he was enjoying; new powers overcame his past and present, and he could not interact with those who had done so.
Also, the Jews’ envy and jealousy prevented them from submitting to the new religion. The matter which increased their crisis was that they tried to fight Islam by their means, which they thought to be unconquerable; however, failure was the inevitable result. Hence, they resorted to negative methods and twisting means, for the invocation against the opponent while pretending to be at peace with him is the weapon of the disabled, the means of losers and the antidote of people who bear grudges.
When the Prophet heard the reply of ‘Aa’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, he asked her to be gentle and lenient, clarifying that a Muslim should not let anger control him. Gentleness in Islam is the fruit of good morals. Allah The Almighty is lenient, loves leniency and rewards it, and does not reward violence.
The Jews would abuse the Messengers of Allah. Some of the Jews, including Abu Yaasir bin Akhtab, Naafi‘ bin Abu Naafi‘, ‘Aazir bin Abu ‘Aazir and others, went to the Messenger of Allah and asked him about the previous messengers whom he believed in. The Prophet said: “We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Ibraaheem [Abraham], Ismaa‘eel [Ishmael], Is’haaq [Isaac], Ya‘qoob [Jacob] and Al-Asbaat [The twelve sons of Ya‘qoob] and in what was given to Moosa [Moses], ‘Eesa [Jesus], and what was given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.” When he mentioned ’Eesa, may Allah exalt his mention, they said, “We do not believe in ‘Eesa the son of Maryam, and we do not believe in those who believed in him.” Consequently, Allah The Almighty revealed a verse (what means): {Say, “O People of the Book, do you resent us except [for the fact] that we have believed in Allah and what was revealed to us and what was revealed before and because most of you are defiantly disobedient?”} [Quran 5:59]
They made several attempts to abuse the Quran in their endless questions and discussions. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said,
When the Messenger of Allah arrived at Madeenah, the rabbis of the Jews said, “O Muhammad, do you see your saying of the verse (what means): {And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, “The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little.”} [Quran 17:85]? Did you mean us or your people?” He said: “Both.” They said, “You recite in what was revealed to you that we were given the Torah which includes the clarification of everything.” The Messenger of Allah said: “It is little in comparison to the knowledge of Allah, and you have what would be sufficient for you, if only you established it.” Then, Allah The Almighty revealed the verse (what means): {And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the Words of Allah would not be exhausted. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.} [Quran 31:27]