5.81 – If they had believed in God and the prophet
The Quran often seems to refer to “believing” in general, without providing an object. In this passage, however, the required belief is “in Allah and the prophet.” The characterization of Jews in the following verse – and indeed elsewhere in the Quran – may well be because they do not believe that the messenger of Islam is a true prophet of God.
The expression “the prophet” does not occur frequently in the Quran, and most of the occurrences come in Sūras 8; 9; 33; and 66. Here the Quran associates the prophet with Allah and declares that something “has been sent down to him.” See the analysis of verses containing “the prophet” at 66.9.