The Quran

ثُمَّ أَنتُم هٰؤُلاءِ تَقتُلونَ أَنفُسَكُم وَتُخرِجونَ فَريقًا مِنكُم مِن دِيارِهِم تَظاهَرونَ عَلَيهِم بِالإِثمِ وَالعُدوانِ وَإِن يَأتوكُم أُسارىٰ تُفادوهُم وَهُوَ مُحَرَّمٌ عَلَيكُم إِخراجُهُم ۚ أَفَتُؤمِنونَ بِبَعضِ الكِتابِ وَتَكفُرونَ بِبَعضٍ ۚ فَما جَزاءُ مَن يَفعَلُ ذٰلِكَ مِنكُم إِلّا خِزيٌ فِي الحَياةِ الدُّنيا ۖ وَيَومَ القِيامَةِ يُرَدّونَ إِلىٰ أَشَدِّ العَذابِ ۗ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغافِلٍ عَمّا تَعمَلونَ

Muhammad Asad

And yet, it is you who slay one another and drive some of your own people from their homelands, aiding one another against them in sin and hatred; but if they come to you as captives, you ransom them - although the very [act of] driving them away has been made unlawful to you!¹ Do you, then, believe in some parts of the divine writ and deny the truth of other parts? What, then, could be the reward of those among you who do such things but ignominy in the life of this world and, on the Day of Resurrection, commitment to most grievous suffering? For God is not unmindful of what you do.

This is a reference to the conditions prevailing at Medina at the time of the Prophet's hijrah. The two Arab tribes of Medina - Al-Aws and Khazraj - were, in pre-Islamic times permanently at war with one another; and out of the three Jewish tribes living there - the Banu Qaynuqa', Banu 'n-Nadir and Banu Qurayzah - the first-named two were allied with Khazraj, while the third was allied with Al-Aws. Thus, in the course of their warfare, Jew would kill Jew in alliance with pagans ("aiding one another in sin and hatred"): a twofold crime from the viewpoint of Mosaic Law. Nevertheless, they would subsequently ransom their mutual captives in obedience to that very same Law - and it is this glaring inconsistency to which the Qur'an alludes in the next sentence.