Differences between the People of the Book, Bani Isra'il, and Jews

In the Qur’an, in addition to the People of the Book (أهل الكتاب), the Qur’an also refers to the groups Bani Isra’il and Yahud. Indeed, the three terms have distinct meanings.

The term Bani Isra’il appears 42 times in the Qur’an. Isra’il itself is repeated three times.

The term Yahud (Yahudi) is mentioned 22 times in 21 verses across nine Surahs in the Qur’an. Ahl al-kitaab (the People of the Book) is mentioned directly in the Qur’an 31 times across nine different Surahs.

Qur’anic exegesis scholar Prof Muhammad Quraish Shihab, in a study on the Bayt al-Qur’an YouTube channel, explains the differences among the three terms. According to the former Indonesian Minister of Religious Affairs, Bani Israil is used in the Qur’an to denote the descendants of the Prophet Yaqub. The Prophet bore the title Israil, which linguistically means ‘the one who calls upon his Lord.’

According to Prof Quraish Shihab, the term Bani Israil is used in the Qur’an to refer to the descendants of Yaqub who lived before the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Thus, the term in the Qur’an is not for the descendants of Yaqub who lived during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Yaqub had 12 sons. One of them was named Yahuda. From that name, the terms Yahud or Yahudi arose. It means ‘the descendants of Yahudah.’

The Qur’an uses the word yahud (Yahudi) not to designate the descendants of Yahudah who lived before the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The word is used to refer to people in general who lived in the time of the Prophet (PBUH).