Quran 17:8 · Al-Isra

Various calamities inclined the Children of Israel to turn back to God once again. They were then given divine assistance through the agency of Cyrus, the King of Iran, who attacked and captured Babylon in 539 B.C., having defeated its ruler. Cyrus showed his favour to the Jews by allowing them to leave Babylon and return to their native place, Palestine. There, after a long time, they constructed their temple once again. However, the corruption, which had prevailed in the previous generation of the Jews, began to set in in the new generation also. In the meantime, they faced many vicissitudes. Their own prophets, John the Baptist and Jesus, who rose from among them, criticized their behaviour, revealing the irreligiousness they indulged in in the name of religion. This enraged the Jews. They went so far as to kill John the Baptist and were prepared to crucify Jesus. Then the wrath of God descended upon them once again. In the year 70 A.C., the Roman King, Titus, attacked Jerusalem and destroyed it completely. The Jews recognize these events as a part of their history, but when they mention these historical facts, they attribute them to the oppression of tyrants. The Quran, however, very clearly attributes them to the behaviour of the People of the Book themselves. This shows that political conditions are always subject to moral conditions. No tyrant oppresses any community unless the corruption of the religious and moral conditions of that community gives him the opportunity to do so, i.e. it allows him to make them his victims.