He was asked - may Allah have mercy upon him - on the saying of the Exalted:

The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "

(Surat At-Tawbah: 30)

Did all of them say this, or only some of them? And the saying of the Prophet, Sal-Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam, in the hadith:

The Jews will be brought on the Day of Judgment, and it will be said to them, "what did you used to worship?" So they will say, "Ezra." 1

Is this general (including all Jews) or not?

So he answered:

What is meant by "the Jews" is the specific Jews. Similar to the saying of the Exalted:

Those to whom hypocrites said, "Indeed, the people have gathered against you...

Surat Aali-`Imran: 173

He (Allah) didn't say 'all of the people,' nor did He say, 'Indeed, all of the people have gathered against you...' But rather, what is intended by it is the particular group of them.

And this is similar to when it is said, "Such and such group does such and such," or "the family of so-and-so does such and such." And if some of them really did do this, but the rest are quiet about it, and they do not deny it, then they share in the sin of saying it. And Allah Knows Best.

1. Bukhari, in the Book of Tawheed, and Muslim, in the Book of Iman. Both narrated by Abu Sa`ied Al-Khudri

Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, Rahimahullah

Majmu` Al-Fatawa 15/47