How did the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) send a letter to Heraclius and the Muqawqis—in the sixth year of Hijrah—that included the verse: "Say, 'O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you—that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah.' But if they turn away, then say, 'Bear witness that we are Muslims'" (Aal-Imran: 64), while this verse was revealed as part of the verses of Surah Aal-Imran, which were revealed concerning the Najran delegation in the ninth year of Hijrah?

Most ambiguities do not relate to the fundamentals of religion, but rather to narrations, reports, or words whose absence does not diminish the religion. There is an apparent contradiction regarding the time of the revelation of the verse: (Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you...") [Quran 3:64]. Some reports indicate the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (6th year of Hijrah), while others point to the delegation of Najran (9th year).

It is more probable that the verse was revealed during the period of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, because the narration of Abu Sufyan is sound and explicit, whereas what Ibn Ishaq transmitted from Muhammad ibn Ja'far ibn al-Zubair is mursal (lacking a complete chain of narration) and it is probable that the error lies in his statement "up to eighty-odd verses," but rather it might be up to the beginning of verse 62. The verse encompasses both Jews and Christians, and the Prophet's address to the Jews was before the verse of Jizyah.

Ibn Kathir suggests that the answer could be that the verse was revealed twice, or that the latter part of Surat Al Imran was revealed regarding the Najran delegation while the aforementioned verse was revealed before it, or that the arrival of the Najran delegation was before Hudaybiyyah, or that the Prophet ordered it to be written before its revelation and then the Quran descended confirming it.