The beliefs of those who Delay mentioned in Medina, Khybar and Hijaz in the time of Mahomed (PBUH) are (with the exception of lip-service concerning the Laws of Moses) similar to those ascribed by Maimonides to the proto-Hebrews in the towns where he who became Abraham lived prior to his calling. This "proto-Hebrew" religion was described by Maimonides as a kind of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeticism Hermeticism]. The fact that the "Delayers" of Khybar who laid some sort of claim to the Laws of Moses indicates that these particular Delayers had once been in some kind of contact with [[Jews in the Quran|real Jews]]. In the same way that "Ger Sheker" Heretics from among other Hebrew peoples such as the Amalekites or Idumeans (See Moshe Sharon's entry on People of the Book in the Encyclopedia of the Quran) clearly the tribes of Hijaz, Khaybar, and Medina criticised as being "Delayers" had also come into contact with the Torah and, just like most Christians, decided to ignore it. In fact there are many more similarities between Delayers and certain types of Christian.
Much of what is said about "Delayers" in the Quran and Hadith is compared to the Jewish Gnostic Netzarim (using shrines as places of worship -SB Book #8 Hadith #427, SB Book #56 Hadith #660) or many other religions (e.g. circumcision SB Book #1 Hadith #6 and Delayers keep hands on flanks while praying according to SB Book #56 Hadith #664 and do not dye grey hair SB Book #56 Hadith #668). There is a report concerning a Delayer (يهودي) who respected Moses (SB Book #41 Hadith #594 & #595, SB Book #55 Hadith #620 & #626), as well as one with a curiosity about Moses (SB Book #48 Hadith #849), and indeed Mahomed (PBUH) judges them according to Torah equity (e.g. SB Book #41, Hadith #596, SB Book #51 Hadith #9) but the similarities to Jews are very few and far between (no more than between Christianity and Judaism) and indeed what the Quran does is to highlight the differences, and so it is to explore the differences that this essay is being written.
Distancing them from a superficial similarity to Christianity, the '''Hoodan''' (Delay) belief of the يهود (Delayers) of Khybar rejected Gabriel as an enemy (SB Book #55 Hadith #546, SB Book #58 Hadith #275, SB Book #60 Hadith #7) and is doomed for being based around the veneration of عزير (SB Book #93 Hadith #532s, SB Book #60 Hadith #105 and in Quran 9:30, [http://levinsky.academia.edu/AryeOlman/Papers/190914/_Uzair_As_a_Son_of_Allah_-_Understanding_of_One_Accusation Osiris according to Mohammed Magdi Bey, or a fallen angel according to Arye Olman], AlTabiri says in the opinion of عَبْد اللَّه بْن عُبَيْد بْن عُمَيْر Abdullah ibn Ubayd ibn Umayr that it was only Pinhas ben Azarya believed this as the only begotten son of a "hand-fettered" depiction of Allah (Quran 5:64) as if the Quran is wrong to use the plural Delayers. Allegedly it was also Pinhas who said: { إِنَّ اللَّه فَقِير وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَاء } "Truly, Allah is indigent and we are rich!"<ref>Tafseer Al-Tabari</ref>)