But there is not mention of "the people of the book" in that verse. These revelations came to Muhammad(pbuh) at the time where he needed it, so it could be that Muhammad(Pbuh) became aware of this cult and God gave them this verse. There could be other explanations also. but one thing that i know is that God did not make a mistake, the reason is, if you look at the Quran you can see many scientific verses, you can understand these verses if you know Arabic especially. Also in the Quran there were verses revealed to Muhammad(pbuh) about future events and the event described in the Quran did take place just like it was said, now these are the reasons i dont believe verse 5:116 to be a mistake. Of course it could be a mistake if Muhammad(pbuh) wrote the Quran, but how would Muhammad(pbuh) know about the big bang, process of rain, embroyology, future events, etc. especially when Muhammad(pbuh) was an illiterate man.
Future events predicted in the Quran.
“We delivered the Children of Israel across the sea. Pharaoh and his troops pursued them, aggressively and sinfully. When drowning became a reality for him, he said, “I believe there is no god except in the One whom the Children of Israel have believed; I am a submitter. Too late! For you have rebelled already, and chose to be a transgressor. Today, we will preserve your body, to set you up as a lesson for future generations. Verily, many among mankind are totally oblivious to our signs.” (Holy Quran, from 10:90 to 10:92)
The underlined verse is saying that the pharoahs body will be preserved, The body of pharoah, Merneptah, (pharoah of the exodus) was found well preserved in 1898, it is still in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
Scientific verses in the Quran:
Sura 51, verse 47
"The heaven, we have built it with power. Verily we are expanding it."
this verse is referring to the universe and of course the universe is expanding but an illiterate man wouldnt know that.
"Verily, in cattle there is a lesson for you. We give you to drink of what is inside their bodies, coming from a conjunction between the contents of the intestine and the blood, a milk pure and pleasant for those who drink it." 16, Verse 66
explanation of 16:66 by Dr. Bucaille:
"From a scientific point of view, physiological notions must be called upon to grasp the meaning of this verse. The substances that ensure the general nutrition of the body come from chemical transformations which occur along the length of the digestive tract. These substances come from the contents of the intestine. On arrival in the intestine at the appropriate stage of chemical transformation, they pass through its wall and towards the systematic circulation. This passage is effected in two ways: either directly, by what are called the Lymphatic vessels', or indirectly, by the portal circulation. This conducts them first to the liver, where they undergo alterations, and from here they then emerge to join the systematic circulation. In this way every thing passes through the blood-stream.. The constituents of milk are secreted by the mammary glands. These are nourished, as it were, by the product of food digestion brought to them via the bloodstream. Blood therefore plays the role of collector and conductor of what has been extracted from food, and it brings nutrition to the mammary glands, the producers of milk, as it does to any other organ. Here the initial process which sets everything else in motion is the bringing together of the contents of the intestine and blood at the level of the intestinal wall itself. This very precise concept is the result of the discoveries made in the chemistry and physiology of the digestive system. It was totally unknown at the time of the Prophet Mohammed and has been understood only in recent times. The discovery of the circulation of the blood, was made by Harvey roughly ten centuries after the Qur'anic Revelation. I consider that the existence in the Qur'an of the verse referring to these concepts can have no human explanation on account of the period in which they were formulated."
There are many more of these, but I hope that you get my point, and that is that how will an illiterate man come up with something like this, the explanation is God, and if God revealed these verses then how could he make a mistake in 5:116, to me this is logic.
thank you.