15. THE ISRĀ’ĪLIYYĀT
IN THE COMMENTARY OF
THE QUR’ĀN
AND THE ḤADĪTH (4)
The isrā’iliyyāt (Jewish
legends) could be genuine or weak, could be correspondent to Islamic law, or against
it, or irrelevant to it; it could deal with beliefs, law, religious
exhortation, or events which have no relevance with beliefs and laws. Some
evidences prohibited Muslims from reporting them, and others allowed the
reporting of them. Among the evidences prohibiting from reporting them are as
follows:
Abū
Hurayrah reported that when the Jews read the Torah in Hebrew and explained
them in Arabic to the Muslims the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
لَا تُصَدِّقُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ وَلَا تُكَذِّبُوهُمْ
وَ قُولُوا آمَنَّا
بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا... (رواه
البخاري)
Neither
believe nor disbelieve the People of the
Book,
but say “we believe in Allah and in what is
revealed
to us…” (Reported by al-Bukhari)
and therefore, it is not allowed to report it. Here the
Prophet (ﷺ) was
referring to sūrat al-Baqarah verse 136 (Q. 2:136).
Moreover, Ibn Mas‘ūd was
reported to have said: “Do not ask the People of the Book, as they would never
guide you, and they themselves have been lost, or [if you do so] you might deny
a truth and believe a falsehood.”
The Qur’ān itself
indicates the possibility of asking the People of the Book, and reporting the isrā’iliyyāt,
such as:
فَإِنْ كُنْتَ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا أَنْزَلْنَا
إِلَيْكَ فَاسْأَلِ الَّذِينَ
يَقْرَءُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ...
(يونس:94)
So, if you (Muhammad) are in doubt concerning
that
which We
have revealed to you, then ask those who
are reading the Book [the Taurāt
(Torah) and
the Injīl (Gospel)] before you…(Q. 10:94)
Qatādah said that when the Prophet (ﷺ) received this revelation he said, لَا أَشُكَ وَلَا أَسْأل (“I do not
doubt and I shall not ask”). According to Tha‘lab and al-Mubarrad the verse
means: “Say Muhammad to the disbeliever, the idol worshipper, ‘if you are in
doubt concerning the Qur’ān, then ask those who are reading the Book before
you,” namely, the Jews who have converted to Islam, like ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sallām,
as idol worshippers believed that the Jews were more knowledgeable.
Another interpretation is that the verse was
directed to the Prophet (ﷺ), and the term الشَّكُّ (al-shakk, “doubt”) originally means الضِّيق (al-ḍiq) “anguish, depression”), so that the verse
means, “If you are annoyed over their disbelief be patient, and ask people who
are reading the Book before you, they would tell you how patient the prophets
before you they were over the offence of their people, and the consequence of
their offense.”
Allah
also says in the Qur’ān,
وَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا
لَسْتَ مُرْسَلًا قُلْ كَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا
بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَكُمْ وَمَنْ عِنْدَهُ عِلْمُ الْكِتَابِ
(الرعد:43)
And those who
disbelieved, say: “You (O Muhammad)
are not a Messenger.” Say: “Sufficient as a
witness between
me and you is Allah and those too which have knowledge of
the Scripture (such
as Abdullah bin Sallam and other Jews
and Christians who
embraced Islam).” (Q. 13:43)
It was reported that ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sallām had
said that the verse was revealed concerning him. This is also the view of
Mujāhid and Qatādah. Ibn Kathīr called it a strange statement, as the verse was
revealed in Makkah, whereas ‘Abd Allāh ibn Sallām converted to Islam when the Prophet
(ﷺ) came to Madinah. He said that the most
obvious meaning was that of Ibn ‘Abbās who said that they were the Jews and the
Christians, including their scholars who found the characteristics of the
Prophet (ﷺ) in
their Book.
There
are also several ḥadīths stating that the Prophet (ﷺ) allowed the Muslims to report the isrā’iliyyāt,
such as:
بَلِّغُوا عَنِّي وَلَوْ
آيَةً ، وَحَدِّثُوا عَنْ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَلاَ حَرَجَ ، وَمَنَ
كَذَبَ عَلَيَّ مُتَعَمِّدًا
فَلْيَتَبَوَّأْ مَقْعَدَهُ مِنَ النَّارِ )رواه البخاري و أحمد)
Convey from me even an Ayah of the Qur’ān;
relate
traditions from Banu Israel, and there is no
restriction
on that; but he who deliberately forges a lie
against
me let
him have his abode in the Hell.
(Reported by
al-Bukhārī and Ahmad)
The Prophet (ﷺ) allowed
Muslims to relate only what they know that they are true about the Israelites, and are not allowed to invent
stories about him for whatever reason, even in praising and glorifying him, as lying is prohibited in
Islam. Therefore, it is not allowed to relate isrā’iliyyāt contradictory
to Islamic law or reason. But those we do not know whether they are true or
false, Muslims are to keep silent of them to avoid denying what is true or believing in what is false.
There
are many Qur’ānic verses telling Muslims to ask the People of the Book for
confirmation, such as:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ فَاسْأَلُوا
أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ
إِنْ كُنْتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ (الأنبياء:7)
And We sent not before you (O Muhammad) but
men of
whom We revealed. So ask the people of the
Reminder [Scriptures – the Taurāt (Torah), the
Injīl
(Gospel)
if you do not know. (Q. 21:7)
It means that as Allah said that He had sent before Prophet Muhammad
human beings only to be His messengers, then they can ask the people of the
Book, the Jews and the Christians, whether those who were sent to them were
human beings or angels, and they would confirm that messengers had been human
beings only, not angels, as some disbelievers rejected a prophet being a human
being. Allah said,
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُ كَانَتْ
تَأْتِيهِمْ رُسُلُهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَقَالُوا أَبَشَرٌ يَهْدُونَنَا
فَكَفَرُوا وَتَوَلَّوْا وَاسْتَغْنَى اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُ
غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ (التغابن:6)
That was because
there came to them their Messengers
with clear proofs (signs), but they
disbelieved and turned away
(from the truth).
But Allah was not in need (of them). Allah is
Rich (Free of all needs), Worthy
of all praise. (Q. 64:6)
The people of the Torah and the Gospel who converted to Islam were
called أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ (people of the Reminder)
because they used to tell the stories of prophet unknown to the Arabs. The
Makkan idolaters used to ask verification from them concerning the Prophet in
their Book (Torah and Gospel).
According to Ibn Zayd the term أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ means “people of the Qur’ān”, as the term الذِّكْرِis also is applied to the Qur’ān, when Allah said, إِنَّا نَحْنُ
نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ (الحجر:9) “Verily, We, it is We Who have sent down
the Dhikr (i.e. the Qur’ān) and surely We will guard it (from corruption) (Q.
15:9). Ali r.a. himself was reported to have said نَحْنُ أَهْلُ
الذِّكْرِ, meaning نَحْنُ أَهْلِ الْقُرْآنِ, "We
are people of the Qur’ān”.
The Qur’ān itself mentioned many stories about the Israelites and other
people of the past, such as: the story when Allah ordered the followers of
Prophet Moses to slaughter a cow (Q. 2:67-73), and when they were ordered to
enter the Holy Land (Q. 5:2-26); the story of Qābīl (Cain) and Hābīl (Abel) (Q.
5:27-31); and when the Ḥawāriyyūn (disciples of Prophet ‘Īsā (Jesus)
a.s. asked him to ask Allah to send them a banquet from heaven (Q.
5:112-115).
The Prophet (ﷺ) himself told many stories of people of the past, such as the
story of Jurayj (George) among the Children of Israel, narrated by Abū Hurayrah
r.a. as follows:
None spoke in the cradle but three: (the first was) 'Īsā
(Jesus),
(the second was), a man from the Israelites (Children
of
Israel) called Jurayj. While he was offering his prayers, his
mother came and
called him. He said (to himself), ‘Shall I
answer her or keep on
praying?’ (He went on praying) and
did not answer her. His mother said, "O
Allah! Do not let him
die till
he sees the faces of prostitutes." So while he was in
his
hermitage, a lady came and sought to seduce him, but he refused. So she went to
a shepherd and presented herself to
him to commit illegal sexual intercourse
with her and then
later
she gave birth to a child and claimed that it belonged
to
Jurayj . The people, therefore, came to him and dismantled
his hermitage and
expelled him out of it and abused him.
Juraij
performed ablution, offered prayer, and then came to
the
child and said, ‘O child! Who is your father?’ The child
replied, ‘the
shepherd.’ (After hearing this) the people said,
‘We shall
rebuild your hermitage of gold,’ but he said, 'No, of
nothing but mud.' (The
third was the hero of the following story).
A lady from the Israelites (Children
of Israel) was nursing
her
child at her breast when a handsome rider passed by her.
She said, ‘O Allah! Make my child like him.’ On that
the child
left her breast, and facing the rider said 'O
Allah! Do not make
me like him.’ The child then started to suck
her breast again.
(Abu Hurayrah r.a. further said, "As
if I were now looking at
the Prophet s.a.w.
sucking his finger
(in way of
demonstration).” After a while the people
passed by, with
a lady slave and she (i.e. the child's mother) said, 'O Allah!
Do not make my child like this (slave
girl)! On that the child
left her breast and said, 'O
Allah! Make me like her.' When
she asked why, thechild replied, 'the rider is one of the tyrants
while thisslave girl is falsely accused of theft and
illegal
sexual intercourse." (Reported by al-Bukhārī and Muslim)
The order and permission of Allah to
ask the People of the Book is limited to what has remained the truth, not to
what has been distorted and corrupted of which Muslims are not allowed to
relate. These stories, either from the Qur’ān or from the Prophet (ﷺ) are true from Allah, related for purposes, not just as
pastime, amusement, and entertainment. Allah says:
لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ
عِبْرَةٌ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ مَا كَانَ حَدِيثًا يُفْتَرَى وَلَكِنْ تَصْدِيقَ
الَّذِي بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ
وَتَفْصِيلَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةً لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ (يوسف:111)
Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of
understanding. It
(the Qur’ān) is not a forged statement
but a
confirmation of (Allah’s existing Books) which
were
before it [i.e., the Taurāt (the Torah), the Injīl (the
Gospel) and other Scriptures of Allah] and a
detailed
explanation of everything and a guide and a mercy
for a
people who believe (Q. 12:111)
The
Prophet (ﷺ) prohibited his companions from asking the
people of the Book was at the early period of Islam and before the
establishment of Islamic law, in order to keep it from being confused with
Jewish thinking and beliefs. After the establishment of Islamic faith and laws,
he allowed it. Moreover, the companions such as Abū Hurayrah, Ibn ‘Umar, and
Ibn ‘Abbās asked the early converted Jews, such as Ka‘b al-Aḥbār and ‘Abd Allāh
ibn Sallām to know some details of particular stories or incidents, not about
laws and beliefs.
Contemporary Muslim
scholars say that it would be better
for mufassirīn (commentators of the Qur’ān) to avoid completely the isrā’iliyyāt
which are rejected to be genuine, stories which are not known whether they
are genuine or fabricated. Otherwise,
including them as commentary of the Qur’ān would mislead people thinking that they
are genuine, and therefore, to maintain the purity of the Qur’ān, such stories
should be excluded in the commentary of the Qur’ān.
(Turner, 11 August, 2017)
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت. 310/922(
تفسير القرطبى (611 - 671 هـ / 1214 - 1273 م(
تفسير ابن كثير (ت. 774/ (1373
الذهبي, الدكتور محمد حسين. الإسرائيليات في
التفسير و الحديث. القاهرة: مكتبة وهبة, 1411هـ ـ 1990 م.
http://www.islamweb.net/emainpage/index.php?page=showfatwa&Option=FatwaId&Id=88847
