Israʼiliyyat
In
These narratives appear frequently in
History
Often included under the designation Isra’iliyyat are
The term Isra’iliyyat was originally a descriptive term without any larger tags indicating legitimacy or illegitimacy.
There is no clear evidence regarding the exact manner by which biblical and Talmudic themes entered Islamic literature. Muslim sources indicate a number of individuals who converted to Islam from Judaism among the first generations of Muslims and were transmitters of Isra’iliyyat. These include such names as
Historically, the Isra'iliyyat were well received by the mufassirun (Quranic exegists) and historians, with at-Tabari being a prominent example.[9][10] Conversely they were mainly criticised by the Hadith scholars and the theologians such as Al-Nawawi, Al-Dhahabi and Al-Ghazali.[11] There were some exceptions to this - medieval exegete Ibn Kathir was in particular quite critical of Isra'iliyyat, foregoing their use in his Tafsir.[4][12] Many contemporary scholars have followed suit, purging Isra'iliyyat from Quran commentaries and Islamic traditions.[13] Some scholars believe that Jews told such stories out of hostility towards Muslims or because they are superstitious.[14]
- Those considered to be true because the revelation to Muhammad confirms them.
- Those considered to be false because the revelation to Muhammad rejects them.
- Those not known to be either true or false.
Transmitters of Isra’iliyyat
Among the best known transmitters of Isra’iliyyat traditions is
Ibn ‘Abbas (619-687 CE), was a cousin and young companion of Muhammad. He is regarded as one of the greatest authorities on the Qur’an in general and especially the place of Isra’iliyyat traditions in its interpretation. Ibn Abbas was only thirteen years old at the time of Muhammad’s death. "Ibn ‘Abbas is reported to have been responsible for the transmission of large amounts of exegetical traditions to later Qur’an commentaries. A broad amount of Isra’iliyyat traditions were attributed to him. Ibn Ishaq (85-150 AH) is known as a historian and was responsible for writing one of the earliest biographies of Muhammad. The first section of his biography, which does not exist anymore but is still cited is an account of the prophets and other figures from Adam leading up to Muhammad.[16]
Israeliyyat regarding prophets
Adam
Tabari writes, “God created Adam with his own hands so that God could say to Iblis (Satan) that he was exalting himself over that which God formed with his own hands. So God created Adam as a human and his body was from clay. God breathed his spirit into Adam. Then when God’s spirit entered his eyes he saw the fruits of Paradise and when it entered his stomach he was hungry, so before the spirit reached his feet he tried to get up in haste to have the fruits of Paradise. This is the meaning of God’s word: “Man was created in haste” (21:37) In regards to the testing of Adam and Eve, Ibn Ishaq writes, “Iblis started off by crying for Adam and Eve, and they became sad when they heard him. They asked him why he was crying and he said, “I am crying for you because you will die and be forced to give up the luxury and plenty you are enjoying.” Then Iblis went to them and whispered saying, “Adam, may I lead you to the Tree of Immortality and to a kingdom that does not decline?” (20:120) Meaning that they might become angels or live forever in Paradise. In the Qur'an it states, “When we took from the prophets their covenant from you, Noah, Abraham, and Jesus son of Mary. We took from them a solemn covenant” (Q 33:7) That covenant was, as quoted by Ibn Abbas “The Prophet Muhammad said, “God took a covenant from the back of Adam on the day of ‘Arafat. He caused all of his offspring to come out of him, and spread them out in front of him. In regards to Adam’s death, Tabari writes, “When Adam died it was Friday. The angels came to him, sent by God from Paradise, to embalm and wrap him, and they honored his son and heir Seth. Ibn Ishaq says: The sun and the moon were eclipsed for seven days and nights.[16]
Abraham
Reuven Firestone states that, “In the case of the Abraham story... Islamic interpretative literature traces his journeys to
Jesus
All the prophets prior to Muhammad were important, however the three Prophets mentioned here made a vast difference in Isra’iliyyat traditions. Many sources comment on the relevance that Jesus had as a prophet to the Israelite people. “There are differences between Islamic and Christian thinking about Jesus that are important to note. Islamic beliefs and Christian beliefs both accept the virgin birth, Jesus’ miracles that are remembered by the Muslim people are the revival of the dead and the creation of a bird from clay. They believe however, that all these miracles have only come to be through the permission of Allah. They believe that because he came into this world through divine inspiration and a human mother, that the miracles he performed were also human actions with divine permission." “With respect to form, the references in the Qur’an can be divided into four groups: birth and infancy stories, miracles, conversations between Jesus and God or between Jesus and the Israelites, and divine pronouncements on his humanity, servanthood, and place in the prophetic line which stipulate that fanatical opinions about him must be abandoned. "His sinless birth- which in the Qur’an takes place under a palm tree- and the words he speaks as an infant in the cradle are all signs, manifestations of divine favor shown to him and his mother." Unlike the canonical Gospels, the Qur'an pays more attention to his miraculous birth rather than to his Passion.[18]
“According to Muhammad b. Sahl b. Askar al-Bukari Ismail b. Abd al-Karim- ‘Abd al-Samad b. Maquil, the son of the brother of Wahb, Wahb: When God sent Gabriel to Mary he appeared to her as a shapely man. She then said, “I take refuge in the All Merciful from you, if you fear God!” Then he breathed into the opening of her garment, the breath reached her womb, and she conceived Jesus. A relative of hers was with her, Joseph the carpenter by name. Mary and Joseph were then serving at that Temple, and service there was a great honor.[19]
"Qisas al-anbiya, ‘Stories of the Prophets’, is the title of widespread books relating to the lives of pre-Islamic prophets and heroes, and emerging in the eleventh century." These collections were attributed to Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Tha’labi. "The main focus of the Qisas-genre as regards Jesus are as follows: Mary’s pregnancy, the birth of Jesus and the flight to Egypt, the infancy miracles of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus, the virtues of the adult Jesus with emphasis on his miracles, the end of his life and his descent from heaven seven days after he had been raised up, the death of Mary and the king of Rome, and the second descent of Jesus in the last days." Due to having already discussed his birth and his miracles, it would be interesting to discuss Muslim thought on his death. With reference to Wahb, many details from the passion story of the New Testament Gospels are referred to in a somewhat altered fashion. For example, Jesus washes the hands of his disciples as a symbol of humility and sacrifice, the disciples fall asleep, Simon denies him, and Judas betrays him. In this version, the likeness of Jesus is said to be cast upon Judas, and he is sacrificed in place of Jesus. With reference to the qur’anic expression in 3.55, it said that Jesus himself was told to die by Allah for three hours, before he was raised to heaven. "According to other theories for substitution reported in the Qisas, the likeness of Jesus is cast either on the jailer, or on a voluntary friend of Jesus."[20] The crucifixion of Jesus is mentioned only once in the Qur'an and only takes up two verses: one directly (4:157) and the other by inference (4:158).[21] These sources provide relevant information on how Islamic traditions can be better understood through biblical and Quranic narratives.
References
- ISBN 9783832541514p. 30 (German)
- ^ a b Mainiyo, Attahir; Shuni, Muhammad (1 October 2016). "The Position of Isra'illiyat in the Islamic Tradition". ResearchGate. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- S2CID 143245136. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-316-24005-2p. 115.
- ISBN 9783832541514p. 21-25 (German)
- ISBN 9004057455.
- ^ Abu Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma‘il Al-Bukhari, Beirut, Dar Ihya‘ Al-Turath Al-Arabi, (nd), Vol. 4, P374, Bab 25, Hadith No. 7362
- ^ *Adang, Camilla. Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: from Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm. New York: E.J. Brill, 1996.
- Bernstein, Marc S. Stories of Joseph: Narrative Migrations between Judaism and Islam.
- Juynboll, G.H.A. The Authenticity of the Tradition Literature: Discussions in Modern
- Lassner, Jacob. Demonizing the Queen of Sheba: Boundaries of Gender and Culture in
- Rubin, Uri. Between Bible and Qur’an: The Children of Israel and the Islamic Self-
- ^ Mainiyo, Attahir Shehu, and Muhammad Sani Abdullahi. "Impact of Isra’iliyyat reports on the Islamic creed of contemporary Muslims." Ilorin Journal of Religious Studies 7.1 (2017): 67-82.
- ^ Guezzou, Mokrane. "Tanwīr al-Miqbās min Tafsīr Ibn'Abbās." Amman, Jordan: Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (2007).
- ^ Ahmad Yunus Mohd Noor; Zahidah Zainal Abidin (2018). "Perbahasan Isu Isra'iliyyat dalam Corpus al-Isra'iliyyat wa al-Mawdu'at fi Kutub al-Tafsir oleh Shaykh Abu Shahbah (1914-1983)". Jurnal Al-Turath (in Malay). 3 (1).
- ^ Albayrak, Ismail. Qur'anic narrative and Isra'iliyyat in Western scholarship and in classical exegesis. Diss. University of Leeds, 2000.
- ISBN 978-1-461-71895-6page 158
- ^ Moaddab, Sayyid Reza, Fazel Asadi Amjad, and Hossein Sattar. "Israʾiliyyat or Traditions of Jewish Origin: A Major Instance of Transferred Traditions." Religious Inquiries 5.9 (2016): 47-66.
- ^ Tohe, Achmad. Muqatil ibn Sulayman: A neglected figure in the early history of Qur'ānic commentary. Diss. Boston University, 2015. p.
- ^ a b Wheeler, Brannon M. (2002). Prophets in the Quran: An Introduction to the Quran and Muslim Exegesis. London: Continuum.
- JSTOR 1595657.
- ^ Khalidi, Tarif (2001). The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- ^ Tabari (1985–2007). The History of Tabari: The Ancient Kingdom. Albany: State University of New York.
- ^ Leirvik, Oddbjor (1998). Images of Jesus Christ in Islam: Introduction, Survey of Research, Issues of Dialogue. Uppsala: Swedish Institute of Missionary Research.
- ^ Lawson, Todd (2009). The Crucifixion and The Qur'an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought. Oxford: Oneworld.