The Jewish Doctrines (Isra'iliyat) in Islamic Traditions

THE HADITH'S WHICH DOESN'T REACH THE PROPHET صلى الله عليه وسلم , A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NARRATIONS OF ABU HURAYRAH FROM K'AB AL AHBAR (رضي الله عنه)

The term isra’iliyyat (sing. isra’iliyyah) has been used by various Muslim scholars to denote foreign material, more specifically of Jewish and Christian origin, that has found its way into several genres of Islamic literature, including Qur’anic exegesis. Some of this material was transmitted in the form of stories dealing with the origins of the universe or past prophets and their nations from as early as the first generation of Muslims after the veiling of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. 

                         

Abu Ishaq Ka‘b ibn Mati‘ al-Himyari Al Ahbar came from a Jewish tribe in Himyar, Yemen. Although he lived during the time of the Prophet Muhammad, he never actually met him. He came to Madinah from Yemen and became a Muslim during the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, although some sources state that it was before then, during Abu Bakr’s rule (رضي الله عنه).

Many of the entries on Ka‘b al-Ahbar within the biographical dictionaries clearly indicate that both Abu Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) and Ibn ‘Abbas رضي الله عنه narrated from Ka‘b al-Ahbar[1]

It is well-known and accepted that Abu Hurayrah and Ka‘b conversed with one another on several occasions, demonstrating the the amicable relationship that existed between the two[2] What is at issue here is not the reliability (or lack thereof) of Ka‘b in his transmission of narrations to the Companions, but rather the verifiability of the narrations’ contents and/or attribution as well as their ultimate origin. A further point of interest to note is how some of these various traditions are treated by Ibn Kathir and other hadith scholars in regards to their ambivalence about the isra’iliyyat. The aforementioned points will become even more pronounced when dealing with the exegetical traditions of Ibn ‘Abbas and his relationship with Ka‘b and the isra’iliyya

To begin with, in analyzing those traditions that involve Abu Hurayrah, Ka‘b and the isra’iliyyat, it will be useful to examine some of Ibn Kathir’s comments on certain Prophetic traditions narrated by Abu Hurayrah that Ibn Kathir suspects are either of the isra’iliyyat or are the words of Ka‘b. In such cases, Ibn Kathir makes conjectures about the possible origin of the tradition, but he nonetheless clearly objects to having such words attributed to the Prophet himself and feels that an error occurred during the transmission of the particular tradition.

For example, in the commentary on Q2:255 and Q35:40, Ibn Kathir relates a tradition from various sources narrated by Abu Hurayrah that he heard the Prophet once state while speaking about a question that once occurred to Moses: Does God sleep? The tradition goes on to state how God, in response to Moses’ question, sent an angel with two glass vessels and the command to Moses to carry these two vessels, one in each hand, and to preserve them without letting them drop. Every time Moses would nearly fall asleep, the vessels would almost slip from his hands and he would awaken, until eventually, he fell asleep and they fell from his grasp breaking on the ground. What God did was to cast an analogy for Moses—had God ever fallen asleep, likewise the heavens and the earth would not be upheld and would come crashing down. After narrating the tradition, Ibn Kathir states how “this tradition is extremely strange, and is most likely an isra’ili that is not traceable (to the Prophet)”[3] and adds in another place that it is “from the objectionable isra’iliyyat.[4]” Ibn Kathir also mentions how it is very unlikely Moses could ever have asked such a question knowing the true nature of God[5]. Interestingly, unlike for other traditions, Ibn Kathir does not consider the possibility that Abu Hurayrah may have procured this narration from Ka‘b. Instead, he goes on to refer to another tradition of Ibn ‘Abbas who related that the Children of Israel once asked Moses, “Does God sleep?” to which he replied, “Fear God (ittaqu ’l-lah)!” after which God beckoned Moses, gave him two glass vessels to hold and preserve, and the rest of the story goes as narrated above[6]

[1]See Nawawi, Tahdhib Al-Asma’, Vol 1, p 2, 68; Ibn Hajar Al-‘Asqalani, Tahdhib Al-tahdhib, vol 8, Pg 438; Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh madinat Dimashq, vol 50, Pg 151; Al-Dhahabi, Siyar a‘lam Al-Nubala’, vol 3, Pg 490.  

[2] It is related (although with a weak chain of transmission according to Shu‘ayb al-Arna’ut}) that Abu Hurayrah once met Ka‘b, and after conversing with him and asking him questions, Ka‘b remarked, “I have not seen anyone more knowledgeable of the Torah without having read it than Abu Hurayrah.” See Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh madinat Dimashq, vol 67, Pg 343; Al-Dhahabi, Siyar a‘lam Al-Nubala’, vol 2, Pg 600, esp. n. 1; idem, Kitab Tadhkirat Al-Huffaz, 4 vols. (Hyderabad-Deccan: Osmania Oriental Publications Bureau, 1955), v. 1, 36.  

[3] Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, vol 1, Pg 679. The Arabic reads: wa hadha hadith gharib jiddan wa ‘l-azhar annahu isra’ili la marfu‘. This same tradition is narrated in al-Tabari’s tafsir as well although he adds no commentary to it; however, in the edition of Shakir and Shakir, there is a note mentioning what various scholars have said about the narrators found in the isnad of this hadith, some of whom were found to narrate objectionable (munkar) traditions, quoting the example of this tradition in particular. Ibn Hajar’s view of this tradition is that it is objectionable (hence, not attributable to the Prophet) and that Moses could not have asked such a question, but rather, what exists is a narration where the Children of Israel asked Moses this question instead. See al-Tabari, Jami‘ al-bayan, vol 5, Pg 394, esp. n. 1.  

[4] Ibn Kathir, Tafsir, vol 6, Pg 558. Similarly, the Arabic here reads: inna hadha ’l-hadith laysa bi-marfu‘ bal min al-isra’iliyyat al-munkarah.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid., vol 1, Pg 679. Ibn Kathir gives this tradition as one of the reasons Q2:255 (the verse of the Throne) was revealed to the Prophet in which it states, “Neither slumbers nor sleep overtakes Him.”