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Introduction 1: The Effect Of Christian And Jewish Beliefs On Muslims

The Christian and the Jewish beliefs, especially the Jewish culture, spread among the Muslims in two ways: firstly, through the efforts of the Christians and the Jews themselves, and secondly through certain Muslims.Let us examine these two in detail.

A. The Spread Of Christian And Jewish Beliefs Among The Muslims Through The Deliberate Efforts Of The Christians And The Jews

In the past, we have explained the role of the Christian and the Jewish scholars in fabricating the traditions. We know that while the Caliphs refused to allow the propagation of the Prophet’s (S) traditions, they graciously permitted the Christian and the Jewish scholars who had embraced Islam to spread their own notions among the Muslims. For example, Tamim Daree, a Christian monk before accepting Islam, was officially allowed by Caliph ‘Umar to address the Muslims on Fridays, before the sermon of Jumua’ prayers, right in the grand Mosque of the Prophet (S). In the era of Caliph Uthman, he was officially allowed to do so twice a week.Similarly Ka‘b Al-Ahbar (whose first name was Mati‘) was a well-known rabbi before he embraced Islam. He was known as Ka‘b al-Habr or Ka‘b al-Ahbar, for Habr in Arabic means virtuous, learned man. In the days of Caliph ‘Umar, Ka‘b al-Ahbar was promoted to the Court authority, and Caliph Uthman also continued to patronize him. Muslims referred to him in matters of fundamentals and the exegesis of the Qur’an.1 Ka‘b tried his best to spread the beliefs originating from the corrupt version of Torah, and other Jewish notions, among the Muslims. Some contemporaries who followed the Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) were aware of his invidious ways, as evidenced in the following incident:Tabari in his chronicle narrates:“Ibn Abbas was told: Ka‘b says that on the Day of Judgement, the Sun and the Moon will be brought forth like two stupefied bulls and thrown into the Hell.”Upon hearing this, Ibn Abbas was enraged, and retorted three times:“Ka‘b is a liar! Ka‘b is a liar! Ka‘b is a liar! This is a Jewish notion, and Ka‘b wants to introduce it into Islam. Allah is Free from the things they attribute to Him. He never punishes those who obey Him. Have you not heard what Allah says in the Qur’an: ‘And He has made subject to you the Sun and the Moon, both diligently pursuing their course.’” (Surah Ibrahim, 14:33).Ibn Abbas said:“The word Daibain used in the verse denotes constant obedience to Allah.”Then he continued:“How can He punish these two heavenly bodies Whom He Himself praises for their obedience? God curse this Jewish scholar and his learning! What a shameless audacity to attribute lies to Allah and to impute guilt to the two obedient creatures!”Having said this, Ibn Abbas repeated three times:“To Allah we belong, and unto Him shall we return.”Then Ibn Abbas went on to narrate what the Prophet (S) had actually said about the Sun and the Moon. The Prophet said:“Allah created two sources of light. That which He named the Sun was like the earth, between the points of rising and setting. And that which He ordained to be lustreless at times, He called the Moon and made it smaller than the Sun. And both of them appear to be small because of their height in the sky and their distance from the earth.”2

Observations Based On The Two Traditions

From the two traditions, namely, the one from Ka‘b and the other from Ibn Abbas, we observed that:

  1. Ibn Abbas refuted and rejected what Ka‘b had attributed to the Prophet (S) and quoted from the Qur’an:

And He has made subject to you the Sun and the Moon, both diligently pursuing their course.’” (Surah Ibrahim, 14:33).Arguing that the diligence was tantamount to total obedience to Allah. And Allah did not punish those who obey Him.

  1. In further rejection of Ka‘b’s analogy, Ibn Abbas established that the Sun and the Moon were two large heavenly bodies like this earth, and he sought support from the Prophet’s tradition which says:

“And both of them appear to be small because of their height in the sky and their distance from the earth.”Obviously, these were the best inferences Ibn Abbas could make from the tradition. However, in this age, we are able to draw further conclusions from the tradition, namely:

  1. Mention of the point of rising and setting for the sun in relation to earth, gives a hint about rotation and revolution of heavenly bodies.
  2. It also indicates that the bodies ought to be spherical so as to have several points of setting and rising. This would not be possible if they were flat.
  3. It is also evident from the way Ibn Abbas treated the narration reported from Ka‘b that he was not inclined to accept Ka‘b’s authority.

Therefore, all such traditions which smack of Jewish beliefs and are conveniently attributed to Ibn Abbas as having heard from Ka‘b, are baseless and untrue. These were fabricated during the days of the Abbasid regime because Abbasids gave much credence to their ancestor Ibn Abbas. People made up stories in the name of Ibn Abbas to gain popularity in the Abbasid courts. It became fashionable to ascribe false traditions to Ibn Abbas, which in turn formed an enormous part of the Jewish and Christian propaganda.Ibn Abbas was able to draw certain conclusions from the Prophet’s (S) tradition. We are able to make additions to those conclusions, basing our observations on present day scientific facts. It is quite probable that in the future, when science has made further investigations, scholars may make new sensible deductions from the tradition. But Ka‘b’s narration is a Jewish nonsense, and grows all the more meaningless as time advances.Later on in the discussion, we will portray Ka‘b’s extensive role to prove how he succeeded in his harmful attempts.Sadly enough, this tradition from Ka‘b regarding the sun and the moon appearing on the Day of Judgement as stupefied bulls, gained entry into the Islamic sources through Companions like Abu Huraira and others. This has happened in spite of the angry rejection by Ibn Abbas. In Tafsir by Ibn Kathir and in Kanzul Ummal, it is reported from Abu Huraira, that:The Prophet (S) said:“On the Day of Judgement, the Sun and the Moon will be in hell in the form of two stupefied bulls.”Someone asked him:“But what sin have they committed to deserve that?”Abu Huraira retorted:“I am reporting to you what the Prophet (S) said, and you are asking me the nature of their sins?”In another weak narration from Anas, Ibn Kathir quotes the following:“The Sun and the Moon will be in the Hell as two stupefied bulls.”

Our Observations On The Foregoing

The traditions from Abu Huraira and Anas are in fact the same, which was originally concocted by Ka‘b al-Ahbar. They have been falsely attributed to the Prophet (S).If we study the verse from the Qur’an, and also the authentic traditions from the Prophet (S), we find that the narration from Ka‘b is a figment of his own imagination, based on the Jewish notion. Having established that the tradition from Ka‘b has been wrongly ascribed to the Prophet (S) and with the support of Ibn Abbas who condemned it as a Jewish interpolation, there remains no doubt that the source of the tradition is Ka‘b al-Ahbar himself and not these Companions of the Prophet (S).This danger had been recognized by the early Companions of the Prophet (S). Ibn Abbas was among the first to have stood firm against the Jewish inroads, and Imam Ali (‘a) also warned Caliph ‘Umar about this.Since Ka‘b had not been among the Companions of the Prophet (S), he could not attribute the substance of his Jewish beliefs directly to the Prophet (S). The most convenient way for him was to organize a channel which would carry the reports in the name of certain Companions like Abu Huraira and others.Though the narration from Anas has been qualified as weak, another tradition from Abu Huraira on the same subject was considered authentic, and thus it lent strength to the fabrication by Ka‘b. As days went by, with the help of some vested interests, traditions like this became acceptable without question. It was a joint effort, wittingly or otherwise, by the converted Christian and Jewish scholars, certain Companions and those who immediately followed the era of the Companions.

B. The Spread Of Christian And The Jewish Beliefs Among The Muslims Through Muslims Themselves

To make our point clear, we give two examples of the Companions of the Prophet (S), and also quote from one Tafsir:

1. Abu Huraira, One Of The Companions Of The Prophet (S)

History has recorded three different names of this Companion. However, he is famous by his Kuniya - Abu Huraira. He belonged to the clan of Dus which originated from Yemen. Abu Huraira lived there for thirty years, and arrived in Madinah after the Battle of Khaybar. According to Bukhari, Ibn Sa‘d and others, he was with the Prophet (S) during the last three years. But considering the fact that he left for Bahrain in 8th Hijri with the army led by Ala ‘Hadhrami, his total days with the Prophet (S) were obviously lesser. He used to live with the poor Muslims on the transverse stone ledge known as Suffah in the Prophet’s (S) Mosque.When Muawiya sent the infamous butcher Busr who was responsible for the genocide of thirty thousand innocent Muslims between Syria and Yemen, Abu Huraira was appointed the Governor of Madinah with the blessings of Busr.3 Again he continued to enjoy the same position for some time during the reign of Muawiya.4These were the days when Abu Huraira found the most opportune time for propagating his narrations. Some of the Companions of our Prophet (S) were indeed well-versed in the art of reading and writing, but unfortunately, Abu Huraira was not among them. Bukhari reports him saying: “Abdullah bin Amr Ibn al-As knew how to write, while I did not.” Among the people from whom he derived maximum benefit was Ka‘b al-Ahbar who gave the following compliment to Abu Huraira:“Of all the men who have not read Torah and yet well-versed in it, Abu Huraira is the best.”5This is to say that besides the rabbi who had naturally read Torah, Abu Huraira eminently surpassed all others in his knowledge of Torah. Interestingly enough, Ibn Kathir in his chronicle, observes:“Abu Huraira was fraudulent, mixing up deceitfully what he heard from Ka‘b and what he heard from the Prophet (S), not distinguishing one from the other.”He goes on further to say:“Our associates and friends have discarded some of the narrations by Abu Huraira.”And also:“They would not accept very tradition reportedly by Abu Huraira.”6The most painful aspect is that Abu Huraira unabashedly reports two contradictory traditions from the Prophet (S).Bukhari in Kitab al-Tib reports the following from Abu Huraira:The Prophet (S) said:“Diseases do not infect or spread.”Then an Arab stood up to ask:“O Prophet, we have beautiful camels in the desert. But when one of them develops ulcer sores, others are also infected.”Then the Prophet (S) contended:“How was the first camel infected?”After having quoted this narration, Bukhari goes on to quote another:Abu Huraira said:“The Prophet (S) instructed that those who are ill and diseased should not visit healthy people.”Abu Salama, a cousin of Abu Huraira asked:“O Abu Huraira, have you not reported that the Prophet (S) did not believe in infection?”In reply, Abu Huraira made certain comments in the language of Ethiopians! Then the cousin of Abu Huraira stood up to defend Abu Huraira by observing:“I never found Abu Huraira being forgetful except in this instance.”Obviously, Abu Salama was trying to justify the contradiction in Abu Huraira’s reports. However, a famous dictum runs: “When one is like Abu Huraira, one tends to forget.”

Abu Huraira Confesses

Strangely interesting is the admission of Abu Huraira himself that he had reported certain traditions from the Prophet (S) without having heard from him.Imam Ahmad Hanbal relates an incident in his Musnad:“.... and Abu Huraira reported a tradition and his listeners asked: ‘Is this from the Prophet (S) or is it from your own pocket?’”Abu Huraira said:“This particular one is from my pocket.”Bukhari narrates the incident as follows:“Abu Huraira was asked: ‘Did you hear yourself from the Prophet (S)?’”He replied:“No, this tradition is from my pocket.”In another report narrated by Imam Ahmad Hanbal, we find:“Abu Huraira reported a tradition as if he had heard it from the Prophet (S), but in the end he admitted that it was from his own pocket.”

2. Abdullah Bin Amr Ibn Al-As, The Exponent Of Jewish Traditions

Abdullah bin Amr Ibn al-As (died 65 Hijra) is considered as one of the Companions of the Prophet (S), and since he had inherited a treasure of Egyptian gold from his father, he was known as one of the affluence princes among the Companions. He knew Syriac (Suryani), the original language of the Torah.In the Battle of Yarmuk, he led his father’s army as the standard bearer and was able to lay hands on two camel-loads of Jewish and Christian books.7Dhahabi says:“Abdullah has narrated from the followers of the Books. He continuously studied their books, and displayed a special interest in them.”Ibn Hajar in his commentary on Sahih Bukhari, says:“Abdullah, in the conquest of Damascus, acquired a camel-load of Jewish and Christian texts as spoils of war. He read them meticulously and based his narrations upon them. Because of this, the eminent members of Tabe’een (the people who belonged to the era immediately after that of the Companions of the Prophet (S)) constrained from reporting from him.”In Musnad of Ahmad Hanbal, we find:“A man came to Abdullah and said: ‘Tell me what you have heard from the Prophet (S) and do not relate to me the stories from Torah or Injeel.’”In another report, we read:“Abdullah was told: ‘Tell me what you heard from the Prophet (S) and do not relate from what you acquired from the camel-load at Yarmuk.’”8The Islamic scholars of the traditions have classified such reports as Israiliyyat, because of their origin in Torah or other Jewish sources.In the bulk of traditions adopted by those Muslims who do not belong to the School of Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a), we find numerous traditions which speak of Allah having a bodily existence. These evidently come from Jewish sources, and we frequently find them reported from Ka‘b al-Ahbar or Abu Huraira. We will discuss them in detail later on.

3. Maqatil Bin Sulayman Balkhi

He came from Balkh. He was freed by the Azd clan, and adopted the Kuniya of Abul Hassan. During his stay in Basra and Baghdad, he reported several traditions from the Prophet (S), and was acknowledged as one of the eminent scholars of the Qur’anic sciences by the school opposed to the Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a).Among the book authored by him are:

  1. Tafsir Kabir - a handwritten copy of which exists in Egypt.
  2. Nawadir of Tafsir.
  3. al-Ayat al-Mutashabehat.
  4. al-Nasikh wal-Mansukh.
  5. al-Qiraat.
  6. al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair fil-Qur’ani al-Karim.
  7. al-Jawabat fil Qur’an.

Ibn Khaldun, in his biography of Maqatil, reports from Ibn Habban that:“He used to accept elucidations of the Qur’an from the Jews and the Christians who interpreted it according to their own scriptures!”And then he goes on to say:“Maqatil was one among those who ascribed human characteristics and analogies to Allah, and moreover, he lied while reporting the traditions.”9Khateeb Baghdadi in his Tarikh of Baghdad, says:“One day, Muhammad bin Said Kalbi (died 146 Hijra) happened to pass by Maqatil and heard him narrated certain traditions, attributing it to Kalbi himself. So he said: ‘O Maqatil! I am Muhammad bin Said Kalbi, and I have never narrated the traditions which you have just mentioned!’”Maqatil said:“We adorn our reports with the names of great narrators.”Maqatil meant that he attached the names of renowned narrators to his own fabrication so that it acquired credibility!Muhammad bin Said Kalbi is also reported to have said:“Maqatil has falsely ascribed to me traditions I had never uttered and he has included them in his Tafsir.”Khateeb Baghdadi in his discussion on Maqatil narrates an event reported by two men:“We enquired from Maqatil about his source of a particular tradition, and he said: ‘I heard it from Dhahhak.’ After a few days when we enquired again about the same tradition he said: ‘I heard it from Ata.’ On another occasion, he ascribed it to Isa.After relating the incident, Khateeb Baghdadi says that someone asked Maqatil whether he had ever seen Dhahhak, who he claimed to have heard. ‘O yes!’ said Maqatil, ‘There was a closed door between me and him!’”Baghdadi explains that by the “closed door,” Maqatil meant the city gate of Madinah, as Dhahhak lived in Madinah and Maqatil had never been there.Ibn Khallikan says:“Dhahhak bin Mazahim, from whom Maqatil reported traditions, died four years before Maqatil was born, and was buried in the graveyard in Madinah!”Further he adds:“Maqatil reported from Mujahid without ever having met him!”Khateeb Baghdadi has recorded an interesting anecdote. He says: “Someone asked Maqatil: ‘My friend wanted to know the colour of the dog of Ashab-e-Kahf. I did not have an answer.’”Maqatil immediately volunteered and he said:“Tell him the dog was speckled. No one will ever refute this!”He further reports from Mansoor and Mahdi, the Abbasid kings, that Maqatil once offered to concoct a few traditions in praise of their ancestor Abbas, if they so desired. Both of them declined.10Going through several books in which Maqatil’s life sketch has been drawn, we find many examples of fraud and deceit. To sum up, he was a staunch advocate of the notion that Allah had a human form. He learnt the exegesis of the Qur’an from his Jewish and Christian mentors and recorded their beliefs in his own work of Tafsir. In spite of this, it is indeed surprising to note that scholars from the school opposed to Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a) have showered a lot of praise on his Tafsir.Ibn Khaidun says:“In the art of Tafsir, all men are subservient to Maqatil bin Sulayman ....!!”

Examples Of Made-Up Stories By Maqatil, In Support Of The Caliphs

Khateeb Baghdadi in his extensive chronicle, Tarikh-e Baghdad, reports through a continuous chain of narrators:Maqatil said: “Dhahhak has reported to me from Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (S) was advised by his Companions to appoint his successor so that he would be known to the people, and the people would refer their affairs to him. ‘We do not know what will happen after you have departed,’ they said.”The Prophet (S) replied:“If I appointed someone who guided you to obey Allah, and you disobeyed him, then you would be disregarding my command and that of Allah. Alternatively, if such an appointed person directed you to commit sins and you obeyed him, you would be well placed to quote him as an authority on the Day of Judgement. Nay, I will never do such a thing - I would rather leave you in the care of Allah!”

Evaluation Of The Above Tradition

The above tradition was invented by Maqatil to support the Caliphs who claimed that the Prophet (S) had appointed no successor, and the right of such an appointment belonged to the Muslim public.It is interesting to notice that Khateeb has quoted the above tradition in his biography of Maqatil to prove his unreliability and deceit. He argues that Maqatil had the audacity to report from Dhahhak without ever having met him. Dhahhak lived in Madinah, while Maqatil had never travelled from Khorasan to Madinah. The fact is that Dhahhak died four years before Maqatil was born!After the above example of Jewish and Christian infiltration into the Muslim beliefs, we consider it imperative to quote two anecdotes from Torah. These will be helpful to the evaluation of beliefs held by the school opposed to Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a), especially with regard to the Divine Attributes.

Creation Of Adam

In Genesis, Chapter One, Verse 27, we read as under:“So God created man in His Own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female he created them.”The story goes on to say that Adam and Hawwa (Eve) were placed in the garden of Eden. Then Allah “misguided” them:“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.11Then the serpent, who was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God has made, told them:‘Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.’And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, ‘Where are thou?’And he said, ‘I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ And he said, ‘Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’Then Adam explained what had transpired, so God cursed Adam, Eve and the serpent and condemned them and their species to the life of toil, sorrow and labour on the earth.And the Lord God said, ‘Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil! And now lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever.’So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”12

Jacob’s (Yaqoob) Wrestling Bout with God

One night, Jacob wrestled with God till daybreak, but God did not succeed in overpowering him!“And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And he said, ‘Let me go, for the day breaketh.’ And he said, ‘I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.’And he said, ‘Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.’ And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved.”13

The Meaning Of These Anecdotes

Evidently, the God of Jews is frivolous and superficial. He lies, and like any selfish human being, he cheats and deceives!He lied to Adam when he warned him not to eat from the tree because it would cause his death; and it was the serpent who revealed the bluff to Adam and enticed him to eat from the tree. Then Adam became like one of the gods, understanding good and evil, realizing that he was naked, he hid himself from God! All three, the serpent, Adam and Eve were then condemned to sufferings and labour on the earth!According to Torah, God has a body, moves from one place to another, wrestles, and cannot find one who hides from Him!Such are the ridiculous stories of Torah.

The General Effect Of Torah

We may divide the people affected by such nonsense into the following distinct groups:

  1. People who were appalled to find that the books supposed to have been revealed to the great Prophets like Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them), contained so many inaccuracies and immoral and unethical stories. As a result of their disenchantment, they abandoned all revealed religions and turned materialistic in their attitude.
  2. There is another group who are steadfast on the religious path they have chosen, in spite of falling victims to these senseless notions.

They are in three groups:

The Jews

They are responsible for the corruption and interpolation in the Torah, and the corruption is reflected in their view point of life and their cultural tendencies. They train their children to adopt the same methods of trickery, lying and deception. They consider themselves to be the Children of Israel, the one who wrestled with God and prevailed. Most important of all, they look upon themselves as the chosen people, licensed to attain their goal by all means, including fraud and genocide. More so, because they believe in the plundering prophets who “smote all the souls with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them, so there was not any life left to breathe.”14

B. The Christians

It can safely be surmised that the anthropomorphization of God, as preached by Torah, influenced the Christians to believe in God as father who begot the son. In Europe, where Christianity was professed by the majority and the Old Testament adopted as the first book in the Bible, the birth and the propagation of materialism could be attributed to such irrational notions which failed to appeal to the intellectuals.

C. The Muslims

Amongst the Muslim, there were two schools of thoughts. One had leaning towards Ahl ul-Bayt (‘a), while the other was totally opposed to them. The latter one may be called the school of the rulers or the Caliphs. This school of the Caliphs believed in the physical existence of God, something akin to the human form. Obviously, the idea had been borrowed from the Jews, as we will establish in the following chapters, Inshallah.When the true religion of God is tampered with profanity, we trace the deteriorating effect on the pure beliefs. The teachings of the Holy Qur’an were succinct, pure and clear, but since Muslim scholars began to accept the Jewish and the Christian storytellers as interpreters of the Qur’an, even the most cardinal tenet of Tawhid was reduced to a mere conjecture.Before we proceed with our main subject, we think it necessary to discuss the actual and the metaphorical use of words.

  • 1. See Tafsir Ibn Kathir - 4/17.
  • 2. Tabari (European Edition) - 1/62-63.
  • 3. Al-Gharaat by Thaqafi and also Sharhe Nahjul Balaghah by Ibn Abil Hadid.
  • 4. Musnad of Ahmad.
  • 5. Tadhkiratul-Huffaz by Dhahabi.
  • 6. Tarikh Ibn Kathir - 8/109.
  • 7. Usud al-Ghabah - 3/234 and Fath ul-Bari - 1/166.
  • 8. Musnad Ahmad Hanbal - 2/195, 202, 203, 209.
  • 9. Wafatat al-A’yan.
  • 10. Tarikh-e Baghdad.
  • 11. Genesis 2, Verse 17.
  • 12. Quotations from Genesis 3.
  • 13. Quotations from Genesis 32.
  • 14. Joshua 11.