Can We Narrate The Israelite Reports (Israiliyyat)? – Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Is it true there is a hadith that says that we can narrate the Israiliyyat?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.
Ruling of Israelite Reports
The use of Israelite reports (Israʼiliyyat) in Muslim scholarship is categorized into three main categories, as mentioned by scholars.
- Consistent with the Quran and Sunna (Muwafiq);
- Contrary to the Quran and Sunna (Mukhalif);
- Silent and unknown status of neither accepted nor refuted (Maskut ‘Anhu).
From this categorization, it is clear that in Muslim scholarship, neither all narrations from the People of the Book are to be rejected nor are they to be considered authentic from the viewpoint of Islamic ruling. In sum, Muslims’ understanding of the narrations from the People of the Book is determined by the Quran and the Prophetic hadiths.
The Prophet Narrated Israelite Stories
Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the people of the Scripture (Jews) used to recite the Torah in Hebrew, and they used to explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. On that, Allah’s Messenger said, “Do not believe the people of the Scripture or disbelieve them, but say – ‘We believe in Allah and what is revealed to us.’” [Quran, 2.136]
Abdullah ibn Amr (Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) would narrate stories about the children of Israel until the morning came. The Prophet would not stand up but for the greatness of prayer. [Abu Dawud]
[Bukhari; Husain al-Dhahabi, al-Isra’iliyyat fi al-Tafsir wa al-Ḥadith]
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- On Revelation, How It Was Preserved and Understood, and Why It Is True
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I pray this helps answer your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.
