not authentic from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. Rather, it is reported from Ibn Abbas as his own statement. It has been said that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, was known to have taken from Israelite reports; therefore, no reliance should be placed on his statement in matters of this kind. For the scholars have mentioned that, for a report related by a Companion to be deemed traced back to the Prophet, one condition is that the Companion not be known to have taken reports from the Children of Israel.

Note:

The claim that Ibn Abbas was known to have taken from Israelite reports is mentioned by scholars of hadith terminology, such as al-Iraqi in his commentary on his Alfiyyah, in the supplementary discussion of Prophet-traced and Companion-stopped reports. He stated that the al-Abadilah—the prominent Companions named Abdullah—were among those who heard from Kab al-Ahbar, and Ibn Abbas was one of the al-Abadilah, as Imam Ahmad explicitly stated. However, the assertion that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, took from Israelite reports is open to serious objection.

In Sahih al-Bukhari, it is narrated from him that he rebuked those who asked the People of the Book, saying: “How can you ask the People of the Book about anything when your Book, which was revealed to the Messenger of Allah, is the most recent revelation from Allah?” Another wording reads: “the most recent of reports from Allah.” “You recite it in its pure, unadulterated form, while Allah has informed you that the People of the Book altered Allah’s Book and changed it; they wrote the Book with their own hands and said, ‘This is from Allah,’ in order to gain thereby a paltry price. Does not the knowledge that has come to you deter you from asking them?” Another wording reads: “Does it not indeed deter you?” “By Allah, we have never seen a single one of them ask you about what was revealed to you.” (1)

Accordingly, this would be a statement of Ibn Abbas himself, and it cannot have been taken from the Children of