Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (2/416)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

that you are the Messenger of Allah, and that you have come with the truth. The Jews know full well that I am their chief and the son of their chief, the most learned among them and the son of their most learned. Send for them, therefore, and ask them about me before they discover that I have entered Islam, for if they learn of my Islam they will attribute to me what is not true.

So he ﷺ sent for them, and when they arrived he said, “O assembly of Jews, woe to you! Fear Allah. By Allah, you know that I am truly the Messenger of Allah and that I have brought you the truth, so accept Islam.”

They replied, “We do not know that.”

He asked, “What kind of man is Ibn Salam among you?”

They said, “He is our leader and the son of our leader, our most learned and the son of our most learned.”

He said, “What would you think if he were to accept Islam?”

They answered, “Allah forbid! He would never become Muslim.”

He ﷺ said, “Come out to them.”

So Ibn Salam came out to them and declared, “Woe to you! Fear Allah. By Allah, you know that he is truly the Messenger of Allah.”

They retorted, “You have lied.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ thereupon expelled them. (1)

Ibn Ishaq narrated: from Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad, the client of Zayd ibn Thabit, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, that these verses were revealed concerning Ibn Salam, Thaʿlaba ibn Saʿya, and Asad ibn ʿUbayd: “They are not all alike; among the People of the Scripture is a community that is upright…”—the two verses. (2) [Al ʿImran 113–114].

(1) Reported by al-Bukhari, 7/195 and 198, in the Book of Hijrah, through the isnad of Muhammad ibn Salam from Abd al-Samad ibn Abd al-Warith. – The verb “yakhtarif” means “to pick or gather fruit, to cut it from the tree.” (2) Cited by al-Tabari in his Tafsir, nos. 7644 and 7645, through two chains from Ibn Ishaq with the same isnad. Muhammad ibn Abi Muhammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thabit, is rated trustworthy only by Ibn Hibban; the author states that he is otherwise unknown. This explanation of the verse is nevertheless the one most widely adopted by many Qur-anic commentators. Ibn Abi Najih, as recorded by al-Tabari (no. 7648), relates from al-Hasan ibn Abi Yazid al-Ujli that Ibn Masud, regarding the verse: “They are not alike; among the People of the Book is a community standing [for the truth]” (Q 3:113), said: “The People of the Book are not equal to the ummah of Muhammad,” and this is also the view of al-Suddi. Ibn Kathir remarks in his Tafsir, 1/397, that this opinion is supported by the hadith transmitted by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad: Abu al-Nadr and Hasan ibn Musa told us, saying, ‘Shayban narrated from Asim, from Zir, from Ibn Masud: The Messenger of Allah delayed the night prayer, then came out to the mosque and found the people …’

أَنَّكَ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ، وَأَنَّكَ جِئْتَ بِحَقٍّ، وَلَقَدْ عَلِمَتِ اليَهُوْدُ أَنِّي سَيِّدُهُمْ وَابْنُ سَيِّدِهِمْ، وَأَعْلَمُهُمْ وَابْنُ أَعْلَمِهِمْ، فَسَلْهُمْ عَنِّي قَبْلَ أَنْ يَعْلَمُوا أَنِّي قَدْ أَسْلَمْتُ، فَإِنَّهُمْ إِنْ يَعْلَمُوا أَنِّي قَدْ أَسْلَمْتُ قَالُوا فِيَّ مَا لَيْسَ فِيَّ. فَأَرْسَلَ إِلَيْهِمْ، فَجَاؤُوْا، فَقَالَ: (يَا مَعْشَرَ اليَهُوْدِ، وَيْلَكُم! اتَّقُوا اللهَ، فَوَاللهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَعْلَمُوْنَ أَنِّي رَسُوْلُ اللهِ حَقّاً، وَأَنِّي جِئْتُكُمْ بِحَقٍّ، فَأَسْلِمُوا) . قَالُوا: مَا نَعْلَمُهُ. قَالَ: (فَأَيُّ رَجُلٍ فِيْكُمُ ابْنُ سَلاَمٍ؟) . قَالُوا: ذَاكَ سَيِّدُنَا وَابْنُ سَيِّدِنَا، وَأَعْلَمُنَا وَابْنُ أَعْلَمِنَا. قَالَ: (أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ إِنْ أَسْلَمَ؟) . قَالُوا: حَاشَى للهِ، مَا كَانَ لِيُسْلِمَ! فَقَالَ: (اخْرُجْ عَلَيْهِمْ) . فَخَرَجَ عَلَيْهِمْ، وَقَالَ: وَيْلَكُمْ! اتَّقُوا اللهَ، فَوَاللهِ إِنَّكُمْ لَتَعْلَمُوْنَ أَنَّهُ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ حَقّاً. قَالُوا: كَذَبْتَ. فَأَخْرَجَهُمْ رَسُوْلُ اللهِ ﷺ (١) . ابْنُ إِسْحَاقَ: عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بنِ أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ مَوْلَى زَيْدِ بنِ ثَابِتٍ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ: أَنَّ هَذِهِ الآيَةَ نَزَلَتْ فِي ابْنِ سَلاَمٍ، وَثَعْلَبَةَ بنِ سَعْيَةَ، وَأَسَدِ بنِ عُبَيْدٍ: ﴿لَيْسُوا سَوَاءً، مِنْ أَهْلِ الكِتَابِ أُمَّةٌ قَائِمَةٌ ... ﴾ (٢) الآيَتَيْنِ، [آلُ عِمْرَانَ: ١١٣، ١١٤] .

(١) أخرجه البخاري ٧ / ١٩٥، ١٩٨ في الهجرة، من طريق محمد بن سلام، عن عبد الصمد بن عبد الوارث بهذا الإسناد. وقوله: " يخترف " أي يجتني من الثمار ويصرم. (٢) أخرجه الطبري في " تفسيره " (٧٦٤٤) و (٧٦٤٥) من طريقين عن ابن إسحاق بهذا الإسناد، ومحمد بن أبي محمد مولى زيد بن ثابت لم يوثقه غير ابن حابن، وقال المؤلف: لا يعرف، وهذا السبب هو المشهور عند كثير من المفسرين، وقال ابن أبي نجيح كما في الطبري (٧٦٤٨) : زعم الحسن بن أبي يزيد العجلي، عن ابن مسعود في قوله تعالى: (ليسوا سواء من أهل الكتاب أمة قائمة) قال: لا يستوي أهل الكتاب وأمة محمد ﷺ، وهو قول السدي. قال الحافظ ابن كثير في " تفسيره " ١ / ٣٩٧: يؤيد هذا القول الحديث الذي رواه الامام أحمد في " مسنده ": حدثنا أبو النضر، وحسن بن موسى، قالا: حدثنا شيبان، عن عاصم، عن زر، عن ابن مسعود قال: أخر رسول الله ﷺ صلاة العشاء، ثم خرج إلى المسجد، فإذا الناس =