I said, “No.” Then he spoke for a while (1) and afterward said, “What is really making you hold back (2) is that you would have to say, ‘Allāhu akbar.’ Do you know (3) of anything greater than Allah?” I answered, “No.” He said, “The Jews are those who have incurred wrath, and the Christians (4) are astray.” I replied, “Then I am a ḥanīf, a Muslim (5).” He said, “I saw his face beam with joy (6),” and he went on to relate a lengthy report. Al-Tirmidhī narrated it and said, “This is a ḥasan gharīb ḥadīth” (7).
The Book of Allah affirms the purport of this ḥadīth. The Almighty says:
“Say, ‘Shall I inform you of those who will receive an even worse recompense from Allah? They are those whom Allah has cursed and upon whom His anger has fallen, of whom He made apes and swine, and who worshipped false deities.’” (al-Māʾidah 5:60) (8)
The pronoun refers to the Jews, and the address is directed at them, as the context makes clear.
He, exalted is He, also says:
“Have you not seen those who befriend a people with whom Allah is angry? They are neither of you nor of them.” (al-Mujādilah 58:14) (9)
These are the hypocrites who allied themselves with the Jews, by unanimous agreement (10).
(1) From the phrase “then he spoke for a while” up to “for the Jews …” — roughly one line of the hadith — is missing in MS T, apparently through a copyist’s oversight.
(2) MSS A and B read tafirr (“you flee”); the same reading is found in al-Tirmidhi.
(3) Al-Tirmidhi has: “and you may learn something …,” etc.
(4) The particle in (“indeed”) is omitted in MSS A, B, C, and the printed edition, but is present in al-Tirmidhi, as adopted in the main text.
(5) All manuscripts read: “for I am a hanif (adherent of pure monotheism).” Ibn al-Athir records it the same way in Jami al-Usul, 9:111 (ed. Abd al-Qadir and Shuayb Arnaut). Al-Tirmidhi’s wording, however, is: “for I have come as a Muslim.”
(6) MS B and al-Tirmidhi read tabsut (“you spread”).
(7) Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Book of Qur’an Commentary, chapter on the exegesis of Surat al-Fatiha, continuation of hadith no. 2953 (5:202–204). Al-Tirmidhi comments: “This is a hasan gharib hadith; we know it only from the narration of Simak ibn Harb.” The report has additional, mostly abridged, chains and corroborating narrations; see Musnad Ahmad 4:378.
(8) Surat al-Ma’ida, part of verse 60.
(9) Surat al-Mujadila, part of verse 14.
(10) MS A includes “the Jews,” which is absent from MS T.