the Book—reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ permitted when he said, “Convey from me even if it be a single verse; relate reports from the Children of Israel—there is no harm in that. Yet whoever deliberately fabricates something about me, let him take his seat in the Fire.”(1) Al-Bukhari recorded this ḥadīth from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr.

Explanation

It is well known that Ibn Masʿūd would not transmit material drawn from the Israelite traditions; the one who did so was Ibn ʿAbbās. I therefore do not know whether the author—may Allah have mercy on him—meant both of them by his words, or only one.

***

For that same reason ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr, on the day of Yarmūk, came into possession of two saddle-bags filled with the writings of the People of the Book, and he would narrate from them, understanding this ḥadīth as a license to do so.

These Israelite reports, however, are cited for corroboration, not for creed. They fall into three categories:

1. Material whose authenticity we know because of evidence we possess that attests to its truth; this we accept.
2. Material whose falsehood we know because what we have contradicts it; this we reject.
3. Material about which we remain silent—it is neither verified nor disproved. We neither affirm nor deny it, though relating it is permissible for the reason stated earlier; most of it, in any case, yields no religious benefit.

For this reason the scholars of the People of the Book differ greatly on such matters, and disagreement likewise appears among the Qur’an commentators, as they record in cases like these