—such as the names of the Companions of the Cave, the color of their dog, their exact number; the kind of tree from which Moses’s staff was cut; the names of the birds that Allah brought back to life for Abraham; the precise “part” of the cow that was struck against the murdered man; the species of the tree from which Allah spoke to Moses; and other matters that Allah has left unspecified in the Qur’an because identifying them brings no benefit to those who are legally accountable, either for their worldly affairs or for their religion. Nevertheless, reporting the various opinions they hold on these points is permissible.

Explanation
He says, “Relating their disagreements on such issues is permissible”—not so that we rely on them, but only to show how they differ among themselves. In fact, recounting the divergences found among the People of the Book on matters like these can be useful for us: once their contradictions are exposed, our confidence in the texts they possess diminishes, and we realize that their transmission contains manipulation and falsehood. What is impermissible is to cite those reports as evidence, treating them as sound and acceptable, when we have no way of knowing whether they are true. As the shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—explained, such reports fall into three categories. We have already learned that whatever we need to rely upon must be supported by proof, whereas what we do not need is left without proof precisely because we do not need it. Everything human beings require to be clarified must rest on sound evidence; Allah would never leave it without a proof that reassures the hearts.