As is established in the authentic collections, the Prophet ﷺ said: “When the People of the Book relate something to you, neither affirm it nor deny it. Instead, say, ‘We believe in Allah and His messengers.’ For they may tell you something true, and you reject it, or they may tell you something false, and you accept it.” (1)

The same applies to reports transmitted from certain Successors (tābiʿūn). Even if it is not expressly stated that they received the information from the People of the Book, whenever the Successors disagree, the statement of one is not binding proof against another. By contrast, whatever has been soundly transmitted from some of the Companions carries greater weight, because the likelihood that a Companion heard it directly from the Prophet ﷺ—or from someone who did—is stronger, and because the Companions relied on Israelite material far less than the Successors did.

Moreover, when a Companion asserts something with certainty, how can it be claimed that he took it from the People of the Book when they were forbidden to believe them? The point is that disputes of this sort—where the correct view is unknown and simply recounting the differing opinions yields no benefit—resemble our knowing of hadith reports for which there is no evidence of authenticity and the like.

As for the first category, in which the sound position can in fact be discerned, this—praise be to Allah—is available in the matters that are truly needed, and it is frequently found in works of Qurʾanic commentary.