The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“Convey on my behalf, even if it be a single verse; narrate from the Children of Israel—and there is no harm in that; and relate from me, but do not lie about me. Whoever deliberately forges a lie against me, let him take his seat in the Fire.”
This concession concerns those Israelite reports about which our own sources are silent: we have nothing that confirms them, nor anything that refutes them, and therefore they may be cited merely for reflection. This is the method we shall adopt in the present work. As for whatever our own Law already attests to as true, we have no need of it, for what we possess suffices us; and whatever our Law declares false is to be rejected outright and may be mentioned only by way of denunciation and refutation.
Now that Allah—glorified be He, and to Him belongs all praise—has made us self-sufficient through our Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, from every earlier dispensation, and through His Book from every other scripture, we have no reason to chase after what others hold in their hands—writings riddled with confusion and admixture, falsehood and fabrication, distortion and alteration, followed by abrogation and change.
Whatever we truly need has already been clarified, explained, and elucidated for us by our Messenger. Whoever knows it, knows it; and whoever remains ignorant of it, remains ignorant.
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said:
“The Book of Allah contains the account of those before you, the news of those who will come after you, and the judgment of what lies between you. It is decisive, never frivolous. Whoever abandons it out of arrogance, Allah will shatter him; and whoever seeks guidance elsewhere, Allah will lead him astray.”
“Narrate from me and do not lie about me; whoever deliberately lies about me will certainly occupy his seat in the Fire. Narrate stories of the Children of Israel—there is no harm in that.
The hadith that the author cites is from al-Bukhari’s narration of ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As (may Allah be pleased with him). It was also recorded by Ahmad in his Musnad (2:159, 202, 214), by al-Darimi in his Sunan (Introduction, 1:136) under the chapters “Reporting from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)” and “Teaching the Sunnah,” and by al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan (2669) in the chapter on ‘Ilm: “What was related in the hadith about the Children of Israel.” Al-Tirmidhi commented: “This is a hasan sahih (good and authentic) hadith.”
(1) In the original it reads ‘anhu; I have amended it to conform with the additional phrase I confirmed from Sahih al-Bukhari, which was omitted in the manuscripts.
(2) In manuscript B: wa al-maskut.
(3) Addition from the printed edition.
(4) In manuscript B: hatha minha.
(5) An addition from B; it was omitted in A through a literal transfer.
(6) In A: akhbalahu; I have adopted the reading from B, which aligns with the reports found in the hadith collections.
(7) A fragment of a hadith that Ibn Kathir reported as mursal upon Ali (may God honor him). It also appears as marfū‘ (attributed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him) in al-Tirmidhi’s Sunan (2906) in “Virtues of the Qur’an,” al-Darimi’s Sunan (2:435), and Ahmad’s Musnad (1:91). Al-Tirmidhi stated: “We know this hadith only in this version; its isnad is unknown, and there is criticism regarding al-Ḥarith.” Al-Ḥarith refers to al-Ḥarith ibn ‘Abd Allah al-A‘war al-Hamadhani, who is weak in hadith, especially in his narrations from Ali; his biography is found in al-Zahabi’s Mizan al-I‘tidal (1:435–437).