Amr ibn al-As, and I said, “Tell me about the description of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in the Torah.” He said, “Yes, by Allah, he is described in the Torah with some of the qualities by which he is described in the Quran:

‘O Prophet, We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings, and a warner; and as a safeguard for the unlettered. You are My servant and My Messenger. I have named you al-Mutawakkil, the one who places his trust in Allah. He is neither harsh nor hard-hearted, nor does he raise his voice in the marketplaces. He does not repay evil with evil; rather, he pardons and forgives. Allah will not take him until, through him, He sets aright the crooked religion, by their saying: There is no deity worthy of worship but Allah. Through him, He will open blind eyes, deaf ears, and veiled hearts.’” (1)

Abd al-Aziz ibn Abi Salamah also transmitted it from Hilal, from Ata, from Ibn Salam.

Imam al-Husayn ibn Muhammad al-Qadi informed us; Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Harun al-Taysafuni informed us; Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Turabi informed us; Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Bistam informed us; Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Sayyar al-Qurashi informed us; Abd Allah ibn Uthman related to us from Abu Hamzah, from al-Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abd Allah ibn Damrah, from Kab—may Allah be pleased with him—who said: “I find it written in the Torah: ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. He is neither harsh nor hard-hearted, nor does he raise his voice in the marketplaces. He does not repay evil with evil; rather, he pardons and overlooks. His community are those who praise Allah abundantly: they praise Allah in every circumstance and proclaim His greatness at every elevation. They gird themselves around their waists and wash their limbs in ablution. Their rows in prayer are like their rows in battle. Their caller calls out beneath the open sky. In the depths of the night, they have a hum like the hum of bees. He will be born in Mecca, his migration will be to Medina, and his dominion will be in Syria.’” (2)

His saying, Exalted is He, “He commands them to what is right,” means: faith; “and forbids them what is wrong,” means: polytheism. It has also been said that what is right is the sacred law and the sunnah, while what is wrong is that which is not recognized in any sacred law or sunnah. Ata said: “He commands them to what is right”—namely, casting off false rivals to Allah, noble character, and maintaining ties of kinship; “and forbids them what is wrong”—namely, worshipping idols and severing ties of kinship.

“And he makes lawful for them all wholesome things”: that is, the livestock which they had forbidden during the Age of Ignorance—the bahirah, sa'ibah, wasilah, and hami. “And he forbids them all impure things”: that is, carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, unlawful sexual relations, and other prohibited matters. “And he relieves them of their burden”: Ibn Amir recited it in the plural, “their burdens.” A burden is anything, in word or deed, that weighs heavily upon a person.

Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, al-Dahhak, al-Suddi, and Mujahid said: It means the weighty covenant that had been taken from the Children of Israel, requiring them to act according to what was in the Torah.