many concerning the Children of Israel, and they fall into three categories. The first is what is mentioned in the Quran; the second, what is found in rigorously authenticated hadith; and the third, what is transmitted from their rabbis and learned men.

As for the first two, there is no doubt that they are true and must be accepted. An example from the Quran is the verse: “Have you not considered the leaders of the Children of Israel after Moses when they said to a prophet of theirs, ‘Appoint for us a king so that we may fight in Allah’s cause’” (al-Baqarah 2:246). An example from the Sunnah is this very ḥadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

What is reported from their rabbis and scholars, however, is itself divided into three kinds:

1. Reports that the Sharia declares false. These are spurious and must be rejected, and they appear frequently in the Israelite stories inserted into Quranic exegesis, for many such narrations are contradicted by the Sharia.
2. Reports that the Sharia confirms as true. These are accepted, not because they come from the Israelites, but because the Sharia attests to their truth.
3. Reports about which the Sharia neither affirms nor denies anything. Concerning these we suspend judgment: we neither endorse them nor reject them, for if we endorse them they may prove false and we will have affirmed a falsehood, and if we reject them they may prove true and we will have denied the truth. Therefore we remain neutral, though there is no harm in relating such accounts when they serve a useful purpose in encouraging good or warning against evil.

In this ḥadith the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—mentioned that three of the Children of