St Paul and Islam
- philhoraia
- Dec 22, 2021
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 13, 2023
S 36:13-14 And coin for them a similitude of the companions of the village, when the commissaries came to it, When we sent two to them but they called them liars so we strengthened with a third and they said: We are commissaries to you.
Ibn Kathir in looking at this mentions a particular tradition: (a similitude; the Dwellers of the Town, when there came Messengers to them.) In the reports that he transmitted from Ibn `Abbas, Ka`b Al-Ahbar and Wahb bin Munabbih - Ibn Ishaq reported that it was the city of Antioch, in which there was a king called Antiochus the son of Antiochus the son of Antiochus, who used to worship idols. Allah sent to him three Messengers, whose names were Sadiq, Saduq and Shalum, and he disbelieved in them. It was also narrated from Buraydah bin Al-Husayb, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and Az-Zuhri that it was Antioch. Some of the Imams were not sure that it was Antioch, as we shall see below after telling the rest of the story, if Allah wills.إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَآ إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ فَكَذَّبُوهُمَا(When We sent to them two Messengers, they denied them both;) means, they hastened to disbelieve in them.فَعَزَّزْنَا بِثَالِثٍ(so We reinforced them with a third,) means, `We supported and strengthened them with a third Messenger. ' Ibn Jurayj narrated from Wahb bin Sulayman, from Shu`ayb Al-Jaba'i, "The names of the first two Messengers were Sham`un and Yuhanna, and the name of the third was Bulus, and the city was Antioch (Antakiyah). https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/36.13
Sham'un is Simon, Yuhanna John and Bulus Paul.
In this from Islamport we read:
{وَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ} اُقصص لهم القصة، كقوله: {وَاضْرِبْ لَهُمْ مَثَلًا رَجُلَيْنِ} [الكهف: 32] {أَصْحَابَ الْقَرْيَةِ} أهل أنطاكية ( 3).
{إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمُ اثْنَيْنِ} على عهد عيسى -عليه السلام- (1) وهما تومان وبولس ( 4) وهما من الحواريين،
{And coin for them} Relate to them the story, as his statement: {And coin for them a similitude of two men} [Al-Kahf 32] {The companions of the village} The people of Antioch (3) {When we sent to them two} During the time of Isa (as) (1) And they were Tuman and Bulus (4) And they were of the Hawariyun, http://islamport.com/l/tfs/6417/1434.htm
Thomas and Paul.
From Al-Bidayah Wal-Nihayah by Ibn Kathir:
وكان ممن آمن بالمسيح وصدقه من أهل دمشق رجل يقال له ضينا وكان مختفيا في مغارة داخل الباب الشرقي قريبا من الكنيسة المصلبة خوفا من بولس اليهودي وكان ظالما غاشما مبغضا للمسيح، ولما جاء به. وكان قد حلق رأس ابن أخيه حين آمن بالمسيح وطاف به في البلد. ثم رجمه حتى مات رحمه الله. ولما سمع بولص أن المسيح عليه السلام قد توجه نحو دمشق جهز بغاله وخرج ليقتله فتلقاه عند كوكبا، فلما واجه أصحاب المسيح، جاء إليه ملك فضرب وجهه بطرف جناحه فأعماه. فلما رأى ذلك وقع في نفسه تصديق المسيح، فجاء إليه واعتذر مما صنع وآمن به فقبل منه وسأله أن يمسح عينيه ليرد الله عليه بصره، فقال إذهب إلى ضينا عندك بدمشق في طرف السوق المستطيل من المشرق فهو يدعو لك، فجاء إليه فدعا فرد عليه بصره وحسن إيمان بولص بالمسيح عليه السلام أنه عبد الله ورسوله وبنيت له كنيسة باسمه فهي كنيسة بولص المشهورة بدمشق من زمن فتحها الصحابة رضي الله عنهم حتى خربت.
And there was of those who believed in the Messiah and confirmed him of the people of Damascus a man called Dina and he was hidden in a cave inside the eastern gate near the Crucifixion Church for fear of Paul the Jew and he was unjust, oppressive, averse from the Messiah, and when he brought him and he had shaved the head of his brother's son when he had believed in the Messiah and went about with him in the country. Then he stoned him until he died, Allah's mercy! And when Paul heard that the Messiah (as) had gone towards Damascus he prepared his mule and went out to kill him and met him by Kawkaba, and when he confronted the Messiah's companions, an angel came to him and struck his face with the tip of his wing and blinded him. And when he saw that he fell into himself confirming the Messiah, and he came to him and apologised for what he had done and believed in him and received from him and asked him to wipe his eyes that Allah might restore his sight to him, and he said, Go to Dina by you in Damascus at the edge of the rectangular market from the rising place and he will invoke for you, and he came to him and invoked and his sight was restored to him and Paul's faith in the Messiah (as) was good that he was Allah's slave and his messenger and a church was built for him in his name and it is the famous Paul's Church in Damascus from the time that the companions (raa) opened it until it was destroyed.
From the Answering Islam Blog:
In Alfred Guillaume’s translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasulullah titled The Life of Muhammad (Oxford University Press Karachi) we find the following positive endorsement of Paul:
“God has sent me (Muhammad) to all men, so take a message from me, God have mercy on you. Do not hang back from me as the disciples hung back from Jesus son of Mary. They asked how they hung back and he said, ‘He called them to a task similar to that which I have called you. Those who had to go a short journey were pleased and accepted. Those who had a long journey before them were displeased and refused to go, and Jesus complained of them to God. (T. From that very night) every one of them was able to speak the language of the people to whom he was sent.’ (T. Jesus said, ‘This is a thing that God has determined that you should do, so go.’)
“Those whom Jesus son of Mary sent, both disciples and those who came after them, in the land were: Peter the disciple AND PAUL WITH HIM, (PAUL BELONGED TO THE FOLLOWERS AND WAS NOT A DISCIPLE) to Rome. Andrew and Matthew to the land of the cannibals; Thomas to the land of Babel, which is in the land of the east; Philip to Carthage and Africa; John to Ephesus the city of the young men of the cave; James to Jerusalem which is Aelia the city of the sanctuary; Bartholomew to Arabia which is the land of Hijaz; Simon to the land of Berbers; Judah who was not one of the disciples was put in place of Judas.” (Ibid. p. 653; bold and capital emphasis mine)
Other Muslim sources that affirm the preceding statement include:
“Among the apostles and those disciples around them, whom Jesus sent out, there were Peter and his companion Paul.” (Thalabii, Qisas al-Anbiyaa, pp. 389-390)
And,
“Among the apostles, and the followers who came after them were the Apostle Peter and Paul who was a follower and not an apostle; they went to Rome. Andrew and Matthew were sent to the country whose people are man-eaters, a land of blacks, we think; Thomas was sent to Babylonia in the east, Philip to Qayrawan (and) Carthage, that is, North Africa. John went to Ephesus, the city of the youths of the cave, and James to Jerusalem, that is, Aelia. Bartholomew was sent to Arabia, namely, the Hijaz; Simeon to the land of the Berbers in Africa. Judas was not then an apostle, so his place was taken by Ariobus. He filled in for Judas Iscariot after the latter had perpetrated his deed.” (History, Volume IV, p. 123; bold emphasis mine)
The translator, Moshe Perlmann, comments on the above statement that Paul was not an apostle:
317. In Islamic terms the messengers or apostles pave the new path. Their work is continued by the tabi’un, the followers, members of the next generations, who lead the Faithful. (Ibid.)
According to Islam’s premiere historian Paul was a faithful follower of the Apostles, especially the Apostle Peter. In fact, al-Tabari lists Paul as one of those martyred for the faith:
“Abu Ja’far says: They assert that after Tiberius, Palestine and other parts of Syria were ruled by Gaius, son of Tiberius, for four years. He was succeeded by another son, Claudius, for fourteen years, following which Nero ruled for fourteen years. He slew Peter and crucified Paul head down. For four months Botlaius [Vittelius] ruled thereafter. Then Vespasian, father of Titus whom he sent to Jerusalem, ruled for ten years. Three years after his rise to power, forty years after the ascension of Jesus, Vespasian sent Titus to Jerusalem. Titus destroyed it and slew numerous Israelites in his wrath over the fate of Christ…” (Ibid., p. 126; bold emphasis mine) St. Paul in Islam – Answering Islam Blog
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