The People of the Book and the People of Islam
- philhoraia
- Mar 28, 2024
- 2 min read
In this short post we shall be looking at a hadith. Below is my translation:
Muhammad b. Bashar told us, Uthman b. Umar told us, Ali b. Al-Mubarak told us, from Yahya b. Abi Kathir, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah - may Allah be pleased with him - he said, The People of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and explain it in Arabic to the People of Islam, and the messenger of Allah, Allah pray for him and salute him, said, Do not believe the People of the Book nor call them liars, and say, {We have believed in Allah and what has been sent down}, the verse.
Let's examine it. The People of the Book here are Jews, which term one might wonder whether was actually originally applied to them. See my post On the Term ‘People of the Book’ They read the Torah in Hebrew then translate into the vernacular. This was done in Israel when the Torah was read in Hebrew then translated or paraphrased into Aramaic. Here they are doing it for the Muslims. But they are called the People of Islam. If they had a book, why are they called thus? Now, the Muslims, unlike their modern versions, seem not to be of the opinion that quran is sufficient for them and that they needn't listen to anything else. They seem quite willing to listen. But Allah's boss, not knowing the contents of 'Allah's' book, tells them to neither believe nor to call them liars but to say that they have believed in Allah and what was 'sent down' (to them). S 2:136
It's interesting to note that today Muslims will quote quran in Arabic then give some kind of translation. An imitation of the Jewish practice?
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