Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Asbab al-Nuzul
that which Allah showeth thee) [4:105] up to His words (… Whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah
hath wandered far astray) [4:116].
All these verses were revealed regarding one incident. One man from the Helpers by the name of Tu‘mah
ibn Ubayriq, from Banu Zafar ibn al-Harith, stole an armour from his neighbour who was called Qatadah
ibn al-Nu‘man. The armour was in a sack of ground wheat. When he took the armour, the ground
wheat was strewn about from a hole in the sack. Traces of ground wheat were left in his house. Tu‘mah
then took the armour and hid it with a Jew by the name of Zayd ibn al-Samin. When people looked for
the armour in the house of Tu‘mah, they could not find it. He swore to them by Allah that he did not
take the armour or have any knowledge about it. The owners of the armour said: “No indeed, by Allah
he entered our house and took it. We followed him until he entered his house and, therein, we saw traces
of wheat”. When he swore by Allah that he did not steal it, they left him and followed the trail of ground
wheat which led them to the house of the Jewish man. When they took him, he said that it was Tu‘mah
ibn Ubayriq who had left the armour with him, and some Jewish people testified that this was the case.
Banu Zafar, the clan of Tu‘mah, said: “Let us go to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him
peace”. They spoke to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and requested him to argue in
favour of their man, saying: “If you do not do so, our man will be doomed and exposed and the Jew will
come out of this as an innocent man”. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was
on the verge of doing as he was requested — for his heart was with them — and punish the Jew when
Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! We reveal unto thee the Scripture with the truth) up to the end of the
verse. This is the view of a number of Qur’anic commentators. 59
(It will not be in accordance with your desires, nor the desires of the People of the Scripture…) [4:123].
Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> Abu Muhammad ibn Hayyan> Abu Yahya> Sahl> ‘Ali ibn Mushir>
Isma‘il ibn Abi Khalid> Abu Salih who said: “The people of the Book, the adherents of the Torah and the
adherents of the Gospel, as well as the adherents of other religions sat together one day and each claimed
that they were better than the others. This verse was revealed regarding this”. 60
Said Masruq and Qatadah: “One day, the Muslims and the people of the Book argued with each other.
The people of the Book said: ‘We are more guided than you; our Prophet came before yours and our
Scripture was revealed before your Scripture. Moreover, we have a better right to Allah than you’. The
Muslims said: ‘We are more guided than you and have a better right to Allah than you. Our Prophet is
the seal of prophets and our Scripture makes all the Scriptures before it outmoded’. And so Allah, exalted
is He, revealed this verse. Allah, exalted is He, later backed the argument of the Muslims against their
opponents from amongst the adherents of other religions with His words (And whoso doeth good works,
whether of male or female…) [4:124] and His words (Who is better in religion than he who surrendereth
his purpose to Allah…) [4:125]”. 61
(… and followeth the tradition of Abraham, the upright Allah (Himself) chose Abraham for
friend) [4:125].
There is a difference of opinion regarding the reason for which Allah chose Abraham for friend. Abu
Sa‘id al-Nasruyiyy informed me> Abu’l-Hasan Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Sarraj> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd
Allah al-Hadrami> Musa ibn Ibrahim al-Marwazi> Ibn Lahi‘ah> Abu Qabil> ‘Abd Allah> ‘Umar who
said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked Gabriel: ‘Why did Allah chose
Abraham as a friend’ He said: ‘O Muhammad, it was because of his feeding of others’ ”. 62
59
See the opinions of other commentators in Durr, :686-693; Tabari, :267-270.
60
Durr, :694-695; Tabari, :289.
61
Tabari, :288; Durr, :694.
62
Durr, :706.
86