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

Asbab al-Nuzul
al-Kindi> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Sulayman al-Hadrami> Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah> Abu
Mu‘awiyah> al-A‘mash> ‘Abd Allah ibn Murrah> al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib who related that the Prophet, Allah
bless him and give him peace, stoned a Jewish man and a Jewish woman 13 and said afterwards: “(Whoso
judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers) [5:44], (Whoso judgeth not by that
which Allah hath revealed: such are wrong-doers) [5:45], (Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath
revealed: such are evil-livers) [5:47]. All these three verses were revealed about the disbelievers”. This was
narrated by Muslim from Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah.
(Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light…) [5:44].
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn
Hamdun> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> ‘Abd al-Razzaq> Ma‘mar>
al-Zuhri who said: a man from Muzaynah related to me while we were with Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab> Abu
Hurayrah who said: “A Jewish man committed adultery with another woman, so the Jews said to each
other: ‘Let us go to this Prophet, for he has been sent as a Prophet to make things easy. If his edict is
other than stoning, we will accept it and take it as our argument in front of Allah. We would say: ‘This is
the edict of one of your prophets’. ‘And so they went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace,
and found him sitting in the mosque with his Companions. They said: ‘O Abu’l-Qasim! What is your
judgment concerning a man and a woman who commit adultery’ He did not answer them, and instead
proceeded until he got to the door of their synagogue and said: ‘I plead with you through Allah Who has
sent the Torah to Moses, what does the Torah state concerning the punishment of a married person who
commits adultery’ They said: ‘The faces of the adulterers are darkened with coal, they are then transported
round on the back of a donkey, with their backs facing to each other, and then they are flogged’.
A young man in their assembly did not say anything. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him
peace, saw that he did not speak, he pleaded with him again. The young man said: ‘By Allah, now that
you insist in your pleading, I can tell you that the punishment that we find in the Torah is stoning’. The
Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, asked him: ‘When was the first time you suspended the
command of Allah, glorified and majestic is He’ He said: ‘A relative of one of our kings committed adultery,
and stoning was not applied on him. Then a well-to-do 14 man committed adultery and when they
wanted to stone him, his clan stood up for him, saying: ‘You are not going to stone our man until you
bring the relative of the king and stone him’. And so they agreed on this punishment among them’. The
Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘I judge by that which is in the Torah’, and he ordered
that the man and the woman be stoned”. 15
Said al-Zuhr: “We heard that this verse (Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light,
by which the prophets who surrendered (unto Allah)…), and the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him
peace, was one of them”.
Ma‘mar said: al-Zuhri informed me> Salim> Ibn ‘Umar who said: “I was there when the Messenger of
Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, ordered their stoning. When they were being stoned, I saw
the Jewish man shielding the woman from the stones thrown at them”.
(So judge between them by that which Allah hath revealed…) [5:49].
Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “A group of Jews which included Ka‘b ibn Asad, ‘Abd Allah ibn Suriya and Shas ibn Qays
said to each other: ‘Let us go to Muhammad lest we seduce him from his religion’. When they went to
him, they said: ‘O Muhammad, you know that we are the rabbis and nobles of the Jews, and if we were to
follow you, the Jews will follow us without objection. We will believe in you and confirm your message
13
Details of this incident can be found in Durr, :75-77.
14
Contrary to the reading of the editor al-Sayyid Ahmad Saqr, we have read rajulun min surati al-nasi instead of rajulun fi usratin
min al-nasi.
15
Tabari, :249.
94