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

Asbab al-Nuzul
said: ‘That is up to Allah, He will do it if He wills’. One of them said: ‘We will not believe in you until you
bring Allah and the angels as warrants. ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah al-Makhzumi — the son of ‘Atikah
bint ‘Abd al-Muttalib, the maternal aunt of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace — said: ‘I will
never believe in you until you get a ladder and climb up to heaven while I am watching you, and bring an
unfolded Scripture with you and a group of angels to testify about what you say’. The Messenger of Allah,
Allah bless him and give him peace, left to his family very sad for failing to get his people to follow him
as well as for the antagonism they displayed toward him. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And they
say: We will not put faith in thee till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us…). 15
Sa‘id ibn Ahmad ibn Ja‘far informed us> Abu ‘Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Faqih> Ahmad ibn al-Husayn ibn
al-Junayd> Ziyad ibn Ayyub> Hushaym> ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr who said: “I said
to him [to ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr]: ‘The words of Allah (And they say: We will not put faith in thee
till thou cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us) was it revealed about ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Umayyah’
He said: ‘This is what they claim’ ”. 16
(Say (unto mankind): Cry unto Allah, or cry unto the Beneficent…) [17:110].
Said Ibn ‘Abbas: “One night in Mecca, The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace,
stood up for the night vigil prayer. He kept saying in his prostration: ‘O Beneficent, O Merciful!’ And so
the idolaters said: ‘Muhammad used to call unto one Allah; now he is calling unto two gods: Allah and
the Beneficent. We do not know of anyone by the name of the Beneficent except the beneficent of al-
Yamamah (meaning Musaylimah the liar)’, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. 17
Said Maymun ibn Mihran: “At the beginning of revelation, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and
give peace, used to write ‘In Thy name, O Allah’ until this verse was revealed (Lo! It is from Solomon, and
lo, it is: In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful) [27:30], after which he always wrote ‘In the name
of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful’. The Arab idolaters then commented: ‘We know this Merciful but
who is the Beneficent’ As a response, Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. 18
Said al-Dahhak: “The people of the Book said to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him
peace: ‘You mention very little the Beneficent and yet Allah mentions this name in the Torah in abundance’.
Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse as a response to them”.
(And thou (Muhammad), be not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein, but follow a way
between) [17:110].
Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya informed us> his father> Muhammad
ibn Ishaq al-Thaqafi> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muti‘ and Ahmad ibn Mani‘> Hushaym> Abu Bishr> Sa‘id
ibn Jubayr> Ibn ‘Abbas who said regarding the words of Allah, exalted is He (And thou (Muhammad), be
not loud-voiced in thy worship nor yet silent therein…): “This verse was revealed while the Messenger of
Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was in hiding in Mecca. Whenever the unbelievers heard the
Qur’an being recited, they reviled it and reviled the person who had brought it. Hence, Allah, glorious
and majestic is He, said to His Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace (And thou (Muhammad),
be not loud-voiced in thy worship) i.e. upon reciting the Qur’an in prayer, lest the idolaters hear it and
revile the Qur’an, (nor yet silent therein) such that your Companions do not hear you, (but follow a way
between)”. 19 This was narrated by Bukhari from Musaddid and by Muslim from ‘Amr al-Naqid, and both
Musaddid and ‘Amr related it from Hushaym.
15
Tabari, :159-160; Qurtubi, :328.
16
Durr, :339.
17
Tabari, :182; Qurtubi, :342; Durr, :348.
18
Qurtubi, :243
19
Tabari, :185; Qurtubi, :343; Durr, :348-349.
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