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

Asbab al-Nuzul
((The same are) those who say: Lo! Allah hath charged us…) [3:183].
Said al-Kalbi: “This was revealed about Ka‘b al-Ashraf, Malik ibn al-Dayf, Wahb ibn Yahudha, Zayd ibn
Tabuh, Finhas ibn ‘Azura and Huyayy ibn Akhtab who went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him
and give him peace, and said: ‘You claim that Allah has sent you to us as a messenger and that He revealed
a Scripture to you. Well, Allah has charged us in the Torah that we do not believe in any messenger
who claims to have been sent by Allah until he brings us an offering which is devoured by fire. If you do
that, we will believe in you’. And so Allah, exalted is He revealed this verse”. 58
(… and ye will hear much wrong from those who were given the Scripture before you, and from
the idolaters…) [3:186].
Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hamdun>
Abu Hamid Ahmad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Abu’l-Yaman> Shu‘ayb> al-Zuhri>
‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Ka‘b ibn Malik> his father (one of three men whose repentance
was accepted) who reported that Ka‘b al-Ashraf, the Jew, was a poet who used his poetry to satirize the
Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and incite the disbelievers of Quraysh against him. When
the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, went to Medina, he wanted to be in good terms with all
its people who were a mixture of Muslims, idolaters and Jews. The Jews and idolaters, however, used to
harm him, and his Companions, a great deal. Allah, exalted is He, commanded his Prophet, Allah bless
him and give him peace, to endure their harm, and it is about them that He, exalted is He, revealed (and
ye will hear much wrong from those who were given the Scripture before you, and from the idolaters…). 59
‘Amr ibn Abi ‘Amr al-Muzakki informed us> Muhammad ibn Makki> Muhammad ibn Yusuf> Muhammad
ibn Isma‘il Bukhari> Abu’l-Yaman> Shu‘ayb> al-Zuhri> ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr> Usamah ibn Zayd
who informed him that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, mounted a donkey
once, using a Fadakian 60 piece of velvet as a saddlecloth, and had Usamah ibn Zayd follow behind him.
He was going to visit Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah who was ill, at the Banu’l-Harith ibn al-Khazraj. This was before
the Battle of Badr. He passed by an assembly which included, among others, ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy.
This was before the latter had accepted Islam. This assembly included a mixture of Muslims, Jews and
idolaters, the worshippers of idols. ‘Abd Allah ibn Rawahah was also in this assembly. When the cloud of
dust, stirred by the movement of the beast, reached the assembly, ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy covered his nose
with his cloak and said: “Do not cover us with dust”. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give
him peace, greeted them with the greeting of peace, stopped and climbed down his mount. He called
them to Allah and recited to them some of the Qur’an. Then ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy said: “O man, there
is nothing more beautiful than what you had just said. And if it is true, we ask you not to annoy us in
these assemblies of ours. Go back to your camp, and if somebody comes to you, then relate it to him”.
‘Abd Allah ibn Rawahah then said: “No, indeed, come and tell us about it in our own assemblies for we
love it”. The Muslims, idolaters and Jews then started to throw insults at each others until they were on
the verge of assaulting one another. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, kept calming them
until they stopped. He then mounted his beast and headed toward Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah. When he entered
in on him, he said: “O Sa‘d, did you not hear what Abu Hubab (he meant ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy) said.
He said this and that”. Sa‘d ibn ‘Ubadah said: “O Messenger of Allah, forgive him. For by Him Who has
revealed the Scripture, Allah has brought the truth which he revealed to you, and the people of this city
had reconciled and come together to support it as one solid bloc. And so when Allah has driven away the
enmity which existed between people by means of the truth which He bestowed upon you, his authority
waned and this is why he said what he said”. Upon hearing this, The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him
and give him peace, forgave him. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (and ye will hear much wrong from
those who were given the Scripture before you, and from the idolaters…).
58
Qurtubi, :295.
59
Tabari, :201; Qurtubi, :303; Durr, :401.
60
Cf. Ibn Hisham, Sirah, :228.
64