Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The Qur'an asks: Why ask Muhammad when you have the Torah?

Once we strip away the centuries of explaining the clear words of the Qur'an away, we read that Muhammad told people NOT to come to him and ask about matters which the Torah had already instructed us on:

"And why do they come to you for a decision while they have the Torah, in which is the Decision of God; yet even after that, they turn away. For they are not Believers (Mu'minin/Ma'minim)." (5.43)

وَكَيْفَ يُحَكِّمُونَكَ وَعِنْدَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ فِيهَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّوْنَ مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَٰلِكَ ۚ وَمَا أُولَٰئِكَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ

Accepting the words of the Qur'an would revolutionize the Islamic world. Thus, the Torah tells us
that "Everything that I command you, you shall keep and observe; do not add to it, and do not subtract from it." (Deuteronomy 13:1) Al-hamdulillah, Muhammad understood this and it is reflected in the Qur'an which accepts the Torah, does not abrogate it, nor the commandments therein for Jews, but does not mandate the 613 mitzvot upon those who have not embraced willing the Yoke of the Torah. This was the position on Muhammad of such individuals as Rabbi Natanyel ibn al-Fayyumi, leader of the Jewish community of Yemen and the `Issuniyyah Jews.

Sunni Hadith on Muhammad paying respect to the Sefer Torah and professing belief in it

Abu Dawud narrated in his collection that Ibn Umar said:

A group of Jewish people invited the messenger of Allah to a house. When he came, they asked him: O Abu Qasim, one of our men committed adultery with a woman, what is your judgment against him? So they placed a pillow and asked the messenger of Allah to set on it. Then the messenger of Allah proceeded to say: bring me the Torah. When they brought it, he removed the pillow from underneath him and placed the Torah on it and said: I believe in you and in the one who revealed you, then said: bring me one of you who have the most knowledge. So they brought him a young man who told him the story of the stoning. (Book 38.4434)

وقال أبو داود: حدثنا أحمد بن سعيدالهمداني، حدثنا ابن وهب، حدثنا هشام بن سعد أن زيد بن أسلم حدثه عن ابن عمر قال: أتى نفر من اليهود فدعوا رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إلى القف، فأتاهم في بيت المدارس، فقالوا: ياأبا القاسم، إن رجلاً منا زنى بامرأة فاحكم. قال: ووضعوا لرسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وسادة فجلس عليها، ثم قال «ائتوني بالتوراة، فأتي بها، فنزع الوسادة من تحته ووضع التوراة عليها، وقال «آمنت بك وبمن أنزلك» ثم قال «ائتوني بأعلمكم» فأتي بفتى شاب ثم ذكر قصة الرجم نحو حديث مالك عن نافع.

How is this hadith viewed in the Ummah? Naturally it is rejected, as it is dissimilar and theological embarrassment to the mainstream dogma. The issue is pinpointed with a transmitter Hishām ibn Sa’ad Al-Madanī. Hāfith Ibn Hajr says about him in his Taqrīb, that he was "Honest" though had "mistakes, and delved into Shi'ism." Thus, once again, we find that even those who we were not Shi`ah themselves found Jewish Muhammad traditions from amongst the school of the Ahl al-Bayt. While many of the most anti-Jewish polemicists in Islamicate scholarship seem to detest him, Abu Zura’ah said, "His status is honesty" and Al-`Ijlī said, "His hadīth are permitted, and are Hasan Al-Hadīth." (Entry 7294 of Tahrīr Taqrīb published by Mu’assasat al-Risālah 1997)

The Shi`i Imam al-Mahdi will pray in Hebrew

Reported to us Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Saeed al Uqdah who said: It was narrated to us from Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Taymali who narrated to us from al-Hasan and Muhammad the sons of Ali ibnu Yusuf, from Sa’daan ibn Muslim, from Rajaal, from al-Mufadhaal ibn Umar from Abu Abdullah (Ja`far al-Sadiq, the sixth Shi`i Imam) that:

“When the Imam Mahdi calls out, he will pray to God in Hebrew.” (al-Numayni, Kitab Al-Ghayba)