Impact of <i>Isra’iliyyat</i> reports on the Islamic creed of contemporary Muslims

Abstract

In Islamic literature sacred histories and particularly narratives of the Prophets and saintly people have suffered much distortion and manipulation by Qassasun³ or simply storytellers. The trend gave writers unprecedented chance of being storytellers, and it is from such works that they draw their tales⁴. The spread of Islam and its subsequent acceptance by Judaism and Christianity paved way for assimilation and exchange of ideas and tradition among the adherents of the three religions. This trend of sourcing information from other religions in order to understand Islam is considered by some scholars to be a potential threat and possible cause for confusion among the Muslims. It has however affected Islam in various ways. One of such ways is the pattern, method and the manner in which inauthentic reports known as Isra'iliyyat reports are brought into the Islamic traditions particularly by Qur‘an commentators⁵. Regrettably, the trend has seemingly affected the foundational principles of Islamic faith (Aqidah) such as the belief in Allah (S.W.T.), His Prophets, and previous (sacred) revelations such as Taurat (Torah), Zabur (Psalm) and Injil (Gospel). The paper, in line with this backdrop, attempts to answer the questions listed here and other relevant ones in order to unravel the impact of Isra‟iliyyat reports on the Aqidah of contemporary Muslims. How do the Isra'iliyyat reports spread among the contemporary Muslims and how best it could be handled? How often did Isra'iliyyat reports treat certain aspects dealing with Islamic Aqidah? To what extent does the use of Isra'iliyyat reports affect Islam and harms the Muslim faith? How to identify Isra'iliyyat reports and assess their usage on the basis of sifting technique? Does the understanding of the Glorious Qur‘an require any additional information sourced from Isra'iliyyat? Is the use of Isra'iliyyat necessary for Muslims? How rapid and accelerated was Isra'iliyyat reports since the time of the Sahaba (the Prophet‘s Companions) and their followers to the present time? Was it permitted to use Isra'iliyyat reports in areas that do not contradict the Shari'ah or downgrade one of the Prophets of Allah? To achieve the objectives of the research, we adopted analytical phenomenological methodology.

Keywords: Impact, Isra'iliyyat, Aqidah Contemporary Muslims, Injil