لطفا منتظر باشید ...
TAMIM AD-DARI, THE
CHRISTIAN
SCHOLAR,
THE SPOKESMAN OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD:
The first person who has found the basis of story-telling
in the Islamic world is Tamim ad-Dari.
Authentic sources say:
[Arabic text] 224
In the covenant of the Holy Prophet, there did not
exist story-telling. The same was the case in the
covenant of Abu-Bakr too. The first person who engaged in
such an affair was Tamim ad-Dari. He asked
Omar-ibn-Khattab to allow him to collect and narrate
stories for the people and the latter allowed him to do
so.
HIS RECORD BEFORE ISLAM
Concerning the stipulation of those who have written
the life-history of the companions of the Holy Prophet,
Tamim ad-Dari i.e. Tamim-ibn-Aus ibn- Kharaja (agnomen -
Abu Ruqaiyya) was a Christian and in the year 9 A.H. i.e.
during the last year of the Prophet's life, he came to
Medina and became a Muslim:
[Arabic text] 225
Verily, it is not that he was an ordinary Christian
but it is said that he was reckoned to be the monk
amongst the Palestinians and a devotee of that place:
[Arabic text] 226
In other words, he was not an ordinary person in the
Christian religion. Rather, he was reckoned to be a
famous monk and worshipper amongst the people of
Palestine.
Moreover, they add:
[Arabic text] 227
«He was a scholar as well as being well-versed in the
Torah and Bible.»
Apart from being a monk, he was also a tradesman
during the era of ignorancy. Bukhari narrates in his
'Sahih' that Tamim ad-Dari and Addi-ibn- Badda (who was a
relative of Amro Aas) went for a business trip along with
a person from the tribe of Bani-Saham, On the way, this
man died in a land where there were no Muslim dwellers.
His wealth fell in the hands of Tamim and Addi who handed
them to his family-members, when they returned. Moments
before dying, this Sahami person wrote the accounts of
his wealth and kept it amongst them. However, this affair
remained concealed from the eyes of the two partners.
Amongst the wealth of the Sahami man, a cup made of
silver existed which was decorated with gold and was the
biggest and most valuable part of its owners wealth. Of
course its particulars were recorded in the list of
wealth. Tamim and Addi sold this cup and shared the money
which amounted to five hundred dirhams and handed over
the remaining wealth to the family-members of the Muslim
partner. Amongst the wealth, the family-member found a
deed of the entire wealth of their father wherein mention
was made of a cup coated with gold. The family-members
approached the two partners of their father and claimed
from them the cup present in their father's wealth. They
denied this and said: 'We are unaware of such a cup. The
dispute was taken before the Holy Prophet. He commanded
that those two should attend the mosque and after the
prayers, swear to God that they had not committed treason
and had brought all that was left of the dead man's
property. They sweared accordingly but later on, the cup
was found with someone who confessed to having bought it
from Tamim. When Tamim was questioned about it, he said:
Yes, it is the truth. But, we had bought it from that
Sahami man and we forgot to reveal this matter to you at
that time. At this very moment, the verse 106 and 107
from Sura Maeda was revealed:
[Arabic text]
«O you who believe! call to witness between you when
death draws nigh to one of you, at the time of making the
will, two just persons from among you, (i.e. Muslims) or
two other than you, (i.e. non-Muslim) if you are
travelling in the land and the calamity of death befalls
you; the two (witnesses) you should detain after the
prayer; then if you doubt (them), they shall both swear
by Allah, (saying): We will not take for it a price,
though there be a relative, and we will not hide the
testimony of Allah for then certainly we should be among
the sinners.»
[Arabic text]
«Then if it becomes known that they both have been
guilty of a sin, two others shall stand up in their place
from among those who have a claim against them, the two
nearest in kin; so those two should swear by Allah:
Certainly our testimony is truer than the testimony of
those two, and we have not exceeded the limit, for then,
most surely we should be of the unjust.»
As per the order of these verses, two persons nearest
in kin and relatives of the Sahami man sweared near the
foot of the Holy Prophet's pulpit that the possession of
the cup had been mentioned amongst the list of
inheritance deed and it is they who are uttering the
truth and not these two men. In this manner, the Holy
Prophet commanded them to give back the cup or its
equivalent to the heirs of the Sahami man. 228
This is the past record of Tamim's ugly face during
his Christianity. His life can be summarized as such: «A
scholar in Torah and Bible, a Christian monk and a big
tradesman across the oceans» who of course had sometimes
committed the crime of theft while trading.
After this event, the Holy Prophet addressed Tamim who
was then a Christian as such: «Convert to Islam since
Islam will forgive you of your past sins.» In other
words, the moment a person enters into the fold of Islam,
it eliminates all his past impurities. Thus, in this
manner Tamim accepted Islam in the year 9 A.H.
DURING THE SECOND CALIPH'S ERA
During the period of Omar-ibn-Khattab's Caliphate,
Tamim Dari, the former Christian scholar who had not
witnessed the Prophet's period for more than one year was
now allowed to address the Holy Prophet's companions like
Salman, Abu-Zar, Miqdad, Ammar Huzaifa, Khuzaima and
others. As a speaker and orator prior to the
Friday-prayers he was given the liberty of addressing the
general Muslim population of Medina once in a week. Of
course, the Muslims were supposed to sit the Friday-
prayer ceremony through which they did and listened to
his speeches. During Uthman's reign of Caliphate, he was
charged with fulfilling this responsibility twice a week.
229
The second Caliph, Omar-ibn-Khattab would respect
Tamim to a great extent and would call him by the title
of 230 [Arabic text] (the best man in Medina).
This was exactly at the time when persons like Imam
Amir-ul- Mumineen (A.S.) and the eminent companions of
the Holy Prophet were present. Later, when the people
were divided into classes on the basis of the second
Caliph's command, Tamim was placed in the rank of the
'people of Badr' who were reckoned to be the most
honourable companions of the Holy Prophet and were
receiving pays more than any other class. The people of
Badr became the first group of the Holy Prophet's
followers where the «Muhajirin» (emigrants)amongst them
received five thousand dirham and the «Ansars»
(helpers) amongst them received four thousand dirhams.
The next group were those who had participated in the
battle of 'Uhud' and following them were the people of
'Khandaq', people of 'Khaibar' and then the 'peace of
Hudaibiyya' and last of all consisted of those who had
become Muslims after the Holy Prophet and they received
two hundred dirham from the public-treasury.
At that time, the Caliph linked Tamim Dari to the
'people of Badr' and placed him besides the pioneers and
vanguards of Islam and earmarked five thousand dirham for
him from the public - treasury. 231 Moreover,
when the second Caliph gave orders that the 'Nafila'
(supererogatory) and 'Mustahab' (recommendable)prayers
should be offered in congregation in the month of
Ramadhan (in the year 14 A.H.), two persons were
appointed by him for leading the congregation where one
of them was Tamim Dari. (a newly-converted Muslims who
was previously a Christian, monk and scholar). He would
attend the congregation prayers and lead the Muslims with
his one thousand dirham value garment in an utmost
majestic state. 232 Tamim remained in Medina
until the end of Uthman's Caliphate and rule. However,
after Uthman's death, he fled to Syria and resided there
until 40 A.H. i.e. the year of martyrdom of Imam
Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.). Historians have said: Tamim died
in Syria and his grave is situated in the house of
«Jubreen» in Palestine.
HIS PENETRATION INTO THE CALIPHATESCHOOL
This Christian monk and scholar who was now a
newly-converted Muslim had been quenched with tampered
culture of the Torah and Bible and had not undergone so
much Islamic and Prophetic training so as to undergo a
radical positive change. In order to realize the
influence of such a person in the Islamic society of his
time and the official Islam, it is necessary to ponder
over what the scholars of «Rijal» (researchers in the
biographies of the companions) have said: Persons like
Abu-Huraira from whom 5,374 traditions have been narrated
in the books 'Sihah', 'Musnad' and other narrative
sources of the Caliphate school, Anas-ibn-Malik who has
2,286 traditions to his credit, Abdulla-ibn-Abbass who
has narrated 1,660 traditions and numerous other
disciples of the companions were amongst his students and
have narrated traditions from him.
HADITH OF «JASSASEH» AND «DAJJAL»
The most famous tradition which has been narrated from
Tamim Dari reveals the culture which he possessed and
strived to disseminate it in the newly-founded Islamic
society. This tradition is about «Dajjal» and is well-
known as «Jassaseh». It is narrated as such:
Fatemah-bin-Qais says:
«The voice of the Prophet's caller could be heard
crying out: [Arabic text] (come for the congregation
prayers). I left my house and then offered prayers in the
mosque with the Holy Prophet. I was sitting in the front
row of the ladies. After prayers, the Holy Prophet sat on
the pulpit and while smiling said: 'Everyone should
remain in his or her own place.' Thereafter he added: 'Do
you know why I have called you in this?' The people
replied: 'God and gathering, His Messenger know better!'
He said: «I have called you here in order to inform you
that Tamim Dari who was formerly a Christian has now
accepted Islam and has become a Muslim, Moreover, he has
narrated to me a tradition which is in agreement with
what I used to narrate for you and it is about Messiah
Dajjal.» He has narrated to me as such:
«I boarded the ship along with thirty men from the
tribes of «Lakhm» and «Juzaam». The sea turned
stormy, For one month we were entangled in the horrendous
storm, Later, the storm pulled us to an island. We
stepped off unto the shore. There, we witnessed a strange
animal which was very hairy so much so that his head
could not be clearly seen. We approached the animal and
said: «What are you?» It replied: 'I am Jassaseh!233
We said: 'What is Jassaseh? It replied: Do not ask me
about anything. Enter this monastery because the man who
is inside is eager to see you and wishes to acquire
knowledge about you! On hearing these words, we began to
fear and thought that perhaps he was Satan who has now
appeared in this form. Soon we went towards the
monastery. Inside, we witnessed a man the like of whom we
had never witnessed. However, his hands and legs were
bound with chains. We asked: 'Who are you?' He replied:
You shall soon know about me. But first, introduce
yourselves to me. We informed him that we were Arabs and
related to him the story of the ship and our fate.
Thereafter, he asked us some questions and said: 'In what
condition is the palm of Baisan?234
Does the lake of Tabariyya contain water or
not?235 How is the spring of
Zughar?236.... Then he said:
'Inform me about the unlettered Prophet.' We said: he has
appeared in Mecca and is now residing in Yathrib
(Medina). He said: Have the Arabs waged wars against him?
We replied: 'Yes.' He said: 'How has these battle been
fought?' We said: 'Sometimes he has been victorious and
sometimes his enemies have beaten him.' He said: But it
is to their own interest to follow him. Then, he said:
'Now I shall introduce myself. I am Messiah (Dajjal) and
it is not far that I will be given permission to emerge.
I shall walk on the earth and traverse every place save
Mecca and Taiba (Medina) in only forty days. These two
cities are forbidden upon me and on every way which leads
to them stands an angel with a sword who prevents me from
entering these places.' Thereafter, the Holy Prophet
while striking his staff thrice on the pulpit said: This
place is «Taiba». He further added: Didn't I inform you
about this matter before? The people replied: 'Yes!'
Then, he said: Tamim's tradition is interesting and
astonishing for me because it is in agreement and
conformity with whatever I had revealed to you in the
past. 237
REVIEW OF THIS TRADITION
Here we shall not examine as to how it is possible
that a sea should be entangled in a storm for one whole
month! Basically, it could be no other sea other than the
Mediterranean sea? And whether this sea on which man has
travelled across for a thousand years has really
possessed an unheard island where Dajjal was imprisoned
in it and «Jassaseh» was busy gathering information is
quite astonishing. If at that time it was possible for
someone to believe that such an unknown island existed,
can the same be believed in the recent centuries? Has
this unreasonable saying been accepted today?
Moreover, where can an animal by the name of
«Jassaseh» whose head and tail are unrecognizable and
speaks eloquent Arabic too be found!? Does such a thing
really sound sensible or not? Also, why Dajjal who was
bound with chains and had the permission for revolting
has not done so during these one thousand and four
hundred years? In those days, it was possible for someone
like the fabricator of this news who was unaware of the
future to say that Dajjal had been granted permission to
revolt but today, after a gap of centuries we are aware
of the extent of the falsity of this matter.
We leave these and such other questions and their
answers to the knowledge and insight of our readers. We
only ask: What kind of evil repercussions and
misunderstandings can be created in Islam from that which
is mentioned in the tradition: that the Holy Prophet
hears it from Tamim Dari with acceptance and then
announces this with delight to the Muslims in an official
and large gathering. What kind of an opinion will an
educated, enlightened and discerning Muslim derive about
his Prophet? What will a non-Muslim who is doing research
about Islam, say? And how can they believe in a Prophet
who narrates such superstitions and lies?
Another question which we have in mind is whether
there was no Muslim in the length of these centuries to
doubt in the integrity of this tradition and the Holy
Prophet's utterances on the pulpit? The reply is «No»,
because this tradition has been narrated in Sahih Muslim
and whatever gets narrated in Sahih Muslim and Bukhari
cannot be doubted! In any way, there exists no doubt in
the fantasy and fabrication of the text of this
tradition. So, where does the impairment lie or rather
where can we look for it? Sayyid Muhammad Rashid Ridha,
an emiment Egyptian scholar238, has conducted
research in this regard and suggests a way for solving
this matter. He does not say that Fatemah-bin-Qais, the
narrator of the tradition has made a mistake or has not
spoken the truth or has been entangled in delusive
thought and imagination since, she is after all the
companion of the Prophet and a companion is worthy of
respect! Moreover, the narrators of Sahih Muslim and
Muslim himself are faultless. Thus, this tradition verily
refers back to the Holy Prophet and cannot be said that
any mistake or crime has taken place on the part of the
narrators.
However, the tradition too is not worthy of acceptance
under any circumstances through wisdom and knowledge of
our time. Rashid Ridha reckons the solution to lie in
this that the Holy Prophet has made a mistake for
narrating Tamim's sayings i.e. he has unknowingly
entangled himself in the claws of Tamim's superstitious
and false story and without discovering his mistake has
divulged it to the people. Muhammad Abdoh's expression is
as follows:-
[Arabic text] 239
«The Holy Prophet is not aware of the unseen. He is
similar to other human - beings and believes in the
sayings of the people if they sound reasonable and rouse
no doubt.»
In reality, the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.A.) has been
deceived by Tamim's words and has happily revealed and
taught them to the people without realizing that his
sayings are plain superstitions.
Now, this basic question arises that as to why such
kinds of traditions have found their way in the books of
traditions?
We do not wish to find fault with Tamim Dari and argue
as to why he has resorted to such superstitious tales.
And basically what his intentions were in narrating such
sayings? Rather, we wish to inquire why this tale has not
entered the story-books and has found its way in the book
of [Arabic text] (The comprehensive authentic
traditions)?
Those who remember our previous discussions are aware
that with regards to the orders of the ruling
authorities, traditions were not being written down
before the year 100 A.H. and it was during Omar-ibn-Abdul
Aziz's era that for the first time traditions appeared in
the written form. It is possible that such a story which
could have been attractive and exciting too for the
people of that time, must have been narrated by Tamim
Dari and the Muslims too must have heard about it. Later,
during the length of time, some Muslim or the other has
made an error and imagined that he has heard the story in
the form of tradition from the Holy Prophet. Perhaps, in
this manner it has been narrated through Fatemah-binte
Qais or Aamer Shuabi, the other narrator and has found
its way in the books of tradition. The reality of the
affair is this that neither the Holy Prophet has uttered
such words nor there had been any gathering in the mosque
for listening to his talks.
In the 'science of hadith' [Arabic text] or
'contextual study of hadith [Arabic text] this
(tradition) has been reckoned to be [Arabic text] as one
kind amongst the various kinds of hadiths which means a
greater person narrating tradition from a smaller person.
For example, when a companion (of the Holy Prophet)
narrates a tradition from a disciple of the companion,
his narration will be counted to be [Arabic text] because
a companion, due to his companionship with the Holy
Prophet and his leading in the chain of narrators is
considered to be greater than a disciple who does not
possess such priorities. With regard to this tradition
too it has been said: 'Since the Holy Prophet has
narrated this tradition from one companion i.e. Tamim
Dari, it is therefore
[Arabic text] 240
WESTERN ISLAMICISTS AND THE HADITHOF «JASSASEH»
In the length of history of the Christian Church's
campaign against Islam, one of the most common Christian
accusation has been this that the Holy Prophet has
acquired his words and basically the Islamic knowledge
and commandments from the Christians and Jews. At first,
the ecclesiastic forces, by relying on the similarities
which exists among some of the matters in the present-day
Torah, Bible and the holy Quran, have reiterated this
accusation during the centuries. Later, when due to
progressive exigencies, the need of knowledge in the form
of Orientalism and Islamlogist was felt in the countries
of European colonizers and it came into being with all
its expanded scope, this saying because one of the most
common accusations of the western Islamicists against
Islam and the Islamicist agents of the English, French,
Holland.... ministries have, under the pretext of
research and investigation, reiterated this accusation
day after day.
By paying attention to these preliminaries it will
become clear that to what extent Tamim's hadith can be a
proof of such lies and accusations. Unfortunately, in
connection to the discussion about Dajjal and the life-
history of Tamim himself, the Western Islamicists refer
to this tradition in the most important book in this
field i.e. «Encyclopaedia of Islam» and also specify
that he was able to divulge the worship of the Syrian
Christians before the Prophet. Aside from giving such
kind of information in religious matters to the Holy
Prophet (!) he also placed before him the story of
Dajjal, the end of time and Jassaseh and the Prophet too
listened to such talks with acknowledgement and revealed
and taught them to the Muslims as a scholarly gift. 241
Professor Lifi Dalavida, a master in Arabic Language
and semitic languages and an expert in Islamic history
writes about Tamim Dari in the Encyclopaedia of Islam as
such: Tamim was a Christian just like most of the
Syrian Arabs. Thus he was able to acquaint Hazrat (i.e.
the Holy Prophet)about the worship of the Syrians amongst
which was the matter of lightening of candles in the
mosque. It is said that Tamim was the first person who
narrated religious stories. The stories about the
establishment of the Hour (Resurrection) and the
appearance of Dajjal and Jassaseh were all from such
type. Tamim divulged these stories for the Prophet who in
turn revealed them to the people. 242
Previously, we had seen how, during the Umayyid era,
they (i.e. the Umayyids) strived hard in crushing the
Holy Prophet's personality. Unfortunately, the results of
this endeavour which took the shape of a tradition and
found its way in the reliable books of the Caliphate
school became the (main) factor in influencing Rashid
Ridha to believe that the solution of this matter lies in
this that the Holy Prophet had committed a mistake! (God
forbid).
241- Refer to the issue of Dajjal written by Winsang and
the matter of Tamim Dari written by Lifi Dalavida in the
«Encyclopaedia of Islam»; first edition and in the
matter of Dajjal in the shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam
pg. 67
ON THE PATH OF GREATER RECOGNITIONOF TAMIM DARI
Rub-ibn-Zanba'a says:- «I approached Tamim Dari. I
saw him cleaning barley to feed his horse in spite of the
presence of servants and slaves besides him». I said:
«You need not do this work as your servants and slaves
are present! Is there not anyone amongst them to perform
this task?» Tamim said: 'Yes. But I have heard the Holy
Prophet saying:
[Arabic text]
Any Muslim who cleans barley for his horse and
(then) hangs it around her neck to be fed a goodness is
written for him to the extent of the number of those
barleys. 243
This forged tradition is an example of the traditions
narrated from Tamim wherein the Holy Prophet sayings and
the Islamic knowledge is reduced to such levels that one
reward is fixed for every barley given to a horse.
One of the deceitful acts of Tamim Dari which has been
recorded in history and has remained till today is this
that during Muawiya's era, he presented a letter from the
Holy Prophet wherein the latter mentions that he has
given Tamim some flourishing village and hamlet of Syria
as a fief. These villages consisted of Bait-Ayoon,
Hebrun, Martum and Bait-e-Ibrahim.
The text of the Prophet's letter which Tamim presented
in this regard is as follows:
[Arabic text] 244
«This is whatever Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah
(S.A.W.A.) has presented to Tamim Dari and his
companions. I present you Bait-Uyoon, Hebrun, Martum and
Bait-Ibrahim along with the belongings in these villages
- i.e. its trees, animals and people. This gift is
decisive and irrevocable. I have approved and surrendered
it to him and his family- members forever. The witnesses
upon this matter are Abu-Bakr, Omar, Uthman and
Ali-ibn-Abi Talib.»
The proofs of prevarication of this letter are many:
One of them is that the Holy Prophet never used to
send greetings and salutations upon himself after
mentioning his name in the letters which he would write
or rather had others to write. Of course if others would
write something they would note down greetings and
salutations after his blessed name.
Another reason is that the Holy Prophet would never
give a flourishing place as a fief to anyone in this
manner i.e. with all its inhabitants. Rather, he would
give barren and dead land so that they would enliven them
or give pastures which could be turned into a place
suitable for animal husbandry.
Yet another proof. If the Holy Prophet had gifted each
and everything of these villages (its people, animals and
property) to Tamim and his followers it means that he had
gifted the people of this place to him as slaves and that
too forever and until the Day of Judgement. And then he
said: «If anyone vexes them i.e. Tamim Dari, his
family-members, relatives and descendants he has in fact
vexed Allah.
Another reason which we can mention is that the
witnesses to this munificence comprised those people who
later on attained the Caliphate in order. In other words,
precisely in accordance with the same order of
government, they have signed below this letter. This
order is itself a clear proof of this letter being forged
and fabricated because, none of the witnesses seen in the
numerous letters of the Holy Prophet's pact follow this
order. For this very reason we say that this letter had
been forged during Muawiya's era. By means of this
letter, Tamim took from Muawiya the possession of the
afore-mentioned flourishing places which were around
Bait-ul-Muqaddas and in Syria and Palestine and then
migrated and lived there until the end of his life. He
died there and was buried too in that very place.
SUMMARY
With such record before Islam and such actions and
statements after Islam Tamim Dari was the official
speaker of the Islamic government. As mentioned before,
he was appointed as the official speaker before the
Friday-prayers during the period of the second and third
Caliph where he would narrate stories.
Amongst the first steps which Imam Amir-ul-Mumineen
(A.S.) implemented after gaining control of the
government was that he dismissed the story-tellers from
the mosque. 245
Of course, like most other fugitives on the run from
the just government of Imam Amir-ul-Mumineen (A.S.), they
took refuge in Muawiya. In this manner, the story of
story-teller came to an end - of course not forever - and
for the first time this chapter was wiped off from the
history of Islam by the hands of Imam Amir-ul-Mumineen
although afterwards, it regained considerable official
recognition during the period of the statemen.
The first epoch of the life of the story-tellers
reached its end during this period. However with the
fresh revival of their affairs, their influence in the
Islamic reflection remained alive just as we saw in the
past, the influence of Tamim's whimsical narration of
traditions.
About his life, they say: The Holy Prophet has
narrated tradition from him and Ibne-Abbass,
Anas-ibn-Malik, Abu-Huraira, Abdullah-ibn-Omar and scores
of disciples of the companions have learnt and narrated
traditions from him. 246
The possibility of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.A.) having
had narrated tradition from Tamim, the example of which
we saw before, can be decisively and accurately judged to
be false. However, those amongst the companions who did
not possess well-grounded knowledge of Islam like
Abu-Huraira, Anas, Abdullah-ibn-Omar and also the
disciples of the companions who wished to learn Islam
from the tongue of persons like Tamim took the sayings of
this Christian but newly-converted Muslim scholar and
monk and narrated them in the form of traditions for the
future generation. As such, the series of hadiths which
in the «science of traditions» [Arabic text] is called
as «Israeeliyat» i.e. stories of Bani-Israel i.e.
whatever has been available in Torah, Bible, Talmud and
such kind of distorted books of Old Testament has found
its way in the Islamic world and has remained here and
taken the colour of «tafseer» (exegesis), hadith and
Islamic history.
Is it not that in numerous instances of the Torah it
is mentioned that God walks or that God can become
visible or that He speaks with Adam or wrestles with
Yaqoub right from sunset till early dawn? Is it not that
the Torah speaks about the various kinds of sins
committed by the Prophets and that they are not immune
from wine, adultery and other sins? Verily, all such
talks which in reality have been the result of
distortions of the heavenly facts present in the true
Torah and Bible have entered Islam through such people
and filled the various books of the Caliphate school.
As such, one of the factors which was responsible for
distortion in Islam was the existence of such kind of
people. Unfortunately, we have to state that the sayings
of Tamim Dari, Wahab-ibn-Munabbah and most important
amongst them Kab al-Ahbar 247 have not only
penetrated the historical, narrative and interpretive
text of the Caliphate school but have also influenced a
few historical, narrative and interpretive sources of the
Ahl-e- bayt school and as such the lucid sciences of the
Ahl-e-bayt have become so tainted in some of the books.
In the Ahl-e-bayt school, the primary principle is based
on research. Thus in the traditions pertaining to
jurisprudence, an accurate multilatered research is not
adequately conducted in the case of historical, ethical
or interpretive traditions and so a few signs of
distortions of the enemies of Islam can be seen here and
there in such books.
For achieving the true Islam i.e. the Islam which the
Holy Prophet has brought, we are left with no option but
to hold fast unto him and reap the benefits of his
sciences and that of his Ahl-e-bayt who are the
inheritors of his unlimited knowledge. On many occasions,
Hazrat himself, in various forms has said the following:
[Arabic text] 248
«I am leaving behind two valuable things amongst you
- the Book of Allah and my household members. If you hold
on to these two things, you will never go astray.»
Just as we witnessed, the ruling figures strived to
fill the vacant sayings of the Holy Prophet and the true
Islamic gnosis with the culture of «Ahl-e- Kitab» -
Jews and Christians. It was on this very path that the
scholars from «Ahl-e-Kitab» sat on the throne of
Quranic exegesis and explanation of gnosis in the Islamic
societies. Previously, we had discussed about manner of
his influence in the Islamic society. Now we shall
examine the personality and operation of yet another
scholar of «Ahl-e-Kitab» who was called as Kab al-Ahbar
and was reckoned to be a great Jewish scholar.
