Musnad Ahmad 2514

Translation

A group of Jews came to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ one day and said, “O Abu al-Qasim, tell us about certain matters concerning which we shall question you, for no one knows them except a prophet.” He said, “Ask me whatever you wish, but give me Allah’s covenant and the pledge that Jacob (Yaqub) ﷺ, took from his sons: if I tell you something and you recognize it, you will follow me in Islam.” They said, “You shall have that.” He said, “Then ask me whatever you wish.” They said, “Tell us about four matters concerning which we shall question you. (1) Tell us which food Israel forbade himself before the Torah was revealed. (2) Tell us about the fluid of the woman and the fluid of the man: how does a male result from it? (3) Tell us how this unlettered Prophet sleeps. (4) And which angel is his guardian?” He said, “Then Allah’s covenant and pledge are upon you that, if I tell you, you will follow me.” They gave him whatever covenant and pledge he wished. He said, “I adjure you by the One who sent down the Torah to Moses: do you know that Israel, ˹who is˺ Jacob ﷺ, became severely ill and his sickness was prolonged, so he made a vow to Allah that if Allah ﷻ cured him of his illness, he would forbid himself the drink and food he loved most? His favorite food was camel meat, and his favorite drink was its milk.” They said, “O Allah, yes.” He said, “O Allah, bear witness against them.” “I adjure you by Allah, besides whom there is no god, who sent down the Torah to Moses: do you know that the man’s fluid is white and thick, while the woman’s fluid is yellow and thin, and whichever of them predominates determines the child and the resemblance by Allah’s permission? If the man’s fluid predominates over the woman’s fluid, it is a male by Allah’s permission; and if the woman’s fluid predominates over the man’s fluid, it is a female by Allah’s permission.” They said, “O Allah, yes.” He said, “O Allah, bear witness against them.” “I adjure you by the One who sent down the Torah to Moses: do you know that this unlettered Prophet’s eyes sleep, but his heart does not sleep?” They said, “O Allah, yes.” He said, “O Allah, bear witness.” They said, “Now tell us which angel is your guardian, for on that basis we will either join you or part from you.” He said, “My guardian is Gabriel, ﷺ. Allah has never sent any prophet without Jibril being his guardian.” They said, “Then we part from you. Had your guardian been any other angel, we would have followed you and believed you.” He said, “What prevents you from believing him?” They said, “He is our enemy.” He said: At that, Allah ﷻ said, “Say: Whoever is an enemy to Jibril, it is he who brought it down upon your heart by Allah’s permission” ([Baqarah 2:97](https://quran.islamunlocked.com/quran:2:97)), through His saying, “the Book of Allah behind their backs as though they did not know” ([Baqarah 2:101](https://quran.islamunlocked.com/quran:2:101)). At that, “they incurred wrath upon wrath” ([Baqarah 2:90](https://quran.islamunlocked.com/quran:2:90))—the ayah.

Notes

• ﷺ. ﷺ. ﷺ. This is how it appears in the edition of the Islamic Maknaz Society. The edition of the Resalah Foundation contains the additional wording: ﷺ.

• ﷺ. ﷺ. ﷺ. كذا في طبعة جمعية المكنز الإسلامي، وفي طبعة مؤسسة الرسالة زيادة: ﷺ.

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What scholars said about it

In their own words, as Hadith Unlocked records them. They are shown, not summarised into a grade.

• Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī

  هذه طرق يقوي بعضها بعضا يعني طريق شهر عن ابن عباس وغيره يدل على أن سبب نزول الآية قول اليهودي المذكور لا قصة عبد الله بن سلام

  machine translationThese are routes that strengthen one another, meaning the route of Shahr from Ibn ʿAbbās and others. They indicate that the reason for the revelation of the verse was the statement of the aforementioned Jew, not the story of ʿAbdullāh b. Salām. Report a problem

  in مسند أحمد, p. 2537

Other narrations of this report

Sahih al-Bukhari 138Sahih al-Bukhari 2013Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2861

Narrators

1. 1
   ʿAbdullāh b. ʿAbbās

   One of the Companions who narrated most prolifically (mukthirūn).d. 65 AH, or 67 AH, or 68 AH, also said: 69 AH, also said: 70 AH; also said: 73 AH
   عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عَبَّاسٍأحد المكثرين من الصحابة
   قال
2. 2
   Shahr b. Ḥawshab

   Truthful (ṣadūq), frequently narrated mursal reports (kathīr al-irsāl) and made many errors (awhām)d. 98 AH, or 99 AH, or 100 AH, or 101 AH, or 111 AH, or 112 AH
   شهر بن حوشبصدوق , كثير الإرسال والأوهام
   حدثنا
3. 3
   ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd b. Bahrām

   truthful (ṣadūq)d. 160-odd AH
   عبد الحميد بن بهرام الفزاريصدوق
   حدثنا
4. 4
   Abū al-Naḍr

   trustworthy, precise (thiqah thabt)d. 205 AH, or: 207 AH
   هاشم بن القاسم بن مسلمثقة ثبت
   حدثنا
5. 5
   Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal

   Trustworthy (thiqah), a memorizer (ḥāfiẓ), a jurist (faqīh), an authority (ḥujjah).d. 241 AH, Abū Umayyah Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Ṭarsūsī said: 242 AH, and no one followed him in his view
   أحمد بن حنبلثقة حافظ فقيه حجة

Who each narrator was and how reliable, from hdith.com

Latin names and English verdicts with a dotted underline are machine translations, not reviewed.