Tarikh (al-Tabari) 904
Some matters that occurred between the Messenger ﷺ and the Jews, Christians, and hypocrites in al-Madinah al-Munawwarah
سُؤَالِهِ لَهُمْ أَنْ يَتَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ إِنْ كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ فِي دَعَاوَى ادَّعَوْهَا قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: قُلْ إِنْ كَانَتْ لَكُمُ الدَّارُ الآخِرَةُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَالِصَةً مِنْ دُونِ النَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ [سُورَةُ الْبَقَرَةِ، آيَةُ: 94] أَيْ اُدْعُوا بِالْمَوْتِ عَلَى أَيِّ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ أَكْذَبُ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ، فَأَبَوْا ذَلِكَ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ. يَقُولُ اللَّهُ جَلَّ ثَنَاؤُهُ لِنَبِيِّهِ عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ: وَلَنْ يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَدًا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ أَيْ بِعِلْمِهِمْ بِمَا عِنْدَهُمْ مِنْ الْعِلْمِ بِكَ، وَالْكُفْرِ بِذَلِكَ، فَيُقَالُ: لَوْ تَمَنَّوْهُ يَوْمَ قَالَ ذَلِكَ لَهُمْ مَا بَقِيَ عَلَى وَجْهِ الْأَرْضِ يَهُودِيٌّ إلَّا مَاتَ. ورَوَى ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ عَنْ أَبِي الْعَالِيَةِ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: "قَالُوا: لَنْ يَدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلَّا مَنْ كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى، وَقَالُوا: نَحْنُ أَبْنَاءُ اللَّهِ وَأَحِبَّاؤُهُ". فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى الْآيَةَ الْأُولَى فَلَمْ يَفْعَلُوا. وَرَوَى الْبَيْهَقِيُّ فِي "الدَّلَائِلِ" عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ؓ أَنَّ الْآيَةَ الْأُولَى لَمَّا نَزَلَتْ قَالَ لَهُمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: "إِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي مَقَالَتِكُمْ صَادِقِينَ قُولُوا اللَّهُمَّ أَمِتْنَا، فَوَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لَا يَقُولُهَا رَجُلٌ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا غَصَّ بِرِيقِهِ فَمَاتَ مَكَانَهُ"، فَأَبَوْا أَنْ يَفْعَلُوا وَكَرِهُوا مَا قَالَ لَهُمْ، فَنَزَلَ: وَلَنْ يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَدًا بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِالظَّالِمِينَ [سُورَةُ الْبَقَرَةِ، آيَةُ: 95] يَعْنِي عَمِلَتْهُ أَيْدِيهِمْ. فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عِنْدَ نُزُولِ هَذِهِ الْآيَةِ: "وَاللَّهِ لَنْ يَتَمَنَّوْهُ أَبَدًا". وَرَوَى ابْنُ إِسْحَاقَ، وَابْنُ جَرِيرٍ، وَابْنُ أَبِي حَاتِمٍ مِنْ طَرِيقٍ آخَرَ عَنْهُ، قَالَ: "لَوْ تَمَنَّى الْيَهُودُ الْمَوْتَ لَشَرِقَ أَحَدُهُمْ بِرِيقِهِ". وَرَوَى الْإِمَامُ أَحْمَدُ، وَالْبُخَارِيُّ، وَالتِّرْمِذِيُّ، وَالنَّسَائِيُّ، وَابْنُ مَرْدَوَيْهِ، وَأَبُو نُعَيْمٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ ؓ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: "لَوْ أَنَّ الْيَهُودَ تَمَنَّوُا الْمَوْتَ، لَمَاتُوا وَلَرَأَوْا مَقَاعِدَهُمْ مِنَ النَّارِ" .
Translation
✧ His ﷺ asking them to wish for death if they were truthful in claims they made Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: Say, "If the abode of the Hereafter with Allah is for you alone and not for the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful" [Sūrat al-Baqarah, verse 94] i.e., invoke death upon whichever of the two parties is more false before Allah, but they refused that to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Allah, exalted be His praise, says to His Prophet ﷺ: But they will never wish for it, ever, because of what their hands have put forth, i.e., because of their knowledge of what they have of knowledge about you, and their disbelief in that. It is said: Had they wished for it on the day he said that to them, no Jew would have remained on the face of the earth but would have died. Ibn Jarīr narrated from Abū al-ʿĀliyah that he said: "They said: 'None will enter Paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian,' and they said: 'We are the children of Allah and His beloved.'" So Allah, Most High, sent down the first verse, but they did not do it. Al-Bayhaqī narrated in "al-Dalāʾil" from Ibn ʿAbbās ؓ that when the first verse was sent down, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them: "If you are truthful in your statement, say: O Allah, cause us to die. For by the One in whose hand is my soul, no man among you would say it except that he would choke on his saliva and die on the spot." But they refused to do it and disliked what he said to them. Then was sent down: But they will never wish for it, ever, because of what their hands have put forth. And Allah is Knowing of the wrongdoers [Sūrat al-Baqarah, verse 95], meaning what their hands had done. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said when this verse was sent down: "By Allah, they will never wish for it, ever." Ibn Isḥāq, Ibn Jarīr, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated from another chain from him, he said: "Had the Jews wished for death, one of them would have choked on his saliva." Imām Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī, al-Tirmidhī, al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Mardawayh, and Abū Nuʿaym narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās ؓ from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he said: "Had the Jews wished for death, they would have died and would have seen their places in the Fire."
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.