I heard that when Prophet Muhammadstarted preaching Islam, the Jews
were very upset and they wanted to test him to find out whether he was
a true Prophet, so they prepared 40 difficult questions and asked him.
Is this true, if yes,please, explain what are the 40 questions and
what were the answers given by the Prophet Muhammad?
Fatwa:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that
Muhammadis His slave and Messenger.
No doubt that the Jews disbelieved in what Allaah revealed to our
Prophet Muhammadand hated it. They were envious of him - except a few
of them - because he was not one of them, i.e. did not descend from
the children ofIsrael.
Allaah Says )which means(:}And when there came to them a Book]i.e. the
Quran[ from Allaah confirming that which was with them - although
before they usedto pray for victory against those who disbelieved -
but ]then[ when there came to them that which they recognized, they
disbelieved in it; so the curse of Allaah will be upon the
disbelievers. How wretched is that for which they sold themselves -
that they would disbelieve in what Allaah has revealed through ]their[
outrage that Allaah would send down His favor upon whom He wills from
among His servants. So they returned having ]earned[ wrath upon wrath.
And for the disbelievers is a humiliating punishment.{]Quran 2:89-90[.
However, we do not know of any authentic Hadeethstating that they
prepared forty questions for the Prophetand asked him about them.
What is proved in the books of Imaans Al-Bukhaari and Ahmadas well as
otherauthentic sources is that they asked him seven questions.
Al-Bukhaarireported that Anasnarrated that when'Abdullaah Ibn
Salaamheard about the arrival of the Prophetto Madeenah, he came to
himand asked him about some things saying: "I will ask about three
things that none except a messenger knows: what is the first sign of
the Hour? What is the first meal that the dwellers ofParadiseeat?
Why is it that the child sometimes resembles his father and other
times his mother?" The Prophetsaid:"Jibreel )Gabriel( informed about
this earlier. Ibn Salaamsaid:"That is the Jews' enemy from theangels."
The Prophetsaid:"As for the first sign of the Hour, it is a fire that
gathers the peoplefrom the East and the West. As for the first meal
that the dwellers ofParadiseeat, it is a portion of the fish liver.
As for the child, if the water )i.e. sperm( of the man comes before
that of the woman, the child resembles his father and if the mother's
water comes first then the child resembles her. Thereupon, Ibn
Salaamsaid:"I bear witness that none has theright of being worshipped
but Allaah and that you are His messenger." Then Ibn Salaamsaid: "O
Prophet of Allaah, the Jews are people of falsehood.So ask them about
me before they realize that I have become Muslim. The Jews came and
the Prophetasked them: "How doyou grade 'Abdullaah Ibn Salaam within
your community." They said: "Our best and the son of ourbest."
Thereupon, the Prophetsaid: "What if 'Abdullaah Ibn Salaam becomes
Muslim?" They said: "May Allaah protect
him from that!" The Prophetthen repeated the same questions and the
Jews repeated the same answers. At that time, 'Abdullaah Ibn
Salaamcame out to them and said: 'I bear witness that none has the
right to be worshipped but Allaah and that Muhammad is His messenger.'
Thereupon, they )theJews( said: "He is our worst and the son of our
worst," and demeaned him. Ibn Salaamsaid: 'This is what I feared, O
Prophet of Allaah."
Ahmadreported that Ibn Abbaassaid:"A group of Jewscame one day to the
Prophetand said: 'O Abu Al-Qaasim, tell us some things that only true
messengers of Allaah know.' The Prophetsaid: "Ask me about whatever
you wish, but promise me by the Name of Allaah and by the covenant
Prophet Ya'qoobtook from his sons, that if I tell something that you
know, then you will follow me and become Muslims." They said:"That's
for you." Thereupon they said: "Tell us about the following four
things: tell us about the meal that Israel forbade himself before the
revelation of the Torahand tell us about the water)sperm( of the woman
and the water of the man how is the male child formed from that? And
tell us this illiterate Prophet during his sleep and who is his
guardian from the angels." The Prophetsaid: "Do you accept by the
covenant of Allaah that you will follow me if I inform you?" They
gave him as much covenant and promise as he wished. Then the
Prophetsaid: "I ask you by the One Who revealed the Torah to Moosaado
you know that Israel)Ya'qoob( fell badly sick and his sickness took a
long time, then he made a vow to Allaah that he would forbid on
himself the food he liked most if Allaah cures him, and the food he
liked most was camel meat and the drink was camel milk. They
said:"Yes." He said:
"O Allaah testify against them." Then hesaid: "I ask you by Allaah,
the One Who has no partners Who revealed the Torah to Moosaado you
know that the man's water is white and thick and that the woman's
water is yellow and thin. Any of the two waters gets above the other
gets the resemblance of the child in his sex and charactersby the will
of Allaah. If the water of the man gets over the woman it is a male
by the Will of Allaah and if the water of the woman gets above that of
the man then it is a female by the Will of Allaah.They said: 'By
Allaah what you said is true.' The Prophetsaid: "O Allaah testify
against them."
Then he said: "I ask you by the One Who revealed Torah to Moosaado you
know that the eyes of this illiterate Prophet sleep but his heart does
not." They said: 'By Allaah that is true.' He said: "O Allaah,
testify against them." They said: 'You, now tell us about your
guardian from the angels, we will stay with you or leave you according
to that.' Hesaid: "My guardian is Jibreel)Gabriel( and Allaah never
sent anyProphet but he was his guardian." The Jews said: 'So, wewill
separate from you. Had your guardian been another angel not Jibreel,
we would have followed you and believed in what you brought.'
The Prophetsaid: "But what prevents you from believing in him?" They
said: 'He is our enemy.' Then Allaah revealed thefollowing verses
)which means(:}Say, "Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel - it is ]none but[
he who has brought it ]i.e. the Quran[ down upon your heart, ]O
Muhammad[, by permission of Allaah,…{]Quran 2:97[. Allaah Says )which
means(:}And when aMessenger from Allaah came to them confirming that
which was with them, a party of those who had been given the Scripture
threw away the Book of Allaah behind their backs as if they did not
know.{]Quran 2:101[. Allaah Says )which means(:}So they returned
having ]earned[ wrath upon wrath{]Quran 2:90[.
Allaah Knows best.
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