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Did a Christian “Contribute” to the Revelation?

22 November, 2019
Q I found this report from an islamic website:It was narrated that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: There was a Christian man who became Muslim and read al-Baqarah and Aal ‘Imraan, and he used to write for the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). He went back to being a Christian, and he used to say: MUHAMMAD DOES NOT KNOW ANYTHING BUT WHAT I WROTE FOR HIM. Allah caused him to die, and they buried him, then the next morning the earth had thrown him out. They said: This is the doing of Muhammad and his companions, because he ran away from them; they dug up our companion and threw him (on the ground). So they dug a grave for him and made it deep, but the next morning the earth had thrown him out. They said: This is the doing of Muhammad and his companions, because he ran away from them; they dug up our companion and threw him (on the ground). They dug another hole for him and they made it as deep as they could in the ground, but the next morning the earth had thrown him out. Thus they realised that this was not something that people had done, so they left him unburied. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Book 64, Hadith 124)As one can see the Hadith is Sahih. Like the incident with Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh the Christian man contributed to the Divine text. I'm confused as to why the Prophet SAW allowed such contribution? Doesn't this contradict with many verses highlighting the Qur'an's immunity from outside influence? Need help.

Answer

Short Answer: This incident is a clear proof of the authenticity of the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). By this, I mean what happened to this man when the earth had thrown his body out confirms the fact that what he claimed was just a  big lie. Because it was impossible for the Prophet to accept this man’s allegation that he wrote something different from what the Prophet dictated to him. Here, there is no clear proof that what the Prophet used to ask him to write was from the Quran. It is possible that the Prophet asked him to write letters or messages to the kings and the rulers of that time. If we suppose that this man used to write the revelation, we have to remember that it is God who shouldered the responsibility of protecting the revelation. We read in the Quran what means:

*{ Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.}* (Quran 15:9)

………….

Salam dear questioner,

Thank you for your question.

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Let me make it clear that the man mentioned in the narration you quoted in your question is not Abdullah ibn Sad ibn Abi Al-Sarh. It is true that Abdullah left Islam for some time but he reverted to Islam during the conquest of Makkah.

As for the man mentioned in this narration, his name is not confirmed or even mentioned in the sources. In a narration reported by Imam Muslim, it is mentioned that “There was a person amongst us who belonged to the tribe of Bani Najjar…” Therefore, his name is not known. What is confirmed is that he was Christian.  

Signs of the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad

To answer your question, we have to point our certain facts.

The narration of Imam Al-Bukhari is quoted under a chapter entitled: Signs of the Prophethood of Prophet Muhammad.” 

Therefore, this incident is a clear proof of the authenticity of the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). By this I mean what happened to this man when the earth had thrown his body out confirms the fact that what he claimed was just a  big lie. Because it was impossible for the Prophet to accept this man’s allegation that he wrote something different from what the Prophet dictated to him.

Here, there is no clear proof that what the Prophet used to ask him to write was from the Quran. It is possible that the Prophet asked him to write letters or messages to the kings and the rulers of that time.

God Protects the Revelation

If we suppose that this man used to write the revelation, we have to remember that it is God who shouldered the responsibility of protecting the revelation. We read in the Quran what means:

*{Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.}* (Quran 15:9)

We also read:

*{Move not your tongue with it, [O Muhammad], to hasten with recitation of the Qur’an. Indeed, upon Us is its collection [in your heart] and [to make possible] its recitation.}* (Quran 75:16-17)

Therefore, God would not let this Christian man change the revelation on his own.

It is reported in a narration that when this man went back to his people, he told them that the Prophet allowed him to write whatever he wanted. Who could we believe that the Prophet did not care about what was written in his presence?

What happened to this man was a fair punishment from God for what he claimed. His death was a proof for everybody who might think that the text of the Quran was altered or changed at the hands of this Christian man.

The death of this man happened among his people so that they will be the first to witness God’s punishment on this man because of his false accusations. When the earth threw his boy out for a number of time, each time they said: “This is an act of Muhammad and his companions. They dug the grave of our companion and threw his body outside it, for he had run away from them.” 

At the end, they confessed that “what had befallen him was not done by human beings and had to leave him thrown (on the ground).”

So, they acknowledged that it was God who made the earth throw the body of their friend out.   

Characteristics of the Hypocrites and Rulings Concerning Them

Also the narration of Imam Muslim is mentioned under a chapter entitled:
Characteristics of the Hypocrites and Rulings Concerning Them”. So, what this Christian man did was a clear sign of his being a hypocrite.

Brother, we must be sure that the Quran we have today is the same Quran that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad more than 1400 years ago and will remain the same till the Day of Judgement. Not a single letter was added to it or removed from it. We read in the Quran what means:

*{Say, “If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants.”} (Quran 17:88)

We hope this answers your question.

Please keep in touch.

Salam

(From Ask About Islam archives)

Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:

The Quran: From the Preserved Tablet to Humankind

How Can We Be Sure That the Quran is Authentic?

How Do We Know that the Quran has Never been Changed?

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Dr. Mohsen Haredy
Dr. Mohsen Haredy holds a PhD in Hadith literature from Leiden University, the Netherlands. He is the former Executive Manager and Editor-in-Chief of E-Da`wah Committee in Kuwait, and a contributing writer and counselor of Reading Islam. He graduated from Al-Azhar University and earned his MA in Hadith literature from Leiden University.