Evaluation of riwayahs of tafsir in the context of correlated with abdallah b. salam verses in meccan suras

Abstract

In the era Islam emerged, Arabs were calling Jews and Christians as Ahl al-Kitab, respecting them and affected by them in many ways. When they failed in their debates against the Prophet, they were referring to the scholars of Ahl al-Kitab and relying on the information they got from them, they were trying to force and beat the Prophet intellectually by their questions. In the Meccan period, no clashes had happened between the Muslims and Ahl al-Kitab. Jewish scholars had been admitting that they knew the similarity in the topics of Quran and Tawrat, the Quran were telling the truth and the Prophet was conveying the message of the truth. In some of the verses, these right attitudes of the scholars of Ahl al-Kitab are used as a reference against Mushriks. In the verses said, those scholars are praised and indicated as a source of information for the Prophet as well. The verses related with the topic were understood in parallel with the context and direct meaning of the Nass by some scholars, yet, they were explained not taking the Nuzul environment and process into consideration by some other scholars. It is mentioned that Abdallah b. Salam and his friends who became Mus-lims in Medina period have been told in these verses. In this study, level of validity for these interpretations will be evaluated based on Quran-relationship and the fact that some of the asbab al-nuzul (circumstances of revelation) are known to be jurisprudential; and it will be argued that the true meaning of the nass is overshadowed. Summary: Tafsir is an effort to understand the divine address, and also to understand the relationship between Muslim, polytheist, and People of the Book (Ahl al-kitab) in the revela-tion and experience in this context. Since these issues are not explained in a wide and clear manner in the Qur'an, the hadiths, prophetic biography, narratives of asbab al-nuzul and the opinions of the companions and the views of the Companions and Tabi'in gain importance in understanding the verses. As the narrations of asbab al-nuzul contain some problems, it is proposed to evaluate this information based on sigas and hadith method in classical Qur'anic sciences studies. Although this approach is effective in solving many problems, it does not solve all problems. The question of whether the narrators of asbab al-nuzul is the real reason for the verse has been discussed from the very beginning. According to Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) al-Zarkashi (d. 794/1392) and al-Dihlawi (d. 1176/1762), the expression that "This verse has been revealed on this particular event" does not mean that the verse is revealed particularly and only for this event but rather that it is revealed for an event which is similar to that event, and that, subject verse also covers this provision. A. Nedim Serinsu and A. Riza Gul also drew attention to this fact and the narratives were divided into two as the real cause of nuzul and virtual cause of nuzul. When this issue is not known, it may become inexorable to analyze and make observations, and there may be problems regarding the interlocutors, date of births, being Meccan or Medinan. Those who want to learn the first-hand meaning of the verses, their interlocutors and the environment of nuzul are facing difficulties to choose between the contradictory narrations especially in narrative-weighted commentaries. It is necessary to pay attention to some points to evaluate the narrations correctly and make the right choice. These points are pro-phetic biography, the stages of nuzul, information about being Meccan or Medinan, the stages of development of relations between polytheists and Muslims, and tafsir explanations about nuzul. One of the issues with contradictory narratives and interpretations is Abdallah b. Salam. As one of the notables of the Medina Jews, he came to him when the Prophet arrived in Kuba, he asked some questions, and when he got the right answers, he became a Muslim saying that they could only be known by a prophet. It is claimed that he believed in the period of Mecca and the eighth year of the Hijr, but this information was not well accepted. Although it was not very intense in Mecca, there were certain relations between Jews and Christians and Muslims. Since there was no conflict between Muslims and the People of the Book, these verses are often praised by their scholars, and they were also cited as a reference for the Prophet and idolaters Some Meccan verses mention the following: Jews who are right-eous; the fulfilment of the requirements of the book, and the prayers of the Muslims that will not be wasted; the fact that the scholars of the Israelites know the truths in the Qur'an should be a proof for the idolaters; The Ahl al-kitab know that the Qur'an is a divine book; if he has doubts about the verses revealed to the Prophet, he should ask the Jewish scholars; Jews wit-nessed and believed the truth of the prophethood of the Prophet; the fact that Ahl al-kitab were delighted with the Qur'an. In the exegesis of these verses, it has been commented that the interlocutors are Abdallah b. Salam and his friends, Prophet Muhammad's companions, Selman al-Farisi, Ali and the kitab who believed in the Prophet. Since the commentators did not consider the process experienced with the Ahl al-kitab suffi-ciently, the verses that were written before becoming Muslim were associated with Abdallah b. Salam. However, Masruk (d. 63/683), Sha'bi (d. 104/722) and Said b. Jubayr (d. 94/713 [?]) refused to relate the Meccan verses to Abdallah b. Salam because they had considered the process of nuzul. When the revelations are evaluated on the basis of the Qur'an and pro-phetic biography relationship and the process of nuzul, it is understood that the interlocutors are the scholars of Ahl al-kitab who know and acknowledge that the Qur'an and the prophethood are right, as some commentators have indicated. In this case, it is understood that the commentators make comments that are not appropriate to the context, wording and nuzul process of the verses based on the narratives that are not true and that they use the name of Abdallah b. Salam as a kind of filling material since the information about the inter-locutors is limited. It is not acceptable to praise one of them in the revelations when we eval-uate the Ahl al-kitab by generalizing the truth, their hostility towards Islam and the wars. However, there were no clashes with Jews and Christians in Mecca and there were scholars who expressed the truth. They were praised when necessary, and also cited as a reference source for the Prophet and idolaters. In addition, in the verses that criticize the Ahl al-kitab in the verses Medinan, those who make the mistakes in question are not criticized as a whole. As in these examples, we need to evaluate the verses in the context of the individual process, not with the influence of our established perceptions and with a wholesale mind. Otherwise, unintentional results can be reached. It can be claimed that the Predecessors fell to an anachronism in their explanations about Abdallah b. Salam which did not conform to the date and time. However, when we consider the views of Ibn Taymiyya, al-Zarkashi and al-Dihlawi, it is understood that the Predecessors expressed views in terms of exegesis, opinion-based sampling rather than an anachronism. These interpretations of the Predecessors also depict that the information available to the interlocutors of the verses is insufficient. The fact that the historical information errors in Predecessors' illustrations and explanations show that the information transferred from them should be examined carefully and that one must not surrender him/her without inves-tigation. It is a clear fact that those who accept interpretations based on ijtihad as an actual asbab al-nuzul fall into anachronism. In this respect, it is understood that asbab al-nuzul nar-rations should be evaluated in accordance with the principles mentioned and it is necessary to distinguish between those who tell the real reason and those who do not and make a pref-erence among them.