Isra'iliyat

Part of a series on Hadith studies

Terminology

History of Hadith — ... Criticism of Hadith — ... Ilm ar-Rijal — ... Hadith terminology — ... Isnad — chain of narrators Matn — hadith text

In the hadith studies of Islamic theology, Isra'iliyat (اسرائیلیات "of the Israelites") is the body of hadith originating from Judeo-Christian traditions, rather than from other well-accepted sources that quote the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Isra'iliyat are mostly non-biblical explanatory stories and traditions (in Hebrew: midrashim) giving extra information or interpretation about events or individuals recorded in the Hebrew scriptures.

Muslims classify such hadith in three categories :

• Those considered to be true because the revelation to Muhammad confirms them.
• Those considered to be false, because the revelation to Muhammad rejects them.
• Those not known to be either true or false.

Sunni view

Mufti Muhammad Shafi says of Isra'iliyat:

Judaica or Isra'iliyyat are narratives which have reached us through Jews and Christians. It may be noted that the early commentators used to write down all sorts of narrations which reached them from an identified source. Many of these narrations were straight from Judaica.

External links

• Terry Newman, The Isra’iliyyat Literature, November 2003.