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Israʼiliyyat (in Arabic: إسرائیلیات "Israelisms") are narratives assumed to be of foreign import in many parts of modern Islamic scholarship. Isra'iliyyat are typically said to derive from Jewish sources, but some also sourced from Christian or Zoroastrian tradition.^[1] Many Muslim scholars now label Isra'iliyyat as un-Islamic or foreign to Islam,^[2] yet they were enthusiastically used by pre-modern scholars.^[3][4]

Israelisms frequently appear in Qur'anic commentaries, Sufi narratives and history compilations. They are used to offer more detailed information regarding earlier prophets mentioned in the Bible and the Qur'an, stories about the ancient Israelites, and fables allegedly or actually taken from Jewish sources.^[5]

The first known use of the term Isra'iliyyat is in a writing of the 10th-century historian and geographer al-Masudi (d. 345/946), in his Murūğ al-ḏahab, as he discusses traditions concerning the creation of the horse. In this context, al-Masudi states that he is relying on stories from Israelite's, or Isra'iliyyat. Al-Masudi often cites Wahb ibn Munabbih when discussing biblical history and prophetic narratives.^[6] Al-Masudi's usage

clearly indicates that the term isrāʾīliyyāt was known in the IV/X sec. and that it was used to refer to a genre of prodigious stories about cosmogony and Biblical history of questionable reliability.^[7]

The next known usage is in the writings of Ibn al-Murağğā, in a text written around 430/1040, also in the context of narratives sourced from Wahb. In this case, Ibn al-Murağğā was directly citing a book of Wahb's entitled the Kītāb al-isrāʾīliyyāt (Book of Israelisms). Al-Ghazali also uses the term in relation to the name of a book, but one that is not connected to Wahb's name.^[8] Whether Wahb composed a document by such a name is disputed (others instead attribute a similar text to Hammad ibn Salama (d. 783)^[9]). In addition to these, a few initial occurrences of the term can also be found in the works of Abu Bakr al-Turtushi, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi (a pupil of Turtushi), Ibn al-Jawzi, and some others. What these usages indicate is that before the 13th and 14th centuries, usage of the term was not systematic (though well-attested), that the term was used in a few different senses (especially in terms of a book name, or as references to unreliable traditions about cosmogony or prophets originating among Israelite's).^[10]

Until the 14th century, the term Isra'iliyyat did not play a significant role and was not systematically used. It was only until Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1328) that the Isrā'īlīyāt came to be understood as a collection of unreliable traditions of supposed Jewish origin, related to earlier narrators, such as Wahb ibn Munabbih and Ka'b al-Ahbar, whose authority was still retained by earlier Sunni scholars, such as Al-Tabari.^[11]

Nevertheless, it was Ibn Taymiyya's student Ibn Kathīr who first systematically used the term for traditions that he vehemently rejected.^[4][12] He treats not only the traditions themselves, but also the narrators, such as ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbbās, disparagingly. But it was not until the 20th century that the systematic use of Isrā'īlīyāt became established. They are often criticized, especially today in the Arab world, and viewed as “un-Islamic”. Only in the Turkish regions are Isrā'īlīyāt occasionally used and tolerated.^[13] However, Arabic contemporary exegesis generally sees them as foreign to Islam and believes that elements such as the perspectives on prophetic figures, contradict or appear to contradict certain theological beliefs.^[14] The strong criticism of this literature is a modern phenomenon and stands in contrast to the intensive use of these texts in pre-modern times.^[15] For that reason, political rather than traditional motivations have been proposed as a motivator for the contemporary usage of the label Isrā'īlīyāt.^[16]

The exact origin of the material is highly controversial in research. For example, some researchers give greater weight to Judaism and some to Christianity. However, due to the emergence of Islam in a late antique environment,^[17] these texts are not necessarily based only on Judaism and Christianity (or one of the two religions), but also on the general late antique narrative context, which was characterized by a great religious plurality. These are important intertexts that represent a decisive insights into the exegetical process of early Islam and whose use in later literature also shows the interpreter's own emphasis.^[18]

There is no clear evidence regarding the exact manner by which Biblical, Talmudic, or other religious themes might have entered Islamic literature. Muslim sources indicate a number of individuals who converted to Islam from Judaism among the first generations of Muslims and were transmitters of Isrā'īlīyāt. These include such names as Ka’b al-Ahbar and Abd Allah b. Salam. Some sources also suggest that “Muslims studied with practicing Jews,” though the nature and extent of such coeducation is not clear. Biblical events and exegetical commentaries of Jewish origin may also have entered Islamic tradition via educated Christians of Eastern churches such as those of Abyssinia and/or through various local populations of Jews in the Yemen and the Arabian Peninsula.^[19]

Notable individuals to whom the transmission of stories of Jewish and Christian origins are:^[20]

• Kaʽb al-Akhbār (d. 652), a Yemenite Jew who converted to Islam shortly after the death of Muhammad. He is credited with many oral and written traditions from the Bible and Jewish sources.
• Abu al-Darda (d. 652).
• Tamim al-Dari (d. 661).
• Abdullah ibn Salam (d. 663), described as a rabbi before his conversion to Islam.
• Ibn ‘Abbas (d. 687 CE), a cousin and young companion (Sahaba) of Muhammad. He is regarded as one of the greatest authorities on the Qur’an in general and especially the place of Isra’iliyyat traditions in its interpretation.
• Wahb b. Munabbih (d. 732), who was born in the generation after the Sahaba, and who is cited as a trustworthy source for many oral accounts linked to Jewish and Christian traditions.

• Donner, Fred (1998). Narratives of Islamic Origins: The Beginnings of Islamic Historical Writing. Darwin Press.
• Durmaz, Reyhan (2022). Stories Between Islam and Christianity. University of California Press.
• Tottoli, Roberto (1999). "Origin and Use of the Term Isrā'īiyyāt in Muslim Literature". Arabica. 46 (2): 193–210.

• Pregill, Michael (2008). "Isra'iliyyat, Myth, and Pseudepigraphy: Wahb b. Munabbih and the Early Islamic Versions of the Fall of Adam and Eve". Jerusalem studies in Arabic and Islam. 34: 215–284.