The Acknowledgment of Objective Jewish Scholars
It is undoubtedly wise to support our call to the People of the Book to embrace Islam with the testimonies of their objective scholars who were guided by Allah The Almighty and accepted the truth and did not conceal it. This is an application of the same logic of the verse (that means): {And a witness from her family testified.} [Quran 12:26]
The following are examples of scholars who were recognized by their people to be Jewish. These Jews accepted Islam as the true religion of Allah The Almighty.
1 - ‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him
‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him, was the man who outweighed all the Jews at the time of the Prophet, . He was their absolute master, the son of their master, their scholar and the son of their scholar based on their acknowledgments and testimonies, and he embraced Islam. This made countless Jewish scholars and monks follow him in this.
Here is the story of how he embraced Islam that was narrated on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said,
Abdullaah ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him, knew about the coming of the Prophet to Madeenah. So, he came to him and said, “I will ask you about three things that would be known only by a prophet. What is the first sign of the Hour? What is the first food that the dwellers of Paradise will eat? And why does a child look like his father or mother?” The Prophet said:“Jibreel [Gabriel, may Allah exalt his mention], has told me about this before.”Ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “This is the enemy of the Jews among the angels.” The Prophet said: “The first sign of the Hour is a fire that will collect the people from the east to the west. The first food that the dwellers of paradise will eat is the caudate [extra] lobe of the whale liver. As for the resemblance of the child, if a man had sexual intercourse with a woman and he ejaculated semen first, the child would resemble him but if the woman ejaculated vaginal fluid first, the child would resemble her.”‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam said, “I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that you are the messenger of Allah.”
Then he said, “O Prophet! The Jews are liars and if they knew that I embraced Islam, they would defame me, so ask them about me first.” The Prophet sent a messenger to invite them. When they came, the Prophet said to them:“O Jews, woe be to you! Fear Allah. You know that I really am the Messenger of Allah and have brought you the truth so, embrace Islam.”They said,“We do not know this.”The Prophet repeated his words three times, then he asked:“What do you think of ‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam?”They said, “He is our master and the son of our master. He is the most knowledgeable one among us.” The Prophet asked them:“What if he were to embrace Islam?”They replied, “May Allah protect him from this. He will never embrace Islam.” The Prophet asked them again:“What if he were to embrace Islam?”They replied, “He will never embrace Islam.” The Prophet asked them for a third time:“What if he were to embrace Islam?”They again replied, “He will never embrace Islam.”
The Prophet then said:“O Ibn Salaam, show them yourself!”So he came out and said, “O Jews! Fear Allah. I swear by Allah who is the only One worthy of worship that you know that he is the Messenger of Allah and that he came with the truth.” They said, “You are lying. You are the most evil one among us and the son of the most evil man among us.” Then they began defaming him. Abdullaah, may Alllaah be pleased with him, then said, “This is what I had feared, Messenger of Allah.” [Al-Bukhari]
It is also narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said,
When the Prophet arrived in Madeenah, people rushed to [receive] him and it was said three times, “The Messenger has arrived!” I came among people to have a look, and when I saw his face, I knew that it was not the face of a liar. The first thing I heard from him was his saying: “O people! Greet each other with peace profusely, serve food to others, maintain kinship relations, and pray at night while people are asleep, so that you will enter Paradise peacefully.” [Ibn Maajah, Ahmad and At-Tirmithi]
Allah The Almighty commended this pious scholar, ‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him: In a Hadeeth on the authority of Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqaas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “I never heard the Prophet say to anyone walking on earth that he was one of the people of Paradise other than ‘Abdullaah ibn Salaam, may Allah be pleased with him; he said:“This verse was revealed regarding him; Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {A witness from the Children of Israel has testified to something similar.} [Quran 46:10]”[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
2 -The rabbi, Zayd ibn Su‘nah, may Allah be pleased with him
He said, “I have seen all the signs of prophethood in the face of the Messenger of Allah, when I looked at him, except for two things: his gentleness overtaking his anger, and the harsher one is to him, the kinder he becomes. I have now tested these qualities in him. I hold you, ‘Umar, a witness that I am now satisfied with Allah as a Lord, Islam as a religion and Muhammad as a Prophet. I also hold you as a witness that I will give half of my wealth – noting that I am the wealthiest in Madeenah - for the Sake of Allah to the entire Ummah.” ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Let it be to some of the Ummah, as it you cannot give to the entire Ummah.” Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Let my wealth be given to some of the Ummah.” Both Zayd and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, set out to the Messenger of Allah, , and Zayd said to him, “I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.” He believed in him, gave him the pledge of obedience, and witnessed many battles with him. He died in the Battle of Tabook in the face of the enemy. and have mercy upon him.
3 - A Jewish boy embraces Islam just before his death
The Prophet, , along with Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, went to a Jewish man who was reading from a scroll of the Torah, consoling himself because of the plight of his son who was dying. His son was very handsome. The Messenger, , said: “I ask you by the One who revealed this Torah, do you find any mention in this book of yours of my attributes and my emergence?”The man gestured with his head to indicate “No”, but the son said,“Yes indeed, by the One who revealed the Torah, we do find mention of your attributes and your emergence in our Book, and I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that you are His Slave and Messenger.”Thereupon, the Prophet, , said:“Keep this Jew away from your brother.”Then he took care of shrouding him and praying over him.” [Ahmadin Al-Musnad]
We have already provided three examples of rabbis who acknowledged that Muhammad, , was a true Prophet, and that his description was found in the Torah and that the Jews knew it exactly as they knew their own children. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {And say, “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve.”} [Quran 18:29]
There is another incident narrated on the authority of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, “A young Jewish boy would serve the Prophet and became sick, so the Prophet went to visit him. He sat near his head and asked him to embrace Islam. The boy looked at his father, who was sitting there. The father told him to obey Abu Al-Qaasim and the boy embraced Islam. The Prophet came out saying:‘All perfect praise is due to Allah Who saved the boy from Hell-fire.’” [Al-Bukhari]