Israʼiliyyat

Israiliyyat (in إسرائیلیات "Israelisms") are narratives assumed to be of foreign import in many parts of modern Islamic scholarship. Although indicating such stories develop from Jewish sources, narratives designated as Isra'iliyyat might also derive from other religions such as Christianity or Zoroastrianism. Many stories and narratives are designated by many Arab scholars as unislamic, yet enthusiastically used by pre-modern scholars. while many Arab scholars in modern times have called them unislamic.

These narratives appear frequently 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.

History
In the first 6th to 7th centuries of Islam, the term Isrā'īlīyāt did not play a major role and was rarely used until the 14th century, and not at all by all scholars. Until then, the term appeared to refer to a book or a corpus of stories related to the creation story and accounts of past prophets that were thought to be unreliable but did not find wide distribution. It was only until Ibn Taimiyya (d. 1328) that the Isrā'īlīyāt presented a collection of alleged 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 Tabari.

Nevertheless, it was his student Ibn Kathīr who first systematically used the term for traditions that he vehemently rejected. 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. 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. 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. For that reason, political rather than traditional motivations have been proposed as a motivator for the contemporary usage of the label Isrā'īlīyāt.

Turkish Islam scholar Ahmet Hamdi Akseki rejected the interpretation of the Creation Story as a historical event as of Biblical origin (Isrā'īlīyāt), emphasizing its allusion character in the Quran. He states that the Quran teaches wisdom, not scientific truths and argues that the reconciliation of science and religion is a Bible's challenge. Süleyman Ateş largely follows Akseki's assessment of the Creation narrative, but adds records from Islamic tradition to demonstrate that Islamic sources employ that creation is a process and in contrast to Biblical reports.

Transmitters of Isra’iliyyat
Among the best known transmitters of Isra’iliyyat traditions is Wahb b. Munabbih (655-732 CE), who lived in the generation after the Sahaba (companions of Muhammad), and who is cited as a trustworthy source for many oral accounts linked to Jewish and Christian traditions. Another well-known transmitter of Isra’iliyyat is Kaʽb al-Akhbār (d. 652 CE), 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. Yet another is Abdullah ibn Salam, who is described as a rabbi before his conversion to Islam.

Ibn ‘Abbas (619-687 CE), was a cousin and young companion 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. Ibn Abbas was only thirteen years old at the time of Muhammad’s death. Ibn ‘Abbas is reported to have been responsible for the transmission of large amounts of exegetical traditions to later Qur’an commentaries. A broad amount of Isra’iliyyat traditions were attributed to him.