The Israelites (Isra'iliyyat) in the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and its Reflection in Persian Literature

Abstract

One of the aspects of the Persian literary index is the attention of the literary people to the Qur'anic issues and prophetic stories. A part of these stories and narrations are derived from the Holy Qur'an, which has no problems and in fact, it is ornamentation for literary texts. But a significant part of it is shaped by Israelites (Isra'iliyyat). Due to the coordination of the Holy Quran with some of the topics of the Torah and the Gospel, as well as the tendency of a group of scholars from People of the Book/Scripture, such as Ka'b Ul-Āhbar, Wahab ibn Monabbah, Abu Horayreh and others to Islam, has caused interpreters and historians to pay attention to the sources of People of the Book/Scripture and their statements. And from here, their strange and fictional stories have penetrated into the field of interpretive, historical and literary texts. Poets and writers of Persian literature who were familiar in historical and commentary texts were influenced by these myths and fabricated hadiths and unwittingly, as commentators and historians, played a key role in promoting Israelites (Isra'iliyyat). Unfortunately, the main part of these myths is related to the life of the prophets and the Prophet (PBUH) is no exception, but in the hadiths, he is exposed to the Israelites more than other prophets. This research attempts to answer the question in an analytical descriptive way: What aspects of the life of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) are affected by Israelites (Isra'iliyyat)? And what have been the role of commentators, historians and, most importantly, the role of poets and writers of Persian literature in the propagation of such fake?

Keywords

• israelites (isra'iliyyat)
• mohammad (pbuh)
• myths
• false narratives
• scholars of the book/scripture