‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported God’s messenger as saying, “Pass on information from me, even if it is only a verse of the Qur’an; and relate traditions from the Bani Isra'il, for there is no restriction; but let him who deliberately lies against me come to his abode in hell.” Bukhari transmitted it.
The Command to Transmit Knowledge
The Prophet (ﷺ) commands the transmission of divine revelation, emphasizing that even a single Qur'anic verse suffices. This establishes the obligation (fard kifayah) upon scholars to preserve and disseminate Islamic knowledge, ensuring its continuity through generations.
Permissibility of Isra'iliyat Narrations
The permission to narrate from Bani Isra'il refers to stories and accounts from previous scriptures that do not contradict Islamic principles. Scholars like Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani clarify such narrations serve as moral lessons, not as binding religious law (shari'ah).
Classical scholars established three conditions for accepting Isra'iliyat: 1) Not contradicting Qur'an or Sunnah 2) Not being definitively false 3) Not attributing to the Prophet (ﷺ) what isn't from him.
Severe Warning Against Fabrication
The severe threat of Hellfire for intentional fabrication serves as a protective mechanism for the sanctity of Prophetic tradition. Imam al-Nawawi explains this applies to anyone attributing false statements to the Prophet (ﷺ), whether in matters of law, history, or spiritual rewards.
This warning necessitated the development of rigorous hadith sciences (mustalah al-hadith) where scholars meticulously verified chains of transmission (isnad) and text (matn) to preserve the Prophetic legacy.
Practical Implementation
Scholars derived from this hadith the obligation to: 1) Teach Qur'an according to one's capacity 2) Distinguish between authentic and weak narrations 3) Maintain integrity in knowledge transmission 4) Warn against unauthorized interpretation.