Yahudilikten İhtidâ Etmiş Bir Sahâbî: Abdullah b. Selâm ve Hadis Rivayeti
A Companion who Converted from Judaism: Abdallah ibn Salām and Hadith Narration

Summary/Abstract: The companions of the Prophet contributed to hadith narration in different ways in terms of some of their personal characteristics. In this study, Abdallah ibn Salām, a companion who converted from Judaism, and his hadith narration are discussed. Abdallah ibn Salām, one of the leading scholars of the Jews, confirmed the Prophet and became a Muslim based on his knowledge of the characteristics of the last prophet, who was reported to come in the Torah. At the time of the Prophet, he was given a number of duties. It is noteworthy that these tasks were especially for his former co-religionists. He demonstrated the sincerity of his Muslim faith by performing these duties. After the Prophet's death, he generally had good relations with the caliphs. He took an active part in some events during the reign of Khalif Umar. He supported Khalif Uthman in his most difficult moment, when the rebels wanted to kill him, and advised Khalif Ali by giving him his predictions about the future. He was one of the most important scholars of the Jews of Medina before he became a Muslim, and after his conversion to Islam, he had an important place among the Muslims in terms of knowledge. From time to time, the companions asked him questions and benefited from his knowledge of his old religion. It was found that Hazrat Umar, Abû Hurayra and Abdallah ibn Abbas asked him questions in this context. It is seen that even the Prophet benefited from his knowledge of the Torah when necessary. Abdallah ibn Salām was one of the companions who were heralded with the good news of Paradise by the Prophet. It is also seen that a number of verses were revealed about him, and he is mentioned in the exegesis of many verses. In particular, in the exegesis of the verses that mention the believers, the followers of the covenant, those who were given knowledge, the pious, the distinguished, and those who were praised from among the Ahl al-Kitāb in general, these people are explained as Abdallah ibn Salām and his friends. However, there are some verses in the commentaries that are reported to have been revealed as a warning to Abdallah ibn Salām and his friends. It is seen that there are some unfounded allegations about Abdallah ibn Salām. His name is mentioned in the claims that the Qur'ān is of Jewish origin, which have been voiced by Jews and some Orientalists since the Middle Ages. There are also claims that he was a mentor to the Prophet. However, when the narrative sources are scanned, it is seen that the Prophet benefited from Abdallah ibn Salām's knowledge in only two matters. These two issues are the punishment of stoning Jews for adultery and the reason why the people of Quba were praised by Allah. There are also some unfounded claims about his historical personality. There are orientalists who want to make the date of his conversion to Islam later and even claim that he had actually converted to save the Jewish people by sacrificing himself. However, when historical and narrative sources are examined, it is seen that these claims do not have any solid basis. Abu Reyya, on the other hand, criticized Abdallah ibn Salām on the basis of Israiliyat. According to him, Abdallah ibn Salām pretended to be a sincere Muslim and fabricated lies in the name of the Prophet as a trap to wear down Islam, even though he did not actually accept Islam. However, Abdallah ibn Salām, who converted to Islam at a time when the Muslims were still weak, showed his sincerity by performing the duties assigned to him against his former co-religionists, the Jews. Moreover, there is no insinuation from the companions or the successors that his Islam was a deception; on the contrary, there are narrations praising him. Seventy-five narrations of Abdallah ibn Salām, who was one of the Muqillun and had the highest number of narrations among the Companions who converted from Judaism, were identified. Fourteen of these seventy-five narrations were found to have sahih isnads, thirty-eight were found to have hasan isnads, nineteen were found to have weak isnads, three narrations had a narrator who was an muttaham bi al-waz' in the isnad, and one narration was found to be mawdu. Accordingly, sixty-nine percent of the narrations narrated from Abdallah ibn Salām are in the sahih or hasan category. In addition, when these seventy-five narrations are analyzed in terms of content, it is seen that there are different versions of fifty narrations in total. Within the framework of these narrations, fifty narrators who narrated from Abdallah ibn Salām were identified. These include the Companions, Muhadrams, and those from among the successors. When the mawquf narrations of 'Abdallah ibn Salām, one of the Companions who were subjected to criticism on the basis of Israiliyat, were examined in terms of their subject matter, twenty-two mawquf narrations that could be included in Israiliyat were identified. These narrations are mostly found in mu'jam and musannaf type works. The content of these narrations is generally related to the creation, the history of the prophets, the hereafter, the signs of the apocalypse, fiten and melahim. Although there is insufficient information on why 'Abdallah ibn Salām narrated such narrations, it is likely that he narrated them in order to satisfy the curiosity of the Companions on the relevant topics. Considering the amount of such narrations of Abdallah ibn Salām, which have different degrees of authenticity, it is possible to conclude that he did not have an exaggerated influence on the subject of Israliyat. In addition, when such narrations are taken into consideration, the groundlessness of Abu Reyya's claim that Abdallah ibn Salām actually became a Muslim in order to corrupt Islam becomes evident. Because if he wanted to corrupt Islam, he would have narrated these narrations on the basis of the Prophet. However, he did not attribute these narrations to the Prophet, rather, he sometimes stated that they were based on the Torah and he transmitted them in his own words.

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