Neither believe nor disbelieve the People of the Book but say: {We believe in Allah and wh…

Islam > Hadiths > The noble quran and quranic sciences > Neither believe nor disbelieve the People of the Book but say: {We believe in Allah and wh…

Hadith narrated by Narrated by Al-Bukhāri

Authentic

Updated on 24 September 2026 at 12:34 AM

📖 2 min read

Hadith text: Neither believe nor disbelieve the People of the Book b…

عَنْ ‌أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: كَانَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ يَقْرَؤُونَ التَّوْرَاةَ بِالْعِبْرَانِيَّةِ، وَيُفَسِّرُونَهَا بِالْعَرَبِيَّةِ لِأَهْلِ الْإِسْلَامِ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «لَا تُصَدِّقُوا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ وَلَا تُكَذِّبُوهُمْ، وَقُولُوا: {آمَنَّا بِاللهِ وَمَا أُنْزِلَ إِلَيْنَا} [البقرة: 136] الْآيَةَ».

Explanation of the hadith: Neither believe nor disbelieve the People of the Book b…

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) warned his Ummah not to get deceived by what the People of the Book report in their books. The Jews, during the Prophet's lifetime, used to read the Torah in Hebrew, the language of the Jews, and expound on it in Arabic. So, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: Neither believe nor disbelieve the People of the Book. This applies to things that are not known to be true or false. In fact, Allah Almighty commanded us to believe in the Qur’an revealed to us and the Book revealed to them. But there is no way in which we can know whether what they relate to us from these books is true or false, unless our Shariah clarifies whether it is true or false. Hence, we should stop, neither believing them, lest we may become their partners in what they distorted, nor disbelieving them, lest their statement may be right, and thus we will be denying what we were commanded to believe in. And Allah Almighty commanded the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) that we should say: {We believe in Allah and what has been sent down to us; and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the descendants [of Jacob]; and what was given to Moses and Jesus; and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted.} [Surat al-Baqarah: 136]

Lessons: Neither believe nor disbelieve the People of the Book b…

Categories : The Noble Qur'an and Qur'anic Sciences · Qur'anic Exegesis · Rules and Principles of Exegesis · The Creed · Belief in the Revealed Books · Pre-Islamic Scriptures

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لا إله إلا الله There is no god but Allah

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ صَلُّوا۟ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا۟ تَسْلِيمًا

God and His angels shower their blessings on the Prophet. O believers, you should also send your blessings on him, and salute him with a worthy greeting.

Al-Ahzab 33:56

Blessings on the Prophet ﷺ