Holy Koran says,
Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and then say, “This is from Allah” [2:79]
According to Asbab-ul-Nuzul, there is a narration that says that Jews distorted the texts of the Torah that mention the physical description of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalam) in the Torah. This is what Asbab-ul-Nuzul says about Surah Baqarah, verse 79:-
"This was revealed about those who had changed the description of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and altered his traits. Al-Kalbi mentioned, through the above-mentioned chain of transmission: “They had changed the description of Allah’s Messenger, Allah bless him and give him peace, in their Scripture. They made him white and tall while the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, was brown and of medium height. They had said to their followers and companions: ‘Look at the description of the prophet who will be sent at the end of time; his description does not match that of this [man]’. The Jewish rabbis and doctors used to gain some worldly benefits from the Jewish people and so they were afraid of losing this gain if they were ever to show the real description. It is for this reason that they had changed it”." (Asbab-ul-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi; Commentary on Surah baqarah, verse 79)
The problem here is that I have never heard any Muslim who says that Torah describes Holy Prophet (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalam) like that. There are many Torah manuscripts, but I don't think that any Torah manuscripts that predate Islam describes the physical features of Holy Prophet (Sallallahualayhiwassalm). There is one narration in Bukhari that says that Torah mentions the coming of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalm) in the sense that Torah mentions the qualities of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalam), NOT PHYSICAL FEATURES.
Narrated Ata bin Yasar:
I met Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin Al-’As and asked him, “Tell me about the description of Allah’s Apostle which is mentioned in Torah (i.e. Old Testament). He replied, ‘Yes. By Allah, he is described in Torah with some of the qualities attributed to him in the Quran such as: “O Prophet ! We have sent you as a witness and a giver of glad tidings, and a warner (Qur’an 48:8) and guardian of the Ummiyyeen. You are My Servant and My messenger (i.e. Apostle). I have named you “Al-Mutawakkil” (who depends upon Allah). You are neither discourteous, harsh nor a noise-maker in the markets And you do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness. Allah will not let him (the Prophet) die till he makes straight the crooked people by making them say: “None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,” with which will be opened blind eyes and deaf ears and enveloped hearts.” (Sahih al-Bukhari 2125)
NOTE: The Bukhari narration does not say that Torah mentions physical features of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalam). The Bukhari narration only says that he (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalam) is only mentioned by qualities attributed to him, NOT physical features.
My main Question is: What is the authenticity of the narration in Asbab-ul-Nuzul that say that Jews tried to distort the text in the Torah that mention the physical qualities of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu'alayhiwassalam)?
Thanks, all Muslim brothers!
