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Fatwa CenterWhy Moses threw the tablets
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. My question pertains to explanation of Soorah Al-A'raf, verse 154. It is about the supplication of Moosa (Moses), may Allaah exalt his mention, in which Allaah tells him about the different virtues of best Ummah ([community] that of Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam), and every time He asks Allaah to make his Ummah the same virtuous Ummah or to make that one his Ummah and finally He asks Allaah to include him in the Ummah of Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, or says, "If only I would have been among the companions of Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam. I was told that this supplication is mentioned in Tafseer ibn Kaseer and Tafseer Mahazri (Qazi Sannaullah Naqishbandi) - verse 154 in Soorah Al-A'raf. However, in said Tafseers, I find two different narrators (Qatada and Kahb Aehbar respectively), with a difference in the text and no chain of narrators. Please comment on this prayer of Moosa, may Allaah exalt his mention, in light of hadiths and the Quran. What is the status of these two narrations? Are these Mustanad or Ghair Mustanad? May Allaah reward you.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
This narration was cited by Ibn Katheer 
in his Tafseer of the mentioned verse. Many Tafseer scholars cited it as well, such as As-Sanʻaani, At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi, and others, on the authority of Qataadah, Kaʻb Al-Ahbaar, and Ibn Munabbih. However, we did not find it in any of the reliable hadeeth books, and we did not find any scholar who narrated it as a Marfooʻ hadeeth (directly attributed to the Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam) except for Ibn ʻAsaakir in his book Taareekh Dimashq. After citing it, he commented on it saying, "I do not find this hadeeth to be authentic because Kaʻb did not live in the time of the caliph Muʻaawiyah; rather, he died during the Caliphate of ʻUthmaan."
Ibn ʻAtiyyah commented on the narration of Qataadah, saying:
"He threw the tablets of the Torah, as stated in the verse. Saʻeed ibn Jubayr narrated on the authority of Ibn ʻAbbaas that he said, 'The reason why he threw the tablets was his anger with his people for worshiping the calf and his anger with his brother for failing to look after them (in his absence).' It has been reported on the authority of Qataadah, if proven authentic, that he was angry because of the virtuous status of Muhammad's nation. He wanted this status for his own nation, and when he found out that it was for another nation, he became angry. Al-Qaadhi Abu Muhammad said, 'This is a bad statement, and it is inappropriate to describe Moosa (Moses) 
as such. The first (statement) is the correct one." [Tafseer Ibn ʻAtiyyah 2/457]
Al-Haafith Ibn Katheer said in his Tafseer:
"The apparent indication of the context is that he threw the tablets because he was angry with his people. This is the view adopted by the majority of the early and late scholars. Ibn Jareer At-Tabari related an odd statement attributed to Qataadah in this regard, but it cannot be authentically attributed to Qataadah. Ibn ʻAtiyyah and other scholars refuted that statement, and it is worthy of refutation. It is as if he received it from some of the People of the Book, and it is known that some of them were liars and blasphemers who were known for fabricating narrations." [Tafseer Ibn Katheer 2/313]
The verifier of Tafseer Al-Baghawi commented on the narration on the authority of Kaʻb, saying, "It is a report narrated on the authority of Kaʻb Al-Ahbaar, and its source is the books of Israa'eeliyyaat (the body of narratives originating from Jewish and Christian traditions). Kaʻb Al-Ahbaar was a scholar from the People of the Book before he converted to Islam. After his conversion, he continued to narrate their traditions and reports; rather, all his narrations are from the Israa'eeliyyaat..." [Tafseer Al-Baghawi 2/232]
Since the supplication is not proven to be authentic, there is no need to comment on it.
Allaah knows best.
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