The Thirteenth Evidence

A third reason for revelation is the statement of Ibn ’Abbas, may Allāh be pleased with him: Abū Barzah Al-Aslami was a soothsayer who used to settle disputes among the Jews. Some Muslims went to him for judgment, and Allāh revealed the Āyah: “Have you not seen those who claim to believe...” [An-Nisā': 60]. ['Asbāb An-Nuzūl' of Al-Wāḥidi, p. 118; 'Al-Mu’jam Al-Kabīr' of Aṭ-Ṭabarāni 12045]. Al-Haythami, may Allāh have mercy on him, said: «رجاله رجال الصحيح» "The narrators are found in the authentic collections" [Majma’ Az-Zawā'id (6/934)]. Ibn Ḥajar, may Allāh have mercy on him, said: «بسند جید» "With a sound chain of narration" [Al-Iṣābah (7/32), under the biography of Abū Barzah Al-Aslami] If someone says: Allāh attributed them to hypocrisy because they sought judgment from the soothsayer. The response is twofold: 1. The context of the Āyāt indicates that they were already hypocrites. The Āyah describes one of their traits, but there is no indication in the Āyah or its reason for revelation that seeking judgment from the soothsayer was the cause for labeling them as hypocrites. Anyone who acts as they did is resembling them, but resembling the hypocrites in one characteristic does not necessarily make someone a major hypocrite (who exits the fold of Islam). 2. The intention of these individuals was an intention that nullifies Ēmān, as it contradicts the rejection of Ṭāghūt (false deities), as previously mentioned (p. #).