# Why does the Quran focus so much on the Israelites?

*Why the Quran singles out the Israelites*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/25/
- Date: 2021-02-16 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:21:32–1:23:18)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=4892s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/

**Topics:** Prophethood and miracles; Stories of the prophets

**Question as asked:** Why was Bani Isra'il raised as an ummah and given different laws if Allah knew he would raise a new one, and the final messenger wouldn't be from them?

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** Most peoples had prophets, he says; the Israelites are highlighted because in the Prophet's Arabia they were seen as the scholars of the people of scripture.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says the Israelites are highlighted in the Quran because around the Prophet's time in Arabia they were seen as the academics of the people of scripture.

**Evidence, his words at 1:22:12:** “which is where the prophet would have been the israelites was seen as the kind of um you know like the academics of the people of scripture therefore they are highlighted quite a lot” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=4932s)

## Longer summary

A super chat asks why Bani Isra'il were raised as an ummah with their own laws if Allah knew he would raise a final messenger who would not be from them. Mufti Abu Layth says it is not that Bani Isra'il alone had prophets: most peoples had prophets, and Allah says there are some he did not tell us about. The Israelites are mentioned specifically, he says, because around the Prophet's time in northern, southern and central Arabia they were seen as the academics of the people of scripture; had the Prophet been in China, he assumes the prophets of China would have been brought as examples instead.

## Sources and names cited

- Bani Isra'il (the Israelites)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:21:32–1:23:18)

[1:21:32] why was bani ali azadi doing it with the super chat why was bani israel raised as an ummah and were given different laws if allah knew he would raise a new one final messenger wouldn't be from them as in why were they given their own laws so it's not that bani israel specifically you have to remember that all people for the most or most people for the most part had profits now who were they elijah says we did not tell you about them so but the bani israel are mentioned

[1:22:12] specifically because around the prophet's time in arabia northern arabia southern arabia even to some extent in arabia patria in in central arabia which is where the prophet would have been the israelites was seen as the kind of um you know like the academics of the people of scripture therefore they are highlighted quite a lot so um if the prophet was in china as an example then the israelites probably wouldn't be highlighted as much

[1:22:51] i'm assuming it would be more the profits of china would have been brought about and mentioned as examples much love for the super chat who is your favorite western philosopher

[1:23:17] hmm that's interesting i'll i mean i like the philosophy from many people you know i said a favorite i don't know you know these things i like about each person that i don't see sometimes in the other wittgenstein i like he has this kind of uniqueness to him nietzsche i like the the the challenging

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment --PntsaR8ck/s/25. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/25/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.