Story of Prophet Ayyub as given in the Noble Quran

[Ruhi_Rose]

As-Salam Alaykum dear all. Prophet Ayyub is surely a great personality.  Subhan'Allah. I’ve been studying the facts about his life.  The Quran briefly mentions about a distressing time he faced, persevered and then asked Allah for help which The Almighty granted.

But traditional man-written sources claim plenty of aspects which are not in the Quran like Prophet Ayyub getting pus-filled sores all over his body etc. etc.  Is there anything in any of these traditional sources which can perhaps be connected with Quranic information even indirectly or remotely?

Your analysis would be sooo helpful.   Thanks my dear, dear MV folks!

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Walaikum As-Salam dear Sis.  Indeed Prophet Ayyub (pbuh) was a great man, Alhumdulilah, and though the Noble Quran mentions his anxiety and agony briefly, there's a lot to reflect on it and it's truly touching. You have a point that certain things stated in extra-Quranic sources can have a logical link with the Quran contents on Prophet Ayyub.  But one has to nit-pick the ones that could have a bearing on Quranic contents. 

First of all, the following are the complete set of Verses from the Quran on Prophet Ayyub. In some of these Verses Prophet Ayyub has been mentioned by name and in some he is referred to.


وَاذْكُرْ عَبْدَنَا أَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الشَّيْطَانُ بِنُصْبٍ وَعَذَابٍ
(V.38:41) Surah Sa'd.

"And make mention (O Muhammad) of Our slave Ayyub, when he cried unto his Rab (saying): Indeed! the devil does afflict me with distress and torment."  38:41.


ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ ۖ هَٰذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ
(V.38:42) Surah Sa'd.

"(And it was said unto him): Strike the ground with your foot. This (spring) is a cool bath and a refreshing drink."   38:42.


وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُمْ مَعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِنَّا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ
(V.38:43)  Surah Sa'd.

"And We bestowed on him (again) his household and therewith the like thereof, a mercy from Us, and a memorial for men of understanding."  38:43.


وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا فَاضْرِبْ بِهِ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ ۗ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا ۚ نِعْمَ الْعَبْدُ ۖ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ
(V.38:44)  Surah Sa'd.

"And (it was said unto him): 'Take in your hand a bunch [of grass] and strike with it and do not break your oath.'  Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah]."  38:44.


 وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ
فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ فَكَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِ مِنْ ضُرٍّ ۖ وَآتَيْنَاهُ أَهْلَهُ وَمِثْلَهُمْ مَعَهُمْ رَحْمَةً مِنْ عِنْدِنَا وَذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَابِدِينَ
(Vs.21:83-84) Al-Anbiya.

"And Ayyub, when he cried unto his Rab, (saying):  Indeed! adversity afflicts me, and You are Most Merciful of all who show mercy." 21:83.

"Then We heard his prayer and removed that adversity from which he suffered, and We gave him his household (that he had lost) and the like thereof along with them, a mercy from Our store, and a remembrance for the worshippers;" 21:84.


وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ ۚ كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا ۚ وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
(V.6:84) Al-Anam.

"And We bestowed upon him (Abraham) Isaac and Jacob; each of them We guided; and Noah did We guide aforetime; and of his seed (We guided) David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward the good."  6:84.


إِنَّا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ كَمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ نُوحٍ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ ۚ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالْأَسْبَاطِ وَعِيسَىٰ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُونُسَ وَهَارُونَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ ۚ وَآتَيْنَا دَاوُودَ زَبُورًا
(V.4:163)

"Indeed! We inspire you as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as We imparted unto David the Psalms;"  4:163.


So .. if you have finished reading the above Verses, you will know there are eight Verses in the Noble Quran that mention or discuss about Prophet Ayyub (Job in English).

The relevant Verses which give information on Prophet Ayyub's life are Verses 38:41 to 44 of Surah Sa'd.


Discussing Verses 38:41 to 44.
For everyone's information, Satan is only capable of tempting people.  Those humans who are weak get deviated from the path of Allah by the temptations of Satan.  Satan does not have the power to cause illness or misery or happiness to people.  Therefore in V.38:41 where Prophet Ayyub (pbuh) says that the devil afflicted him with distress, he did not mean it literally.  Instead, Prophet Ayyub meant that during such a time of distress, Satan presumed he was vulnerable and was prying on him, trying to weaken Prophet Ayyub's faith in The Almighty so that he loses his patience and turns ungrateful.  Consistent with that, when Prophet Ayyub  requests Allah for help in V.21:83 of Surah Al-Anbiya, he does not mention the devil.  "And Ayyub, when he cried unto his Rab, (saying):  Indeed! adversity afflicts me, and You are Most Merciful of all who show mercy." 21:83.

When Allah Almighty decided to end the test and trial of Prophet Ayyub (pbuh), He accepted his prayer (ref. V.38:41 and V.23:83-84 quoted above) and granted him the cure of his misery (ref. V.38:42 .. the cool bath from the refreshing spring water).  Alhumdulilah.   It was a miracle from The Almighty for Whom nothing is impossible.  When He wants to create something or wants to bestow favor or punishment on His slaves, He only says "Kun Faya Kun" ("Be" and it is).  

Soon after Prophet Ayyub's distress ended, his family members (who had apparently left him during his hard times) came back to him (ref.V.38:43 quoted above). 

Now, coming to the instruction which Allah Almighty gave to Prophet Ayyub (pbuh) after he was cured of his distress is in V.38:44 quote: "And (it was said unto him): 'Take in your hand a bunch [of grass] and strike with it and do not break your oath.'  Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah]."  38:44.   It's not easy to elucidate this Verse.   As Allah has already asserted in the Quran that the final explanation of every Verse is known to Him only.  Interpreters can only surmise what the reference might be.  In regard to V.38:44 they say that Prophet Ayyub was upset or annoyed with someone during or prior to his illness and had taken an oath to lash that person.  After he recovered from the illness, perhaps he had a change of heart and didn't want to go ahead with the confrontation he had earlier vowed.  But he was in a dilemma.  He didn't know what to do.  If he didn't carry out the lashing, it would amount to breaking his oath.  If he did carry it out, it would amount to inflicting pain on that person.  Allah Almighty knew his thoughts and decided to simplify the issue and ease his mind.  Prophet Ayyub was ordered by The Almighty to gather a bunch of something gentle and tender like grass or leaves and strike the person with that.  That way, the person would not feel any pain and also the oath would be fulfilled.   Allah is the Most Merciful, Most Kind, and He looks for excuses to forgive His slaves despite their wrong.  Therefore this explanation sounds logical correct, but only Allah knows the precise details.  By the way, it might be possible that according to historical data during the rule of the four righteous Caliphs who succeeded the Final Messenger, Muhammad (pbuh), lashing which was basically for the purpose of humiliation, not inflicting physical injury was based on V.38:44.  Only Allah knows best, but this is a strong possibility.  Alhumdulilah.

Without a doubt, Prophet Ayyud (pbuh) suffered immensely most likely because of his health, and most unfortunately, his family and others around him seemed to be folks who were fair weather friends who only stayed with their loved one during good times but deserted him in difficult times when he needed them most.   His prayer to Allah Almighty imploring for help in Verses 38:41 and 21:83 are truly heart-melting for readers.  He bore the misery for as long as he could without complaining. In fact, he never complained.  Only when his agony became too much, only then he turned to Allah Almighty for help as mentioned in the two Verses. Apart from Allah Almighty, he never asked anyone for help.  Prophet Ayyub's level of sabr was amazing.  May The Almighty grant this very steadfast slave of His the best spot in Jannah.  Ameen ya Allah.


Up to this point everything is very much in accordance to Quranic information.

But knowing human instincts, man-written sources have narrated many stories on Prophet Ayyub during and prior to his illness.  Some sources claim he was initially a wealthy person and led a comfortable life.  But then he experienced many calamities such as theft of his farm animals, the roof of his house caving in killing many members of his family and then his illness.   From the Quran Verses quoted it does seem quite obvious that Prophet Ayyub did suffer from some illness, the refreshing spring water cured him (by the permission of Allah of course) and his family did desert him at this very challenging time.  But concerning those other calamities of theft of farm animals and collapsing of the roof, only Allah knows best.   

Then again, another aspect to Prophet Ayyub's biography which the Quran does not mention but traditional sources do, that is, only one member of his household stayed with him and that was his wife. Some man-written sources also claim her name was "Rahima" (source: Islam House of Wisdom.)  Traditional sources have two versions on the loyalty of Prophet Ayyub's wife. First version says that his wife faithfully stayed by his side until the end despite financial hardships when her husband was ill and everyone else left them.  One day she cut her long hair and sold it at a good price to buy some food.  When she told Prophet Ayyub about it, he felt sad and distressed as he realized how intense the pressure of those hard times was on his wife.  That is when he finally turned to Allah, imploring Him to improve his condition.   The second version says that after some time his wife also got tired of the difficult situation they were in.  She felt she couldn't go on any further and prayed for his demise.  And that is when Prophet Ayyub begged Allah for help.  Indeed Prophet Ayyub did request Allah for help after bearing his pain for a long time.  But these stories about his wife and her name stated as "Rahima" are unreliable with no evidence from the Quran.

I hope, Insh’Allah, I have covered all significant points.

[Ruhi_Rose]

Wa'Salam and big thanks dear Sis Heba for this marvelous analysis. Subhan'Allah.   Read this very, very carefully.   So, there are a few extra-Quranic narrations which if studied cautiously may explain certain aspects of some of the Quran Verses on Prophet Ayyub.  And yeah, you're right.  In all there are eight Verses on Prophet Ayyub. 

As my husband was saying, the view that Prophet Ayyub's illness was of painful sores over all of his body comes from the altered Bibles. 

Though the quoted Quran Verses do make it possible that his hardship was caused by some disease or a health problem, there is no content in the Quran that even suggests he had sores all over his body.  Traditional sources go further claiming the sores gave an unpleasant odor with worms crawling on them (courtesy Ibn Kathir the renowned tale teller who borrowed a lot of stuff from the altered Old and New Testaments), which was the reason why everyone left him.  Also, extra-Quranic sources say Prophet Ayyub's illness lasted for either 16 years or 18 years.   Only Allah knows how long it lasted as HE never mentioned this to us in the Quran.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

That bit about odor and worms are totally questionable.  Yes, his housefolks did abandon him as V.21:84 confirms, and for that it isn't necessary for the unwell person to have odorous sores and worms.  If anyone's family is that selfish and heartless, they will quit their loved ones at the slightest pretext.  

[N. Truth Seeker]

Though very likely yet we cannot be sure that Prophet Ayyub's hardship was due to an illness or disease.  After all, the Quran has not specified the word 'illness' or 'disease' nor has the Quran stated any other synonyms of these terms.  Prophet Ayyub's (pbuh) state that was changed from the bath from a refreshing spring water  - Alhumdulilah - might also have been some other kind of challenge that was removed by Allah Almighty by granting him the fresh water.  The idea of sores in his body surely comes from the altered Bible as sister Ruhi referred.  I suppose that has been interpreted by traditionalists as an illness.  In V.21:83 Surah Al-Anbiya, the Quran mentions the word "adversity" which is the translation of the original Arabic in the Quran, "ad-duru" .. Prophet Ayyub said "adversity has touched me" is the correct translation.  But traditionalists translate it as "disease has struck me."  The term "adversity" ("ad-duru) may certainly include illness but it doesn't specify illness.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

That's a sensible point too.

[Ruhi_Rose]

There are also stories about Prophet Ayyub's descendancy though again such an information is not in the Quran .. because lineage has nothing to do with piety.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

 
That's correct.  Lineage has absolutely no bearing on piety or righteousness.   Those stories about Prophet Ayyub's lineage are purely from the altered Bibles and even traditionalists acknowledge that those stories are thoroughly unreliable, conjectures based on altered Bibles and writings of Christian and Jewish clerics/rabbis. It could be possible that the Hadith writers have also added their own fibs. The Yahuds claim Prophet Ayyub was a descendent of Prophets Moses or David or Solomon portraying him as an Israelite. Non-Jewish sources say he was an Arab who lived prior to Prophet Moses' time.  This opinion sounds more correct as Ayyub is an Arab name not Hebrew.  Then again, some traditionalists presume that V.4:163 is an indication of Prophet Ayyub's descendancy.  That opinion comes from biblical tales, the Noble Quran does not convey it at all.   Quoting V.4:163 ..

"Indeed! We inspire you as We inspired Noah and the prophets after him, as We inspired Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and as We imparted unto David the Psalms;"  4:163  An-Nissa.

In Verse 4:163, The Almighty simply states a list of His very loyal slaves; the Verse is not for the purpose of stating matters fully in chronological order.  From Noah to Jacob it's in chronological order, and then, from Jesus to David it is not.  This Verse is surely not meant to convey anyone's biological lineage.

[Zainab_M]

As-Salaam Alaikum.  Very informative thread.  Many thanks Sister Heba and the rest.  Mash'Allah.

Not to my surprise, the 8th century Muslim writer, Wahb bin Munabih of Yemeni-Persian origin, claims that Prophet Ayyub was the offspring of Esau.  Esau is a Biblical character and there's no mention of him in the Quran.  According to altered Bibles, Esau is the son of Prophet Isaac.  This is very unreliable and unconfirmed information with no evidence of it in the Quran at all.  Wahb Munabih is known even within traditionalist circles as a "narrator of Isra'iliyat" (اسرائیلیات‎).  This means his narrations are officially accepted as foreign import.  So you can imagine the depth of his inaccuracies .. or should I say outright falsifications.  The information from Wahb b. Munabih claiming Prophet Ayyub to be from the family of Esau is directly from Jewish sources.

[Heba E. Husseyn]

 

Walaikum As-Salam and you're welcome dear Sister Zeynab.  

Spot on, sis.  Narrations of Wahb b. Munahih are about the most unreliable.  Even staunch Hadith followers eye him with suspicion.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Another lesson from the story of Prophet Ayuub (pbuh) which makes me ask, suppose a person takes an oath in regard to something, with Allah as Witness.  Few hours or days later they realize that for some reason that oath was inappropriate.  Will it be acceptable in the Sight of Allah if they break that oath?

[Heba E. Husseyn]

Brother, your answer is available in Verse 89 of Surah Al-Maidah.

"Allah will not take you to task for that which is unintentional in your oaths, but He will take you to task for the oaths which you swear in earnest. The expiation thereof is the feeding of ten of the needy with the average of that wherewith you feed your own folk, or the clothing of them, or the liberation of a slave, and for him who finds not (the wherewithal to do so) then a three days' fast. This is the expiation of your oaths when you have sworn; and keep your oaths. Thus Allah expounds unto you His revelations in order that you may give thanks." 5:89.

If a person later realizes that the oath is inappropriate, in that case of course they must not go ahead with something that's not right.  Yet it reflects that person's carelessness and haste, it reflects their lack of thinking and analysis on that issue for not perceiving its downside and yet hastily taking the oath with Allah as Witness.  Therefore they should not go ahead with that oath, but they still need to expiate for it by choosing any one of the options mentioned in V.5:89 in order to stay firm on their respect for Allah Almighty and their commitment to Him.   We know how much the Noble Quran emphasizes on keeping one's word.  This is further confirmed in V.38:44  "And (it was said unto him): 'Take in your hand a bunch [of grass] and strike with it and do not break your oath.'  Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah]."  In this Verse The Almighty orders Prophet Ayyub to perform his oath only as a formality, but it must be performed because it was a promise he made to Allah.  

In case a person realizes that they cannot keep their oath because it would be improper or harmful, and at the same time isn't in a position to fulfill any of the conditions for expiation stated in V.5:89 .. well, then they can earnestly and sincerely ask forgiveness from Allah Almighty with the hope of acquiring it.  After all, Allah is the Forgiver of the sins of His slaves if they repent sincerely and not make the same mistake again intentionally or carelessly.

Hope this answers your query, Insh'Allah.

[Zainab_M]

Very well perceived Sister Heba.

[N. Truth Seeker]

Absolutely Sister Heba.  Thank you.  That's very correctly explained.