Ahmad b. Ziyad narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim b. Hashim narrated to us. He said: al-Qasim b. Muhammad al-Barmaki narrated to us. He said: Abu’l Salt al-Harawi narrated to us. He said:

When al-Ma’mun gathered the rhetoricians of Islam and other religions for `Ali b. Musa al-Rida , including from among the Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, Sabeans, and others, no one stood except that he provided his proof to him as though pelting a stone. So, `Ali b. Muhammad b. al-Jahm went to him and said to him: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Do you claim that the prophets were immaculate? He said: Of course. He said: So, what do you saying regarding His saying, “And Adam disobeyed his Lord and strayed.” (20:121) and His saying, “And the man of the whale, when he went off angrily, thinking that We could not restrict him.” (21:87), and His saying regarding Yusuf, “She desired him, and he [would have] desired her” (12:24), and His saying regarding Dawud, “Then, Dawud realized that We had tried him.” (38:24), and His saying to His prophet, Muhammad (s), “You hid in yourself that which Allah is to disclose. You fear the people when Allah has more of a right to be feared.” (33:37) So, our master al-Rida said: Woe to you, O `Ali, fear Allah, do not attribute immorality to the prophets of Allah, and do not interpret the Book of Allah by your own opinion, for Allah says, “No one knows its interpretation except Allah and those delved in knowledge” (3:7). As for His saying regarding Adam , “And Adam disobeyed his Lord and strayed.” (20:121) – Allah created Adam to be a Proof on His Earth and a vicegerent in His land. He did not create him for Paradise, and Adam’s disobedience was in Paradise, not on Earth, where he would fulfill the order of Allah. When he fell to the Earth and was made a Proof and a vicegerent, he became immaculate, as He says, “Surely, Allah chose Adam, Nuh, the Family of Ibrahim, and the Family of `Imran over the worlds.” (3:33) As for His saying, “And the man of the whale, when he went off angrily, thinking that We could not restrict him.” (21:87) – he thought that Allah would not restrict his sustenance. Did you not hear the saying of Allah, “But when He tries him by straitening his sustenance” (89:16) – meaning, restrict it for him. If he thought that Allah was unable to straiten it for him, he would have disbelieved. As for His saying regarding Yusuf, “She desired him, and he [would have] desired her” (12:24) She was tempted to sin, and Yusuf was tempted to kill her. He informed her of the seriousness of what she was getting into, so Allah averted the temptation to kill her and to commit obscenity. And that is His saying: “And thus it was that We avert evil and obscenity from him.” (12:24) – meaning, killing and fornication.” As for Dawud, what do your people say about him? So, `Ali b. al-Jahm said: They say that Dawud was praying in his niche when Iblis came to him in the form of a bird that was more beautiful than any other bird. So, he cut his prayer short and went to take the bird. Then, the bird went to the room and he followed it. Then, the bird flew to the roof and he climbed in pursuit of it. Then, the bird landed on the house of Uriah b. Hannan, and Dawud followed the bird. Then, he came across the wife of Uriah bathing. When he looked to her, he desired her; and Uriah was away fighting in one of his battles. So, he wrote to his commander: “Put Uriah on the frontlines.” So, Uriah annihilated the pagans, and thus the matter became more complicated for Dawud. So, he wrote to him a second time, saying: “Put him before his coffin (send him so far ahead that he would surely die).” So, Uriah was killed, and Dawud married his wife. He said: So, al-Rida hit himself on the forehead and said: To Allah we belong, and to Him we shall return. You have accused a prophet from the prophets of Allah of cutting his prayer short so that he may follow a bird, and of an obscenity, and of murder! So, he said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Then what was his mistake? So, he said: Woe to you! Surely, when Dawud thought that Allah had not created a creature more knowledgeable than him, Allah sent two angels to his niche, saying: “We are two in a dispute: one of us has wronged the other. So, judge between us with truth, do not go beyond it, and guide us to the right path. This is my brother, and he has ninety-nine sheep while I only have one. Still, he asked me to give it up to him, overwhelming me with his argument.” (38:22-23). So, Dawud ruled, “He has wronged you in demanding that your sheep be added to his sheep” (38:24) without asking the man to prove this, nor asking the defendant “what do you say?” So, this was a lapse in his judgment and not [to the extreme] that you have gone to. Have you not heard the saying of Allah, “O Dawud! Surely, We have made you a vicegerent on the Earth, so judge between the people in truth” (38:28) till the end of the verse? So, I said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! Then what was his story with Uriah? So, al-Rida said: In the days of Dawud, if a woman’s husband died or was killed, she would not ever remarry. The first person whom Allah allowed to marry a woman after her husband was killed was Dawud . This was difficult on the people of Uriah. As for Muhammad, His Prophet (s), and the saying of Allah, “You hid in yourself that which Allah is to disclose. You fear the people when Allah has more of a right to be feared.” (33:37) – Allah had informed His Prophet (s) of the names of his wives in the abode of this world, the names of his wives in the abode of the Hereafter, and that they were the Mothers of the Believers. One was named Zaynab bt. Jahsh, who at the time was under Zayd b. Haritha. So, he (s) hid her name to himself and did not present it, lest one of the hypocrites say: “He has claimed that a woman in a man’s house is one of his wives and a Mother of the Believers.” So, he feared the saying of the hypocrites, and Allah said, “Allah has more of a right to be feared” (33:37) in yourself. Surely, Allah had not ordered the marriage of someone prior to that, except when Hawwa’ married Adam – then, His order for the Messenger of Allah (s) to marry Zaynab and `Ali to marry Fatima . He said: So, `Ali b. al-Jahm wept and said: O son of the Messenger of Allah! I repent to Allah for saying what I have said regarding the prophets of Allah. After this day, I will only speak regarding that which you have mentioned.