Prophets Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā: Part 1 — Five Commands, a Palm Trunk and a Voice From the Cradle
Section 11 of 25 · Lives of the Prophets
From the News of the Unseen
ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ أَنۢبَآءِ ٱلْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهِ إِلَيْكَ ۚ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يُلْقُونَ أَقْلَـٰمَهُمْ أَيُّهُمْ يَكْفُلُ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا كُنتَ لَدَيْهِمْ إِذْ يَخْتَصِمُونَ
“This is a part of the news of the unseen We reveal to you (O Prophet!). You were not with them when they were casting their pens (to decide) who, from among them, should be the guardian of Maryam, nor were you with them when they were quarrelling.” (3:44)
Dhālika min anbāʾi al-ghaybi nūḥīhi ilayk: this is part of the news of the unseen, given to you. And this has been mentioned a few times in the Qur'an: Allah (swt) reveals to Muhammad (peace be upon him) the story, and within the story, or after the story, Allah tells him: this was unseen; you didn't know it, and your people didn't know it. So it's a niʿmah from Allah (swt) that He has given to you, and it's a niʿmah on this Ummah.
Why? Subḥān Allāh — the stories of the anbiyāʾ are such a wealth for us, in terms of guiding us to the right path. All of this experience of the anbiyāʾ of Allah (swt) has been summarised for us in the Qur'an. We have it all with us. We have the long experience of all of the anbiyāʾ throughout history; Allah (swt) has gathered it all and put it for us in the Qur'an.
And this was something unknown to Muhammad (peace be upon him), and it was unknown to the people of his time. They barely — they barely knew about Mūsā and ʿĪsā by name. And that's why, when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) met the Christian servant in al-Ṭāʾif, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked him: where are you from? He said: I am from Nīnawā — Nīnawā in Iraq. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: you are from the town of al-rajul al-ṣāliḥ, Yūnus ibn Mattā. You are from the town of the righteous man, Yūnus ibn Mattā.
The man was surprised, because people in Arabia didn't know who Yūnus ibn Mattā was. As I said, they had barely heard about Mūsā and ʿĪsā — and now Muhammad (peace be upon him) is telling this man about Yūnus ibn Mattā. He said: do you know him? He was surprised. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: yes, he's my brother. We are anbiyāʾ.
These stories of the anbiyāʾ were not known, and they are distorted in the Old Testament and the New Testament; they don't exist in their pure form. The only reference for the stories of the anbiyāʾ is the Qur'an, and the interpretation given to it by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in the hadith.