Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 11331

Abu Yahya, the freed slave of Ibn Aqil al-Ansari, narrates: Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I know a verse of the Qur'an about which no one has ever asked me. I do not know whether people know about it and therefore have not asked about it, or whether people have not even grasped it so as to ask about it. Then after this Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) began talking with us. When he got up and left, we blamed one another for not having asked him about that verse. Then I thought: Tomorrow when he comes, I will take this upon myself. When he came the next day, I said: "O Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both)! Yesterday you mentioned a verse of the Qur'an about which no one has ever asked you, and you do not know whether people know of this verse and therefore have not asked about it, or whether people have not grasped it. So tell me about that verse." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Very well. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Quraysh: 'There is no good in any one of those who are worshipped besides Allah Almighty.' Quraysh knew that the Christians worship Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him), and (they also knew) what Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say (about Sayyiduna Isa (peace be upon him)). So Quraysh said: 'O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Is it not your claim that Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) was a prophet and one of the righteous servants of Allah? If you are truthful, then their gods must be just as they say.' Then Allah Almighty revealed this verse concerning it: 'And when the son of Maryam was presented as an example, at once your people raised a clamour at it.'" The narrator said: I asked: What is meant by the word "yasiddun"? He said: It means they cry out loudly. "And indeed, he is a sign of the Hour." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: (It means that) Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him) will come before the Day of Resurrection.
Ahmad recorded it, and al-Tabarani recorded something similar, except that he narrated these words: "If you are truthful, then he is like their gods." Its chain contains Asim bin Bahdalah, whom Ahmad and others declared thiqah (trustworthy), and he has a poor memory; the rest of Ahmad's narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.