This excerpt is taken from the book by Fazilat-ul-Sheikh Abdul Salam Rustami From Denial of Hadith to Denial of Quran.
Hadith 28: The Israelites Storing Meat
Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: If the Israelites had not existed, meat would never have spoiled, and if Eve (peace be upon her) had not existed, no woman would have been unfaithful to her husband.
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Ahadith al-Anbiya, Chapter on the Creation of Adam and His Progeny, Hadith: 3330
The deniers of Hadith object to this Hadith on the grounds that
➊ This Hadith implies that before the Israelites, the properties of matter regarding meat spoilage were different, meaning that even if meat was stored, it would not rot or decay, but after the Israelites, the properties of this matter changed, which continue to this day.
Answer:
The meaning that has been objected to is not the meaning of the hadith. The correct meaning of the hadith is that before the Children of Israel, no one from among the human beings ever stored meat; consequently, meat never rotted or spoiled. That is, before that era, there was no custom of storing meat; whatever meat was obtained, the entire family would eat it together. The practice of storing meat was first started by the Children of Israel. When the manna and quails that descended from the sky began to be stocked by them, meat also started to spoil. Later people followed the Children of Israel and began to store meat, but those who did not know the method of storage had their meat spoil quickly, and those who were skilled and used tools could keep their meat safe from rotting for some time. The hadith conveys this very point that the blameworthy act of storing meat was started by the Children of Israel. And if the meaning of the hadith were that the process of meat rotting and spoiling began with the Children of Israel and that before them meat did not spoil, then we say to those who reject the hadith: present a verse from the Holy Quran in which it is written that before the existence of the Children of Israel, meat stored in the world also rotted. If they cannot present evidence from the Quran, then invent a machine through which they can take people back to the era before the Children of Israel and show them that meat is rotting. And if they cannot do this, then they should consider what will be the end of those who reject the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
The meaning of the second sentence of the hadith is that the nature and temperament of women are the same, and their capacity for procreation and ability is also the same. Eve, peace be upon her, who is the origin of women, had the capacity for error and fault, so her daughters also have the same capacity. And if they did not have this capacity, then her daughters would not have it either. We can also express this by saying that before Eve, peace be upon her, there was neither any woman nor her husband; Eve was the first woman from whom the act of betrayal with the husband occurred, and after her, her daughters also started this practice.
➋ The rejecters of the hadith here object that both Adam, peace be upon him, and Eve, peace be upon her, were forbidden to approach the tree, so why in this hadith is only Eve held responsible? Whereas the Holy Quran says: فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ "That is, both were misled by Satan."
The answer is that the Quran often summarizes the narration of stories. In reality, it happened that first Eve, peace be upon her, ate from the tree, then she encouraged Adam, peace be upon him, to eat from it. This encouragement is called betrayal in the hadith, and it is said: if Eve had not betrayed Adam, no woman would betray her husband, meaning this habit spread among women (the daughters of Eve). The Quran states the result as: فَأَزَلَّهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ "Then Satan caused them to slip."
Reference: (2-Al-Baqarah:36)
Also it says: فَوَسْوَسَ لَهُمَا الشَّيْطَانُ "Then Satan whispered to them in their hearts."
Reference: (7-Al-A'raf:20)
And it says: فَدَلَّاهُمَا بِغُرُورٍ "So he made them fall by deception."
Reference: (7-Al-A'raf:22)
And where the reference is only to Adam, peace be upon him, it says: وَعَصَىٰ آدَمُ رَبَّهُ فَغَوَىٰ "And Adam disobeyed his Lord, so he went astray."
Reference: (20-Taha:121)
Because the husband is the leader, here only Adam's name is mentioned. And none of these verses prove anywhere that the beginning was not from Eve, peace be upon her.
