Awj ibn ‘Unuq in the major Tafsir works A Critical Study

Abstract

This study deals with the analysis of the character of Awj bin Anq. He is one of the legendary characters as mentioned in books of interpretation and Israeli stories. He is described as a strange and controversial character. He is said to be the son of a woman called Aqbbint Adam, according to some sayings, and it has been said otherwise. Among the most prominent things reported about him is that he is a man of exceptionally tall, great stature, or that he used to drink water from the clouds. This is what made the commentators differ as to the truth of his matter. Is it a real fact? Or just a myth from the stories of the children of Israel? Most of the narratives are without authentic support. Rather, Some scholars consider it to be an Israeli hadith whose veracity cannot be certain. Indeed, many hadith scholars and commentators have denied its veracity explaining the extent of its reliance on some interpretations in fabricated or extraneous narrations, and the research method adopted critical analysis of the narrations and their documentation, along with their dimensions with the methods of scholars in accepting news or responding to it .