Job (a): Difference between revisions

According to a hadith of Imam al-Sadiq (a), God had blessed Job (a), and Job (a) would always give thanks for his blessings. But Satan said to God, “If You take away Your blessings from Job (a), he will cease to give thanks.” Thus, God allowed Satan to afflict Job (a) in his wealth and children. Job (a) lost his wealth and children, but he continued to give thanks, even more than before. Then, he lost his crops and cattle, but he remained thankful to God. Afterwards, Satan breathed onto Job's body, creating many wounds on it. Worms and infection began to appear on Job's body to the extent that the people banished him from the village because of his repulsive smell. But Job (a) still remained thankful. Then, one day Satan together with some of Job's companions visited him and told him that his affliction must have been because of a sin that he had committed. In response, Job (a) stated that he had never eaten any food except that he shared it with an orphan or a weak person, and that he had never had the choice between two acts of worship except that he chose the more difficult act. Finally, God sent an angel, who washed Job (a) with the water of a spring that welled up when Job (a) stamped his foot on the gound and thus he was healed.  

However, Allama Tabataba’i doubts the authenticity of this hadith, considering its incompatibility with other hadiths, such as the hadith in which Imam al-Baqir (a) is reported to have said that Job (a) did not have any infection, worm, or facial deformity, and the people left him only because of his poverty and apparent weakness. They were not aware of his special place in the eyes of God and did not know that he would be healed soon. The hadith is also incompatible with the doctrine of infallibility, according to which prophets are free from repulsive defects that drive people away from them, as that would make them fail in their mission.  

The Book of Job is one of the thirty-nine books of the Hebrew Bible, which describes the blessings of God upon Job (a) and the story of his trial. In the biblical account, Job (a) does not remain patient until the end and there is no mention of his oath.