This statement was cited by Ibn Sa’d in his Tabaqat...

This statement was cited by Ibn Sa’d in his Tabaqat, on the authority of Ibn Abbas in a reply he gave to Ka’b. This superstition spread till reaching one of the disciples of Ka’b, who was Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-’As. Al-Bukhari reported on the authority of Abd Allah ibn Yasar as saying: I met Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-’As and said to him: Tell me about the attribute of the Messenger of Allah that is stated in the Torah.

He said: True, by Allah 259 he is described in the Torah with some of his attributes that are cited in the Qur’an: “O Prophet! Verily We have sent thee as a Witness, and as a Bearer of Good Tidings and as a Warner,” ... and a fortress for the illiterate. You are verily My slave and apostle. I called you the dependent. You are neither rude nor rough, nor boisterous (sakhkhab) 260 through the markets...one who never requites evil with evil, but pardons and forgives.

God will never take away his life before straightening through him the tortuous (deviant) creed (millah), making people to say: “There is no god but Allah”, rendering open with it blind eyes and deaf ears and enclosed hearts. Ibn Kathir added to this: Ibn Yasar said: Then I met the rabbi Ka’b and asked him (the same question)...when he gave me the reply, there was no difference between their answers even in one letter. How would they differ while it was Ka’b who taught him (Abd Allah ibn Amr)!

In al-Itqan, 261 al-Suyuti reported that Ka’b al-Ahbar said: In the Torah it is stated: O Muhammad! I am sending you a new Torah, that can open blind eyes, deaf ears and enclosed hearts. Al-Jawaliqi, in Kitab al-Maghrib 262 , is reported to have said: Ibn al-A’rabi said: It is reported that Ka’b al-Ahbar said: The Prophet’s names recorded in the ancient books are: Muhammad and Ahmad and Himyat, i.e. the Sanctuary Guardian (Hami al-Haram).

Al-Qadi Iyad, in al-Shifa’, 263 writes that Wahb ibn Munabbih said: I read through seventy-one books, noticing in all of them that the Prophet (upon whom be God’s peace and benediction) was the wisest of people and best in opinion. In another narration: In all of them I found that Allah the Exalted, from the outset of the world till its end, never bestowed upon all people of the world the intellect that can be compared to his (S), unless it can be counted as one particle of the world sand.

Ibid, Vol. IV, p. 274. Abu Hurayrah and Anas ibn Malik were among those who reported from Abd Allah ibn Salam.