The Secret of Attributing Revelation and Scripture to the “Tribes”

The attribution of the revelation of the book to the “tribes” (asbāṭ): “and what was sent down to… the tribes” is because each of these twelve tribes had a prophet; not that the twelve sons of Jacob were prophets, for as narrated from Imam al-Bāqir (a.s.) (519), among the children of that esteemed figure, only Joseph was a prophet. The attribution of the descent of revelation to those prophets who were from the Children of Israel is also like the attribution of the descent of revelation to Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob due to the scriptures of Abraham, which were current among them until the time of Moses, and they were obligated to follow its commands and perform its rulings. Otherwise, the descent of a book upon these prophets is not known. (520)

Regarding the tribes (asbāṭ), there will also be an explanation in the discussion of narrations.