In this somewhat lengthy article we are going to cite some of the many verses of the Quran which acknowledge and testify that the original, uncorrupt Scriptures that God had given to the Jews and Christians were still in existence during the lifetime of Muhammad. The purpose of doing so is to help Christians refute and silence the oft-repeated Muslim charge that the Quran does not acknowledge the textual reliability and authority of the books of the Holy Bible.
1. Muhammad refers to the previous revelations such as the Torah
and the Gospel as still being extant during his lifetime.
“those who follow the Messenger, ‘the Prophet of the common
folk, whom they
find written down WITH THEM IN THE TORAH AND THE GOSPEL,
bidding them to honour, and forbidding them dishonour, making lawful for them
the good things and making unlawful for them the corrupt things, and relieving
them of their loads, and the fetters that were upon them.” S. 7:157
God has bought from the believers their selves and their
possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of God; they
kill, and are killed; that
IS a promise binding upon God IN THE TORAH, AND THE GOSPEL, and the Koran;
and who fulfils his covenant truer than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have
made with Him; that is the mighty triumph. S. 9:111
They say, ‘Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?’ Has there not come to them the
clear sign of WHAT IS IN THE FORMER SCROLLS? S. 20:133
Truly it is the revelation of the Lord of all Being, brought
down by the Faithful Spirit upon thy heart, that thou mayest be one of the
warners, in a clear, Arabic tongue. Truly
IT IS IN THE SCRIPTURES OF THE ANCIENTS. Was it not a sign for them, that it is
known to the learned of the Children of Israel? If We had
sent it down on a barbarian and he had recited it to them, they would not have
believed in it. S. 26:192-197
Thou seest them bowing, prostrating, seeking bounty from God and
good pleasure. Their mark is on their faces, the trace of prostration. That is their likeness IN THE
TORAH, and their likeness IN THE GOSPEL: as a seed that puts forth its
shoot, and strengthens it, and it grows stout and rises straight upon its
stalk, pleasing the sowers, that through them He may enrage the
unbelievers. S. 48:29
Or has he not been told of what IS in the scrolls of Moses, and Abraham,
he who paid his debt in full? S. 53:36-37
Note the use of the present tense, i.e. “IS,” “IN,” when
speaking of the previous revelations.
2. The Quran confirms the Scriptures that were in the possession
of the Jews and Christians of Muhammad’s time.
Children of Israel, remember My blessing wherewith I blessed
you, and fulfil My covenant and I shall fulfil your covenant; and have awe of
Me. And believe
in that I have sent down, confirming that WHICH IS WITH YOU,
and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And sell not My signs for a little
price; and fear you Me. And do not confound the truth with vanity, and do not
conceal the truth wittingly. And do not confound the truth with vanity, and do
not conceal the truth wittingly. And perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and
bow with those that bow. Will you bid others to piety, and forget
yourselves WHILE
YOU RECITE THE BOOK? Do you not understand? S. 2:40-44
And they say, ‘Our hearts are uncircumcised.’ Nay, but God has
cursed them for their unbelief; little will they believe. When there came to them a Book
from God, confirming WHAT WAS WITH THEM — and they
aforetimes prayed for victory over the unbelievers — when there came to them
that they recognized, they disbelieved in it; and the curse of God is on the
unbelievers… And when they were told, ‘Believe in that God has sent down,’ they
said, ‘We believe in what was sent down on us’; and they disbelieve in what is
beyond that, yet
it is the truth confirming WHAT IS WITH THEM. S. 2:89, 91
When there has come to them a Messenger from God confirming WHAT WAS WITH THEM,
a party of them that were given the Book reject the Book of God behind their
backs, as though they knew not, S. 2:101
You who have been given the Book, believe in what We have sent down,
confirming WHAT IS WITH YOU, before We obliterate faces, and
turn them upon their backs, or curse them as We cursed the Sabbath-men, and
God’s command is done. S. 4:47
3. The Quran claims that the Jews and Christians of Muhammad’s
time were studying and reciting the Book, thereby implying that they possessed
the original, uncorrupt Scriptures.
The Jews say, ‘The Christians stand not on anything’; the
Christians say, ‘The Jews stand not on anything’; YET THEY RECITE THE BOOK.
S. 2:113
Those to whom We have given the Book and who recite it WITH TRUE
RECITATION, they believe in it; and whoso disbelieves in it,
they shall be the losers. S. 2:121
It belongs not to any mortal that God should give him the Book,
the Judgment, the Prophethood, then he should say to men, ‘Be you servants to
me apart from God.’ Rather,
‘Be you masters in that YOU KNOW THE BOOK, and in that YOU STUDY.’
S. 3:79
Those are they to whom We gave the Book, the Judgment, the
Prophethood; so if these disbelieve in it, We have already entrusted it to a
people who do not disbelieve IN IT. Those are they whom God has guided; so
follow their guidance. Say: ‘I ask of you no wage for it; it is
but a reminder unto all beings.’ They measured not God with His true measure
when they said, ‘God has not sent down aught on any mortal.’ Say: ‘Who sent down the Book that
Moses brought as a light and a guidance to men? YOU OUT IT INTO PARCHMENTS,
REVEALING THEM, AND HIDING MUCH; and you were taught that you
knew not, you and your fathers.’ Say: ‘God.’ Then leave them alone, playing
their game of plunging. This is a Book We have sent down, blessed and confirming that which was
before it (Ar. musaddiqu
alathee bayna yadayhi –
lit. confirming that which is between his/its hands), and for
thee to warn the Mother of Cities and those about her; and those who believe in
the world to come believe in it, and watch over their prayers. S. 6:89-92
Of the people of Moses there is a nation who guide by the truth,
and by it act with justice… and there succeeded after them a succession who
inherited the Book, taking the chance goods of this lower world, and saying,
‘It will be forgiven us’; and if chance goods the like of them come to them,
they will take them. Has not the compact of the Book been taken touching them,
that they should say concerning God nothing but the truth? AND THEY HAVE STUDIED WHAT IS IN
IT; and the Last Abode is better for those who are godfearing.
Do you not understand? And
those who hold fast to the Book, and perform the prayer —
surely We leave not to waste the wage of those who set aright. S. 7:159,
169-170
4. Muhammad calls the Jews and Christians to judge by their
respective Scriptures, which again presupposes that these communities possessed
the original, genuine revelations of God.
Hast thou not regarded those who were given a portion of the
Book, being
called to the Book of God, THAT IT MIGHT DECIDE BETWEEN THEM,
and then a party of them turned away, swerving aside? S. 3:23
Here is how the Muslim expositors explained this particular
text:
Have you not seen those who were given a portion, a share, of
the Book, the
Torah, being called to the Book of God (yud‘awna, ‘being
called’, is a circumstantial qualifier), that it might decide between them, and
then a party of them turned away, opposed? to the acceptance of its rulings.
This was revealed concerning the Jews: two of them fornicated and they [the
Jews] asked the Prophet to adjudicate the case. He ruled that they be stoned,
but they [the Jews] refused to do so. WHEN THE TORAH WAS BROUGHT AND CONSULTED, the same
verdict was found, and so the two were stoned, but they [the
Jews] became wrathful. (Tafsir
al-Jalalayn http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=23&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold, capital and underline emphasis ours)
(Hast thou not seen how those who have received a portion of the
Scripture…) [3:23]. There is a difference of opinion about this verse’s
occasion of revelation. Al-Suddi said: “When the Prophet called the Jews to
embrace Islam, al-Nu‘man ibn Awfa said to him: ‘Come, O Muhammad, and let the
rabbis judge between us’. He said: ‘Let
the Scripture of Allah be judge between us’. They said: ‘No!
Let the rabbis judge’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. On
the other hand, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr and ‘Ikrimah reported that Ibn ‘Abbas said:
“The Messenger of Allah entered in on a group of Jews in a Jewish place of
study and called them to Allah. Nu‘aym ibn ‘Amr and al-Harith ibn Zayd said to
him: ‘O Muhammad, which religion are you on?’ He said: ‘The religion of
Abraham’. They said: ‘But Abraham was a Jew’. The Messenger of Allah said: ‘In that case, let us go to the
Torah and let it judge between us’. They refused. And Allah,
exalted is He, revealed this verse”. Said al-Kalbi: “This was revealed about
those who committed fornication in Khaybar and the Jews who asked the Prophet
about the legal punishment of fornication”. The elaboration on this will come
in Surah al-Ma’idah, Allah, exalted is He, willing”. (‘Alī ibn Ahmad
al-Wahidi, Asbab
Al-Nuzul, trans. Mokrane Guezzou http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=86&tSoraNo=3&tAyahNo=23&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold and underline emphasis ours)
Other Quranic verses which command the Jews and Christians to
judge by their respective books include the following:
All food was lawful to the Children of Israel save what Israel
forbade for himself before the Torah was sent down. Say: ‘Bring you the Torah now, and
recite it, if you are truthful.’ Whoso forges falsehood against
God after that, those are the evildoers. S. 3:91
Yet how will they make thee their judge seeing THEY HAVE THE
TORAH, wherein IS God’s judgment, then thereafter turn their backs? They
are not believers. Surely
We sent down the Torah, wherein IS guidance and light; thereby
the Prophets who had surrendered themselves gave judgment for those of Jewry,
as did the masters and the rabbis, following such portion of God’s Book as they
were given to keep and were witnesses to. So fear not men, but fear you Me; and
sell not My signs for a little price. Whoso judges not according to what God has sent down
— they are the unbelievers. And therein We prescribed for them: ‘A life for a life, an eye for an
eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds
retaliation’; but whosoever forgoes it as a freewill offering, that
shall be for him an expiation. Whoso
judges not according to what God has sent down — they are the evildoers.
And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him
(Ar. musaddiqan
lima bayna yadayhi minal-tawrati–confirming that which is between
his hands of the Torah) and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein IS guidance and
light, and confirming the Torah before it (Ar. wa’musaddiqan lima bayna yadayhi
minal-tawrati),
as a guidance and an admonition unto the godfearing. So let the People of the
Gospel judge according to what God has sent down THEREIN.
Whosoever judges not according to what God has sent down — they are the ungodly.
S. 5:43-47
The obvious question to ask at this point is, why in the world
would Muhammad exhort the Jews and Christians to judge by corrupted texts that
no longer reflected what the original revelations actually taught? Doesn’t this
refute the common Muslim assertion that the previous Scriptures had been
corrupted, and that the Jews and Christians therefore no longer had them in
their possessions?
In light of this fact, notice how Ibn Kathir, one of the greatest
Muslim scholars that ever lived, interpreted this specific text:
“… The Prophet recited…
<<Bring here the Tawrah and
recite it, if you are truthful.>> So
they brought the Tawrah and read from it until the reader reached the verse
about stoning. Then
he placed his hand on that verse and read what was before and after it.
`Abdullah bin Salam, who was with the Messenger of Allah , said, “Order him to
remove his hand,” and he removed his hand and under it was the verse about stoning.
So the Messenger of Allah commanded that the adulterers be stoned, and they
were stoned. `Abdullah bin `Umar said, “I was among those who stoned them and I
saw the man shading the woman from the stones with his body.” Abu Dawud
recorded that Ibn `Umar said, “Some Jews came to the Messenger of Allah and
invited him to go to the Quff area. So he went to the house of Al-Midras and
they said, ‘O Abu Al-Qasim! A man from us committed adultery with a woman, so
decide on their matter.’ They arranged a pillow for the Messenger of Allah and
he sat on it and said…
<<Bring the Tawrah to me.>> He
was brought the Tawrah and
he removed the pillow from under him AND PLACED THE TAWRAH ON IT, saying…
<<I TRUST YOU and He Who revealed it to you.>> He
then said…
<<Bring me your most knowledgeable person.>> So
he was brought a young man… and then he mentioned the rest of the story that
Malik narrated from Nafi`. These Hadiths state that the Messenger of Allah
issued a decision that conforms with the ruling in the Tawrah, not to honor the
Jews in what they believe in, for the Jews were commanded to follow the Law of
Muhammad only. Rather, the Prophet did this because Allah commanded him to do
so. He asked them about the ruling of stoning in the Tawrah to make them admit to what the Tawrah
contains and what they collaborated to hide, deny and exclude from implementing
for all that time. They had to admit to what they did, although
they did it while having knowledge of the correct ruling… (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q.
5:41 http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=776&Itemid=60;
bold, capital and underline emphasis ours)
Pay careful attention to Muhammad’s reverential treatment of the
copy of the Torah that the Jews had in their possession. Instead of telling the
Jews that what they had was a defective, corrupt copy of the original Torah,
Muhammad actually praises their very own copy by confessing his complete trust
in its textual veracity and authority!
Here is a final passage:
But had the People of the Book believed and been godfearing, We
would have acquitted them of their evil deeds, and admitted them to Gardens of
Bliss. Had they
performed the Torah and the Gospel, and what was sent down to them from their
Lord, they would have eaten both what was above them, and what
was beneath their feet. Some of them are a just nation; but many of them — evil
are the things they do… Say:
‘People of the Book, you do not stand on anything, until you perform the Torah
and the Gospel, and what was sent down to you from your Lord.’
And what has been sent down to thee from thy Lord will surely increase many of
them in insolence and unbelief; so grieve not for the people of the
unbelievers. S. 5:66-68
Muslim biographer Ibn Ishaq provides the supposed historical
context behind the “revelation” of the foregoing verses:
Rafi b. Haritha and Sallam b. Mishkam and Malik b. al-Sayf and
Rafi b. Huraymila came to him [Muhammad] and said: ‘Do you not allege that you
follow the religion of Abraham and
believe in the Torah WHICH WE HAVE and testify that it is the truth from God?’
He replied, ‘CERTAINLY,
but you have sinned and broken the covenant CONTAINED THEREIN and
concealed what you were ordered to make plain to men, and I dissociate myself
from your sin.’ They said, ‘We
hold by WHAT WE HAVE. We live according to the guidance and the
truth and we do not believe in you and we will not follow you.’ So God sent
down concerning them: ‘Say, O Scripture folk, you have no standing until you
observe the Torah and the Gospel and what has been sent down from your Lord.
What has been sent down to thee from they Lord will assuredly increase many of
them in error and unbelief. But be not sad because of the unbelieving people.’
(The Life of Muhammad: A
Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, with introduction and
notes by Alfred Guillaume [Oxford University Press, Karachi, Tenth impression
1995], p. 268; bold and capital emphasis ours)
Here was Muhammad’s chance to plainly tell the Jews that they
had corrupted the text of the Torah. Instead, Muhammad tells them quite clearly
that he fully believed the Torah which they possessed.
We now add a few more citations from Ibn Ishaq which further
corroborate this fact:
The apostle wrote to the Jews of Khaybar according to what a
freedman of the family of Zayd b. Thabit told me from ‘Ikrima or from Sa‘id b.
Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbas: ‘In the name of God the compassionate the merciful from
Muhammad the apostle of God friend and brother of Moses WHO CONFIRMS WHAT MOSES
BROUGHT. God says to you O scripture folk, and you will find it in your
scripture “Muhammad is the apostle of God; and those with him are severe
against the unbelievers, merciful among themselves. Thou seest them bowing,
falling prostrate seeking bounty and acceptance from God. The mark of their
prostrations is on their foreheads. That is their likeness in the Torah and in
the Gospel like a seed which sends forth its shoot and strengthens it and it
becomes thick and rises straight upon its stalk delighting the sowers that He
may anger the unbelievers with them. God has promised those who believe and do
well forgiveness and a great reward.” I adjure you by God, AND BY WHAT HE HAS SENT DOWN TO
YOU, by the manna and quails He gave as food to your tribes
before you, and by His drying up the sea for your fathers when He delivered
them from Pharaoh and his works, that you tell me, DO YOU FIND IN WHAT HE SENT DOWN
TO YOU that you should believe in Muhammad? IF YOU DO NOT FIND
THAT IN YOUR SCRIPTURE THEN THERE IS NO COMPULSION UPON YOU. “The right path
has become plainly distinguished from error” so I call you to God and His
Prophet’ (313). (Ibid., p. 256; bold and capital emphasis ours)
According to what I heard from ‘Ikrima, freedman of Ibn ‘Abbas
or from Sa‘id b. Jubayr from Ibn ‘Abbas, Jews used to hope that the apostle
would be a help to them against Aus and Khazraj before his mission began; and
when God sent him from among the Arabs they disbelieved in him and contradicted
what they had formerly said about him. Mu‘adh b. Jabal and Bishr b. al-Bara’ b.
Ma‘rur brother of B. Salama said to them: ‘O Jews, fear God and become Muslims,
for you used to hope for Muhammad’s help against us when we were polytheists
and to tell us that he would be sent and describe him to us.’ Salam b. Mishkam,
one of the B. al-Nadir, said, ‘He
has not brought us anything we recognize and he is not the one we spoke of to
you.’ So God sent down about that saying of theirs: ‘And when a
book comes to them from God CONFIRMING
what they have, though beforehand they were asking for help
against those who disbelieve, when there came to them what they knew, they
disbelieved in it, so God’s curse rests on the unbelievers.’
Malik b. al-Sayf said when the apostle had been sent and they
were reminded of the condition that had been imposed on them and what God had
covenanted with them concerning him, ‘No
covenant was ever made with us about Muhammad.’ So God sent
down concerning him: ‘Is it not that whenever they make a covenant a party of
them set it aside? Nay most of them do not believe.’
Abu Saluba al-Fityuni said to the apostle: ‘O Muhammad, you have not brought us anything
we recognize and God has not sent down to you any sign that we should follow
you.’ So God sent concerning his words, ‘We have sent down to
thee plain signs and only evildoers disbelieve in them.’ (Ibid., p. 257; bold,
capital and italic emphasis ours)
These citations illustrate what Muhammad meant when he said in
the Quran that his scripture confirms the books in the possession of the Jews
and Christians. By confirmation he didn’t intend to convey the notion that the
Quran accepts only certain parts of the Judeo-Christian books, as some Muslim
polemicists would have us believe, but that it testifies to the fact of these
texts being completely reliable and fully authoritative. If Muhammad believed
that the Jewish-Christian Scriptures were corrupted he could have stated it
here by simply telling the Jews that he didn’t fully believe that the Torah
which they had was completely reliable. Instead of denouncing the textual
purity of the Torah he confirms his belief in its authenticity and textual
accuracy.
5. Quranic passages where Muhammad commands the people to
consult the previous Scriptures in order to verify his claims and stories.
So, if thou art in doubt regarding what We have sent down to
thee, ask those
who recite the Book before thee. The truth has come to thee
from thy Lord; so be not of the doubters, S. 10:94
And We gave Moses nine signs, clear signs. Ask the Children of Israel when he
came to them, and Pharaoh said to him, ‘Moses, I think thou art
bewitched. S. 17:101
Surely it is a Reminder to thee and to thy people; and assuredly
you will be questioned. Ask
those of Our Messengers We sent before thee: Have We appointed,
apart from the All-merciful, gods to be served? S. 43:44-45
The two Jalals, considered some of Islam’s greatest
commentators, explain Muhammad’s exhortation to his contemporaries to ask the
Messengers that came before him for verification of his assertion:
And ask those of Our messengers whom We sent before you: Did We
[ever] appoint, besides the Compassionate One, that is to say, [any] other than
Him, gods to be worshipped? It is said that this is to be understood literally,
in other words, that God gathered for him all the messengers on the Night [of
the] Journey; but
it is also said that this meant [that he should ask] any communities belonging
to either of the two Peoples of the Scripture. According to one
of the two opinions, he never asked [anyone] since the point of this command to
ask is to affirm to the idolaters of Quraysh that no messenger or scripture
ever came from God with the command to worship [any] other than God. (Tafsir al-Jalalayn http://altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=0&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=43&tAyahNo=45&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2;
bold and underline emphasis ours)
The foregoing citations conclusively prove that Muhammad
believed in the inspiration and textual reliability of the biblical books since
these were the only Scriptures that the Jews and Christians had in their
possessions during his time. As such, this thoroughly refutes the Muslim claim
that the Quran does not confirm the inspiration, preservation, reliability and
authority of the Scriptures which the Jews and Christians have always
possessed.
Further Reading
Part 1: The Quran and the Bible (http://answeringislam.net/Campbell/s2c1.html)
Part 2: The Hadith and the Sunna (http://answeringislam.net/Campbell/s2c2.html)
What the Quran says about the Bible (http://answeringislam.net/Quran/Bible/index.html)
IHS
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