'If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee....' (Surah 10, Yunus, verse 94)
THE QURAN CONFIRMS: TODAY'S BIBLE IS UNCHANGED
A. Abraham
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1. INTRODUCTION
2. TESTIMONY OF THE
QURAN ABOUT THE BIBLE
3. IS ONLY PART OF THE
BIBLE TRUSTWORTHY?
4. DOES QURAN SAY THE
BIBLE WAS CHANGED?
5. WHAT DOES HADITH SAY
ABOUT THE BIBLE?
6. CONCLUSION
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1. INTRODUCTION
Muslims and Christians
believe in the infallibility of the original Biblical manuscripts. But many
adherents of Islam have been taught by their leaders that today's Bible has
undergone substantial changes with regard to its early manuscripts and their
translated versions. We shall here limit the investigation of the matter to
using mainly accepted Muslims sources. The booklet 'A Christian Response to
Muslim Beliefs' (see free offers) is one of many resources giving evidence for
the reliability of the Bible from other perspectives.
2. TESTIMONY OF THE
QURAN ABOUT THE BIBLE
As the verses below show,
the Quran makes it quite clear that the Bible,
known as the Torah and the Injil, was found reliable
in Muhammad's time, the sixth century. A comparison between a twenty first
century Bible and a copy from the sixth century proves that they are
substantially the same. Today's Bible is indeed unchanged! The quotations below
are taken from 'The Meaning of the Holy Quran'
translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and published by Armana Corporation,
1.) 'And if thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask
those who have been reading the book from before thee..' ( Surah
10, Yunus, verse 94)
'Those who have been
reading the book from before thee' are Jews and Christians who read the Torah
and the Injil (Gospel)! If they were reading
corrupted holy books, their minds would have been influenced by many
misconceptions. It would therefore make no sense for Allah to command those who
are in doubt to ask Jews and Christians who allegedly were mislead by changed
Scriptures! In order to follow the mandate in this verse it is absolutely
necessary to believe that the Scriptures before Islam are uncorrupted! Here
the question may be asked: 'Are what is known as the Torah and the Injil in Muhammad's time identical with today's Bible that
contains the Old and the New Testament?' Regarding the Injil
an affirming answer has already been given in 'The History of the Quran and the Injil' (See, free
offers). The Old Testament too is identical with the Torah as seen from the
following reasoning: The Hebrew word 'Torah' means literally 'law,
instruction'. It refers to the revelations given to Moses. 'The term was often
applied to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament, e.g. 1
Chronicles
A. Evidence from the
Bible
Sometimes when the law
is spoken of in the Injil, the New Testament, it is
used in the all including sense. In Romans 3 Paul quotes verses from the book of Psalms and from the Prophets
but then he concludes in verse 19 with, 'what the law (Torah) says...' (See
also 1 Cor. 14:21) Jesus himself referred to the
Psalms as 'the law (Torah)' in John 10:34. Another example is found in John
12:34 where the Jews speak of verses from Psalms 89:36, Isaiah 9:7, and Daniel
7:14 as 'the law (Torah)'. In the Quran too the
meaning of 'Torah' where all 39 books of the Old Testament are included is
used. This becomes clear when one looks at the evidence found therein, and in
history:
B. Evidence from the Quran
Several verses in the Quran bear witness to the truth that the Torah was
unchanged at the time of Jesus.
In Surah
19, Maryam, verse 12, Yahya,
who lived at the time of Jesus was told 'to take
hold of the Book, (the Torah).'
Surah 3, Ali'Imran,
verse 48 tells us that Jesus was also taught in the Torah.
Numerous verses, such as Surah 34, Saba, verse 31, Surah 35, Fatir, verse 31, attest
to the truth that the Torah was uncorrupted in the time of Muhammad in the
sixth century AD The Arabic phrase 'bain yadaihi' which is used in these references to the Torah
literally means 'between his hands.' Dr. W. Campbell writes in his book 'The Quran and the Bible in the light of history and science',
(Middle East Resources, 1994, page 37) '...usually it is an idiom for 'in his
presence', or 'in his power', or 'in his possession,' or 'at his
disposal...'(see also Surah 34, Saba',
verse 12) In the Quran some Jewish contemporaries of
Muhammad are called 'those who guide and do justice in the light of truth,' besides
many others whose reputation was not so favorable in
the sixth century. (Surah 7, Al Araf,
verse 159, see also Surah 5, Al Ma'idah,
verse 66) The very fact that they were commended so highly shows that they were
in possession of the uncorrupted Torah. History tells us what was part of it.
C. Evidence from history
Like in the case of the Injil, the New Testament, the formation of an official list
(canon) of the books that were part of it took a considerable time. When
finally an official list was approved it was done so in defense
against a growing number of heretical writings. The official list merely
confirmed what had been accepted by the Jews centuries before. Then it was
unnecessary because there was a common agreement as to which
writings were part of the Torah. After giving nine solid reasons for an
early formation of the canon of the Old Testament, the authors of 'An
Introduction to the new Testament' (by D. Carson, D.J. Moo, L. Morris, Apollos, 1992, pages 491-92) conclude saying, 'It appears,
then, that there is adequate evidence to support the view that there was a
(closed) canon of Scripture to serve as a model in the formation of the New
Testament canon. Even if this point be disputed, there is entirely
convincing evidence that the Torah (here meaning the Pentateuch) and the
Prophets were viewed as closed collections by the first century AD' The
Illustrated Bible Dictionary (by F.F.Bruce, 1980,
IVP, Leicester) concludes an extensive research by saying that the whole
Hebrew Bible canon as we know it today existed around 200 BC
2.) 'All food was lawful
to the Children of
In this specific incident the
Jews are asked to bring their own Law, the Torah. They are commanded by God to
study it in order to find the right answer to a particular question. Maududi, the renowned Islamic scholar, said, that it
addressed the difference between Muslims and Jews in regard to eating the meat
of camels, hares and coneys. In opposition to Islam,
Judaism prohibits the eating of them according to today's Torah (Deuteronomy
14:7). 'But, the open challenge of the Quran to them
to bring the Torah in proof thereof shows that the commandments referred to
above did not exist in the Torah at that time and were inserted afterwards;
otherwise the Jews would have at once accepted the challenge of the Quran and presented the commandments thereof.' (See, 'The
meaning of the Quran', Vol. I, 12th Edition 1992, by
S. Abdul Maududi, Islamic Publications (Pvt) LTD., Pakistan, comment on Surah
6, Al-Anam, verse 145, hereafter referred to as 'Maududi') This view is problematic because it ignores the
fact that today's English translations of the Torah, such as the N.I.V., are
based on the Masoretic text the standard edition of
the Hebrew Old Testament. It was prepared by Jewish scholars, called Masoretes, mainly from 500 to the 950 AD They
introduced vowel points into the consonantal (consonants only) Hebrew text. They
also studied each letter, word and phrase and wrote marginal notes commenting
on proper grammar and spelling. (See, 'The World Book Encyclopedia',
Volume 2, 1982, USA, page 222b) Furthermore the translators compared it with
a number of other sources still in existence today, the most important of
which are:
In none
of the above sources is Deuteronomy 14:7, the verse under consideration,
missing! Looking at
all the evidence one can impossibly say that it was missing in the prophet of
Islam's time and only later inserted into the text!
3.) 'But why do they
come to thee for decision, when they have (their own) Law before them?
-Therein is the (plain) command of Allah;.... (Surah
5, Al Ma'idah, verse 43)
Maududi comments on this verse:
'...sometimes, when their own law did not suit them, they would take their
cases to the Holy Prophet in the hope that they might obtain a more favorable decree from him than they could from their own
law.' (Ibid) This shows clearly that even corrupted Jews would never change
the written Torah! They were only prepared to conceal the meaning of it. In
spite of their wickedness, they did not dare to change the written form of the
Torah! That is why, according to the Quran, Allah
told them to look up their own law in which is the plain command of God!
4.) 'Let the People
of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do fail
to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better
than) those who rebel.' (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, verse 47)
This command is given to
Muhammad's contemporaries, it is written in the 'present' tense which in the
Arabic language can also refers to the future! If the Gospel (Injil) was corrupted at that time then surely Allah would
never have asked the people of the Gospel, the Christians, to believe in it!
5) 'If only they had
stood fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was
sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every
side. There is from among them a party on the right course...' (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, verse 69)
The fact that there were Jews
and Christians 'on the right course' in Muhammad's time confirms the Torah and
the Gospel to be unchanged in the 6th century AD! Certainly, they could
never have been described in such an honorable way if
they had 'stood fast' by corrupted Holy Books!
6.) 'Say: O People of
the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the
Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to you from your
Lord....' (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah,
verse 68)
7.) 'No change can
there be in the Words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme Felicity.' (Surah 10, Junus, verse 64)
No Muslim would doubt that
the Torah and the Injil are words of Allah too!
Therefore, it is impossible for man to change them. God has the power to watch
over His word and to preserve it. The passages above attest to the fact that
the Bible, consisting the Torah (Old Testament) and
the Injil (New Testament) was unchanged and
trustworthy in the time of Muhammad, that is in the 6th century AD!
3. IS ONLY PART OF THE
BIBLE TRUSTWORTHY?
Many Muslims are told that
only parts of the Bible remained unchanged. Faith is only put in those
statements which are supposed to confirm one's own opinions. Some Jews did the
same in the days of Muhammad. Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 85 condemned them for doing so. There is no
reason why that judgement for such a view should not apply anymore today.
4. DOES QURAN SAY THE
BIBLE HAS CHANGED?
The Quran
nowhere explicitly states the Injil (Gospel) was
changed! But what about the Torah? History shows that whenever God
revealed Himself, most of His people fell into disobedience after a period of
time. So it was with the Jews. In spite of this sad fact Surah
7, Al A'raf, verse 159 states there were
always good Jews who remain true to the book God gave them:
'Of the people of Moses
there is a section who guide and do justice in the
light of truth.'
God's word is truth and
good Jews surely would never have changed the meaning or even the words of
their Holy Book!
'There is among them a section who distort the Book with their
tongues: (as they read) you would think it is a part of the Book, but it is
no part of the Book; and they say, 'That is from Allah,' but it is not from
Allah: It is they who tell a lie against Allah...' (Surah
3, Ali 'Imran, verse 78)
In the verse quoted above the
Jews are reading parts of their Book wrongly while the written words remain
unchanged.
'But because of their
breach of their Covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard: They
change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the
Message that was sent... (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, verse 13)
The phrase 'They change the
words from their (right) places' could mean that they tampered with the text of
the Book. However, the second possibility, that the true meaning was
distorted, not the text itself, (see also Surah
5, Ma'idah, verse 44) will have to be given
preference in the light of the wider context (see above) which clearly shows
that:
-The unchanged Torah was
with the Jews of Muhammad's time. (Surah 5, Al Ma
'idah, verses 43, 68) -It was referred to by the
Prophet in matters of dispute. (Surah 3, Ali 'Imran, verse 93)
In Surah
2, Al Baqarah, verses 75-79 (in verse 75 Jews are
listening to the Quran being recited); Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 46;, the
Jews are accused of changing, writing down wrongly, what Muhammad () said. After
checking all these references it becomes clear that the Torah remained
unchanged!
5. WHAT DOES HADITH SAY
ABOUT THE BIBLE?
For many Muslims the Hadith provides a key to the correct understanding of the Quran. It is therefore most interesting to see what it has
to say about the accuracy of the Jewish-Christian Scriptures. According to a
tradition found in Mishkat al-Masabith,
Book II, chapter 1, pages 62,63, Muhammad confirms
that the Jews and the Christians read the Torah and the Gospel. He does not say
anything about them being corrupted! In Bukhari's
chapter 'How revelation first began' we read that the prophet of Islam was
taken to Khadijah's cousin, Waraqa
ben Naufal. He used to
translate the Torah and the Gospel as God granted him strength. It does not say
that he translated corrupted Holy Books! In the Mishkat
al-Masabith, Book XVI, chapter 1, page 758, we read
how Muhammad judges according to the Torah that is before him without saying
anything about it being changed! Out of the numerous traditions about this
subject there is only one reference found in Bukhari,
Sahih, Kitab al-Shahada, number 29, which says that the people of the Book
changed it's actual text. It may be possible that
individual Jews in
7. CONCLUSION
The Quran
and the Hadith make it clear that the Bible has not
been changed before the time of Muhammad. Otherwise God would have demanded to
believe in Scriptures that were already corrupted. As said already, if we assume that changes
were made while or after the prophet's time, we can simply compare a twenty
first century copy with one that was written before the sixth century. The
result will be that all the teaching remained the same! The attentive
reader is left with a fundamental problem of discrepancy. A number of Biblical
teachings are described as erroneous in the Quran. Yet
the latter confirms the former to be the unchanged word of God! Surah 4, Nisaa, verse 82 says
that the Quran is not from God if one finds
discrepancies in it! Muslims who say that the Bible is corrupted contradict
their own book. Many who leave room in their hearts for the possibility
that they could be wrong in the beliefs they were taught from early childhood,
will be left deeply moved after reading this article. It is those Muslims the
author of it can identify with. His life too was worked out for him by others. For
a number of years he lived more or less comfortably within the boundaries set
by people often 'in the name of God'. Confronted by many other religions and
ideas of how to live a meaningful live he set out to discover the truth for
himself. In that process, realizing that it is impossible to detect infinite
reality as a finite being, he prayed wholeheartedly, 'God if you are there,
show me which way is the right one.' A few days later he heard the Eternal One
speaking through some passages of the Bible which was given to him by a friend!
After confessing his sins he asked Jesus to come in his life and use it for his
glory. Since that incredible experience the author's life changed literally
like day and night! He now follows Jesus Christ who died for his sins on the
cross, who rose again on the third day, who promises
eternal life in heaven and who says:
'In the beginning was
the Word and the Word was with God, and the word was God. The word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us....He came to that which was his own, but his
own did not receive him....Yet to all who received him, to those who believed
in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.' (John 1:1,14,11)
The author lovingly pleads
with you, 'pray for God to reveal to you who Jesus really is!'
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