Headings
Describing the “Islamic Dilemma” of partially confirming/ rejecting the BIble
One of the surprising features of the Qur’an is that we find in it a profusion of verses showering praise and approval of the “Torah and the Injil (Gospel)”, the books of relisions that are effectively opposed to Islam and that Islam seeks to replace. This has come to be known as the “Islamic dilemma”, which is a seemingly internal contradiction in the Qur’an.
This is another favourite response, which builds upon the previous one, that the original Bible is lost and states that the Quran only confirms the portions of the original that it still retains.
First, were it the case that the Qur’anic author held a view that there were significant corruptions of the Bible, then we would expect to hear some reference to an “original” Torah/Injil as different from the ones in circulation. We never get any such clear disjunction between two types of Bible, one pure, one not. That is surpsiring, given the number of verses that affirm/praise the Bible, that there is no clear indication that the praise is to be qualified in this manner. After all they are both meant to be his own revelations, would we not expect him to clarify this? That is to say, if Allah had at one point in time given his eternal message, the “one message” that we always hear Muslims speak of to his prophets and if he felt it necessary to come back at another point of time with an eternal message because his own previous books had become irrevokeably corrupted, then would it not see natural to mention this, that “you guys have lost the books I gave you so here I am again” something along those lines.
Further, we never get the impression that the Qur’anic author holds a belief in the universal circulation of corrupted Christian and Jewish scriptures. Thus there is a certainly an oddity of a corrupted scripture not being singled out for specific mention, did the author truly hold the belief in one. We never get anything along the lines of “this scripture that you hold is corrupt, set it aside, ignore it, abandon it”. How’s it possible that if God’s scripture on Earth is uniformly corrupted, that the author of the Quran never says that the copies people possess and by which you live your religions are corrupted copies? It comes across as a glaring omission.
When we read some obscure references to possible textual problems, they comes across more like the author does not actually know his subject matter and is hedging his bets on both sides.
As a more specific example, the author of the Quran clearly believes that he is mentioned in the Bible as Ahmed (61:6). This is also iterated in 7:157, without the specific name. Yet he never says to the Christians that this reference is missing from their own Bibles. How is that possible, for him to say the one and not the other? Would we not expect him to say “I’m mentioned as Ahmed in your Bible but not the one you’re using?” Rather, he just says I’m mentioned in your Bible! For example, if I was talking to you about the first edition of the Oxford dictionary I might say that a certain word existed in it. But I would be clear that I was not talking about the present edition. I wouldn’t just say hey look up the meaning of “tarry” or “holp”, It’s given in your book. In other words, if people are reading misleading scriptures or misguiding scriptures, it is hard to see why God, having spoken, would not draw them away from those explicitly.
Effectively the Bible is lost to modern day Muslims for all practical purposes. Proof of this is that there is not a single Biblical verse that Muslims employ in prayer. Even the most foundational verses of Judaism, which is the Shema is never uttered in Islam (which can be said to contain a modified version instead, incorporating Muhammed- la lllalah etc.). Rather the verse of muhayman (which we come to later), which can be read as the Qur’an in some way being superior to the previous books is employed in most of these discussions.This means that for the practising Muslim, the previous books are relegated to the status of a sort of disabled child that is merely looked at fondly, but not taken seriously. In effect, they are mere caricatures of scriptures for the Muslim, although this is never admitted (and the reason for not admitting it is all the very verses that praise those books, which we discuss here!). This is the nature of the Islamic dilemma- the author of the Qur’an simply does not seem to shun the Bible like Muslims do.
Thus we can summarise the Islamic dilemma succinctly as the state of Muslims practically treating the Bible as a book that is completely worthless for religious practise, when the author of the Qur’an himself/herself does not seem to hold a view anything like this. On the contrary, the impression that we do get from the Quran is of an author rejecting some of the central teachings of Christianity, as though they were not aware that these were in the Bible that they were praising.
This “Islamic dilemma” can be tricky to frame and is often framed badly as a result. I have presented what I think is the strongest form of that dilemma. The Qur’anic author speaking to his 7th century Arabic Christians and Jews is obviously effusive about their scripture. That’s problematic, because today’s Muslims clearly aren’t. And both Christian as well as Judaic scripture are independently standardized well before this time, from 3 to 5 centuries respsctively. The chief responses from Muslims seem to centre around claims that these affirmative verses are referring to a different document, however again there does not seem to be a similar dichotomy in the mind of the Qur’anic author from the text. If the Qur’anic author truly viewed those sriptures in the same way as modern Muslims, which is of relegation to total religious irrevelance with the exception of the kind of fringe voices that are seen in any religion, then it would seem absurd to find the kind of verses that we list in support of those scriptures as we see in this article.
The Qur’anic dilemma can be said to go even beyond that, from the Bible to the Christians and Jews themselves, for we find a few places commending not only the books but also the religions. Similar to the case of the scriptures, here too the main Muslim response is that these are different Christians from the mainstream. However once again, these comments are made as generalisations and its quite clear in the 7th century what general trends and prevalance in Christianity and Judaism are. There just isnt the sense that the verses are singling out local populations of non-orthodox Jews or Christians.
The reason for the strength of the dilemma, once again lies firmly in the verses themselves and the sheer array of positive perspectives that arise from them toward scripture that Islam should really view in the opposite sense. Remember, Islam intentionally creates a tremendous paradigm shift in the Middle East in a very short time from its inception and it is certainly not attmepting to be conciliatory of Jewish/Christian beliefs in the region anymore than modern Muslims are today. Rather Muslims are told that the Quran confirms their scriptures, to accept Muhammed on the seeming condition that he accept their scripture, that they will find Muhammed in those scriptures, that Jews and Christians are to judge, be judged by, and follow thier own scriptures, that Jesus and Mary themselves confirmed the Torah, that Muslisms must believe all the previous books, that the words of God cannot be changed, and finally that Christians and Jews will also go to Heaven, completing an incredible Qur’anic cycle of commendation of those religions.
Examining the Qur’anic verses themselves
This is the full list of the Qur’anic verses that treat Christian/Judaic Scripture in a positive light:
Surah 2: 2:1-5, 2:53, 2:87, 2:111-113, 2:121, 2:136, 2:144-145, 2:176, 2:213, 2:285 Surah 3:3:65, 3:81, 3:84, 3:93, 3:99, 3:119, 3:183-184, 3:187 Surah 4 4:51, 4:54, 4:131 4:136, 4:150-153, 4:162, 4:171 Surah 5 5:47, 5:62, 5:85-86 Surah 6 6:20, 6:114, 6:124 Surah 13 13:36 Surah 17 17:2, 17:4-7, 17:55 Other Surahs: 19:28-29, Surah 21:48, 23:49, 25:35, 28:43, 28:48-49, 28:52-53, 32:23, 34:23-24, 35:25, 37:114-117, 40:53-55, 41:45, 42:15, 45:16-17, 45:28-29, 46:10, 11:16-17, 98:1, 54:43, 57:25, 62:5, 74:31, and 87:18.
Will you agree to accept Muhammad on the condition that he confirms your Scripture?
Had Muhammed asserted that the books the Christians and Jews were using were corrupted, they would have been right to reject him. Clearly in the passage Allah is making an agreement with the listeners that they will accept the Messenger who confirms the books they already have. That’s the only qualification given here of his messenger and what’s more their agreement is obtained by Allah “on this condition”:
“And when God took compact with the Prophets: ‘That I have given you of Book and Wisdom; then there shall come to you a Messenger confirming what is with you — you shall believe in him and you shall help him; do you agree?’ He said. ‘And do you take My load on you on that condition?’ They said, ‘We do agree.’ God said, ‘Bear witness so, and I shall be with you among the witnesses.'” (Q 3:81)
The Qur’an confirms what is with you
We examine some of the verses individually:
Verses in Surah 2:
“And believe in that I have sent down, confirming that which is with you (lima ma’akum), and be not the first to disbelieve in it. And sell not My signs for a little price; and fear you Me.” (Q 2:41)
(Q 2:97) “Say (O Mohammed), “Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel – for it is he who has brought down this Qur’an to your heart by Allah’s command, confirming the Books that are with you “bayna yadayhi”, and a guidance and glad tidings to Muslims.”
Here in v.113, we see Allah stating “they both read the Scripture”, which is an obvious approval of what they are currently reading.
“They also say, ‘No one will enter Paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian.’ This is their own wishful thinking. [Prophet], say, ‘Produce your evidence, if you are telling the truth. In fact, any who directs themselves (wajhahu- wajh is face or direction- AH) wholly to God (billahi), and do good will heave their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve. The Jews say, ‘The Christians have no ground whatsoever to stand on,’ and the Christians say, ‘The Jews have no ground whatsoever to stand on,’ though they both read the Scripture, and those who have no knowledge say the same; God will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning their differences” (Q 2:111-113)
Surah 10:94 has a similar implication wherein Muhammed is told “ask those who have been reading scripture before you”, which the obvious implication that his listeners are reading the appropriate scriptures in the present time.
In Surahs 6
Here in addition we also see that the Qur’an is apparently meant as a warning for the “Mother of cities and those around it”:
“And this is a Book which We have revealed (anzalahu), blessed and confirming what was before it (bayna yadayhi) , that you may warn the Mother of Cities and those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are maintaining their prayers.” (Q 6:92)
Surahs 10,12,35 & 46
“And it was not [possible] for this Qur’an to be produced by other than Allah, but a confirmation of what was before it (bayna yadayhi) and a detailed explanation of the Scripture, about which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds.” (Q 10:37)
“In their stories is surely a lesson to men possessed of minds; it is not a tale forged, but a confirmation of what is before it, and a distinguishing of every thing, and a guidance, and a mercy to a people who believe.” (Q 12:111)
Here the use of bayna yadayhi would simply imply “what was with it”:
(Q 35:31) “And that which We have revealed to you of the Book is the truth, confirming what was before it… (mu-saddiqan li-ma bayna yadayhi, here the “hi” personal pronoun must refer back to masc.n. l-kitabun)“
“And before this, was the Book of Moses as a guide and a mercy: And this Book confirms (it) in the Arabic tongue; to admonish the unjust, and as Glad Tidings to those who do right.” (Q 46:12)
“They said, “O our people! We have indeed heard a Book, sent down after Moosa, which confirms the Books preceding it (bayna yadayhi), and guides towards the Truth and the Straight Path.” (Q 46:30)
Muslims possess a preserved Bible with mention of Muhammad in it?
It is those persons who follow Muhammed, therefore Muslims themselves who “find him in the Torah and Gospels”. Thus the Muslims had the original Bible with them. What did they do to it, since they claim it is now corrupted?
This means that Mohammed is referring to the books available at the time, since he is asking the Christians to refer to these as a current accreditation of himself. One does not knowingly give a corrupt reference for one’s own self (unless one is corrupt themselves). Ask yourself, which Book is Muhammed expecting his immediate audience to reach for?:
“those who follow the Messenger, ‘the Prophet of the common folk, whom THEY find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel…’ (Surah 7:157)
this is also repeated in the Ahmad verse: (Q 61:6)
Jesus and Mary Confirmed the Torah- Surahs 5 & 66
If Mary and Jesus confirmed the Torah, this means that in 0AD, the Torah was incorrupt:
(Q 5:46) “And in their footsteps We sent Jesus son of Mary, confirming that which was before him (bayna yadyhi) of the Taurat (mina l-tairati- [gen.]), and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was before it in the Torah (bayna yadayhi mina l-taurati)—a guidance and an admonition to the God-fearing. (46) Let the People of the Gospel judge by that which Allah had revealed therein. Whoever judges not by that which Allah has revealed; such are the corrupt (47).”
“Mary, Imran’s daughter (…) confirmed the words of her Lord and his books, and became one of the obedient” (Q 66:12)
Jews & Christians must follow/ judge by/ be judged by their own books- surahs 2,3,5& 29
“Say, “We believe in Allah and what is sent down to us and what was sent down to Ibrahim, and Ismael, and Ishaq, and Yaqub, and to their offspring, and what was bestowed upon Moosa and Eisa (Jesus), and what was bestowed upon other Prophets – from their Lord; we do not make any distinction, in belief, between any of them; and to Allah we have submitted ourselves.” (Q 2:136)
This is a repeat of 2:136: “Say, “We believe in Allah and that which was sent down to us and that which was sent down to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes; and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have surrendered.” (Q 3:84)
This according to the Tafsir, is to be with the Torahic proscription of camel meat being eaten. Mohammed accepts that the Jews can keep to their own law:
“All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had made unlawful to himself before the Torah was revealed. Say, [O Muhammad], “So bring the Torah and recite it, if you should be truthful.” (Q 3:93)
“But those of them that are firmly rooted in knowledge, and the believers believing in what has been sent down to thee, and what was sent down before thee, that perform the prayer and pay the alms, and those who believe in God and the Last Day – them We shall surely give a mighty wage.” (Q 4:162)
Allah is describing the Christians as “People of the Injil”. It is hard to see how there can be a condemnation of the Injil entailed when it is their title:
“And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.” (Q 5:47)
This is really stating that Allah has intentionally preserved separate religious communities with their own books that they may be judged by their own books:
“And to you We have sent down the Book with the truth, confirming whatever Books were before it (بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ bayna yadayhi- “between their hands”- occ. here & 5:46, 6:92, 10:37, 12:111, 46:30) and a witness over them. So judge between them by that which Allah has sent down, and follow not their passions away from the truth which has come to you. For each of you We have appointed a [Divine] law and a traced-out way. Had Allah willed He could have made you one community, but, so that He may try you by that which He has given you. So vie with one another in good works. To Allah you will all be returned, and He will then inform you of that wherein you disputed.” (Q 5:48)
“Say: “O People of the Book! You have nothing [of true guidance] till you observe the Torah and the Gospel, and that which was sent down to you from your Lord.” (Q 5:68)
The doctrine of revelation’s divine preservation in these words is clear. In 15:9 and 6:114 the Arabic verb used is nazzal; this is the very same term used of the Torah in 5:44 and of the Injil in 5:47. The Qur’an contains guidance and light (2:2; 4:174); the Torah and Injil contain guidance and light (5:44, 46).
A note on “bayna yadayhi”
“bayna yadayhi min l-taurati” means “confirming what was with him of the Torah”. I don’t accept that “bayna yadayhi” should denote any separation in time from the present, that is, it should not be fallaciously interpreted as to mean “what had been with them some time in the distant past”. It includes present and past without disjunction. Its like “the watch you had with you (bayna yadayhi) when you were 5 years old was cute”. You really had it present at the time you were 5 years old. Polemcists might try to insinuate that “bayna yadayhi” has the implication of a disconnect in time, which is incorrect. Bayna yadayhi is not “the books which you had previously” which can denote a disconnect, rather “the books that you had with you” or “had with you then” or most simply “had with you”/ “were in your hands/hands then”. Its not like saying “the books which you had previously”, rather “the books that you had with you” or “had with you then” is correct. The full formula which is repeated in these verses is “mussadiqan li-ma bayna yadayhi”. Mu-ssadiqan is the participial form of sadiq, which is the word for truth.
Muslims must believe all the Books of the previous Prophets
What are Christians meant to believe in if not their own books?
“O believers, believe in God and His Messenger and the Book He has sent down on His Messenger as well as what he sent down before. Whoso disbelieves in God and His angels and His Books, and His Messengers, and the Last Day, has surely gone astray into far error.” (Q 4:136)
“O believers, believe in God and His Messenger and the Book He has sent down on His Messenger and the Book which He sent down before. Whoso disbelieves in God and His angels and His Books, and His Messengers, and the Last Day, has surely gone astray into far error.” (Q 2:285)
“O Muslims! Do not argue with the People of the Book except in the best of ways, save with such of them who are unjust; and say: “We believe in that which has been sent down to us and that which has been down to you; our God and your God is One, and to Him we surrender.” (Q 29:46).
It is also one of the Six Articles of Imaan (Faith) that the Muslims must believe in all the previous Books. I think there is hadith regarding this too, but I can’t find it as of now, apologies. Do post in the comments if you know it. But the above verses suffice.
see also: 2:136; 2:150-152; 5:48
Words of God cannot be changed
What’s more, there is good reason to hold to the incorruptibility of the Bible, for the Qur’an itself states that God’s words cannot be changed per se:
(Q 18:27) “And recite [and teach] that which has been revealed unto you of the Book of your Lord. No one can change His words. You shall find no refuge beside Him“
(Q 10:64) “Theirs is the good news in this world and in the Hereafter. No change can there be in the words of Allah. This is the tremendous triumph.“
(Q 6:114–115) “…There is nothing that can change His words. He is the Hearing, the Knowing.“
Here God says that he will guard the “reminder”:
“Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardian.” (Q 15:9)
Next it states that the “people of the Reminder” are not the Muslims after all. Its those who came before them, which could only refer to the Christians and Jews:
“We sent not any before thee, except men to whom We revealed: ‘Question the people of the Remembrance, if it should be that you do not know” (Q 16:43)
‘Tis Good to be Christian/ Jewish!
Ask the Christians if you’re in doubt
These are the two verses that specifically advise Muslims firstly to seek advice from Christians and Jews and secondly, that Christians, Jews and Sabaeans (whatever that is!), are on the right path to Heaven.
“If you are in doubt (O Mohammed) about that which we have revealed to you, ask those to who have been reading the scripture before you” (Q 10:94)
“Believers, Jews, Christians, and Sabaeans- whoever believes in God and the last day and does what is right- shall be rewarded by their Lord; they have nothing to fear or to regret.” (Q2:62, identical to 5:69)
This is also corroborated by the following:
“We sent not any before thee, except men to whom We revealed: ‘Question the people of the Remembrance, if it should be that you do not know –with the clear signs, and the Psalms; and We have sent down to thee the Remembrance that thou mayest make clear to mankind what was sent down to them; and so haply they will reflect.” (Q 16:43)
and:
“And We sent none before thee, but men to whom We made revelation — question the People of the Remembrance, if you do not know –And We sent none before thee, but men to whom We made revelation — question the People of the Remembrance, if you do not know –nor did We fashion them as bodies that ate not food, neither were they immortal” (Q 21:6-8)
Christians will be superior:
“When God said, ‘Jesus, I will take thee to Me and will raise thee to Me and I will purify thee of those who believe not. I will set thy followers above the unbelievers till the Resurrection Day. Then unto Me shall you return, and I will decide between you, as to what you were at variance on.” (Q 3:55)
Quran affirms the credibility of Jesus’ Disciples
See surahs 5:111, 61:14
The Bible’s Prediction of Islam
Almost 200 years after the advent of Islam, Abraham prophesied about Ishmael, that he would be a mad donkey, and that his progeny would live in hostility to all their neighbors. If as Muslims claim they are indeed the descendants of Ishmael, then the Bible’s prophecy is startlingly accurate (as always, of course). And completely free from accusations of prejudice and partiality. One could not be prejudiced to something that hadn’t happened yet.
Genesis 16:11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery. He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers.”
Gen 25:18 His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt, as you go toward Ashur. And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.
Muslims Responses
The Quran is praising a different book, not the NT
This is by far the preferred response, that the Injil/ Torah is something different from what the Christians possess today, hence the dilemma does not exist. We examine the various reasons for making this assertion
That the previous books must be of the same genre as the Qur’an
One of the reasons that the Injil/Torah is not the Bible is that the latter is of different genre from the Qur’an. The problem here is that the Bible is meant to be a different genre from the Qur’an anyway. It is not impossible that God enable in the past the writing of a different genre of revelation from the Qur’an. The Qur’an indicates the the Injil/Torah were “given/ sent down” to Jesus/ Moses respectively. However this does not mean that having being given as a divine sort of wisdom, Jesus/ Moses’ disciples did not then proceed to document the manner of revelation biographically. In any case there is no living memory of a revelation that was given in the form of something that was meant to be mass memorized in the manner of the Qur’anic text.
Take a look at the following Bible passage which gives an idea of how the Bible is written:
“how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” (Hebrews 2:3,4)
This is how the gospels were meant to be written, They’re always meant to be biographical- people describing Jesus’ teachings and signs, hence: “confirmed to us by those who heard him… God also testified to it by signs…” That is how you get a mixture of teaching and miracles in the Bible and this has always been the way from the time of the miracles of Moses and before.
In short, in the Bible we get a narrative, something that’s missing from Islamic Scripture. This is why in Islam you do not get contemporaneous accounts of miracles, for example. That’s also the reason that in the Torah/ Injil/ Zaboor etc. we see the effects of human scribes trying to get the narrative right, attempting to paraphrase memories that may seem to have begun to dim, different genres and so on. This is what results in the perceived discrepancies and inconsistencies in the accounts.
If indeed, on the other hand, the Torah and Injil and indeed all the other books that were allegedly given to past prophets were meant to be in a Quran-type format, then it is not clear why the Qur’an was needed in the first place. That is, if there were an “eternal Islamic Torah/ Injil/ Zaboor/etc.” in the mind of Allah in the same way that the Qur’an is supposedly eternally in the mind of Allah, then why are those books not simply reiterated? Why did Allah only salvage one of the “eternal books” of his mind? And of course finally, where are all these pre-Islamic books that are supposedly in a Qur’an- type format? How come there are no writings from the time of Jesus or prior to that which look like the Qur’an in terms of genre? Even if it is to be asserted that one can pick out certain verses that might sound like something the Qur’an might also say, as though one can cherry-pick a desired genre out of a work of literature, yet we still do not get anything like the content of the Qur’an in any earlier book. That is to say, we might glean a strict monotheism from the Bible, which is hardly surprising, and also verses where Jesus can be presented as no more than a man, and other generic advice that can be found in any philosophy anyway, but the Qur’an has a gamut of specific teachings above and beyond that, which constitute the practise of Islam, elaborated in the hadith, of course, and it is odd that none of these are seen earlier, if they are supposedly eternal.
It seems that when “Jesus preached the Gospel”, Muslims have a theological commitment to interpret this as him reading out from a specific scroll dictated by an angel, a la Muhammed, or something similar; they cannot allow for the simple fact that he was preaching the content of the four Gospels, not the text verbatim. Just like any teacher does not need quote a textbook verbatim To his students. That “textbook”, which is the biographical account of Jesus’s life and sayings, is the Good News, as detailed in the four Gospels. However that concept is incompatible with the Islamic model.
The Qur’an is clearly stating that that which was “given to Jesus” in the first century is the same as that which the Christians are reading in the seventh century:
” And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah before it, 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.” (Q 5:46:47)
Were Arabian Christians/ Jews reading a book different from the Bible?
With regards to what Bible was in Arabia, there was no Arabic translation of the Bible, and Christians of the 7th century believed the gospels were inspired and the Gospel was revealed by Jesus – many Christians in Syria were well acquainted with Tatian’s harmonization of the gospels, this is one of the possible reasons for “injil” being referred to in the singular. As most scholars, including Sydney Griffiths, argue that Muhammad probably had no idea what was in the Bible. He probably had no idea that there were 4 gospels written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John but was familiar with the language of Christians that the gospel was from Christ and revealed by him.
The scholar Sydney Griffiths has described how Muhammad was correcting the traditions of Christians and Jews – irrespective of where they came from. He does not see the Quran as believing the Bible is corrupt or correcting therein, but correcting traditions that it heard orally from Christians and Jews. Gabriel Reynolds has noted, if there was any evidence of the Quran viewing the gospels as corrupt – although there is not – all it would do is provide evidence of Quranic evolution and redaction, since surah 5.44-48 demonstrates that the Quran saw the Torah and Injeel that Christians had possession of in 7th century as what was revealed by Jesus.
Surprisingly for Muslims and also for Christians, an unexpectedly large number of verses of the Qur’an are dedicated to praising the veracity of the Bible at that time. As it turns out, we today possess multiple copies of the Bible that pre-date Islam: the Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Alexandrinus to name the better known ones. Todays’s modern translations are based upon those same codices as well as from earlier manuscripts which are more partial. Since Mohammed’s been and gone, nothing has changed in Christianity, and we’re reading the same Bible. Put another way, we use the same version of the Bible today that Mohammed praised in the 7th century. If that version of the Bible was corrupted, then Mohammed gets it wrong in the Qur’an.
The very word injil is not Arabic at all it is the the Greek eu-angelion (not the phonetic similarity “injil” and “angel”), a clear reference to the same book that the Greek-speaking west is referring to, not some lost Aramaic book. There is not other explanation for why an Arabic speaking Allah should suddenly break into Greek. There is no logical way of escaping the fact that Mohammed was speaking about pretty much the same Bible that we are sing today, with if any, no more than minor textual variations, but which in its major doctrines is fatal to the Qur’an.
It seems reasonable to assume that the Jews are using the Masoretic text of the Tanakh, while to the Christians “Gospel” implies the New Testament, which by the 7th century has the settled 27 book canon across all Christian denominations. There is the possibility that some fringe groups that have since died out are also employing Gnostic texts. On the answer rests the veracity of an entire slew of Quranic verses rest on this issue, verses that Muslims have been learning by rote for hundreds of years and perfectly preserved in the syntax of.
In any case, we have made the case that the Qur’anic author does not demonstrate any sense of there being two versions of his own revelations, as we have mentioned earlier, so the argument from genre is a weak argument at best.
Weaker Responses
The Quran actually is not in conflict with the Bible?
This a different approach, that by denying any scriptural conflict in the first place, the dilemma is avoided, and there are some Muslim scholars who take this view, especially of hte more esoteric schools of Islam like the Akbaris, sufis and some Shiahs in whom can be sometimes found a surprisingly high Christology. But in that case even their Muhammadology might begin to take the appearance of the transcendent, for example Shia’s literally call the light of wisdom emanating from God as “Nur Muhammed”, as though that light itself was Muhammed, akin to “Word of God” Christology. If nothing else this sort of view that is exact opposite of the view of scriptural conflict highlights the ambiguity in the Qur’anic text, that it can support both. But wee see, for example in Q 2:113 the Qur’an saying “they too read the scriptures“, also Q 10:94.
Kitab is not a book?
Another response I have seen is that surprisingly “kitab” might not mean book after all, so the Qur’an is merely pointing to the memory of some compatible beliefs. This hardly gets us very much further. There is not reason that having the memory of beliefs, Christians cannot write them down, this amounts to the same thing, whether “kitab” is referring to a memory or a documentation, its the content that is in view here. But even examining some of the verses here would seem to necessitate some sort of a fixed deposit of revelation, whatever the mode of preservation might be. For example the Qur’an advises Muslims to believe in the present kitab as well as the previous kitabs. How are they supposed to do that?
Does the Qur’an allege corruption of Christian Scriptures?
If it is true that the Qur’an does allege corruption of the Christian scriptures, then it sets up a conflict with the other salutatory verses also in it anyway. But let us examine the verses in view here anyway.
These are the verses that accuse Jews of “distorting their scriptures (yuḥarrifūnahu- they distort it)” in fact Sahih and some other translations used “distort from their proper usages/context”, or that they “write the scriptures with their own hands”. The verses involved are mainly the following three:
“So woe to those who write the Book with their hands (yaktubuna l-kitaba bi-aydihim), then say, ‘This is from God,’ that they may sell it for a little price; so woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for their earnings.” (Q 2:79)
The previous verse states that these are in fact ignorant persons that do not even know the book:
“And some there are of them that are common folk not knowing the Book, but only fancies and mere conjectures.” (Q 2:78)
“So for their breaking their compact We cursed them and made their hearts hard, they perverting words from their meanings (yaharrifuna); and they have forgotten a portion of that they were reminded of; and thou wilt never cease to light upon some act of treachery on their part, except a few of them. Yet pardon them, and forgive; surely God loves the good-doers.” (Q 5:13)
“O Messenger, let them not grieve thee that vie with one another in unbelief, such men as say with their mouths ‘We believe’ but their hearts believe not; and the Jews who listen to falsehood, listen to other folk, who have not come to thee, perverting words from their meanings (yaharrifuna), saying, ‘If you are given this, then take it; if you are not given it, beware!’ Whomsoever God desires to try, thou canst not avail him anything with God. Those are they whose hearts God desired not to purify; for them is degradation in this world; and in the world to come awaits them a mighty chastisement ” (Q 5:41)
Thus it is unlikely that such persons could perform the task of altering the settled text of two great religions even without knowing what that text was! It is entirely more likely that what is being spoken of here is either they are writing a new scripture, like a gnostic text, though the original remains untouched, or asserting without knowing the truth, that the Talmud is itself scripture. It is unlikely that this refers to tampering with the settled text because the Quran is so commendatory when it speaks of the Torah in other places.
This is not an assertion that the Torah and Injil have specifically been corrupted for the following reasons:
1- Mohammed has clearly stated that they are reliable, BY NAME. As result, there is no reason why in the accusations of corruption the names could not be repeated. This is what would be required in order to make a strong case for corruption, by specifically mapping on to the confirmations. This is why it is more likely to be something at a local level.
2 – The text of an established world-religion is centrally held and disseminated and has been for the past 300 years at least at the time of Mohammed (much longer for the Torah of course). Local distortions are not going to affect the integrity of the standard text at this stage. Churches are now widespread in Europe and Northern Africa. It would not be possible to simply change the text of Scripture without all the churches noticing and being complicit in it.
3- in fact there is no reason to believe that there is a textual corruption being insinuated here with “distorting/twisting the words of scripture”, rather this is most likely implying merely misinterpretation. There is a parallel verse in the Bible (2 Peter 3:18) “Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”
There is a detailed article on this issue here: https://steelmanapologetics.com/does-%e1%b8%a5arrafa-imply-textual-corruption/
A “Guardian over previous Scripture”?
We’ve already seen verse 5:48, in which the Jews and Christians are quite clearly advised to follow their own books. However the verse also seemingly states that the Qur’an is a “guardian” (wamuhayminan) over the previous scriptures. Muslims will take this to mean that if there is a discrepancy between the Qur’an and the “previous scriptures” then the Qur’an takes precedence. However at the same time the Jews and Christians are not being told to give the Qur’an any precedence, so this interpretation is not quite obvious. Further there is no implication in the verse that the scriptures give any wrong information, so the verse does not contain the slightest notion of “correction” or rectification. All it says is “guardian”, and this can well refer to the veracity of those scriptures and the accreditation of the truth contained therein. We should by no means rush to apply a negative meaning to the verse. In the only other occurrence of the word, Allah himself is called “Guardian” and this too is in the sense of one who protects, rather than a sense of any rectification (Q 59:23). Again, going back to the initial point, the Quran might well imply in this verse that it is superior in some sense, but it does not indicate that the previous scruptures are in need of some sort of massive repair project, once again because there is now a corrupted version in addition to the original pure one the latter of which is no more in use.
Islamic/ Modern Scholarly opinion
None of the verses in the Qur’an that explicitly mention the names Tawrāt, Injīl or Zabūr makes a negative statement about these earlier scriptures. In fact even the scholarly Islamic view is that the Qur’an does not assert that the Christian scriptures have been corrupted. Let us examine what some of their own scholars say:
“Contrary to the general Islamic view, the Qur’an does not accuse Jews and Christians of altering the text of their scriptures, but rather of altering the truth which those scriptures contain. The people do this by concealing some of the sacred texts, by misapplying their precepts, or by “altering words from their right position.” However, this refers more to interpretation than to actual addition or deletion of words from the sacred books…”. Mahmoud Ayoub, “‘Uzayr in the Qur’an and Muslim tradition,” in Studies in Islamic and Judaic traditions, eds. W.M. Brinner and S.D. Ricks (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986)
Watt and Ayoub thus agree that the meaning of the Qur’anic verses on the earlier scriptures is different from how some of those verses came to be interpreted and—indeed—from what came to be the general Islamic view.
A third scholar who made a similar judgment was Ignazio Di Matteo. After reviewing the interpretations of verses on the earlier scriptures in the Qur’an by al-Ṭabarī and Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, Di Matteo concluded, “According to the Qur’ān, the text of the holy scriptures has been altered neither before Muḥammad, nor even during his life-time by those Jews and Christians who were not favourably disposed towards his mission. In the Qur’ān taḥrīf means either false interpretation of the passages bearing upon Muḥammad or non-enforcement of the explicit laws of the Pentateuch, such as the stoning punishment.”
Al-Tabari states:
“Therefore, faithful Muslims believe in every Prophet whom Allah has sent and in every Book He revealed, and never disbelieve in any of them. Rather, they believe in what was revealed by Allah, and in every Prophet sent by Allah.”
Abdullah Saeed is another Muslim scholar who finds no accusation of corruption in the Qur’an. Saeed distinguished between verses about the earlier scriptures and verses about the custodians of those scriptures.
“In no verse in the Qur’ān is there a denigrating remark about the scriptures of the Jews and Christians. Instead, there is respect and reverence. Any disparaging remarks were about the People of the Book, individuals or groups, and their actions.”
A major article on “The corruption of the scriptures” was written by St. Andrews University professor John Burton, in which he related the qur’anic references to earlier scriptures directly to the Bible: “Many non-Muslims are still firmly of the belief that Jews and Christians are accused in the Qur’ān of having tampered with the texts of the revelations to the prophets now collected into the Old and New Testaments of their Bible. This is because they regularly encounter such charges in their reading. The accusation is a commonplace charge against the People of the Book by the Muslims, not, however, because of what the Qur’ān says, but because of what the Muslims say the Qur’ān says. In other words, it is mere exegesis”.
Dr. Burton made a distinction between what the Qur’an actually says about the earlier scriptures and the way in which Muslims have interpreted the Qur’an on this theme. He agrees with the straightforward observation that the Qur’an does not accuse the Jews and Christians of having falsified the Bible. Support for Burton’s view comes from Lebanese scholar Martin Accad.
Accad warns against reading into verses of the Qur’an later Muslim meanings of taḥrīf (the term used by Muslim polemicists as an accusation of corruption). In the Qur’ânic context, taḥrîf is principally an ambiguous accusation raised against the Jews. Moreover, [all four verses containing the verb ḥarrafa] more readily lend themselves to being understood as accusations of misinterpretation, taḥrîf maʿna, rather than textual corruption, taḥrîf lafẓ. One should not therefore too quickly conclude, as most do today, that these verses were automatically understood in the sense of textual corruption of the whole Bible, for this would represent an anachronism. Accad’s perspective on the meaning of the qur’anic verses came from a close examination of twenty-five treatises written by Muslim authors during the first six centuries of Islam.
Finally, Matthias Radscheit demonstrated how the positive Qur’anic content on the earlier scriptures helps us understand what the Qur’an must mean by taḥrīf. Reflecting on the impression left by the qur’anic material on “tampering” with earlier scriptures, Radscheit wrote, “That it did not mean falsification of the fixed written Torah or Gospel shows itself—negatively—in that taḥrīf is never connected explicitly with these books, and—positively—by the verses which exhort the ahl al-kitāb to hold to what is in their scriptures.”
Like the verses above, these do not direct criticism against the Christian or Jewish ho ly texts but rather against those who forget them or misinterpret them.
The only passage that mentions false scripture is:
(Q 2:79) “So woe unto those who write the book with their hands, then say, “This is from God,” that they may sell it for a paltry price. So woe unto them for what their hands have written and woe unto them for what they earn.”
This verse does not connect men who “write the book with their hands” with the canonical Christian and Jewish scriptures. As a result, its essential aim is to censure those who write false scripture and neglect true scripture.
References
- On the Qur’anic Accusation of Scriptural Falsification (tahrîf) and Christian Anti-Jewish Polemic, G S Reynolds, Univerity of Notre Dame, Journal of the American Oriental Society 130.2 (2010)
- Ignazio Di Matteo, “Il ‘Taḥrīf’ od alterazione della Bibbia secondo i musulmani,” Bessarione 38 (1922), 96.
- “The charge of distortion of Jewish and Christian scriptures,” The Muslim World 92 (2002), 429.
- John Burton, “The corruption of the scriptures,” Occasional Papers of the School of Abbasid Studies 4 (1992, publ. 1994), 95. “Corruption and/or misinterpretation of the Bible: The story of the Islâmic usage of taḥrîf,” Theological Review 24/2 (2003), 71.
- Martin Accad. “The Gospels in the Muslim discourse of the ninth to the fourteenth centuries: An exegetical inventorial table,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 14 (2003), 67-91, 205-220, 337-352, 459-79.
- Die koranische Herausforderung: Die taḥaddī-Verse im Rahmen der Polemikpassagen des Korans (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 1996), 82-83.