From: www.quran.org.uk
By Dr. Gary Miller**
It must be stressed that the Qur’an is accurate about many, many things, but accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for divine revelations. For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean that it is divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that one must establish some proof of the source the Qur’an’s information. The emphasis is in the other direction, in that the burden of proof is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the Qur’an’s authenticity without sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then one has the right to disqualify it. This is exactly what the Qur’an encourages.
Looking for Mistakes
Once a man came up to me after a lecture I delivered in South Africa. He was very angry about what I had said, and so he claimed, “I am going to go home tonight and find a mistake in the Qur’an.” Of course, I said, “Congratulations. That is the most intelligent thing that you have said.” Certainly, this is the approach Muslims need to take with those who doubt the Qur’an’s authenticity, because the Qur’an itself offers the same challenge. And inevitably, after accepting its challenge and discovering that it is true, these people will come to believe it because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the Qur’an earns their respect because they themselves have had to verify its authenticity.
An essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough concerning the authenticity of the Qur’an is that one’s inability to explain a phenomenon oneself does not require one’s acceptance of the phenomenon’s existence or another person’s explanation of it. Specifically, just because one cannot explain something does not mean that one has to accept someone else’s explanation. However, the person’s refusal of other explanations returns the burden of proof back on himself to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies to numerous concepts in life but fits most wonderfully with the Qur’anic challenge, for it creates a difficulty for one who says, “I do not believe it.” At the onset of refusal one immediately has an obligation to find an explanation oneself if one feels others’ answers are inadequate.
In fact, in one particular Qur’anic verse that I have always seen mistranslated into English, Allah mentions a man who heard the truth explained to him. It states that he was derelict in his duty because after he heard the information, he left without checking the verity of what he had heard. In other words, one is guilty if one hears something and does not research it and check to see whether it is true. One is supposed to process all information and decide what is garbage to be thrown out and what is worthwhile information to be kept and benefited from immediately or even at a later date.
One cannot just let it rattle around in one’s head. It must be put in the proper categories and approached from that point of view. For example, if the information is still speculative, then one must discern whether it’s closer to being true or false. But if all the facts have been presented, then one must decide absolutely between these two options. And even if one is not positive about the authenticity of the information, one is still required to process all the information and make the admission that one just does not know for sure. Although this last point appears to be futile, in actuality, it is beneficial to the arrival at a positive conclusion at a later time in that it forces the person to at least recognize, research, and review the facts.
This familiarity with the information will give the person “the edge” when future discoveries are made and additional information is presented. The important thing is that one deals with the facts and does not simply discard them out of empathy and disinterest.
Exhausting the Alternatives
The real certainty about the truthfulness of the Qur’an is evident in the confidence that is prevalent throughout it, and this confidence comes from a different approach: exhausting the alternatives.” In essence, the Qur’an states, “This book is a divine revelation; if you do not believe that, then what is it?” In other words, the reader is challenged to come up with some other explanation. Here is a book made of paper and ink. Where did it come from? It says it is a divine revelation; if it is not, then what is its source? The interesting fact is that no one has yet come up with an explanation that works. In fact, all alternatives have been exhausted. As has been well established by non-Muslims, these alternatives basically are reduced to two mutually exclusive schools of thought, insisting on one or the other.
On one hand, there exists a large group of people who have researched the Qur’an for hundreds of years and who claim, “One thing we know for sure: That man, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), thought he was a prophet. He was crazy!” They are convinced that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was fooled somehow. Then on the other hand, there is a group that alleges, “Because of this evidence, one thing we know for sure is that that man, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), was a liar!” Ironically, these two groups never seem to get together without contradictions.
In fact, many references to Islam usually claim both theories. They start out by stating that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was crazy and then end by saying he was a liar. They never seem to realize that he could not have been both! For example, if one is deluded and really thinks that he is a prophet, then he does not sit up late at night planning, “How will I fool the people tomorrow so that they think I am a prophet?” He truly believes that he is a prophet, and he trusts that the answer will be given to him by revelation.
The Critic’s Trail
As a matter of fact, a great deal of the Qur’an came in answer to questions. Someone would ask Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) a question, and the revelation would come with the answer to it. Certainly, if someone is crazy and believes that an angel put words in his ear, then when someone asks him a question, he thinks that the angel will give him the answer. Because he is crazy, he really thinks that. He does not tell someone to wait a short while and then run to his friends and ask them, “Does anyone know the answer?” This type of behavior is characteristic of someone who does not believe that he is a prophet. What the non-Muslims refuse to accept is that you cannot have it both ways. One can be deluded, or one can be a liar. One can be either one or neither one, but one certainly cannot be both! The emphasis is on the fact that they are unquestionably mutually exclusive personality traits.
The following scenario is a good example of the kind of circle that non-Muslims go around in constantly. If you ask one of them, “What is the origin of the Qur’an?” he tells you that it originated from the mind of a man who was crazy. Then you ask him, “If it came from his head, then where did he get the information contained in it? Certainly the Qur’an mentions many things with which the Arabs were not familiar.” So in order to explain the fact that you bring him, he changes his position and says, “Well, maybe he was not crazy. Maybe some foreigner brought him the information. So he lied and told people that he was a prophet.” At this point then you have to ask him, “If Muhammad was a liar, then where did he get his confidence? Why did he behave as though he really thought he was a prophet?” Finally backed into a corner, like a cat he quickly lashes out with the first response that comes to his mind. Forgetting that he has already exhausted that possibility, he claims, “Well, maybe he wasn’t a liar. He was probably crazy and really thought that he was a prophet.” And thus he begins the futile cycle again.
As has already been mentioned, there is much information contained in the Qur’an whose source cannot be attributed to anyone other than Allah. For example, who told Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) about the wall of Dhul Qarnayn—a place hundreds of miles to the north? Who told him about embryology? When people assemble facts such as these, if they are not willing to attribute their existence to a divine source, they automatically resort to the assumption someone brought Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) the information and that he used it to fool the people. However, this theory can easily be disproved with one simple question: “If Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was a liar, where did he get his confidence? Why did he tell some people outright to their face what others could never say?” Such confidence depends completely upon being convinced that one has a true, divine revelation.
A Revelation: Abu Lahab
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had an uncle by the name of Abu Lahab. This man hated Islam to such an extent that he used to follow the Prophet around in order to discredit him. If Abu Lahab saw the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) speaking to a stranger, he would wait until they parted and he would go to the stranger and ask him, “What did he tell you? Did he say, ‘Black?’ Well, it’s white. Did he say ‘morning?’ Well, it’s night.” He faithfully said the exact opposite of whatever he heard Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Muslims say.
However, about ten years before Abu Lahab died, a little chapter in the Qur’an (Surat Al-Masad, 111) was revealed about him. It distinctly stated that he would go to the fire (Hell). In other words, it affirmed that he would never become a Muslim and would, therefore, be condemned forever. For ten years, all Abu Lahab had to do was say, “I heard that it has been revealed to Muhammad that I will never change—that I will never become a Muslim and will enter the Hellfire. Well, I want to become Muslim now. How do you like that? What do you think of your divine revelation now?” But he never did that. And yet, that is exactly the kind of behavior one would have expected from him, since he always sought to contradict Islam.
In essence, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “You hate me and you want to finish me? Here, say these words and I am finished. Come on, say them!” But Abu Lahab never said them. Ten years! And in all that time he never accepted Islam or even became sympathetic to the Islamic cause.
How could Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) have possibly known for sure that Abu Lahab would fulfill the Qur’anic revelation if he (Muhammad) was not truly the messenger of Allah? How could he possibly have been so confident as to give someone 10 years to discredit his claim of Prophethood? The only answer is that he was Allah’s messenger; for in order to put forth such a risky challenge, one has to be entirely convinced that one has a divine revelation.
The Flight
Another example of the confidence which Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had in his own Prophethood and, consequently, in the divine protection of himself and his message, was when he left Makkah and hid in a cave with Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) during their emigration from Makkah to Madinah. The two clearly saw people coming to kill them, Abu Bakr was afraid. Certainly, if Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was a liar, a forger, and one who was trying to fool the people into believing that he was a prophet, one would have expected him to say in such a circumstance to his friend, “Hey, Abu Bakr, see if you can find a back way out of this cave.” Or, “Squat down in that corner over there and keep quiet.” Yet, in fact, what he said to Abu Bakr clearly illustrated his confidence. He told him, “Relax! Allah is with us and Allah will save us!” Now, if one knows that one is fooling the people, where does one get this kind of attitude? In fact, such a frame of mind is not characteristic of a liar or a forger at all.
So, as has been previously mentioned, the non-Muslims go around and around in a circle, searching for a way out—some way to explain the findings in the Qur’an without attributing them to their proper source. On one hand, they tell you on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday that “the man was a liar,” and on the other hand, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday they tell you that “he was crazy.” What they refuse to accept is that one cannot have it both ways; yet they need both theories, both excuses to explain the information in the Qur’an.
An Encounter with a Minister
About seven years ago, I had a minister over to my home. In the particular room that we were sitting in, there was a Qur’an on the table, face down, and so the minister was not aware of which book it was. In the midst of a discussion, I pointed to the Qur’an and said, “I have confidence in that book.” Looking at the Qur’an but not knowing which book it was, he replied, “Well, I tell you, if that book is not the Bible, it was written by a man!” In response to his statement, I said, “Let me tell you something about what is in that book.” And in just three to four minutes, I related to him a few things contained in the Qur’an. After just those three or four minutes, he completely changed his position and declared, “You are right. A man did not write that book, the Devil wrote it!” Indeed, possessing such an attitude is very unfortunate, for many reasons. For one thing, it is a very quick and cheap excuse. It is an instant exit out of an uncomfortable situation.
As a matter of fact, there is a famous story in the Bible that mentions how one day, some of the Jews were witnesses when Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) raised a man from the dead. The man had been dead for four days, yet when Jesus arrived, he simply said, “Get up!” and the man arose and walked away. At such a sight, some of the Jews who were watching said disbelievingly, “This is the Devil. The Devil helped him!” Now this story is rehearsed very often in churches all over the world, and people cry big tears over it, saying, “Oh, if I had been there, I would not have been as stupid as the Jews!” Yet, ironically, these people do exactly what the Jews did when in just three minutes you show them only a small part of the Qur’an and all they can say is, “Oh, the Devil did it. The devil wrote that book!” Because they are truly backed into a corner and have no other viable answer, they resort to the quickest and cheapest excuse available.
* Excerpted with some modifications from The Amazing Qur’an, here cited from:http://www.ymofmd.com/books/amazing_quran.htm#apro1
** Dr. Gary Miller is a Canadian former Christian theologian and minister who converted to Islam. He now works on spreading and preaching Islam to the world.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Concept of Kitab in the Qur'an.
From: www.quran.org.uk
By Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat
Translated by A.N. Baqirshahi
The word kitab means to collect and its root is Katb. Ahmad Ibn Faris says that the letters k, t, and b constitute the roots of the word kitab. Words like kitabat and kitab are derived from the same root. Raghib Isfahani, the renowned scholar of Isfahan of the fifth century Hijra and the author of Mufradiitu Alfaz al-Qur'an writes: "katb means to stitch two pieces of skins or bring those two pieces together." Writing is called kitabat is 'the written' for by it the letters and words are put together. Ibn Faris states that when the beads are collected in a thread, it is called Kutbah. Thus Khurzah (bead) is called Kutbah and its plural is kutab as the plural of Khurzah is Khuraz. Raghib further writes: Kitabat in principle is a kind of assembly or joining words to each other. Sometimes the term 'Kitabat' refers to discourse which may not be in written form. Accordingly, Divine word is also kitab. Consider the following verses: "That is kitab (the book), wherein is no doubt" (2.1) though it is not in written form, "He said, lo, I am God's servant; God has given me kitab (the book) " (19.30). Here Kitab refers to Divine word. Kitab in the above-mentioned verse refers to Shari 'ah (religious law). Kitab refers also to sentences when they are put together. Raghib is of the view that kitab refers to whatsoever is obligatory. For, any written material is first planned, pre-determined or demanded. In other words, a project is usually first decided upon then appears in written form. It can be said that will is the origin and the kitabat is its end. Therefore, they give the name of the end to what is willed to stress the will. Even in the Qur'an the word kataba refers to whatever is obligatory and indispensable. Take for instance the following verses of the Qur'an:
"God has written, ' I shall assuredly be the victor, I and My Messengers. Surely God is All-strong, All-mighty." (58: 21)"Say: 'Naught shall visit us but what God has written for us. "(9: 51)"Those related by blood are nearer to one another in the book of God." (8:75)"And therein We wrote for them: a life for a life" (5:45)"Prescribed for you, when any of you is visited by death, and he leaves behind some good, is to make testament in favourr of his parent.- and kinsmen honorably - an obligation on the God-fearing." (2:180)"0. Believers, prescribed for you is. the fast. " (2: 179)
Hence, prescription is also a kind of Kitabat, for it brings letters and words together. Similarly, Kitab in Arabic means book, for it unites written pages. Kitab denotes to Divine commandments when it appears in the form of Shari 'ah (religious law) and written form. Divine commandments (writing) are obligatory for the public.
"Surely the prayer is a timed prescription for the believers. " (4: 103)
The term Kitab has the following meanings in the Qur'an:
Shari 'ah (religious law): Divine commandments and man's duties, both collective and individual, are in Kitabat (written) form. Usually, people are asked to follow religious commandments. And what is asked from them is usually written and gathered in a book. This sense of Kitab is repeated 120 times in the Qur'an:When Prophet Jesus(s) was an infant, lying in his cradle said:
"He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant; God has given me the book, and made me a Prophet. Blessed He made me, wherever I may be; and He enjoined me to pray, and to give the alms, so long as I live. .” (19: 30-31).At that time the Prophet (s) had not received any book or written order thus, Kitab in this verse refers to Shari 'ah. He was a prophet with a Shari 'ah and religious commandments and it was obligatory for people to obey him.A quick look at the verse 110 of the 5th chapter of the holy Qur'an (...and when I taught thee the Book, the wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel...) indicates that in certain cases kitab neither refers to the Bible nor to the Torah, but it means Shari 'ah. This verse underlines that God taught Shari 'ah and Hikmah (wisdom) as well as the Bible and the Torah to the Jesus. Let us study the following verse of the Qur' an as well:
"Our Lord, do Thou send among them a messenger, one of them, who shall recite to them Thy Signs, and teach them the book and the wisdom, and purify them." (2: 129)Here reciting refers to bringing the divine signs to their notice. He further states that He taught them the Book, i.e., Shari'ah and Hikmah to purify them. He never means to teach them the Qur'an .In all verses containing the phrases, "Teach them the book" and "Teach thee the book,” teaching the Book refers to teaching the rules of Shari 'ah. Take for instance the following verses of the Qur'an: 2:151-282,3:104,62:2.Therefore, the phrase "0 people of book" which refers to Jews and Christians in the Qur' an, in fact refers to people of Shari 'ah and has nothing to do with written book. So if it is proved that Zoroastrians and Buddhists had heavenly Shari 'ah, then they could be considered as "people of the book" regardless of having a divine book or not. In the verse:
"True piety is this: to believe in God, and the Prophets, the angels, the book, and the Prophets..." (2:173)the book refers to Shari'ah and divine duties, to be followed accordingly. The book in this verse does not concern the book of the Prophets, for, it is not in plural form while angels and the Prophets are plural. Since Shari 'ah is one, therefore, the book in this verse is written in singular form.
"The people were one nation,. then God .sent forth the Prophets, good tidings to bear and warning, and He sent down with them the book with the truth...." (2: 13) In the above verse, the word book refers to Shari 'ah, for it was Shari 'ah that was always with the Prophets not the book, because, most of them had no books. Thus, here also book refers to Shari 'ah. As a general fact wherever in the Qur'an, 'the book' is accompanied with the word 'wisdom', it signifies Shari 'ah, as it is the case the following verse:
"...And remember God's blessing upon you, and the book and the wisdom He has sent down on you to admonish you. " (2:231)In the verse:
"And when God took compact 1vith the Prophets: 'that 1 have given you of book and wisdom,. then there shall come to you a Messenger confirming what is 1vith you shall believe in him and you shall help him." (3:81 )On the basis of the following two reasons the book refers to Shari'ah: i) book is followed by wisdom; ii) it addresses all the Prophets. In the following verse:
"Yet We gave the people of Abraham the book and the wisdom, and We gave them a mighty kingdom,” (4: 54)it was Shari 'ah which was given to the people of Abraham not the book. Indeed, the people of Abraham received special attention of the Almighty. Therefore, He gave them mighty kingdom .Same connotation is inferred from the following verses: (2:129-151), (3:48-164), (4:113), (5:110), (62:2).
Scripture: Another meaning of' Kitab is the book or scripture which has been referred to in the Qur'an eighty times. For instance, the following verses denote to the same meaning:
"Not before this didst thou recite any Book, or inscribe it with thy right hand, " (29:48)."Take this book (i.e. letter) of mine and cast it unto them, then turn back from them and see what they shall return. She said, 'O Council, see, a letter honorable has been cast unto me. It is from Solomon, and it is "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Rise not up against me, but come to me in surrender." (27:28-31)"Said he who possessed knowledge of the book, " (27:40). There are differences of opinion regarding the meaning of the book in this verse. Some exegetes are of the view that it refers to the 'Guarded Tablet' which originated from the eternal knowledge of God. Others consider it 'The Greatest Name (of God)'. Majority of scholars consider it a ray of divine knowledge. [2] However, it probably refers to the knowledge of the written material which implies being knowledgeable and dealing with books. For instance, in the following verse:
"Say: 'God suffices a witness between me and you, and whosoever possesses knowledge of the book." (13:40)knowledge of the book means being learned, for, the learned usually follows the truth. The following verses support this view:
"Say: Believe ill it, or believe not,. those who were give" the knowledge before when it is recited to them, fall do\v" upon their faces prostrating, " (17: 107)"And that they who have bee" given knowledge may know that it is the truth from thy Lord and believe in it, and so their hearts be humble unto Him; " (22: 54)" Those who have been given the knowledge see that what has been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth,... “ (34:6)"God bears witness that there is no god but Be - and the angels, and men possessed of knowledge.” (3: 18)"Was it not a sign for them, that it is known to the learned of the Children of Israel?” (26:197)In summary, the Qur'an has given a high position to the learned. According to the Qur'an those who possess the knowledge of the Book and believe in the Truth, are the same learned who deal with books.
Eternal Divine Knowledge: Another meaning of the Kitab is related to Eternal Divine Knowledge and this sense of the word is used twenty times in the Qur' an. However, different phrases are used such as Kitabun Mubin, Kitabun M'alum, Ummul Kitab, Al-Kitab, etc. All these terms signify the Eternal Divine Knowledge. Elsewhere, we across the term al-Luwh al-Mahfuz (Guarded Tablet).
"With Hin, are the keys of the Unseen; none knows them but Be. Be knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but Be knows it. Not a grain in the earth's shadows, not a thing, fresh or withered, but it is in a kitabun Mubin (Manifest Book). " (6: 59)Kitabun Mubin is an explicit scripture devoid of any error or ambiguity, that is, everything is clear for us like a clear script.
"And not so much as the weight of an ant in earth or heaven escapes from thy Lord, neither is aught smaller than that, or greater, but in a Kitabull Mubin (Manifest Book).” (10:61)"No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God; He knows its lodging - place and its repository. All is in a Kitabun Mubin (Manifest Book).” (11 :6)Here lodging-place and repository refer to eternal and ephemeral places.
"And not a thing is there hidden in heaven and earth but it is in a Kitabun Mubin (Manifest Book).” (27:75)This verse indicates that every thing existents in eternal knowledge of God. Likewise, Kitabun Hafiz (Recording Book) and Kitabun Maknun (Hidden Book) in the following verses refer to Guarded Tablet, i.e., Eternal Divine Knowledge.
"We know what the earth diminishes of them; with Us is a Kitabun Hafiz (Recording Book).” (50:4)"It is surely a noble Qur’an in a Kitabun Maknun (Hidden Book), None but the purified shall touch.” (56:78)Ummul Kitab (Essence of the Book), mentioned twice in the Qur’an, refers to ‘Guarded Tablet’ which is the source of all learnings.
"God blots out, and He establishes whatsoever He will; and with Him is the Ummull Kitab (Essence of the Book). " (13:39)That is, Ummul Kitab (Essence of the Book) is with God and He knows what will happen.
"Behold, We have made it all Arabic Qur'an; haply you will understand; and behold, it is in the Ummul Kitab (Essence of the Book), with Us; sublime indeed, wise. " (43:3-4)
Destiny And Measurement: One of the meanings of the Kitab in the Qur' an is destiny and measurement:
"No creature is there crawling on the earth, no bird flying with its wings, but they are nations like unto yourselves. We have neglected nothing in the Book, " (6: 38)"And everything We have numbered in a Book. " (78: 29)"And We decreed for the children of Israel in the Book: you shall do corruption in the earth twice, and you shall ascend exceeding high. " (17:4)"No city is there, but We shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection, or We shall chastise it with a terrible chastisement,' that is in the Book inscribed."(17:58)The following verses also bear the same meaning: (20:52), (22:5), and (8:68).
The Qur'an: Another meaning of the Kitab is the Qur'an, As it is known, the Qur'an is a Divine revelation in the form of a scripture. It is called Qur'an, for it is read. It is called Kitab, for it is a script. Thus, both Qur'an and Kitab are used for this book. The following verses signify these names:
"God it is Who has sent down the Book with the Truth, and also the Balance. " (42: 17)"By the Clear Book, behold,We have made it an Arabic Qur'an; haply you will understand;"(43:12)“That is the Book, wherein is no doubt, " (2: 2)In thc Qur'an, Kitab refers to the Qur' an itself in more than forty cases.
From The Message of Thaqalayn – Vol.3, Nos.1 & 2, Spring and Summer, 1417/1996
By Muhammad Hadi Ma'rifat
Translated by A.N. Baqirshahi
The word kitab means to collect and its root is Katb. Ahmad Ibn Faris says that the letters k, t, and b constitute the roots of the word kitab. Words like kitabat and kitab are derived from the same root. Raghib Isfahani, the renowned scholar of Isfahan of the fifth century Hijra and the author of Mufradiitu Alfaz al-Qur'an writes: "katb means to stitch two pieces of skins or bring those two pieces together." Writing is called kitabat is 'the written' for by it the letters and words are put together. Ibn Faris states that when the beads are collected in a thread, it is called Kutbah. Thus Khurzah (bead) is called Kutbah and its plural is kutab as the plural of Khurzah is Khuraz. Raghib further writes: Kitabat in principle is a kind of assembly or joining words to each other. Sometimes the term 'Kitabat' refers to discourse which may not be in written form. Accordingly, Divine word is also kitab. Consider the following verses: "That is kitab (the book), wherein is no doubt" (2.1) though it is not in written form, "He said, lo, I am God's servant; God has given me kitab (the book) " (19.30). Here Kitab refers to Divine word. Kitab in the above-mentioned verse refers to Shari 'ah (religious law). Kitab refers also to sentences when they are put together. Raghib is of the view that kitab refers to whatsoever is obligatory. For, any written material is first planned, pre-determined or demanded. In other words, a project is usually first decided upon then appears in written form. It can be said that will is the origin and the kitabat is its end. Therefore, they give the name of the end to what is willed to stress the will. Even in the Qur'an the word kataba refers to whatever is obligatory and indispensable. Take for instance the following verses of the Qur'an:
"God has written, ' I shall assuredly be the victor, I and My Messengers. Surely God is All-strong, All-mighty." (58: 21)"Say: 'Naught shall visit us but what God has written for us. "(9: 51)"Those related by blood are nearer to one another in the book of God." (8:75)"And therein We wrote for them: a life for a life" (5:45)"Prescribed for you, when any of you is visited by death, and he leaves behind some good, is to make testament in favourr of his parent.- and kinsmen honorably - an obligation on the God-fearing." (2:180)"0. Believers, prescribed for you is. the fast. " (2: 179)
Hence, prescription is also a kind of Kitabat, for it brings letters and words together. Similarly, Kitab in Arabic means book, for it unites written pages. Kitab denotes to Divine commandments when it appears in the form of Shari 'ah (religious law) and written form. Divine commandments (writing) are obligatory for the public.
"Surely the prayer is a timed prescription for the believers. " (4: 103)
The term Kitab has the following meanings in the Qur'an:
Shari 'ah (religious law): Divine commandments and man's duties, both collective and individual, are in Kitabat (written) form. Usually, people are asked to follow religious commandments. And what is asked from them is usually written and gathered in a book. This sense of Kitab is repeated 120 times in the Qur'an:When Prophet Jesus(s) was an infant, lying in his cradle said:
"He said, 'Lo, I am God's servant; God has given me the book, and made me a Prophet. Blessed He made me, wherever I may be; and He enjoined me to pray, and to give the alms, so long as I live. .” (19: 30-31).At that time the Prophet (s) had not received any book or written order thus, Kitab in this verse refers to Shari 'ah. He was a prophet with a Shari 'ah and religious commandments and it was obligatory for people to obey him.A quick look at the verse 110 of the 5th chapter of the holy Qur'an (...and when I taught thee the Book, the wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel...) indicates that in certain cases kitab neither refers to the Bible nor to the Torah, but it means Shari 'ah. This verse underlines that God taught Shari 'ah and Hikmah (wisdom) as well as the Bible and the Torah to the Jesus. Let us study the following verse of the Qur' an as well:
"Our Lord, do Thou send among them a messenger, one of them, who shall recite to them Thy Signs, and teach them the book and the wisdom, and purify them." (2: 129)Here reciting refers to bringing the divine signs to their notice. He further states that He taught them the Book, i.e., Shari'ah and Hikmah to purify them. He never means to teach them the Qur'an .In all verses containing the phrases, "Teach them the book" and "Teach thee the book,” teaching the Book refers to teaching the rules of Shari 'ah. Take for instance the following verses of the Qur'an: 2:151-282,3:104,62:2.Therefore, the phrase "0 people of book" which refers to Jews and Christians in the Qur' an, in fact refers to people of Shari 'ah and has nothing to do with written book. So if it is proved that Zoroastrians and Buddhists had heavenly Shari 'ah, then they could be considered as "people of the book" regardless of having a divine book or not. In the verse:
"True piety is this: to believe in God, and the Prophets, the angels, the book, and the Prophets..." (2:173)the book refers to Shari'ah and divine duties, to be followed accordingly. The book in this verse does not concern the book of the Prophets, for, it is not in plural form while angels and the Prophets are plural. Since Shari 'ah is one, therefore, the book in this verse is written in singular form.
"The people were one nation,. then God .sent forth the Prophets, good tidings to bear and warning, and He sent down with them the book with the truth...." (2: 13) In the above verse, the word book refers to Shari 'ah, for it was Shari 'ah that was always with the Prophets not the book, because, most of them had no books. Thus, here also book refers to Shari 'ah. As a general fact wherever in the Qur'an, 'the book' is accompanied with the word 'wisdom', it signifies Shari 'ah, as it is the case the following verse:
"...And remember God's blessing upon you, and the book and the wisdom He has sent down on you to admonish you. " (2:231)In the verse:
"And when God took compact 1vith the Prophets: 'that 1 have given you of book and wisdom,. then there shall come to you a Messenger confirming what is 1vith you shall believe in him and you shall help him." (3:81 )On the basis of the following two reasons the book refers to Shari'ah: i) book is followed by wisdom; ii) it addresses all the Prophets. In the following verse:
"Yet We gave the people of Abraham the book and the wisdom, and We gave them a mighty kingdom,” (4: 54)it was Shari 'ah which was given to the people of Abraham not the book. Indeed, the people of Abraham received special attention of the Almighty. Therefore, He gave them mighty kingdom .Same connotation is inferred from the following verses: (2:129-151), (3:48-164), (4:113), (5:110), (62:2).
Scripture: Another meaning of' Kitab is the book or scripture which has been referred to in the Qur'an eighty times. For instance, the following verses denote to the same meaning:
"Not before this didst thou recite any Book, or inscribe it with thy right hand, " (29:48)."Take this book (i.e. letter) of mine and cast it unto them, then turn back from them and see what they shall return. She said, 'O Council, see, a letter honorable has been cast unto me. It is from Solomon, and it is "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Rise not up against me, but come to me in surrender." (27:28-31)"Said he who possessed knowledge of the book, " (27:40). There are differences of opinion regarding the meaning of the book in this verse. Some exegetes are of the view that it refers to the 'Guarded Tablet' which originated from the eternal knowledge of God. Others consider it 'The Greatest Name (of God)'. Majority of scholars consider it a ray of divine knowledge. [2] However, it probably refers to the knowledge of the written material which implies being knowledgeable and dealing with books. For instance, in the following verse:
"Say: 'God suffices a witness between me and you, and whosoever possesses knowledge of the book." (13:40)knowledge of the book means being learned, for, the learned usually follows the truth. The following verses support this view:
"Say: Believe ill it, or believe not,. those who were give" the knowledge before when it is recited to them, fall do\v" upon their faces prostrating, " (17: 107)"And that they who have bee" given knowledge may know that it is the truth from thy Lord and believe in it, and so their hearts be humble unto Him; " (22: 54)" Those who have been given the knowledge see that what has been sent down to thee from thy Lord is the truth,... “ (34:6)"God bears witness that there is no god but Be - and the angels, and men possessed of knowledge.” (3: 18)"Was it not a sign for them, that it is known to the learned of the Children of Israel?” (26:197)In summary, the Qur'an has given a high position to the learned. According to the Qur'an those who possess the knowledge of the Book and believe in the Truth, are the same learned who deal with books.
Eternal Divine Knowledge: Another meaning of the Kitab is related to Eternal Divine Knowledge and this sense of the word is used twenty times in the Qur' an. However, different phrases are used such as Kitabun Mubin, Kitabun M'alum, Ummul Kitab, Al-Kitab, etc. All these terms signify the Eternal Divine Knowledge. Elsewhere, we across the term al-Luwh al-Mahfuz (Guarded Tablet).
"With Hin, are the keys of the Unseen; none knows them but Be. Be knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but Be knows it. Not a grain in the earth's shadows, not a thing, fresh or withered, but it is in a kitabun Mubin (Manifest Book). " (6: 59)Kitabun Mubin is an explicit scripture devoid of any error or ambiguity, that is, everything is clear for us like a clear script.
"And not so much as the weight of an ant in earth or heaven escapes from thy Lord, neither is aught smaller than that, or greater, but in a Kitabull Mubin (Manifest Book).” (10:61)"No creature is there crawling on the earth, but its provision rests on God; He knows its lodging - place and its repository. All is in a Kitabun Mubin (Manifest Book).” (11 :6)Here lodging-place and repository refer to eternal and ephemeral places.
"And not a thing is there hidden in heaven and earth but it is in a Kitabun Mubin (Manifest Book).” (27:75)This verse indicates that every thing existents in eternal knowledge of God. Likewise, Kitabun Hafiz (Recording Book) and Kitabun Maknun (Hidden Book) in the following verses refer to Guarded Tablet, i.e., Eternal Divine Knowledge.
"We know what the earth diminishes of them; with Us is a Kitabun Hafiz (Recording Book).” (50:4)"It is surely a noble Qur’an in a Kitabun Maknun (Hidden Book), None but the purified shall touch.” (56:78)Ummul Kitab (Essence of the Book), mentioned twice in the Qur’an, refers to ‘Guarded Tablet’ which is the source of all learnings.
"God blots out, and He establishes whatsoever He will; and with Him is the Ummull Kitab (Essence of the Book). " (13:39)That is, Ummul Kitab (Essence of the Book) is with God and He knows what will happen.
"Behold, We have made it all Arabic Qur'an; haply you will understand; and behold, it is in the Ummul Kitab (Essence of the Book), with Us; sublime indeed, wise. " (43:3-4)
Destiny And Measurement: One of the meanings of the Kitab in the Qur' an is destiny and measurement:
"No creature is there crawling on the earth, no bird flying with its wings, but they are nations like unto yourselves. We have neglected nothing in the Book, " (6: 38)"And everything We have numbered in a Book. " (78: 29)"And We decreed for the children of Israel in the Book: you shall do corruption in the earth twice, and you shall ascend exceeding high. " (17:4)"No city is there, but We shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection, or We shall chastise it with a terrible chastisement,' that is in the Book inscribed."(17:58)The following verses also bear the same meaning: (20:52), (22:5), and (8:68).
The Qur'an: Another meaning of the Kitab is the Qur'an, As it is known, the Qur'an is a Divine revelation in the form of a scripture. It is called Qur'an, for it is read. It is called Kitab, for it is a script. Thus, both Qur'an and Kitab are used for this book. The following verses signify these names:
"God it is Who has sent down the Book with the Truth, and also the Balance. " (42: 17)"By the Clear Book, behold,We have made it an Arabic Qur'an; haply you will understand;"(43:12)“That is the Book, wherein is no doubt, " (2: 2)In thc Qur'an, Kitab refers to the Qur' an itself in more than forty cases.
From The Message of Thaqalayn – Vol.3, Nos.1 & 2, Spring and Summer, 1417/1996
Yusuf Estes Dialogue with a Born-again Christian
From: http://www.islamtomorrow.com/
From Sheik Yusuf Estes, Office of the National Muslim Chaplain,
Today IslamThe following is a reproduction of an actual dialog through email with a "born-again" Christian and the National Muslim chaplain, Yusuf Estes, who was a former Christian businessman and minister before entering into Islam in July of 1991. The simple beauty of understanding where people are coming from in their thinking and having proper knowledge of Islam and the methodology of explaining Islam (menhaj ad dawah), is demonstrated here to show how close some of the statements against Islam are to actually in fact verifying the proof that Islam is the only correct religion with Allah. These questions are from a man that Allah has been testing with belief in Christianity & Islam. The answers are provided from Today Islam's Sheik Yusuf Estes.
As we will see, many times the very objections and complaints that others have about Islam, can actually be used to support the correct teachings of Islam. The problem comes from the fact that all too often we do not know enough about what the people are meaning and not enough about our own religion. Notice the art of agreeing at the correct points and then bringing about a clear understanding in the other points without alienating the other person.
Thank you for writing to us with your ideas, comments and questions:
In a message dated 3/14/2002 9:22:40 PM Eastern Standard Time, a Christian writes:
Humans do wrong things, evil things regardless of what religion they belong to.
Answer:
Yes. There is no doubt whatsoever, that what you are saying is the belief of the Muslims. This is correct and we agree on that. Islam does teach that all people do commit sins. However, some realize the severity of it and then they do repent to the One True God of the Universe, the Lord Almighty, who has no partners. And He then extends to them His Grace and forgives them from His Mercy.
So it is not wise to first of all judge and secondly to judge a religion based on people.
Answer:
Yes, again. Muslims are not the final judge. It is only Allah who is the Judge. And Islam is based on the teachings of the Quran and the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him. What some people chose to do, and then call it "Islam" does not affect the truth of what Islam really is. So the answer here to you is; "No. It is not correct to judge a system of belief by some people who claim to be in that religion."After all, Hitler, Al Capone (1930s gangster) and Timothy McVeigh (the man who confessed to bombing the Federal building in Oklahoma City) all claimed to be Christians the same as you. But I feel certain that you would not want anyone judging you and your beliefs based on those characters, right?
I think you must be from a Catholic system and that's why Islam convinced you more but Jesus is the truth, the way and the life.
Answer:
No. Sorry, but actually, you are wrong on this point. My family for generations have all been in nondenominational Christianity, simply called "Christian Church" until the 1950s when there was a split and one branch became known as the "Disciples of Christ."You might be interested to know that all of the Protestant churches today have their origins in the Catholic Church. However, the Catholic Church actually was in business prior to the birth of Jesus, peace be upon him. It was the old Roman Church originating out of the concepts of Alexander the Great. It was totally pagan in its origins. And the first time it came in contact with the early Church Fathers, at the Nicaea Council, (325 AD) it swallowed up their books, and teachers and totally revamped the whole religion. That was the time when the day for celebrating Jesus birthday was CHANGED to December the 25. Also, the addition of the rites of the Feast of Ishtar (now called Easter) were established. The day of worship was CHANGED from Saturday (Sabbath) to Sunday to accommodate the Emperor's worship of his religion. He was a cult worshipper in "Sol Invictus" (Invincible Sun). He was a sun worshipper and believed that he was the son of the sun, literally. Another interesting note is that fact that the books that were offer at the Nicaea Council by the original Christians totaled in number exceeding 200. Yet they only selected a few. The Catholics held onto a total of 73 books from the Old and New Testament. Later (early 1500s) the Protestant Reformation reduced the number to only 66. Keeping 39 books of the Old Jewish Testament and 27 books for what they called the New Testament. The Coptic claim they have the more accurate version being the one based on Saint Mark's Testament.It is also interesting to note that Catholic was not the only church out there at that time. The Copts (Egypt), and the Greek Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox were already in place. Christianity had already reached the British Isles before the Nicaea Council so they already had the foundation for the Anglican Church. Christianity had made some influence into the superstitions of the Germanic parts of Europe and the affects of their nature worship began to affect the beliefs of the Christians in those areas. This is evidenced by the results arising out of the Catholic movement in that area in later dates.
As for me personally, I did visit a number of churches in the Protestant denominations. However, I have never attended a single mass or any Catholic form of worship. I have been to a Catholic wedding but I felt that it was too much for me in many ways.
Philosophies, ideas, magic, evil , etc., can not bring dead back to life, only GOD can.
Answer:
Yes. That is also the belief of a Muslim. Humans also do not bring the dead back to life except by the permission of Allah, as in the case of Jesus, peace be upon him, when Allah let him bring Lazarus back from the dead.
God brought me back to life, believe it or not.
Answer:
We as Muslims believe that when a person dies they do not recycle or come back to this life. However, we also know that Allah sent Jesus to perform miracles to show people that he was a prophet of Allah. One of the miracles was to bring back a man to life. But the man still ended up dying later anyway. Allah has told us in the Quran that "every soul shall taste death." This includes even Jesus, as I am sure that you are well aware.
We are not dead yet, but when we are, it will only be Allah who will bring us back and about that we may be sure.
Catholics have a system from which a lot of things are not even mentioned in the bible so if that's what you compared Islam with then I can understand.
Answer:
(note: the word "Bible" should be capitalized out of respect).Yes. You are correct again. And that is why the Protestants (from the word "protest") broke off from the Catholic church in 1520 under Martin Luther. Many different forms of Christianity grew out of this break up and each of them claimed they were correct. Question here is: "How do you know which one is correct?"
But if you are saying you knew the JESUS mentioned in the bible and then also you accepted Islam . . .?
Answer:
The more that I searched for the "Jesus" of the Bible in sincerity and honesty, the more that Allah led me to know the true "Jesus" and what his message really was. He was telling the people not to change the Word of God and not to worship anyone alongside of God. He was calling himself by the title of the prophets mentioned in the Old Testament; "Son of Man." This is clear when you compare the statements in Ezekiel.
Jesus was doing his miracles by the permission of Allah, the Almighty. He did nothing on his own, but rather by the One who sent him in the first place. This is the understanding in Islam and the teachings in what remains of the Holy Bible.
hmmmm...are you sure about the information you have about Jesus?
Answer:
Good question. I have information from a number of sources. The most authentic of all is the Holy Quran as it still exists today. We Muslims must agree with the fact that Jesus is the "miracle birth" as that is in the Quran. His mother was a virgin. She was the best of women ever created. He did many miracles by Allah's permission. He did not know what was in Allah, but Allah Knows what is in him, peace be upon him. Jesus is still alive and he is coming back in the Last Days. He will kill the Anti-Christ. The true believers will follow him. There will be victory over the evil one.
In Islam we have even learned what he looks like, where he will appear, what he will do first and the order of the things that will happen in the Last Days.
What do you know about the person you are calling "Jesus?" Let us begin with his name. Was it "Jesus." - No.The word "Jesus" is the Latinized name given to him after the Council of Nicaea. His name comes from the Old Semitic name "Eeshua" or "Eesa." This is based on the pronunciation of the letter known as "seen" or in Hebrew "sheen." The Jewish pronounce the word for "peace" as "Shalom;" whereas, the Arabic pronunciation would be "Salam." So we see how the name of "Eesa" can also be "Eeshua." But why should we say "Jesus" when he never called himself by that name?Next, we know that he was not born on December 25. (documented in the Nicaea Council records). According to the Bible he was born during the census taking for the tax polls at the time of Herod the Great. This was done in the Fall of the year, not the winter. According to the Quran, he was born at the time dates would be ripe and ready to fall from the trees. That again, is in the fall, not in the winter.Also, he was born before the beginning of the calendar date 1 AD (According to the Bible, he was born in the reign of Herod the Great which would probably have been around 6 BC)Outside of the Bible, the only other chronicler of events of that time was Josephus. He lived in the area and even traveled about the same time and to the same places as did Saul (later became Paul). Josephus does not mention Jesus or the son of God or anything like this occurring. William Whitset (200 + years ago) did translate the works of Josephus and added, yes ADDED an entire chapter to his works, fabricating a meeting between Josephus and Jesus and even having Josephus believing in the son of God story. However, Josephus was a Jew and he worked for the Romans as an advisor and journalist.
I am sure you read the bible and found contradictions in it, because you were looking for them?
Answer:
I have read the Bible many times since I was old enough to read. I have many different versions in different languages of the Holy Bible. I also have the books of commentary and explanation of the Bible, including the Strong's Concordance of the Bible.
My father, an ordained minister, was the first one to point out mistakes in the King James Version of the Bible. The Revised Standard Version very clearly points out a number of "Grave mistakes and errors" in the King James Version of the Bible. In his book, "History of the Translations of the Bible into the English Language," the Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce, clearly states that the first revision of the King James Version came in the very next year after its first translation due to very serious errors in it. The book, "Who Wrote the Bible" very clearly states a number of human mistakes and errors. Other books in my library today include apocrypha and "lost" books of the Bible and all of them clearly show that there is room for admission of errors, mistakes, contradictions and interpolations in the Bible.There is not a single serious Bible scholar that would tell you that he has an original of the Bible. Nor is there one who really believes that the Bible was revealed in English. This is nonsense and does not even merit a discussion. The version that is offered in book stores today in Greek, is actually a backward translation from the English to the Greek and not the other way around as many people mistakenly believe. The same is true for most languages including Arabic. I own a number of different versions and translations of the Bible into many languages. The Arabic and the Spanish will translate right into the English version easily, mistakes and all. Why? Because that is where they came from to start with. There was no English language, no Spanish language, no Portuguese language, no French language at the time of Jesus (or Muhammad, peace be upon him, for that matter). So where did these translations come from? Straight from the English. If you go back to older manuscripts you will find many problems with what is being represented in these "modern" versions of the Bible.Perhaps you have read my book on this subject. If not, feel free to visit our website and print it out. It is free. And you can make copies if you like.http://www.TodayIslam.com/bible.htm
But we did not try to prove the Bible was wrong. We only tried to find out where the Bible was right. That is why I studied what remains of it in the ancient languages.
Did you read Quran with that intension?
Answer:
As a matter of fact, I did try to disprove the Quran as being from Allah. After all, I used to be a real enemy to Islam and Muslims due to the heavy influence of other evangelists like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Benny Hind, Oral and Richard Roberts. Personal friends of mine were also haters of Islam and had told me the Quran was the book of the devil. So, I prayed before even touching it.
I did try my best to find mistakes and errors so that I could show the Muslim that I was trying to convert to Christianity the "error of his ways." I read the Quran from cover to cover in English. I was sure that I would find mistakes and errors just as we know there are many in the Bible.
I could not find one.
Then I began to learn the Arabic language and I have read the Quran in Arabic. This is without doubt, not something a human can make up. This is at last the true "Speech of Almighty God."Over nine million (9,000,000) people living on earth today have memorized the ENTIRE QURAN. Think about that for just a minute.Can anyone say that about the Bible?
No.
We know that the original Bible came from Allah and that it was memorized in the early days of Moses and others. But over the centuries different people came along and changed it for whatever reasons. Once the Word of Allah is changed, it is no longer the Word of Allah and as such it not longer has that special quality and protection of Allah.
I challenge anyone to bring a single person who even find an original Bible and then memorize an equal amount of the text to the Quran and then be able to recite it in the beautiful manner recited by those who recite Quran everyday.Has anyone ever memorized the whole Bible in any language?Has anyone memorized the New Testament?Can 8 and 9 year old children stand up and recite the Bible in Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek for hours at a time without looking at the words?No.
No one has memorized the Bible, not even the Pope; not even Pat Robertson; not Jimmy Swaggart; not Benny Hind; not Oral Roberts; not even the Pope.Muslims all over the world that I have met, all recite exactly the same thing regardless of their native languages, culture, background or traditions.All of them recite it in Arabic, letter for letter and word for word.Please feel free to visit our website and read my articles about the Quran and the miracles that it contains in regard to modern discoveries in science, medicine and even space travel.
http://www.TodayIslam.com/quran.htm
Let me explain what happened to us in brief:
My father was an ordained minister, I preached Christianity to anyone who would listen in those days. My wife was a strong believer and we did go to church regularly in those days.
We met a Muslim from Egypt and we tried to convert him to Christianity to "save" him. He came to live in our big home out in the country near Dallas, Texas. We also met a Catholic priest who was recovering from a heart attack. He too came to live with us in our home.
My father, my wife, myself, the Catholic priest and the Muslim from Egypt used to all sit around the table at night and discuss the Bible, religion, beliefs, Jesus, peace be upon him. We felt sure that we must be in the right religion and that we just had different understandings of things.
But it was the Muslim who made the amazing statement that I shall never forget. He said, "If what you have is better than what I have, then I am willing to join you.
I thought, "Wow! This will be easy. Get the baptismal ready! We're going to give this boy a bath tonight!"
But then he said something else that I shall remember for a long time, "But you will need to have proof."
I said, "Proof?" "We don't need proof. We only have faith."
He said, "Muslims have faith, and proof."
That is when we began to learn the miracles in the Quran and how that it came 1,400 years ago, yet it told of things that would happen in the future and they did happen. Additionally, it talks about science and medicine, biology, formation of the universe, the earth being round and in an orbit, and even about going into outer space. All of this came over 1,400 years ago to a man who could neither read nor write. It was all recited in classical Arabic in beautiful prose that none have been able to imitate until this very day.
And even I could learn this language and understand and recite it. What an amazing thing.
But it was the Catholic priest who embraced Islam first. Then my wife made it known to me that she too, was ready to live the live of a Muslim woman and wanted to wear the covering and be treated as the women of Islam are treated, with respect and honor.
I accepted Islam the very next morning.
My father came along a little later on at his own speed.
All of us were changed and we have seen many more good, righteous and honest Christians, even priests, bishops and ministers coming to Islam since that time.
You can get the whole story by going to:
http://www.todayislam.com/yusuf/index.html
Anyways, God's will be done, in Jesus name I pray, Amen Amen Amen!
Answer:
Yes!
May God's Will be done.
That is so beautiful coming from you at the end of your letter trying to talk to me about Christianity. Because you see, you just said that you want to be a "Muslim."That's right."Islam" means, "God's Will be done on earth, especially in us as human beings." The actual meaning of the word "Islam" comes from the root word, "salama." And there are five clear meanings into the English language from the word "Islam." They are:
1. Surrender to God's Will
2. Submission to God's Will
3. Obedience to God's Will
4. Sincerity to God's Will
5. Being in Peace with God's Will
And in Arabic instead of using the suffix of "er" at the end of a verb to show the one who is performing the action, you place the letter "meem" in front of the verb and then pronounce it "mu." Therefore, one who "Islam's" would be a "mu" "Islam" -- Muslim.So, may Allah accept your admission of Islam being the correct way of life and may He make all of us in "His Will," ameen.
By the way, we pray in the Name of the Almighty, Himself. We say; "Bismillah." This means in the Name of Almighty Allah." We don't pray in the name of Moses or Muhammad, or Abraham or Jesus. None of these mighty and wonderful prophets of Almighty God Above ever prayed in their own names or someone else's name when praying to the One Above. Jesus did not pray in his own name. So, we pray to the same God Above that they prayed to, in the same way that they prayed to Him. We even follow the physical style they they followed, that was standing, bowing, putting our face on the ground to Him in our prayers.
You know what comes to my mind on this issue? This may be one of your problems. You need to eliminate the middle man and pray direct so that you can be assured that the One Above is accepting it. It could be that when you pray in the name of something else or someone else, that the Almighty God Above may not accept the prayer and as a result allow the person to be misguided. After all if a person insists on making up something in worship that the Lord has not ordained nor approved of, it might well be rejected.
Practicing what you like is good for you but to say that somebody else's religion is false will always bring you questions like these.
Answer:
You are right once again. And in Islam we are taught that there is no compulsion in religion. Everyone is free to accept or reject Islam. But if a person submits to Allah in Islam, it is expected that they will do it wholeheartedly and not just play around. We pray five times a day, fast the month of Ramadhan, pay charity to the poor (Muslims or non-Muslims alike), and we make the pilgrimage to Makkah to commemorate the religious rites of Abraham.
Actually in your last statement above it was you who said that you wanted "God's Will to be done." So, now you wouldn't want to change your mind and ask for some other will to be done instead of Allah's would you? Of course not.
God Almighty has His Will and you and I want that to be done on earth in the place of the things that oppose His Will, right? So, then it is not any person's will that we are seeking here. We in fact, are negating the will of the individual in favor of the Will of the Almighty on His Terms, right? Keep in mind that it is not I who am originating this in our dialogue here. I am not who determines what God's Will is, He Alone does that. So this necessarily cancels all of the opposing will of those created humans here on earth. And you just got through bearing witness to the truth of it in your last statement.
There is only One God. He is the only One to tell us what He will accept in worship. That is why we say: "God's Will" not my will, be done on earth as it is in Heaven. You just said it yourself. So there can only be one correct religion -- the one that God has ordered and it is in fact "Islam" as you just witnessed to yourself.
You claim that what you believe it right and the rest is false and that's what made me email you, sorry if I offended you.
Answer:
You have not offended me at all. I'm happy to hear you are ready to surrender to the Will of God. This is so beautiful. I only regret that I have been traveling for so long and am only just now having the time to read your letter. May Allah always keep you in His Will, ameen.
God forgive me for my immatureness. A creation of GOD!!
Answer:
Again, we agree with you 100%. We are all only creations of the One Creator. He created the heavens and the earth and the angels and Adam. From Adam He created Eve and from them two He created all the humans of the earth. So, if you accept that, then you and I were already brothers in humanity. But since your confession of faith in the Surrender, Submission, Obedience, Sincerity and Peace with the Almighty, and you believe that only Allah Almighty has the right to determine what is religion in the first place; and you accept that only His Will should be done on earth, we may be closer to each other in faith than many others who claim to be Christian or Jew.
You see, after all, the one who truly believes in the original Books of Allah and His prophets, peace be upon them all, will likely see the same truth in Islam. When they wake up to the beauty and truth of Islam they will recognize it to be the same religion that Jesus preached and they will be most excited to enter into it just as I did, and my father did, and my wife did and our friend the Catholic priest did, eleven years ago.
My final advise to you as a brother human is to go off in private somewhere that nobody even knows what you are doing and then pray as you have never prayed before, directly to the One Almighty God of the universe. Ask Him for His Guidance for you in this life.
Thank you so much for your good questions and may Allah guide us to all Truth and forgive me for my shortcomings and for anything that I may have said wrong, as well. Ameen.
All answers are provided by direction of Yusuf Estes, national chaplain and spokesman for ISLAM TODAY PROJECT, unless otherwise stipulated. Pray for him and all those who are assisting him to do so only for the sake of Allah.
Email Us At: sheikyusuf@aol.com
Your questions are important. If you feel that we have not provided sufficient answers to your questions, then please visit the following sites for additional help on many subjects on Islam:http://www.islamonline.net/We do refer to both of these and "ISLAMONLINE" does occasionally use our services to assist in English answers.We strive to please Allah and ask him to forgive our mistakes and not to let us be a source of misguidance for ourselves or others, ameen. Any good in this is from Allah and the mistakes are from ourselves.Please visit ISLAM TODAY http://www.todayislam.com/index.html
From Sheik Yusuf Estes, Office of the National Muslim Chaplain,
Today IslamThe following is a reproduction of an actual dialog through email with a "born-again" Christian and the National Muslim chaplain, Yusuf Estes, who was a former Christian businessman and minister before entering into Islam in July of 1991. The simple beauty of understanding where people are coming from in their thinking and having proper knowledge of Islam and the methodology of explaining Islam (menhaj ad dawah), is demonstrated here to show how close some of the statements against Islam are to actually in fact verifying the proof that Islam is the only correct religion with Allah. These questions are from a man that Allah has been testing with belief in Christianity & Islam. The answers are provided from Today Islam's Sheik Yusuf Estes.
As we will see, many times the very objections and complaints that others have about Islam, can actually be used to support the correct teachings of Islam. The problem comes from the fact that all too often we do not know enough about what the people are meaning and not enough about our own religion. Notice the art of agreeing at the correct points and then bringing about a clear understanding in the other points without alienating the other person.
Thank you for writing to us with your ideas, comments and questions:
In a message dated 3/14/2002 9:22:40 PM Eastern Standard Time, a Christian writes:
Humans do wrong things, evil things regardless of what religion they belong to.
Answer:
Yes. There is no doubt whatsoever, that what you are saying is the belief of the Muslims. This is correct and we agree on that. Islam does teach that all people do commit sins. However, some realize the severity of it and then they do repent to the One True God of the Universe, the Lord Almighty, who has no partners. And He then extends to them His Grace and forgives them from His Mercy.
So it is not wise to first of all judge and secondly to judge a religion based on people.
Answer:
Yes, again. Muslims are not the final judge. It is only Allah who is the Judge. And Islam is based on the teachings of the Quran and the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him. What some people chose to do, and then call it "Islam" does not affect the truth of what Islam really is. So the answer here to you is; "No. It is not correct to judge a system of belief by some people who claim to be in that religion."After all, Hitler, Al Capone (1930s gangster) and Timothy McVeigh (the man who confessed to bombing the Federal building in Oklahoma City) all claimed to be Christians the same as you. But I feel certain that you would not want anyone judging you and your beliefs based on those characters, right?
I think you must be from a Catholic system and that's why Islam convinced you more but Jesus is the truth, the way and the life.
Answer:
No. Sorry, but actually, you are wrong on this point. My family for generations have all been in nondenominational Christianity, simply called "Christian Church" until the 1950s when there was a split and one branch became known as the "Disciples of Christ."You might be interested to know that all of the Protestant churches today have their origins in the Catholic Church. However, the Catholic Church actually was in business prior to the birth of Jesus, peace be upon him. It was the old Roman Church originating out of the concepts of Alexander the Great. It was totally pagan in its origins. And the first time it came in contact with the early Church Fathers, at the Nicaea Council, (325 AD) it swallowed up their books, and teachers and totally revamped the whole religion. That was the time when the day for celebrating Jesus birthday was CHANGED to December the 25. Also, the addition of the rites of the Feast of Ishtar (now called Easter) were established. The day of worship was CHANGED from Saturday (Sabbath) to Sunday to accommodate the Emperor's worship of his religion. He was a cult worshipper in "Sol Invictus" (Invincible Sun). He was a sun worshipper and believed that he was the son of the sun, literally. Another interesting note is that fact that the books that were offer at the Nicaea Council by the original Christians totaled in number exceeding 200. Yet they only selected a few. The Catholics held onto a total of 73 books from the Old and New Testament. Later (early 1500s) the Protestant Reformation reduced the number to only 66. Keeping 39 books of the Old Jewish Testament and 27 books for what they called the New Testament. The Coptic claim they have the more accurate version being the one based on Saint Mark's Testament.It is also interesting to note that Catholic was not the only church out there at that time. The Copts (Egypt), and the Greek Orthodox and the Eastern Orthodox were already in place. Christianity had already reached the British Isles before the Nicaea Council so they already had the foundation for the Anglican Church. Christianity had made some influence into the superstitions of the Germanic parts of Europe and the affects of their nature worship began to affect the beliefs of the Christians in those areas. This is evidenced by the results arising out of the Catholic movement in that area in later dates.
As for me personally, I did visit a number of churches in the Protestant denominations. However, I have never attended a single mass or any Catholic form of worship. I have been to a Catholic wedding but I felt that it was too much for me in many ways.
Philosophies, ideas, magic, evil , etc., can not bring dead back to life, only GOD can.
Answer:
Yes. That is also the belief of a Muslim. Humans also do not bring the dead back to life except by the permission of Allah, as in the case of Jesus, peace be upon him, when Allah let him bring Lazarus back from the dead.
God brought me back to life, believe it or not.
Answer:
We as Muslims believe that when a person dies they do not recycle or come back to this life. However, we also know that Allah sent Jesus to perform miracles to show people that he was a prophet of Allah. One of the miracles was to bring back a man to life. But the man still ended up dying later anyway. Allah has told us in the Quran that "every soul shall taste death." This includes even Jesus, as I am sure that you are well aware.
We are not dead yet, but when we are, it will only be Allah who will bring us back and about that we may be sure.
Catholics have a system from which a lot of things are not even mentioned in the bible so if that's what you compared Islam with then I can understand.
Answer:
(note: the word "Bible" should be capitalized out of respect).Yes. You are correct again. And that is why the Protestants (from the word "protest") broke off from the Catholic church in 1520 under Martin Luther. Many different forms of Christianity grew out of this break up and each of them claimed they were correct. Question here is: "How do you know which one is correct?"
But if you are saying you knew the JESUS mentioned in the bible and then also you accepted Islam . . .?
Answer:
The more that I searched for the "Jesus" of the Bible in sincerity and honesty, the more that Allah led me to know the true "Jesus" and what his message really was. He was telling the people not to change the Word of God and not to worship anyone alongside of God. He was calling himself by the title of the prophets mentioned in the Old Testament; "Son of Man." This is clear when you compare the statements in Ezekiel.
Jesus was doing his miracles by the permission of Allah, the Almighty. He did nothing on his own, but rather by the One who sent him in the first place. This is the understanding in Islam and the teachings in what remains of the Holy Bible.
hmmmm...are you sure about the information you have about Jesus?
Answer:
Good question. I have information from a number of sources. The most authentic of all is the Holy Quran as it still exists today. We Muslims must agree with the fact that Jesus is the "miracle birth" as that is in the Quran. His mother was a virgin. She was the best of women ever created. He did many miracles by Allah's permission. He did not know what was in Allah, but Allah Knows what is in him, peace be upon him. Jesus is still alive and he is coming back in the Last Days. He will kill the Anti-Christ. The true believers will follow him. There will be victory over the evil one.
In Islam we have even learned what he looks like, where he will appear, what he will do first and the order of the things that will happen in the Last Days.
What do you know about the person you are calling "Jesus?" Let us begin with his name. Was it "Jesus." - No.The word "Jesus" is the Latinized name given to him after the Council of Nicaea. His name comes from the Old Semitic name "Eeshua" or "Eesa." This is based on the pronunciation of the letter known as "seen" or in Hebrew "sheen." The Jewish pronounce the word for "peace" as "Shalom;" whereas, the Arabic pronunciation would be "Salam." So we see how the name of "Eesa" can also be "Eeshua." But why should we say "Jesus" when he never called himself by that name?Next, we know that he was not born on December 25. (documented in the Nicaea Council records). According to the Bible he was born during the census taking for the tax polls at the time of Herod the Great. This was done in the Fall of the year, not the winter. According to the Quran, he was born at the time dates would be ripe and ready to fall from the trees. That again, is in the fall, not in the winter.Also, he was born before the beginning of the calendar date 1 AD (According to the Bible, he was born in the reign of Herod the Great which would probably have been around 6 BC)Outside of the Bible, the only other chronicler of events of that time was Josephus. He lived in the area and even traveled about the same time and to the same places as did Saul (later became Paul). Josephus does not mention Jesus or the son of God or anything like this occurring. William Whitset (200 + years ago) did translate the works of Josephus and added, yes ADDED an entire chapter to his works, fabricating a meeting between Josephus and Jesus and even having Josephus believing in the son of God story. However, Josephus was a Jew and he worked for the Romans as an advisor and journalist.
I am sure you read the bible and found contradictions in it, because you were looking for them?
Answer:
I have read the Bible many times since I was old enough to read. I have many different versions in different languages of the Holy Bible. I also have the books of commentary and explanation of the Bible, including the Strong's Concordance of the Bible.
My father, an ordained minister, was the first one to point out mistakes in the King James Version of the Bible. The Revised Standard Version very clearly points out a number of "Grave mistakes and errors" in the King James Version of the Bible. In his book, "History of the Translations of the Bible into the English Language," the Biblical scholar F. F. Bruce, clearly states that the first revision of the King James Version came in the very next year after its first translation due to very serious errors in it. The book, "Who Wrote the Bible" very clearly states a number of human mistakes and errors. Other books in my library today include apocrypha and "lost" books of the Bible and all of them clearly show that there is room for admission of errors, mistakes, contradictions and interpolations in the Bible.There is not a single serious Bible scholar that would tell you that he has an original of the Bible. Nor is there one who really believes that the Bible was revealed in English. This is nonsense and does not even merit a discussion. The version that is offered in book stores today in Greek, is actually a backward translation from the English to the Greek and not the other way around as many people mistakenly believe. The same is true for most languages including Arabic. I own a number of different versions and translations of the Bible into many languages. The Arabic and the Spanish will translate right into the English version easily, mistakes and all. Why? Because that is where they came from to start with. There was no English language, no Spanish language, no Portuguese language, no French language at the time of Jesus (or Muhammad, peace be upon him, for that matter). So where did these translations come from? Straight from the English. If you go back to older manuscripts you will find many problems with what is being represented in these "modern" versions of the Bible.Perhaps you have read my book on this subject. If not, feel free to visit our website and print it out. It is free. And you can make copies if you like.http://www.TodayIslam.com/bible.htm
But we did not try to prove the Bible was wrong. We only tried to find out where the Bible was right. That is why I studied what remains of it in the ancient languages.
Did you read Quran with that intension?
Answer:
As a matter of fact, I did try to disprove the Quran as being from Allah. After all, I used to be a real enemy to Islam and Muslims due to the heavy influence of other evangelists like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Benny Hind, Oral and Richard Roberts. Personal friends of mine were also haters of Islam and had told me the Quran was the book of the devil. So, I prayed before even touching it.
I did try my best to find mistakes and errors so that I could show the Muslim that I was trying to convert to Christianity the "error of his ways." I read the Quran from cover to cover in English. I was sure that I would find mistakes and errors just as we know there are many in the Bible.
I could not find one.
Then I began to learn the Arabic language and I have read the Quran in Arabic. This is without doubt, not something a human can make up. This is at last the true "Speech of Almighty God."Over nine million (9,000,000) people living on earth today have memorized the ENTIRE QURAN. Think about that for just a minute.Can anyone say that about the Bible?
No.
We know that the original Bible came from Allah and that it was memorized in the early days of Moses and others. But over the centuries different people came along and changed it for whatever reasons. Once the Word of Allah is changed, it is no longer the Word of Allah and as such it not longer has that special quality and protection of Allah.
I challenge anyone to bring a single person who even find an original Bible and then memorize an equal amount of the text to the Quran and then be able to recite it in the beautiful manner recited by those who recite Quran everyday.Has anyone ever memorized the whole Bible in any language?Has anyone memorized the New Testament?Can 8 and 9 year old children stand up and recite the Bible in Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek for hours at a time without looking at the words?No.
No one has memorized the Bible, not even the Pope; not even Pat Robertson; not Jimmy Swaggart; not Benny Hind; not Oral Roberts; not even the Pope.Muslims all over the world that I have met, all recite exactly the same thing regardless of their native languages, culture, background or traditions.All of them recite it in Arabic, letter for letter and word for word.Please feel free to visit our website and read my articles about the Quran and the miracles that it contains in regard to modern discoveries in science, medicine and even space travel.
http://www.TodayIslam.com/quran.htm
Let me explain what happened to us in brief:
My father was an ordained minister, I preached Christianity to anyone who would listen in those days. My wife was a strong believer and we did go to church regularly in those days.
We met a Muslim from Egypt and we tried to convert him to Christianity to "save" him. He came to live in our big home out in the country near Dallas, Texas. We also met a Catholic priest who was recovering from a heart attack. He too came to live with us in our home.
My father, my wife, myself, the Catholic priest and the Muslim from Egypt used to all sit around the table at night and discuss the Bible, religion, beliefs, Jesus, peace be upon him. We felt sure that we must be in the right religion and that we just had different understandings of things.
But it was the Muslim who made the amazing statement that I shall never forget. He said, "If what you have is better than what I have, then I am willing to join you.
I thought, "Wow! This will be easy. Get the baptismal ready! We're going to give this boy a bath tonight!"
But then he said something else that I shall remember for a long time, "But you will need to have proof."
I said, "Proof?" "We don't need proof. We only have faith."
He said, "Muslims have faith, and proof."
That is when we began to learn the miracles in the Quran and how that it came 1,400 years ago, yet it told of things that would happen in the future and they did happen. Additionally, it talks about science and medicine, biology, formation of the universe, the earth being round and in an orbit, and even about going into outer space. All of this came over 1,400 years ago to a man who could neither read nor write. It was all recited in classical Arabic in beautiful prose that none have been able to imitate until this very day.
And even I could learn this language and understand and recite it. What an amazing thing.
But it was the Catholic priest who embraced Islam first. Then my wife made it known to me that she too, was ready to live the live of a Muslim woman and wanted to wear the covering and be treated as the women of Islam are treated, with respect and honor.
I accepted Islam the very next morning.
My father came along a little later on at his own speed.
All of us were changed and we have seen many more good, righteous and honest Christians, even priests, bishops and ministers coming to Islam since that time.
You can get the whole story by going to:
http://www.todayislam.com/yusuf/index.html
Anyways, God's will be done, in Jesus name I pray, Amen Amen Amen!
Answer:
Yes!
May God's Will be done.
That is so beautiful coming from you at the end of your letter trying to talk to me about Christianity. Because you see, you just said that you want to be a "Muslim."That's right."Islam" means, "God's Will be done on earth, especially in us as human beings." The actual meaning of the word "Islam" comes from the root word, "salama." And there are five clear meanings into the English language from the word "Islam." They are:
1. Surrender to God's Will
2. Submission to God's Will
3. Obedience to God's Will
4. Sincerity to God's Will
5. Being in Peace with God's Will
And in Arabic instead of using the suffix of "er" at the end of a verb to show the one who is performing the action, you place the letter "meem" in front of the verb and then pronounce it "mu." Therefore, one who "Islam's" would be a "mu" "Islam" -- Muslim.So, may Allah accept your admission of Islam being the correct way of life and may He make all of us in "His Will," ameen.
By the way, we pray in the Name of the Almighty, Himself. We say; "Bismillah." This means in the Name of Almighty Allah." We don't pray in the name of Moses or Muhammad, or Abraham or Jesus. None of these mighty and wonderful prophets of Almighty God Above ever prayed in their own names or someone else's name when praying to the One Above. Jesus did not pray in his own name. So, we pray to the same God Above that they prayed to, in the same way that they prayed to Him. We even follow the physical style they they followed, that was standing, bowing, putting our face on the ground to Him in our prayers.
You know what comes to my mind on this issue? This may be one of your problems. You need to eliminate the middle man and pray direct so that you can be assured that the One Above is accepting it. It could be that when you pray in the name of something else or someone else, that the Almighty God Above may not accept the prayer and as a result allow the person to be misguided. After all if a person insists on making up something in worship that the Lord has not ordained nor approved of, it might well be rejected.
Practicing what you like is good for you but to say that somebody else's religion is false will always bring you questions like these.
Answer:
You are right once again. And in Islam we are taught that there is no compulsion in religion. Everyone is free to accept or reject Islam. But if a person submits to Allah in Islam, it is expected that they will do it wholeheartedly and not just play around. We pray five times a day, fast the month of Ramadhan, pay charity to the poor (Muslims or non-Muslims alike), and we make the pilgrimage to Makkah to commemorate the religious rites of Abraham.
Actually in your last statement above it was you who said that you wanted "God's Will to be done." So, now you wouldn't want to change your mind and ask for some other will to be done instead of Allah's would you? Of course not.
God Almighty has His Will and you and I want that to be done on earth in the place of the things that oppose His Will, right? So, then it is not any person's will that we are seeking here. We in fact, are negating the will of the individual in favor of the Will of the Almighty on His Terms, right? Keep in mind that it is not I who am originating this in our dialogue here. I am not who determines what God's Will is, He Alone does that. So this necessarily cancels all of the opposing will of those created humans here on earth. And you just got through bearing witness to the truth of it in your last statement.
There is only One God. He is the only One to tell us what He will accept in worship. That is why we say: "God's Will" not my will, be done on earth as it is in Heaven. You just said it yourself. So there can only be one correct religion -- the one that God has ordered and it is in fact "Islam" as you just witnessed to yourself.
You claim that what you believe it right and the rest is false and that's what made me email you, sorry if I offended you.
Answer:
You have not offended me at all. I'm happy to hear you are ready to surrender to the Will of God. This is so beautiful. I only regret that I have been traveling for so long and am only just now having the time to read your letter. May Allah always keep you in His Will, ameen.
God forgive me for my immatureness. A creation of GOD!!
Answer:
Again, we agree with you 100%. We are all only creations of the One Creator. He created the heavens and the earth and the angels and Adam. From Adam He created Eve and from them two He created all the humans of the earth. So, if you accept that, then you and I were already brothers in humanity. But since your confession of faith in the Surrender, Submission, Obedience, Sincerity and Peace with the Almighty, and you believe that only Allah Almighty has the right to determine what is religion in the first place; and you accept that only His Will should be done on earth, we may be closer to each other in faith than many others who claim to be Christian or Jew.
You see, after all, the one who truly believes in the original Books of Allah and His prophets, peace be upon them all, will likely see the same truth in Islam. When they wake up to the beauty and truth of Islam they will recognize it to be the same religion that Jesus preached and they will be most excited to enter into it just as I did, and my father did, and my wife did and our friend the Catholic priest did, eleven years ago.
My final advise to you as a brother human is to go off in private somewhere that nobody even knows what you are doing and then pray as you have never prayed before, directly to the One Almighty God of the universe. Ask Him for His Guidance for you in this life.
Thank you so much for your good questions and may Allah guide us to all Truth and forgive me for my shortcomings and for anything that I may have said wrong, as well. Ameen.
All answers are provided by direction of Yusuf Estes, national chaplain and spokesman for ISLAM TODAY PROJECT, unless otherwise stipulated. Pray for him and all those who are assisting him to do so only for the sake of Allah.
Email Us At: sheikyusuf@aol.com
Your questions are important. If you feel that we have not provided sufficient answers to your questions, then please visit the following sites for additional help on many subjects on Islam:http://www.islamonline.net/We do refer to both of these and "ISLAMONLINE" does occasionally use our services to assist in English answers.We strive to please Allah and ask him to forgive our mistakes and not to let us be a source of misguidance for ourselves or others, ameen. Any good in this is from Allah and the mistakes are from ourselves.Please visit ISLAM TODAY http://www.todayislam.com/index.html
Paper Refuting Christian Claim that Quran testifies the Bible to be Uncorrupted
From: http://www.thetruecall.com/
By: Ebrahim Saifuddin
CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. List of Verses in Ascending Order
3. The Muslim Belief
4. Verses Quoted by Christians
(a) General Verses Quoted
(b) Verses with “Saddaqa”
(c) Verses where Quran tells Prophet Muhammad (saw) about the Bible
(d) Quran calls the Bible ‘al-Ththikra’
(e) Bring forth like Quran and Torah
5. Conclusion
1. Introduction
In this paper we will only analyze the Quranic Verses given by the Christian missionaries claiming that the Quran testifies that the entire Bible is the uncorrupted Word of God. The Quran being the Last and Final Testament mentions the revelations sent to Moses (Torah), David (Zabur) and Jesus (Injeel). It is obligatory on a Muslim to believe that these books were revealed onto these prophets (pbut) who were chosen and sent by Allah (swt). Today our Christian brothers claim that the books which they possess are in the pristine form just the way they were revealed from Allah (swt) to Moses (as), David (as) and Jesus (as). They then try to prove using the Quran that even the Quran testifies that which they possess is the uncorrupted Word of God. However, when we read the Quran we see that it clearly teaches that these books in fact got corrupted.
2. List of Verses in Ascending Order
The list is given in the format ‘Chapter:Verse (Section of Paper it appears in)’. Example Chapter 2 Verse 41 appears in the section 4b and hence is written in the list as:
‘2:41 (4b)’
The List
2:41 (4b); 2:89 (4b); 2:91 (4b); 2:97 (4b); 2:101 (4b); 2:113 (4c);
3:3 (4b); 3:39 (4b); 3:50 (4b); 3:81 (4b);
4:47 (4b);
5:43 (4a) 5:46-48 (4b); 5:66 (4a); 5:68 (4c);
6:92 (4b);
10:37 (4b); 10:94 (4c);
12:111 (4b);
16:43-44 (4c, 4d);
21:7 (4d); 21:105 (4d);
28:48-49 (4e);
29:46 (4a);
35:31 (4b);
37:52 (4b);
40:53-54 (4d);
46:12 (4b); 46:30 (4b);
61:6 (4b)
3. The Muslim Belief
Before I begin with the analysis of all the verses in the Quran which the Christians quote in their defense, let me in short state the basic Muslim belief regarding the Bible which Christendom possesses.
Muslims do not believe that from cover to cover, the Bible is the complete Word of God. The Muslims also do not believe that from cover to cover the Bible is corrupted. What the Muslims do believe is that while there is part of the Word of God in the Bible, the other part is corrupted. To explain it in simpler terms; for example if the Bible has a scientific or historic accuracy, the Muslim will be open to accept that this probably could be the preserved Word of God but on the other hand a Muslim will never accept that the scientific or historic inaccuracies in the Bible are also from God.
4. Explaining Verses Quoted by Christians
I will use the translation of Abdullah Yusuf Ali throughout this article unless stated otherwise.
4a. General Verses Quoted
This is a list of the general verses quoted by the Christians to try and prove that the Quran confirms the entire Bible which the Christians used to have in those days.
These verses are:
Chapter 29 Verse 46
Chapter 5 Verse 66
Chapter 5 Verse 43
Chapter 29 Verse 46
And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, "We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you; Our Allah and your Allah is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam)."
This verse is often quoted by the Christians to prove that the Quran teaches that the Bible is uncorrupted. When we read this verse we see that Allah (swt) tells us to say that we believe in the revelation which has come to the People of the Book. As stated before, it is an article of faith for a Muslim to believe that the Torah, Zabur and Injeel are Books revealed onto the respective prophets (pbut) but no where does this verse say that we believe in what the Christians and the Jews possessed at that time. It is a general statement that a Muslim is to believe that Torah, Zabur and Injeel were revealed by Allah (swt).
Moreover as one can see, in the beginning of the verse, Allah (swt) encourages us to debate and have dialogue with the People of the Book. Now if the Quran was testifying that the Books which they have at that point in time were in their pure form and that they were on the right path then why would the Muslims be encouraged to have a dialogue and debate with the People of the Book? Obviously the dialogue was to help them realize the wrong which they were doing so that they could come onto the right path. The path as prescribed by Allah (swt). The path one can walk on only by accepting the uncorrupted Book – The Quran.
Chapter 5 Verse 66
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: but many of them follow a course that is evil.
This noble verse of the Quran informs us that the People of the Book are not holding on to the Torah and the Injeel. Allah (swt) says that if they were following the Torah and the Injeel then they would have enjoyed happiness. Now the Christian missionaries claim that the Quran certifies that the entire Bible is uncorrupted. As we can see in this verse the Quran is actually telling us that they are not following the Torah and the Injeel. Under what circumstances would they not be following it? The only reason why they would not be following it is if they would not have the complete original books. So this verse actually informs us that they do not have the uncorrupted version of the books. Now the latter part of the verse states that among the People of the Book there are a few who are on the right course.
To explain the latter part of the verse, notice in the initial part it says ‘and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord’. This phrase includes the revelation that Prophet Muhammad (saw) is the Messenger of Allah (swt) and all that was revealed to him. So the verse not only talks about them following the Torah and the Injeel in its pure form, but also talks about them following Prophet Muhammad (saw). Now in the latter part of the verse it says that there are some who are on the right course, which means that there are some who are from among the people of the Book who believe in Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Some might say that those from the People of the Book who have accepted Islam would be referred to as Muslims and not as ‘among the People of the Book’. However that claim of theirs is based on nothing but misinterpretations and misinformation. The Quran gives similar messages throughout. One such similar message is seen in the following verse:
And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book, those who believe in Allah, in the revelation to you, and in the revelation to them, bowing in humility to Allah: They will not sell the Signs of Allah for a miserable gain! For them is a reward with their Lord, and Allah is swift in account. – [Chapter 3 Verse 199]
Notice how this verse also uses the phrase ‘among the People of the Book’ when referring to those from among them who believe in Allah (swt) and in the revelation sent to Prophet Muhammad (saw). Hence they would be Muslims as well but the Quran yet refers to them as ‘among the People of the Book’. Thus it becomes apparent what Allah (swt) is referring to in Chapter 5 Verse 66.
Chapter 5 Verse 43
Before we read 5:43, we should glance at the context of the verse and read 5:41. I will quote the concerned part:
“….They change the words from their (right) times and places: they say, “‘If ye are given this, take it, but if not, beware!’” - [Quran 5:41]
This was regarding these Jews who had committed adultery and were seeking a punishment other than ’stoning to death’ (rajam) which the Torah prescribed. What they were seeking was a punishment lesser than that i.e. flogging. They came to Prophet Muhammad (saw), changing and misrepresenting the Torah, in hope that he would prescribe flogging and not rajam.
So Prophet Muhammad (saw) asked them to bring the Torah and read. And a person from among the Jews was brought forth to read it. However he hid the verse regarding rajam at first with his hand but then later after he was told to remove his hand, he read it out. Hence stoning was carried out.
It was in this context that 5:43 was revealed:
“But why do they come to thee for decision, when they have (their own) law before them?- therein is the (plain) command of Allah; yet even after that, they would turn away. For they are not (really) People of Faith.” - [Quran 5:43]
Here in context it is clear that they came with deception in order to gain a favorable ruling from Prophet Muhammad (saw). Hence Allah (swt) says in the Quran that why do they come to the Prophet for decision when they do not even believe in him and they have a book with laws which they consider Divine. The Torah does have some Divine laws in it and rajam is one of the preserved Divine laws.
The Jews did not come to Prophet Muhammad (saw) saying something like: ‘O Muhammad judge between us using the Quran’ to which Allah said that they should use the Torah. That was not the case. The Jews came with a deception to Muhammad (saw), changing the law of the Torah, hoping that he would not know the real law and thus they would get a favorable ruling or that he would get pleased that they have come to him and thus accept their word that in the Torah the ruling for adultery is flogging.
In fact the context of this verse exposes how the Jews did change, misinterpret and misrepresent their books. This verse in no way suggests that the Torah is 100% uncorrupted Word of God.
4b. Verses with “Saddaqa”
The Christian Missionaries quote the following verses claiming that these verses contain the root word of ‘confirm’ i.e. ‘Saddaqa’ and thus establish that the Bible from cover to cover is uncorrupted.
The verses they quote are as following:
Chapter 35 Verse 31
Chapter 10 Verse 37
Chapter 12 Verse 111
Chapter 3 Verse 3
Chapter 5 Verse 46 – 48
Chapter 2 Verse 41
Chapter 2 Verse 89
Chapter 2 Verse 91
Chapter 2 Verse 97
Chapter 2 Verse 101
Chapter 3 Verse 39
Chapter 3 Verse 50
Chapter 3 Verse 81
Chapter 4 Verse 47
Chapter 6 Verse 92
Chapter 37 Verse 52
Chapter 46 Verse 12
Chapter 46 Verse 30
Chapter 61 Verse 6
The word Saddaqa means:
To say (tell, speak) the truth; to be true, truthful, sincere. – [Al Mawrid Arabic to English Dictionary, pg 691]
So here we see that the Quran is ‘speaking the truth’ about the previous revelations. What the Christians had with themselves in those days was corrupted and the Quran is speaking the truth regarding those scriptures. In almost all the verses it is stated that the Quran is ‘confirming the previous revelations’. So it confirms that which was revealed previously by speaking the truth regarding it. The Quran verifies that which is preserved in the Bible ‘to be true’. It is ‘truthful’ and ‘sincere’ to the previous revelations by Allah (swt) and not to the corruptions made by man. An analysis of all these verses will show that the Quran only confirms that which was revealed – not that which is corruption. By confirming that which was revealed then Quran by default exposes the corruption.
Chapter 35 Verse 31
That which We have revealed to thee of the Book is the Truth,- confirming what was (revealed) before it: for Allah is assuredly- with respect to His Servants - well acquainted and Fully Observant.
This is another verse quoted by the Christian missionaries a lot. However we see that this verse again does not state that the Bible in the hands of the Jews and the Christians of that time was in its pristine form. What the Quran states is that it is confirming that which was revealed before – not the Bible that they hold but confirming only that which was revealed before it by Allah (swt). Hence do note that the Quran is speaking of only confirming that which was revealed before by Allah (swt) and it is not confirming the corrupted part of the Bible.
So how does the Quran confirm what was revealed before? It does so simply by stating or repeating that what was revealed to the concerned prophets and correcting that which has been corrupted. For example, in the story of the Original Sin as seen in the Bible, the blame is put on the woman and not the man. The Quran however corrects this mistake and says that both of them are equally responsible.
Chapter 10 Verse 37
This Qur'an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah; on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds.
This verse is seen to again carry the same meaning as Chapter 35 Verse 31. This meaning is further enhanced when we read the verse preceding it which I will quote below:
But most of them follow nothing but fancy: truly fancy can be of no avail against truth. Verily Allah is well aware of all that they do. – [Chapter 10 Verse 36]
We see that the Quran is referring to those know follow fancy which Allah (swt) states is of no avail against the truth. After that Allah (swt) reveals that the Quran is from Him and it confirms the previous revelations. This, as explained earlier, means that the Quran confirms it by repeating that which was revealed in their respective times i.e. repeats what was revealed, the way it was revealed onto Moses, David and Jesus (pbut).
Chapter 12 Verse 111
There is, in their stories, instruction for men endued with understanding. It is not a tale invented, but a confirmation of what went before it,- a detailed exposition of all things, and a guide and a mercy to any such as believe.
Notice again in this verse of the Quran, the message that what the Jews and Christians of those times read is uncorrupted, is simply missing. The name of the Surah in which this verse exists is Surah Yusuf (Joseph) and it mainly deals with the stories of the past. Now notice the Quran stats that in the stories of the prophets (pbut), there is an instruction. It states that it is a confirmation of what was before it. How is the Quran confirming? Using what methodology? The methodology of narrating the stories in their pristine forms and informing the People of the Book that this is how the story went and this is what was revealed. So whatever is true in the Bible is confirmed and whatever is not is automatically corrected. This is the simple methodology used by Allah (swt). He simply repeats the events as they occurred thus confirming the truth in the Bible and correcting the errors. The Quran never states that it is confirming the Bible which the Christians read. It is stating over and over again that it is only confirming that which was revealed before by Allah (swt) – only that part.
Chapter 3 Verse 3
It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).
This is a really interesting verse and actually proves to the contrary what the Christian missionaries wish to prove. This verse also proves the above explanations which I have been giving regarding how the Quran confirms and the methodology it uses to confirm the previous scriptures.
Notice that Allah (swt) states in this verse that the Quran has been sent as a Criterion. When one has a criterion then one judges according to it. So the Quran confirms what was sent down before it by becoming the Criterion to judge. Hence Muslims are to judge the Bible according to the Criterion. That which is attested by the Quran (The Criterion) that is accepted by the Muslims as to be the Word of God in the Bible. That what is corrected, we consider it to be a human fabrication.
Chapter 5 Verses 46 – 48
And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.
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.
To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;
Taking verse 46 into consideration we see that Allah (swt) only talks about Jesus (pbuh) being sent as a prophet. This verse itself does not prove that the Bible is uncorrupted. However the Christian missionaries say that they have same Torah today as it was during the time of Jesus and the evidence they give is the existence of the ‘Septuagint’. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:
“The three most celebrated manuscripts of the Septuagint known are the Vatican, "Codex Vaticanus" (fourth century); the Alexandrian, "Codex Alexandrinus" (fifth century), now in the British Museum, London; and that of Sinai, "Codex Sinaiticus" (fourth century), found by Tischendorf in the convent of St. Catherine, on Mount Sinai, in 1844 and 1849, now part at Leipzig and in part in St. Petersburg; they are all written in uncials.”
Hence we see that the Septuagint today is not from during the time of Jesus. The earliest manuscript dates to the fourth century some 300 years after Jesus. Thus no Christian can claim that the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers) which they have today in the Bible is the same as to what was present in the Septuagint during the time of Jesus.
Now in verse 47 we find that the verse says “let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein”. Any person having the slightest comprehension skills would be able to tell that the verse is talking about what Allah (swt) has revealed in the Gospel – not the entire Bible. However if we take into consideration that the verse is referring to the Bible, even so the verse talks of letting them judge according to what Allah (swt) has revealed and not according to the corruption made by man.
Now if the Quran meant to preach that the Bible which the Christians hold in their hands is pure from corruption then it would have said “let the Christians judge by the Gospel” (or “Bible” – whichever of the two words; it does not matter in the present context). However notice that the verse does not state that but says “judge by what Allah hath revealed therein”. In other words do not judge by what the human hands have written but only by what Allah (swt) has revealed.
The key to these two verses rests in the next verse i.e. verse 48. In this verse we can see that Allah (swt) states that the Quran is sent in truth, confirming that what came before it and guarding it in safety. The Arabic word used here is “Muhaymin” which means ‘Guardian’, ‘Protector’ and ‘Trustworthy’. According to Al-Mawrid Arabic to English dictionary the word means ‘dominant, dominating, predominant, preponderant, prevailing, controlling, commanding, governing, reigning, ruling; (absolute) master, ruler, overlord’ – [Al Mawrid Arabic to English Dictionary pg. 1135].
Allah (swt) thus says that the Quran is a guardian over the previous scriptures. It is guarding them. What is it guarding it against? It is guarding it from the corruptions that the human hands have done in the Bible. It is correcting the corruptions made in the Bible and thus protecting it. The role of a guardian is to guide and correct the errors.
Many Christian missionaries falsely claim that “muhaymin” was understood by Muslims of the past and present to mean that the Bible in the form it was in those days was uncorrupted. We will check some of the sources of the past and present to see whether they really believed the Bible in those days to be uncorrupted.
Tafsir Ibn Kathir:
“(and Muhayminan over it) means entrusted over it, according to Sufyan Ath-Thawri who narrated it from Abu Ishaq from At-Tamimi from Ibn `Abbas. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "Muhaymin is, ‘the Trustworthy’. Allah says that the Quran is trustworthy over every Divine Book that preceded it.'' This was reported from `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Mujahid, Muhammad bin Ka`b, `Atiyyah, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, `Ata' Al-Khurasani, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd. Ibn Jarir said, "The Quran is trustworthy over the Books that preceded it. Therefore, whatever in these previous Books conforms to the Quran is true, and whatever disagrees with the Qur'an is false.'' Al-Walibi said that Ibn `Abbas said that Muhayminan means, ‘Witness’. Mujahid, Qatadah and As-Suddi said the same. Al-`Awfi said that Ibn `Abbas said that Muhayminan means, ‘dominant over the previous Scriptures’. These meanings are similar, as the word Muhaymin includes them all. Consequently, the Quran is trustworthy, a witness, and dominant over every Scripture that preceded it. This Glorious Book, which Allah revealed as the Last and Final Book, is the most encompassing, glorious and perfect Book of all times. The Quran includes all the good aspects of previous Scriptures and even more, which no previous Scripture ever contained. This is why Allah made it trustworthy, a witness and dominant over all Scriptures.”
Tanwir al-Miqbas min Tafsir Ibn Abbas:
“(And unto the have We revealed the Scripture) We have sent you Gabriel with the Qur'an (with the Truth) to make plain the Truth and falsehood, (confirming) the statement of Allah's divine Oneness and some laws (whatever Scripture was before it) whatever Scriptures were before it, (and a watcher over it) a witness upon all the Scriptures before it; it is also said: a witness upon the ruling of stoning; and it is also said: a watcher over all previous Scriptures.”
It is thus seen that Allah (swt) has kept the Quran as a guardian over the previous scriptures so as to guard what was revealed originally thus showing to us that which is corruption in the Bible.
I will now quote some of the Muslims of the present times to see whether they understand that this verse states that the Bible was uncorrupted or that is got corrupted overtime.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali:
“After the corruption of the older revelation, the Quran comes with a twofold purpose: (1) to confirm the true and original Message and (2) to guard it or act as a check to its interpretation. The Arabic word ‘Muhaymin’ is very comprehensive in meaning. It means one who safeguards, watches over, stands witness, preserves and upholds. The Quran safeguards “the Book”, for it has preserved within it the teachings of all the former Books. It watches over these Books in the sense that it corroborates the Word of Allah which has remained intact in them. It stands as a witness because it bears testimony to the Word of Allah contained in these Books and helps to sort it out from the interpretations and commentaries of the people which were mixed with it; what is confirmed by the Quran is the Word of Allah and what is against it is that of the people.”
Muhammad Asad (His translation is often quoted by Christian missionaries):
“The participle ‘muhaymin’ is derived from the quadrilateral verb ‘haymana’, ‘he watched [over a thing]’ or ‘controlled [it]’, and is used here to describe the Quran as the determinant factor in deciding what is genuine and what is false in the earlier Scriptures.”
Maariful Quran:
“The address is to the Holy Prophet (saw) saying that to him Allah has revealed the Quran which confirms the Torah and Injeel, Books previous to it, and is their custodian as well. This is because, after the people of the Torah altered the Torah and the people of the Injeel made changes in the Injeel, it was the Quran alone which turned out to be the kind overseer and protector which exposed the alterations made by them, lit up truth and reality in their proper perspective. Even today the true teachings of the Torah and Injeel still survive through the Quran.”
So we see the whether we look at the Muslims of the past or the present, they understood the term ‘muhaymin’ to mean the same and the interpretation of the verse has always been the same without any changes.
Some Christian missionaries bring to notice that one of the names of Allah (swt) is “AL-MUHAYMIN”. So let us see whether the meaning and explanation of the word “muhaymin” fits with harmony in both the verse and as one of the attributes of Allah (swt).
Muhaymin, according to early Muslims as taken from Ibn Kathir, means the following: Witness and Trustworthy. This word also means ‘Guardian’, ‘Supervisor’ or ‘Protector’. Now do these fit Allah (swt) and the verse in harmony? Yes!
Allah (swt) is our Guardian and hence has given us guidelines to correct ourselves just the way the Quran is the guardian over the Bible, correcting it. Allah (swt) is the Protector and has given us a way to protect ourselves by correcting our mistakes just as the way the Quran corrects the Bible in order to protect what was revealed in the previous scriptures. Allah (swt) is Witness to all that is being done just like the Quran is a witness to the changes made in the Bible thus correcting them.
Hence we see that the definition fits perfectly to Allah (swt) as well as the Quran thus refuting any claims that would suggest otherwise. The Quran is now a guardian over what was revealed before and thus people can learn the truth in the previous scriptures by looking at those parts which the Quran confirms and those which the Quran rejects.
Chapter 2 Verse 41
And believe in what I reveal, confirming the revelation which is with you, and be not the first to reject Faith therein, nor sell My Signs for a small price; and fear Me, and Me alone.
When we read the verse preceding this, we find that these verses refer to the Children of Israel where Allah (swt) asks them to fulfill the Covenant. Then in this verse Allah (swt) is telling them to believe in what He reveals which confirms the revelation which is with them. So the Quran again is confirming that which is a revelation and not that which is corrupted by human hands. Then we read the next verse:
And cover not Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth when ye know (what it is).
Thus it becomes apparent that the Quran is telling the Jews not to conceal the Truth. How would the Truth be concealed? The Truth would be concealed by following human corruptions rather than following what Allah (swt) has revealed.
Chapter 2 Verse 89
And when there comes to them a Book from Allah, confirming what is with them,- although from of old they had prayed for victory against those without Faith,- when there comes to them that which they (should) have recognized, they refuse to believe in it but the curse of Allah is on those without Faith.
Once again this verse is seen to hold the same meaning as that of ‘Saddaqa’ explained above. The Quran which is from Allah (swt) is confirming the truth that which is with the People of the Book. Over and over again we find that the Noble Quran tells us that it is confirming the truth in the previous revelations. The Quran is speaking the truth about what is with the People of the Book. Therefore it is clear that the Quran is not testifying that the entire Bible is preserved but is only confirming the truth that is with the People of the Book thus naturally correcting the corrupted part.
Chapter 2 Verse 91
When it is said to them, "Believe in what Allah Hath sent down, "they say, "We believe in what was sent down to us:" yet they reject all besides, even if it be Truth confirming what is with them. Say: "Why then have ye slain the prophets of Allah in times gone by, if ye did indeed believe?"
This verse is connected to the one explained above. The Quran says that the People of the Book reject the Truth which is confirming that which is with them. What does the Truth confirm? The Truth would but natural confirm that which is the truth. Thus as explained above many times in this section, the Quran, being the Truth, confirms the Truth that is with the People of the Book and not that which is falsehood created by human intervention.
Chapter 2 Verse 97
Say: Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel-for he brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by Allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe,-
This verse is from the same Surah as the previous two verses and talks about those who are enemies to Gabriel. Gabriel is an angel who brought the revelations to Prophet Muhammad (saw). The revelation is referred to as a confirmation of what went before. This means that this revelation (Quran) confirms what actually happened before thus exposing the falsehood that might be there in the minds or the scriptures of the People of the Book. Further the Quran is called ‘guidance’ for those who believe and if the purpose of the Quran was to state that the entire Bible is uncorrupted then it would not refer to itself as guidance to those who believe because the Bible would still be guidance to those who do not believe.
Chapter 2 Verse 101
And when there came to them a messenger from Allah, confirming what was with them, a party of the people of the Book threw away the Book of Allah behind their backs, as if (it had been something) they did not know!
We find that again the same word is used in this verse of the Quran. Thus when Allah (swt) sent his Messenger (saw) to confirm the truth in what was with the People of the Book (here the verse refers to the Jews), some of them who realized that it was by default exposing the falsehood, refused to consider what the Messenger (saw) was saying by pretending as if they do not even know what their books had in it. If the Quran was testifying that their scripture is in its pristine form then the Jews would not have pretended as if they knew not what was in their scriptures. The reason why they pretended as such was because they saw that an unlettered Prophet (saw) was bringing out the truth in their books and by default exposing the falsehood. The Jews knew that if they would look at the truth in their books then it would prove that Prophet Muhammad (saw) was the Messenger of Allah (swt) and thus they chose to ignore their books completely.
Chapter 3 Verse 39
While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: "Allah doth give thee glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a Word from Allah, and (be besides) noble, chaste, and a prophet,- of the (goodly) company of the righteous."
Basically this verse has nothing to do with whether the Quran testifies that the entire Bible is in its pristine form or not. However Christians use this verse to state that the word ‘Saddaqa’ in this verse means to ‘confirm’ and thus they try to derive a conclusion that the Quran confirms the entire Bible.
Let us apply the same explanation which I have been giving regarding this root word ‘Saddaqa’ to this verse and see if the meaning of this verse changes. Yahya (as) or John the Baptist as the Christians call him was supposed to confirm the truth of a Word from Allah. So he was supposed to confirm the truth not the falsehood just as Quran confirms the truth and not the falsehood in the Bible.
Chapter 3 Verse 50
(I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So fear Allah, and obey me.
This verse again has nothing to do with the Quran confirming anything. However the Christians quote it due to the same root word ‘Saddaqa’ in it. Once again if we use the same application of the word ‘Saddaqa’ in this verse, it only means that Jesus (as) was confirming the truth which came before him and not the falsehood, if any, in the Torah at that time.
Chapter 3 Verse 81
Behold! Allah took the covenant of the prophets, saying: "I give you a Book and Wisdom; then comes to you a messenger, confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him and render him help." Allah said: "Do ye agree, and take this my Covenant as binding on you?" They said: "We agree." He said: "Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses."
Once again this verse is quoted by the Christian missionaries due to the root word. If again we apply the same definition of ‘Saddaqa’ i.e. ‘to speak the truth’, ‘to be true’ etc to this verse, we will find that it fits in most appropriately. Here Allah (swt) is telling the prophets that He will give to them a Book and Wisdom and then later a messenger will confirm (speak the truth, be true, sincere) that which is with the prophets then will they believe in him or not. Again the deception which the missionaries are trying to create falls apart.
Chapter 4 Verse 47
O ye People of the Book! believe in what We have (now) revealed, confirming what was (already) with you, before We change the face and fame of some (of you) beyond all recognition, and turn them hindwards, or curse them as We cursed the Sabbath-breakers, for the decision of Allah Must be carried out.
This is yet another verse with the root word ‘Saddaqa’ in it. So is the Quran stating that it confirms the entire Bible? Not in the least. The Quran yet again speaks the truth and confirms the truth in that which was with them. In the next verse we see that Allah (swt) states “Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him”.
As we all know the Bible does ascribe partners to Allah (swt) and Allah (swt) is condemning such an act labeling it as unforgivable. Now if the Quran was suggesting that the entire Bible was uncorrupted then the Quran would not condemn their fundamental belief. The fact that the Quran is condemning it means that the Quran confirms the truth in the Bible and by default exposes the falsehood.
Chapter 6 Verse 92
And this is a Book which We have sent down, bringing blessings, and confirming (the revelations) which came before it: that thou mayest warn the mother of cities and all around her. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in this (Book), and they are constant in guarding their prayers.
This verse again like the numerous verses above says that the Quran confirms (speaks the truth regarding, is true, sincere) to what came before it. Hence it only confirms that which was actually revealed by Allah (swt) during the time of Moses (as) and during the time of Jesus (as). It in no way means that it is to confirm that the entire Bible is a hundred percent the Word of God.
Chapter 37 Verse 52
“Who used to say, ‘what! art thou amongst those who bear witness to the Truth (of the Message)?’”
Similar to the previous verses this again talks of confirming the Truth – not the falsehood. By confirming the Truth, falsehood by default gets exposed. That is exactly what the role of the Quran is – to confirm the truth in the Bible and thus by default expose the falsehood present in it.
Chapter 46 Verse 12
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.
The Quran again declares that it confirm the Book of Moses and its methodology to do so is that it speaks of that which was revealed at the time of Moses (in the Arabic language i.e. language of the Quran), thus correcting by default that which is corrupted.
Chapter 46 Verse 30
They said, “O our people! We have heard a Book revealed after Moses, confirming what came before it: it guides (men) to the Truth and to a Straight Path.”
This verse is regarding the Jinns. The Jinns who heard the Quran went to their people and told them about the Quran which was revealed after Moses. They tell them that it confirms what came before it and that it guide to the Truth. The fact that it guides to the Truth means that the Quran confirms that which is true. But natural, Truth confirms the truth only. Truth can never confirm the falsehood hence the Quran is a guide to the Truth and thus will bring out what is true in the Bible while by default exposing that which is a corruption.
Chapter 61 Verse 6
And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!"
Due to the usage of the root word ‘Saddaqa’ the Christian missionaries try to use this verse as a support for their misinterpretation of the Quran. By Jesus saying that he is here to confirm the Law, it does not mean that everything is true. By confirming again we see that it means that Jesus is speaking the truth regarding what was revealed to Moses. Hence let us assume that the Torah was uncorrupted at that time. If so, Jesus would speak that which was revealed in the Torah and it would naturally confirm what was in the scriptures. If now we assume that the Torah was corrupted, Jesus would still speak that which was revealed during the time of Moses, thus confirming what was revealed to Moses and by default exposing the falsehood.
4c. Verses where Quran tells Prophet Muhammad (saw) about the Bible
The following are the verses in which the Quran asks Prophet Muhammad (saw) to ‘refer’ to the People of the Book.
These verses are:
Chapter 10 Verse 94
Chapter 16 Verse 43 – 44
Chapter 2 Verse 113
Chapter 5 Verse 68
Chapter 10 Verse 94
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: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt.
When we read the verse preceding this we find that Allah (swt) is telling Prophet Muhammad (saw) in the Quran regarding the Children of Israel and how much Allah (swt) blessed these people.
We settled the Children of Israel in a beautiful dwelling-place, and provided for them sustenance of the best: it was after knowledge had been granted to them, that they fell into schisms. Verily Allah will judge between them as to the schisms amongst them, on the Day of Judgment. – [Chapter 10 Verse 93]
Then in this verse Allah (swt) tells Prophet Muhammad (saw) to ask them if he does not believe in what is revealed. So Prophet Muhammad (saw) is instructed to ask regarding this particular information if he does not believe what Allah (swt) has revealed to him. Hence he would ask the Children of Israel whether they were blessed by Allah (swt) or whether disputes did occur between them. This therefore does not prove that the Quran endorses the entire Bible to be the complete Word of God.
Chapter 16 Verses 43 – 44
And before thee also the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realize this not, ask of those who possess the Message.
(We sent them) with Clear Signs and Books of dark prophecies; and We have sent down unto thee (also) the Message; that thou mayest explain clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may give thought.
Again we see a similar message in the Quran. In verse 43, the Quran mentions that Allah (swt) sent messengers before Prophet Muhammad (saw) who were none but men and they were given the inspiration. Then in the latter part of the verse it tells Prophet Muhammad (saw) that he can confirm with the People who possess this Message. So what is Prophet Muhammad (saw) to confirm? Simply, that whether men were sent as messengers or not. Further one can ask whether these men were granted any inspiration. So for a moment if we assume that the Bible in those days was corrupted, then does this verse fall apart? No! The Bible being corrupted has this Message in it that men with inspiration were sent in the past.
In verse 44 we find that again a similar message is given. Allah (swt) states that these messengers of the past were sent with clear signs and books. Then Prophet Muhammad (saw) is told that he is also given the Message so that he can ‘explain clearly to men what is sent for them’. This proves that the Bible was corrupted and its message was distorted hence the Quran has been sent to ‘explain clearly to mean what is sent for them’.
Also see the this verse 16:43 under the next section titled ‘Quran calls the Bible al-Ththikra’
Chapter 2 Verse 113
The Jews say: "The Christians have naught (to stand) upon; and the Christians say: "The Jews have naught (To stand) upon." Yet they (Profess to) study the (same) Book. Like unto their word is what those say who know not; but Allah will judge between them in their quarrel on the Day of Judgment.
This verse of the Quran refers to Christians and Jews saying that they read the Scripture yet they argue that they are right and the other is wrong. In simpler terms, they both read the same books and yet they fight accusing each other for being on the wrong path. So this verse has nothing to do with the Quran testifying that the entire Bible is the uncorrupted word of God.
Chapter 5 Verse 68
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." It is the revelation that cometh to thee from thy Lord, that increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. But sorrow thou not over (these) people without Faith.
The message in this verse is very clear. The People of the Book are told that they should follow the Law and the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to them. This includes the Quran. Now if the Quran is testifying that the entire Bible is uncorrupted then why would they be required to stand fast by the Quran? However if the message in the Quran is that the Bible indeed get corrupted then by holding fast to the Quran they can hold fast to the Law and the Gospel because the Quran confirms the truth in these books and thus the true revelations of the Law and the Gospel are preserved in the Quran.
4d. Quran calls the Bible ‘al-Ththikra’
The Christians quote Chapter 15 verse 9 and say that God says that He has sent the Message and will guard it. The Arabic word used for Message is ‘ththikra’. This verse refers to the Quran but the Christian missionaries say that in the Quran the Bible is also referred to as ‘ththikra’ and hence the Quran in a wider context means that the Bible can also not get corrupted.
The verses quoted by Christians in the Quran that refer to the previous messages as ‘ththikra’ are as follows:
Chapter 16 Verse 43
Chapter 21 Verse 7
Chapter 21 Verse 105
Chapter 40 Verses 53 – 54
In all these verses, we find that the previous messages are referred to as ‘ththikra’. So does the Quran include these messages in Chapter 15 Verse 9?
Not at all! In all of these verses the message is referred to in the past tense. In none of these verses does it state that the People of the Book possess the message (‘ththikra’). Chapter 15 Verse 9 only refers to the present context and thus excludes the doings of men in the past.
Moreover in a much wider context, the Quran safeguards the true revelations of the Torah and the Injeel and thus Allah (swt) is saying that He will guard it from corruption. Thus by guarding the Quran, He is also guarding the true revelations of the Torah and the Injeel.
4e. Bring forth like Quran and Torah
Now the Christian missionaries quote two verses of the Quran and claim that the Quran presents the challenge to bring forth something like the Quran and Torah.
Chapter 28 Verses 48 – 49
But (now), when the Truth has come to them from Ourselves, they say, "Why are not (Signs) sent to him, like those which were sent to Moses?" Do they not then reject (the Signs) which were formerly sent to Moses? They say: "Two kinds of sorcery, each assisting the other!" And they say: "For us, we reject all (such things)!"
Say: "Then bring ye a Book from Allah, which is a better guide than either of them, that I may follow it! (do), if ye are truthful!"
As we have seen in all the previous verses, the Quran is confirming the truth in the Torah over and over again by repeating the truth which was still present in the Torah and correcting by default that which was corrupted. Hence people said that both these books are assisting each other as whatever truth the Quran confirmed, was found to be true in the Torah. Thus people labeled these two as ‘sorcery’ and thus rejected it. Then in the next verse Allah (swt) tells them to bring a book from Allah (swt) which is a better guide than either of the two i.e. Quran and Torah. Note that the verse uses the phrase ‘better guide’ thus it does not mean that the entire Torah was uncorrupted. Guidance in the Torah is seen to be much better than what is found even in the New Testament. While the laws in the Torah are similar to those found in the Quran, the corruption by the scribes, have introduced completely new laws in the New Testament. Thus in general no doubt the guidance in the Torah is better and thus the Quran tells them to bring a book from Allah that is a better guide than the Quran and Torah. Further, because the Quran kept on confirming the truth in the Torah, the people knew of what was part of the original scripture and thus as a better guide either of the two books could be placed as a challenge. The challenge is yet not to produce a book which is a better guide than these two but to bring from Allah a book which is a better guide than these two. This statement is different from the challenge of the Quran to produce a book like, or a Surah like the Quran. That challenge is for men to sit and produce like a book like Quran. Over here the challenge is to bring a book from Allah that is a better guide.
5. Conclusion
We went through all the verses that the Christians give to present their case that the Quran testifies that the entire Bible is the uncorrupted word of God. After going through these verses, the deception which the Christendom tries to create was exposed. It was seen that the Quran does not in any way testify that the Bible is completely uncorrupted. The Quran acts like a guardian over the Bible (5:48) and preserves the true revelations sent to Moses (as) and Jesus (as). It confirms the truth in the Bible thus by default exposing the falsehood in them. This paper was only to refute the verses they quote. In another article I will give evidence from the Quran to prove that the Bible indeed was corrupted.
- Ebrahim Saifuddin
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