About the Bible - The Tawrat, Zabur, And Injil (Al Kitab) - By Abdullah Ibrahim

8/13/2019 About the Bible - The Tawrat, Zabur, And Injil (Al Kitab) - By Abdullah Ibrahim

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About the Bible:

the Tawrat, Zabur, and Injil (Al Kitab)

believe in the infallibility of the original Biblical manuscripts. But many adherents ofIslam think that today's Bible has undergone substantial changes with regard to itsearly manuscripts and their translated versions.

But the Quran does not support this claim unanimously! In fact it makes it clear thatthe Bible, known as the Torah and the Injil, was found reliable in Muhammad's(pbuh) time, the sixth century. To prove that the twentieth century Bible is still

authentic it only has to be compared with a copy from the sixth century.

However the discovery in 1947 of the Dead Sea Scrolls can do even better thancomparing the scriptures to the sixth century. Dr. Bryant Wood, an archaeologist with Associates for Biblical Research, replies to the question "What archaeologicaldiscovery has had the all-time greatest Biblical impact?" with the following:

"Probably the Dead Sea Scrolls have had the greatest Biblical impact. Theyhave provided Old Testament manuscripts approximately 1,000 years olderthan our previous oldest manuscript. The Dead Sea Scrolls havedemonstrated that the Old Testament was accurately transmitted during this

interval. In addition, they provide a wealth of information on the times leadingup to, and during, the life of Christ."

The Bible's books are arranged by TYPE, rather than chronologically. The ninemajor sections are:

1. Books of Moses and the Law2. History books (about God's chosen people, Israel)3. Wisdom books4. Prophets' books (beginning with the most major five first)5. Gospels (Jesus Life and the way of salvation)6. History of the early church (Acts)7. Paul's letters 8. Other letters9. Apocalypse (Book of Revelation)

The Bible is unique in that it:

was written by over 40 authors... was written on 3 different continents: Asia, Africa and Europe... was written in many different places: wilderness, prison, traveling, islands...

was written over a period of 1,500 years...

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was written by people who had different kinds of jobs: fishermen, kings,shepherds, a herdsman, a politician, a doctor, a tax collector, a rabbinicalscholar and more...

They all wrote about the same thing, and without any contradictions!

We strongly encourage you to read the Bible for yourself. Genesis in the Tawrat,authored by Hazrat Musa (Moses), or Luke in the Injil, would be excellent books tobegin in.

If you wish to learn more about the bible via correspondence courses, werecommend contacting the following: 1) Al-Kitab Scripture Research Institute, 2)Word of Life Bible Correspondence Course (or use this link), 3) Al-Kitab: A BibleCourse for Muslims

What are the Tawrat, Zabur and Injil?

It is common knowledge that Muslims recognize four remaining holybooks out of a total of 104 revelations, of which 100 are missing. Although Muslims are often taught that the 3 remaining booksprevious to the Koran have been altered, still, Muslims for the mostpart, respect those 3 holy books. The 3 holy books are known as theTawrat , Zabur , and Injil .

This article will not deal with the Muslim belief in abrogation ofprevious scriptures, nor will it major on the Muslim belief in the corruption of thescriptures by Jews and Christians. The purpose of this paper is to examine thevarious opinions held regarding these 3 holy books. How did they come up with thatunderstanding?

Let it be stated here that this author has confidence that the Tawrat, Zabur and Injilextant today amongst Jews and Christians (i.e. the Holy Bible), are the same asthose books originally given by almighty God.

Muslim belief about the previous holy books has been in part shaped by the ProphetMuhammad (pbuh)'s interaction with Jews and Christians of his time. Some of these

Jews and Christians were his earlier converts. The prophet's first wife, Khadijah wasknown as a Christian before converting to Islam, as was her cousin Waraka (orWarqa), who was considered a serious Bible student and perhaps even a translatorof Scripture. So it would be beneficial to try to understand exactly what the Koransays about those holy books, and also what Jews and Christians of that time wouldhave thought about the books. In doing this, we will also look at the holy Injil's use ofvarious titles for different Scriptures.

The Muslim Understanding of the 3 Holy Books General Muslim understanding today of the Tawrat , Zabur , and Injil , is somewhatsimplistic. Each is thought to be a revelation in the form of a written book that was

given through Hazrat Musa, Dawud, and Isa (peace be upon them) respectively. Butthere is some divergence of opinion:

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Some Say Tawrat equals the Pentateuch: Three sections of the Bible are cited by the Koran as being Divinely revealed:the Pentateuch, or Books of Moses (Tawrat); the Psalms of David (Zabur);and the Gospels of Jesus (Injil) (Glasse, The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam,pg. 72.)

Some Say Tawrat equals the Old Testament: Others however, would say that the Tawrat is more or less the entirerevelation given to the Jews:

The religious dissociation of Abraham and other religious personalitiesfrom the main body of Jews and Christians was an inevitableconsequence of two strands among Jews and Christians. The Qur'ancontinuously praises the one strand, and condemns the other, e.g.,'From among them (i.e., the People of the Book) there is an uprightgroup but most of them perpetrate misdeeds' (V, 66). They were askedto live up to the Torah and the Evangel (V, 68), but, like the proprietors

of all organized religious traditions, Jews and Christians quarrelledamong themselves and each claimed that the keys of salvation werefirmly in their exclusive grasp: 'The Jews say the Christians havenothing to stand on and the Christians say the Jews have nothing tostand on, and they both read the Book' (II, 120). (Fazlur Rahman,Islam, pg. 27)

It may be inferred from the preceding quote from Fazlur Rahman that theScriptures of the Jews and Christians may be summed up in the words Torah (or Tawrat ) and Evangel (or Injil ), i.e. the Old Testament and the NewTestament. This thinking is partly due to the Koran's own testimony, more ofwhich will be seen later. The same belief is expressed by A.J. Arberry, notedEnglish Muslim in his introduction to his translation of the Koran:

In many passages it is stated that the Koran had been sent down'confirming what was before it', by which was meant the Torah and theGospel; the contents of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, exceptingsuch falsifications as had been introduced into them, were thereforetaken as true and known. (Arberry, The Koran Interpreted, pg. xi.)

Some Say Tawrat equals a Lost Book:

Abdullah Yusuf Ali seems to equate the Tawrat with the Old Testament,"Vaguely we may say that it was the Jewish Scripture." (Ali, The Holy Qur'an:Text, Translation and Commentary, pg. 282.) However, because of his beliefin the corruption of the Bible, there are qualifiers:

But it was lost before Islam was preached. What passed as "The Law"with the Jews in the Apostle's time was the mass of traditional writingwhich I have tried to review in this Appendix. (Ali, Ibid., pg. 285.)

The "mass of traditional writing" to which he refers is the Talmud (Ali, Ibid., pg.284.) (see section on Interval Between Christ and Muhammad for more).

So in Ali's opinion, the Tawrat no longer exists.



Some Say Injil equals a Lost Book: Regarding the Injil , the same divergence of opinion is true.This divergence however, is only variations of the sametheme. The "same theme" is this, the Injil has been corrupted .Some holding this belief vehemently, say that the Injil is no

longer extant, and that today's New Testament bears little, ifany, resemblance to the original Injil :

The Injil (Greek, Evangel=Gospel) spoken of by the Qur'an is not theNew Testament. It is not the four Gospels now received as canonical. Itis the single Gospel which, Islam teaches, was revealed to Jesus, andwhich he taught. Fragments of it survive in the received canonicalGospels and in some others, of which traces survive (e.g., the Gospelof Childhood or the Nativity, the Gospel of St. Barnabas, etc.). (Ali,Ibid., pg. 287.)

Some Say Injil equals the Gospels of New Testament: Toward the other end of the spectrum is Cyril Glasse, a western Muslimscholar. He uses three different names for the Injil interchangeably, Gospelsof Jesus, the Gospel , and New Testament :

Three sections of the Bible are cited by the Koran as being Divinelyrevealed: the Pentateuch, or Books of Moses (Tawrat); the Psalms ofDavid (Zabur); and the Gospels of Jesus (Injil)...

However, the Gospels and Psalms have found no place in an Islamiccanon and their contents are mostly ignored and unknown to Muslims.Moreover, the Gospel poses particular difficulties in Islam. Leavingaside the distinction between direct revelation from God, which is thecase of the Koran (in Arabic tanzil, which corresponds to sruti inSanskrit), and secondary inspiration (in Arabic ilham, the equivalent ofsmrti in Sanskrit), which is the case of the Gospels, the ChristianGospel clashes with Islamic understanding of doctrine on severalpoints, most importantly regarding the nature of Jesus...

Muslims believe that the New Testament as used by Christians isincorrect and has, somehow, been falsified. (Glasse, Ibid., pg. 72.).

So there is divergence, but it is only a matter of degree. Because of supposedcorruption, some Muslims refuse to accept the New Testament as the Injil.

Some Say Injil equals the New Testament: Some, despite supposed corruption, do identify the two as one and the same.Hughes made an interesting comment along this line back in 1885:

Injil is used in the Qur'an, and in the Traditions, and in allMuhammadan theological works of an early date, for the revelationsmade by God to Jesus. But in recent works it is applied by

Muhammadans to the New Testament. (Hughes, Dictionary of Islam,pg. 211.)



For some Muslims it is difficult to conceive of the fact that Hazrat Isa did notspeak or write the Injil. A multiplicity of authors for the various New Testamentbooks is a new concept to them.

All (?) Say Zabur equals the Psalms of Hazrat Dawud (David):

The Zabur or Psalms, does not seem to be a big issue. Except for thecomment by Cyril Glasse above about the Psalms, very little is said ordiscussed about this matter.

Some Say Tawrat, Zabur and Injil equals the Bible: To top this all off, reference must be made to Abd-al-Rahman Azzam,respected Muslim leader and founder of the Arab League, as well as one whowas instrumental in steering Malcolm X towards a more orthodox Islam:

The Imam Ibn-al-Qayyim said, "God (may He be praised and glorified)sent His messengers and revealed His books that people may

measure with the justice on which Heaven and earth have dwelt."(Azzam, The Eternal Message of Muhammad, pg. 102.)

In commenting on this quote, Azzam says, "By books is meant the onesrevealed by God: the Bible, the Koran." (Azzam, Ibid., pg. 102n.) Azzamequated the other three heavenly books with none other than today's HolyBible.

What does the Koran say about the previous scriptures?

The Tawrat The term Tawrat is simply the Arabic equivalent for the HebrewTorah, normally understood as the law of Moses (Hazrat Musa).The Koran gives abundant testimony to the Tawrat, so much so,that it is mentioned more than any other part of the Bible:

It was We who revealed the Law (to Moses): therein was

guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by

the Prophets who bowed (as in Islam) to God's Will, by the Rabbis

and the Doctors of Law: For to them was entrusted the protection of God's Book, and

they were witnesses thereto: Therefore fear not men, but fear Me, and sell not my

Signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what God hath

revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers. We ordained therein for them: "Life

for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for

equal.".... (surah 5:47,48a)



From this quotation it can be seen that the holy Koran highly esteems the Tawrat("guidance and light"), and as having been revealed by Allah. Also a quotation fromthe Tawrat is given, which seems to be from Exodus 21:23-25,

But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,

hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Ex.

21:23-25)

In al-Koran it sometimes appears that the term Tawrat refers not only to the books ofHazrat Musa (pbuh), but to the entire Hebrew Scriptures, especially in verses thatmention the Tawrat and Injil together:

He hath revealed unto thee (Muhammad) the Scripture with truth, confirming that

which was (revealed) before it, even as He revealed the Torah and the Gospel (3:3,

Pickthall)

Ye People of the Book! Why dispute ye about Abraham, when the Law and the Gospel

were not revealed till after him? Have ye no understanding? (surah 3:65)

Three "people of the book" are in view in these verses -- Jews, Christians, andMuslims. Their respective "books" in a nutshell are the Tawrat, Injil, and Koran. Thesecond verse mentions only two, but implies Muslims, whom the others shouldemulate. This particular understanding of Tawrat is borne out in the Hadith:

Abu Harairah said: When the Prophet (may peace be upon him) went to his bed, he

used to say: O God! Lord of the heavens, Lord of the earth, Lord of everything, Who

splittest the grain and the kernel, Who hast sent down the Torah, the Injil and the

Qur'an, I seek refuge in Thee from the evil of every evil agent whose forelock thou

seizest...(Sunan Abu Dawud, vol. 3, pg. 1403.)

Of course, the prophet knew that the Zabur had also been sent down, but perhaps in

his thinking he was including it under the Tawrat, i.e. the Jewish Scriptures. Anothertradition makes an apparent quote from the Tawrat, a prophecy regarding theProphet:

Ka'b, quoting the Torah, said we find written, "Muhammad God's messenger, My

chosen servant, is not rough, or coarse, or loud-voiced in the streets, he

does not requite evil with evil, but forgives and pardons. His birthplace will

be in Mecca, his place of emigration in Taiba, his kingdom in Syria, and his people

will be those who are devoted to praising, who praise God in prosperity and

adversity, who praise God in every alighting-place, who declare God's greatness on

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every rising ground, who watch for the sun and observe the prayer when its time

comes, who tie their lower garments round their middle, who perform ablution at

their extremities, who crier summons in the open air, who are the same in fighting as

they are in prayer, who make a low sound at night like the buzzing of bees." (Mishkat

Al-Masabih, vol. 2, pg. 1237.)

The section in bold-type is of interest because of its parallel to Isaiah 42:1-4:

Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my

Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or

raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick

he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be

discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their

hope.

The rest of the quote from the Hadith claims to come from the Tawrat as well. If youcompare with the rest of Isaiah 42, you do seem some parallels. For example, Isa.42:11 speaks of the "desert" and "Kedar", probably being the Arabian desert and theterritory of Haidar (Kedar), the forefather of the Prophet (pbuh). As well, Isa. 42:10-12 speak of a lot of people praising God, many of whom live in the Arabian desert.Now back to the real point of all this... This tradition refers to the book of Isaiah as

being part of the Tawrat, backing up the idea of the Tawrat sometimes being used torefer to the entire Hebrew Scriptures, that is, the Old Testament.

The Zabur This term "Zabur" is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew zimra, translated in the KingJames Version as "psalm" in Ps. 81:2 and 98:5. The Hebrew word has the meaning"song, music", as in Ex. 15:2, "The Lord is my strength and song". It along with zamir(song) and mizmor (psalm) is a derivative of zamar, meaning "sing, sing praise,make music". (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, vol. 1, pg. 245.)

In the Koran, the Zabur is mentioned by name only three times:

"...And to David We gave the Psalms." (surah 4:163)

"And it is your Lord that knoweth best all beings that are in the heavens and on

earth: We did bestow on some Prophets more (and other) gifts than on others: and

We gave to David (the gift of) the Psalms." (surah 17:55)

"Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): 'My

servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.'" (surah 21:105)

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The last reference is of interest because of the quotation from Psalm 37:29 whichsays, "the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever." Many Muslimsscholars think that it also has reference to Exodus 32:13, "...it will be their inheritanceforever."

Well-known Christian apologist, C. G. Pfander went as far to say that al-Koran'sreference to the Psalms is actually a reference to the third division of the HebrewScriptures, known as the Writings or Kethubim: "as it begins with the Psalms, it is sostyled in the Gospel (Luke 24:44) and in the Qur'an alike". (The Balance of Truth, pg.51.)

The Injil "Injil" is Arabic for euaggelion in Greek, evangel or gospel in English. The termoccurs twelve times in the holy Koran:

"We sent after them Jesus son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We

ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy." (surah

57:27)

This particular reference is of interest for several reasons. First, it states that HazratIsa was given the Gospel by God, from which Muslims infer that the real Gospel (i.e.real New Testament) came from the mouth and pen of the prophet Isa. Second, asan aside, God made Christians to have two distinctive qualities -- compassion andmercy. It is reminiscent of the heading of most surahs of the Koran, and the commonformula for blessing and beginning any good work: Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, "In

the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful". It seems that Christians are said tohave the character of God! What a testimony the holy Koran gives regardingfollowers of Hazrat Isa! Third, this verse is the only one out of twelve specificmentions of the Injil or Gospel in the Koran that does not also mention the Tawrat(Law). The Injil is almost always coupled with the Tawrat (see also 3:3, 48, 65;9:111; 5:49, 50, 69, 71, 113):

"Muhammad is the Apostle of God; and those who are with him are strong against

Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them bow and

prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from God and (His) Good Pleasure.

On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their

similitude in the Tawrat; and their similitude in the Gospel is: Like a seed which

sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its

own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight..." (surah 48:29)

The verse states that the Prophet's Companions were a mixture of humililty andstrength. Strong against enemies of God, humble toward God and other believers. Itsays that their humble prostration in prayer is like that found in the Tawrat (cp.

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and victory of Muslims is like that spoken of in the Gospel, apparently referring to theparables of Isa:

"...A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up,

the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil

produces grain -- first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head...

...like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when

planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches

that the birds of the air can perch in its shade." (Mark 4:26-28, 31-32)

The group of Muslims started off small but grew quickly to become an internationalforce. However, the main point we need to see is that this is one of ten Koranicreferences which couple the Law and the Gospel closely together, implying that the

totality of the Jewish and Christian Scriptures can be summed up in the phrase "theLaw and the Gospel". One more example:

"Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom

they will find described in the Torah and the Gospel (which are) with them."

(surah 7:157, Pickthall)

Another interesting verse. It states that the coming of the Prophet is prophesied inthe Book of the Jews, and in the Book of the Christians. From the Torah, Muslims

usually refer to Deut. 18:15 as indicating Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh),

The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own

brothers. You must listen to him. (Deut. 18:15)

It is explained that only Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) qualifies to fulfill this because thephrase, "from among your own brothers" is taken to mean "from among those whoare brothers to you Jews, that is, Ishmaelites for example". They see it as significantthat the Prophet was not a Jew. As far as Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) beingprophesied in the Injil goes, it is helpful to look at another Koranic verse:

"And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: 'O Children of Israel! I am the apostle

of God (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad

Tidings of an Apostle to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.'" (surah 61:6)

This verse does not have the word Injil or Gospel but it does give the idea that newsof the coming of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) is in the Injil. This verse also reinforcesthe "law and gospel" couplet pattern in the Koran. Muslim scholars look to anemended version of verses in John's Gospel to support this Koranic statement:

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"Ahmad", or "Muhammad", the Praised One, is almost a translation of the Greek

word Periclytos. In the present Gospel of John, xiv. 16, xv. 26, and xvi. 7, the word

"Comforter" in the English version is for the Greek word "Paracletos", which means

"Advocate", "one called to the help of another, a kind friend", rather than

"Comforter". Our doctors contend that Paracletos is a corrupt reading for Periclytos,

and that in their original saying of Jesus there was a prophecy of our holy Prophet

Ahmad by name. Even if we read Paraclete, it would apply to the holy Prophet, who is

"a Mercy for all creatures" (xxi. 107) and "most kind and merciful to the Believers"

(ix. 128). (Ali, Ibid., pg. 1540, footnote.)

Muhammad often addresses Christians in the Koran, such as,

"Let the People of the Gospel judge by what God hath revealed therein. If any do fail

to judge by (the light of) what God hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who

rebel." (surah 5:50)

Christian leader Michael Nazir-Ali in commenting on the preceding ayat makes anobservation which is perhaps worth as much as everything else that has been said:

"The point here is not what Muhammad [pbuh] thought the Injil to be...but what in

fact it was at his time. He is, in the above passage, exhorting the Christians of his dayto look into the Injil for guidance. Now, if these Christians had responded to such an

exhortation and had looked into their Injil or evangel into what would they have

looked? The answer is quite obvious: They would have looked into their New

Testament (which is also ours)..." (Nazer-Ali, Islam: A Christian Perspective, pg. 14.)

Tawrat, Zabur, and Injil together Nowhere in the Koran are these three books mentioned together. They are not evenmentioned within the same surah. To find all three together, you have to go to theHadith:

Abu Huraira told that when God's messenger once asked Ubayy b. Ka'b how he

recited in the course of the prayer and he recited Umm al-Qur'an [the first surah of

the Koran], he said, "By Him in whose hand my soul is, nothing like it has been sent

down in the Torah, the Injil, the Zabur, or the Qur'an, and it is seven of the oft-

repeated verses and the mighty Qur'an which I have been given." (Mishkat Al-

Masabih, pg. 454.)



This tradition neatly encapsulates the Muslim belief in four heavenly books. TheKoran mentions no other such heavenly books, but it does mention biblical prophetswho are not contained in the Pentateuch, Psalms, or New Testament.

Other Prophetic Voices

Biblical prophets who fall outside the pale of the three accepted books of the Bibleand yet are mentioned in the Koran are, Job (4:163), Elijah (6:86), Elisha (6:87),Solomon (2:102), Jonah (4:163), Ezekiel [or possibly Isaiah] (21:85), and Ezra(9:30). In addition, there are other non-prophet biblical characters mentioned such asGoliath (2:251), Korah (28:76ff), King Saul (2:247ff), and the Queen of Sheba(27:22). All this serves to indicate that the names Tawrat, Zabur, and Injil, covermore than those Scriptures given through Hazrat Musa, Dawud, and Isa (pbut). It isin fact, a strong argument that the whole of the Holy Bible is indicated by these threetitles. The argument strengthens a little when you read verses like these,

"Say (O Muslims): We believe in God and that which is revealed unto us and that

which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the

tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the Prophets

received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto

Him we have surrendered." (surah 2:136)

This verse leaves open the possibility of other Scripture which is not included in theTawrat and the Injil. Surely more must be intended than just the Zabur and theKoran? There are other verses also:

"If only they [i.e. the People of the Book] 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." (surah 5:69)

Say: "O People of the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by

the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your

Lord." (surah 5:71)

Some Muslim scholars take the bold phrases (my doing) to refer only to the Koran.Some however, seem to be unsure and lack dogmatism. Certainly, at least the Zaburmust be included here, and perhaps other writings. Other verses showing a widerfield of revelations are 5:113 and 3:48. They are almost identical in content, speakingof how God would teach Hazrat Isa. Surah 3:48 is given here:

And He [God] will teach him [Isa] the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and

the Gospel. (surah 3:48, Pickthall)

Torah is clear, and so is Gospel, but what is meant by "the Scripture"? Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi seems to represent the safe and common position, "the



revealed Books in general". (Tafsir-ul Qur'an, vol. 1, pg. 227.) The word for"Scripture" in Arabic furnishes no clues because it is al-kitab, the generic word usedfor any holy book including the Koran. But since it is so generic, perhaps we couldsay the Scripture includes the writings which speak of Elijah (Hazrat Ilyas), Elisha(Al-Yasa), Ezekiel (Dhul-Kifl or Hizkil), Jonah (Hazrat Yunus), etc. However, these

could also be comprehended in a more general understanding of Tawrat to signify"the Jewish Scriptures", including the Tawrat proper, the Psalms and writings, andthe Prophets.

We did aforetime grant to the Children of Israel the Book, the Power of Command,

and Prophethood; We gave them, for Sustenance, things good and pure; and We

favoured them above the nations. (surah 45:16)

Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments on this verse in this way:

Israel had the Revelation given through Moses, the power of judgment and command

through the Kingdom of David and Solomon, and numerous prophetic warnings

through such men as Isaiah and Jeremiah. (Ali, Ibid., pg. 1358).

He seems to recognize the words of Isaiah and Jeremiah as legitimate prophecyfrom God. This is remarkable in view of the fact that such prophets are mentionedneither in the Koran nor the Hadith.

A Hadith of great importance shows that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) attributed wahi(Divine Inspiration) to at least one of the Apostle Paul's writings:

Abu Huraira told that after God's messenger had stated that God most high has said,

"I have prepared for my upright servants what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor

has entered into the heart of man," he added, "Recite, if you wish, 'No soul knows

what comfort has been concealed for them'." (Bukhari and Muslim)

This is quite close to what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9,

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the

heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (1 Cor.

2:9)

The quoted Hadith closely follows Paul's wording. To top it off, it says that God mosthigh said this! Then the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) must have thought 1Corinthians was part of God's Word, as part of the Injil. Though many Hadith areadmittedly unreliable, this one (like all mentioned in this article) are of high authorityand considered trustworthy. This one gets a double portion, being found in both

Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim.

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Conclusions In al-Koran, Tawrat can refer to the law of Moses or the entire Old Testamentrevelation, depending on the context. The Zabur is at least the Psalms of David, butperhaps equivalent to the Kethubim, the third division of the Hebrew Bible. TheKoran does not militate against such an interpretation. The Injil is that revelation

given to the Christians, i.e. the New Testament. From the Koran's testimony we learnthat in addition to the 3 previous holy books, there are other prophets who may havebeen given written revelation from God. The Hadith help define the previous holybooks to be exactly three, but show us also that an unnamed prophet might makecontribution to a holy book (i.e. the apostle Paul contributed to the Injil).

What is the testimony of the New Testament?

1. "Law" (i.e. Torah or Tawrat) as the entire OldTestament.

The Injil uses several terms to designate the OldTestament books, the most generic one being"Scriptures". But second to it possibly is the way "law" isused many times:

"Jesus answered them, 'Is it notwritten in your Law, 'I have said you are gods'?"

(John 10:34)

Hazrat Isa Masih quotes Psalm 82:6 and says it is in their "law", that is,the Old Testament.

"The crowd spoke up, 'We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can yousay, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this'Son of Man'?'" (John 12:34)

It is interesting that of all the possible Old Testament cross-references

that the NIV Study Bible gives for this verse, not one of them is fromthe Pentateuch. "Law" is again being used in a wider sense than thelaw of Moses.

"But this is to fulfill what is written in theirLaw: 'They hated me without reason.'" (John 15:25)

Again, Hazrat Isa quotes the Psalms and calls it the "law". But just sono one can say that this usage only occurs in John:

"I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth

disappear, not the smallest letter, not the leaststroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from

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the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew5:18)

That this usage refers to the entire Old Testament is borne out by twothings:

1. Matthew 5:17, the previous verse says, "Do not think that I havecome to abolish the Law or the Prophets...". The secondreference to Law in verse 18 calls back not only to Moses' law,but also the "Prophets";

2. Reason tells us that Jesus would be saying that nothing in anyof the previous revelations would be deleted or abrogated.Rather, they would all be fulfilled. So, "law" must refer to thewhole of the Old Testament.

"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to

those who are under the law, so that every mouth maybe silenced and the whole world held accountable toGod." (Romans 3:19)

This statement by Paul puts words in the mouth of the "law". Whatwords? The words found previous to this verse in Romans 3:10-18, after "As it is written". The familiar gospel verses are quoted from thePsalms, Ecclesiastes, and Isaiah, but not from the Pentateuch. Again,"law" is used of the entire Old Testament.

"In the Law it is written: 'Through men of strangetongues and through the lips of foreigners I willspeak to this people, but even then they will notlisten to me,' says the Lord." (1 Corinthians 14:21)

This quote from the "law" is out of Isaiah 28:11,12.

2. "Prophets" as generic for any part or all of Old Testament.

"But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretoldthrough all the prophets, saying that his Christwould suffer. He must remain in heaven until thetime comes for God to restore everything, as he

promised long ago through his holy prophets. ForMoses said, 'The Lord you God will raise up for aprophet like me from among your own people; you mustlisten to everything he tells you.'" (Acts 3:18,21,22)

In this passage, it appears that even the law of Hazrat Musa is includedas part of the "prophets". Other passages that indicate a more genericuse are:

"But this has all taken place that the writings ofthe prophets might be fulfilled." (Matthew 26:56)

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"When they had crucified him, they divided up hisclothes by casting lots [that the word spoken by the

prophet might be fulfilled: 'They divided mygarments among themselves and cast lots for myclothing'." (Matthew 27:35)

"He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in thehouse of his servant David (as he said through hisholy prophets of long ago)." (Luke 1:69,70)

"Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, 'We aregoing up to Jerusalem, and everything that iswritten by the prophets about the Son of Man will befulfilled.'" (Luke 18:31)

"All the prophets testify about him that everyonewho believes in him receives forgiveness of sinsthrough his name." (Acts 10:43)

"The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did notrecognize Jesus, yet in condemning him theyfulfilled the words of the prophets that are readevery Sabbath." (Acts 13:27)

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers throughthe prophets at many times and in various ways."(Hebrews 1:1)

"I want you to recall the words spoken in the pastby the holy prophets and the command given by ourLord and Savior through your apostles." (2 Peter3:2)

The last two references very clearly point to the entire Old Testamentrevelation, as opposed to the New Testament revelation. That the"prophets" also includes the Hebrew Scriptures section, the "Writings"or Kethubim, is clear from Hazrat Isa's own designation of Daniel as aprophet (see Matthew 24:15), and Peter's testimony in Acts 2:30 concerning David that "he was a prophet".

3. "Law" and "Prophets" used for the total Old Testament Revelation.

"So in everything, do to others what you would havethem do to you, for this sums up the Law and theProphets." (Matthew 7:12)

This couplet of "the Law and the Prophets" (or variations thereof) isfound some fourteen times in the New Testament. See also Matthew5:17; 11:13; 22:40; Luke 16:16, 29, 31; 24:27; John 1:45; Acts 13:15; 24:14; 26:22; 28:23; Romans 3:21. The implication is obvious in everycase that the phrase signifies the entirety of the Old Testamentrevelation.






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One Remarkable Statement. Just prior to his departure from this earth, Hazrat Isa said:

"This is what I told you while I was still with you:Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in

the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Luke24:44)

This is the only such statement in all of the Bible, dividing the Old Testamentinto 3 sections: the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. It is a well known factthat the Jewish Bible is divided into 3 sections as well: the Law (Torah), theProphets (Nebi'im), and the Writings (Kethubim), the Psalms being the firstbook in the Writings, as the chart shows.

The Hebrew Old Testament Arrangement

Law (Torah) Prophets (Nebi'im) Writings (Kethubim)

1. Genesis A. Former Prophets A. Poetical Books

2. Exodus 6. Joshua 14. Psalms

3. Leviticus 7. Judges 15. Proverbs

4. Numbers 8. Samuel 16. Job

5. Deuteronomy 9. Kings B. Five Rolls (Megilloth)

B. Latter Prophets 17. Song of Songs

10. Isaiah 18. Ruth

11. Jeremiah 19. Lamentations

12. Ezekiel 20. Ecclesiastes

13. The Twelve 21. Esther

C. Historical Books

22. Daniel

23. Ezra-Nehemiah

24. Chronicles

The preceding classification, with minor variations, is one that was settled before orby the fourth century A.D. in the Babylonian Talmud. The name "Writings" orKethubim seems to be a title that came along later than the New Testament, eventhough the divisions themselves were in existence in New Testament times.However, it is apparent that the list of Kethubim was by no means fixed and rigid.The title of that section was also slow in coming as is indicated by the 2nd centuryB.C. reference to the Old Testament in the Prologue of Wisdom of Jesus the Son ofSirach or Ecclesiasticus:





"...my grandfather Jesus, when he had much given himself to the reading of the law,and the prophets, and other books of our fathers, and had gotten therein good judgment, was drawn on also himself to write something pertaining to learning andwisdom..."

"For the same things uttered in Hebrew, and translated into another tongue, have notthe same force in them: and not only these things, but the law itself, and theprophets, and the rest of the books, have no small difference, when they arespoken in their own language." (The Apocrypha according to the Authorised Version,pg. 94.)

The ancient writer knew that there were 3 sections to the Old Testament, but he didnot seem to know the name of the third section, if there was one. Hazrat Isa's only-one-time designation of Law, Prophets, and Psalms, may indicate that the thirdsection was still lacking an accepted widely-known name in the 1st century A.D.However, this designation was used at least sometimes in the 1st century, else his

disciples might have not understood what was being referred to:

The three sections are also referred to, in the first century AD, by Philo (De VitaContemplativa 25) and by Hazrat Isa Masih (Luke 24:44), both of whom give thethird section its earliest name of "the Psalms".

Hazrat Isa followed the order of books found in the Hebrew Bible in one sweepingstatement, when he covered the contents of the entire Hebrew Old Testament, fromthe beginning book (Genesis 4), to the end (2 Chronicles 24:20-22):

"Therefore this generation will be held responsible for theblood of all the prophets that has been shed since thebeginning of the world, from the blood of Abel" [Habil] "tothe blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar andthe sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be heldresponsible for it all." (Luke 11:50-51)

Naming this section of the Hebrew Bible after its first book, Psalms, is not withoutprecedent among the Jews. The Hebrew title for Genesis took its name from theopening words in the book, as did the Hebrew titles for Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,Deuteronomy, and Lamentations. So it is natural for the unnamed collection ofwritings to be called by its first book, "Psalms". Many scholars take it for granted that

what Hazrat Isa had in mind in saying "Law, Prophets, and Psalms" was in fact, thethree divisions of the entire Old Testament canon. An interesting corroborationcomes from Abdullah Yusuf Ali:

"The Jews divide their Scripture into three parts: (1) the Law (Torah), (2) theProphets (Nebiim), and (3) the Writings (Kethubim). The corresponding Arabicwords would be: (1) Tawrat, (2) Nabiyin, and (3) Kutub. This division wasprobably current in the time of Jesus. In Luke xxiv. 44 Jesus refers to theLaw, the Prophets and the Psalms." (Ali, Ibid., pg. 283.).

The ancient historian Josephus gives further evidence of the existence of the three-

fold division in the first century, also similar to Hazrat Isa's "law, prophets, psalms"designation:







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"For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us,disagreeing from and contradicting one another [as the Greekshave,] but only twenty-two books, which contain the records ofall the past times; which are justly believed to be divine; and ofthem, five belong to Moses, which contain his laws, and the

traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. This interval oftime was little short of three thousand years; but as to the timefrom the death of Moses till the reign of Artaxerxes king ofPersia, who reigned after Xerxes, the prophets, who wereafter Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. Theremaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct ofhuman life." (Josephus: Complete Works, pg. 609.)

It is apparent that Josephus' breakdown (5+13+4=22) does not tally with the(5+8+11=24) scheme found in Hebrew Bibles today, but that is due to the unsettledarrangement/combination of books within the last two divisions during that time, and

not due to a differently accepted canon. There is an additional reason for Hazrat Isaand others identifying the third division with Hazrat Dawud's book, the Psalms:

David Noel Freedman, "The Formation of the Canon of the Old Testament," inReligion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives, ed. by Edwin B.Firmage, Bernard G. Weiss, and John W. Welch (Winona Lake IN:Eisenbrauns, 1990), pp. 320-321: "The effort to rewrite or revise the classichistory of Israel did not entirely succeed, but the Chronicler's work, ultimatelysupplemented by the memoirs of Ezra and Nehemiah, constituted theframework of a third cycle of literature in the canon. Such books as thePsalter, Proverbs, and others that could be associated with the house ofDavid (for example, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes) were included, aswell as those that dealt with the fortunes of the sacred city and its Temple (forexample, Lamentations, and later, Daniel)."

"Thus, the division of Zabur as the corpus belonging to David is not anunexpected category of the Old Testament canon. It does not, in and of itself,deny the existence of the Kethubim or even make it difficult to explain theirassociation. Freedman's explanation also answers questions regarding theseparation of books like Chronicles, Ruth, and Daniel from the Prophets.When we look at the Old Testament canon in this fashion we find that the

three divisions center around Moses, David, and the prophets. This isconsistent with both the Islamic division and the New Testament division ofthe Old Testament canon." (letter from Dr. W. Barrick)

Freedman's comments bear a remarkable similarity to the record found in 2Maccabees 2:13, written sometime prior to 50 A.D.:

"The same things also were reported in the writings and commentaries ofNeemias; and how he founding a library gathered together the acts of thekings, and the prophets, and of David, and the epistles of the kingsconcerning the holy gifts." (The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and

English.)



The Greek of the LXX supports a translation along the lines ofNehemiah gathering books concerning "the kings andprophets, and that of David, and letters of kings concerningvotive offerings." In Nehemiah's time, the canon/arrangementof the Pentateuch was settled, but the rest of the Old

Testament canon was still in the process of being revealedand arranged. Interestingly enough, the writer of Maccabeesmentions the gathering of literature which looks suspiciouslylike the last two sections of the Hebrew Old Testament as itwas known during the first century; namely, the Prophets ("thekings and prophets", corresponding roughly to the former and latter prophetsrespectively), and the Psalms ("that of David"), or as later known, the Kethubim. Onecan only guess what scripture is signified by "letters of kings concerning votiveofferings". Generally speaking, according to the above observations, the Kethubim would be primarily concerned with David (Hazrat Dawud), his lineage, or his city.Specifically speaking, however, where does the book of Job (Hazrat Ayub) fit into

this scheme? Was it packaged with Hazrat Dawud because it was the only section ofScripture containing a significant amount of poetic/wisdom literature? One possibilityis that as has been held by some, the author of the book Job, is none other than theson of David, Hazrat Sulayman (pbuh), linking the book with the house of Davidthrough authorship. Or perhaps there was a time in the early development of the Kethubim when Job was not included there but among the Prophets? Might this alsoexplain why Josephus includes only four books in this section (perhaps Psalms,Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs)? Anyway, these are questions that probablycannot be answered, seeing there seems to be no strong evidence to prove ordisprove them.

Conclusions In the first century, the Old Testament Scriptures were known usually as the Law andthe Prophets. Sometimes this was abbreviated to the Law. These Scriptures werealso known by a threefold division, by the first century designated as the Law, theProphets, and the Psalms.

What is the interval between the giving of the Injil and the

Koran?

The Jews continued to follow the three-fold division of the HebrewOld Testament, whereas the church thought more in terms of thedivisions originally given in the Greek translation of the OldTestament (the books of Law, History, Poetry and Wisdom,Prophecy), and later adapted by the Latin Vulgate, and brought overto the order found in the present-day Bible we have in our hands.

The prophet Muhammad (pbuh) had dealings with both Jews andChristians and learned something from each religion. He learned about the Law, the

Psalms, the Gospel , and about many prophets. The mention of these four things



could naturally lead to the three Jewish Old Testament divisions and the NewTestament.

1. The Law:

Christian leader Chrysostom (c. 354-407 A.D.) in his commentary on the Bookof Galatians, makes a comment on the verse Galatians 4:21 which reads,"Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the lawsays?" His comment reads, "It is the Book of Creation which he calls here thelaw, which name he often gives to the whole Old Testament." (Schaff, ASelect Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church:First Series, vol. 8, pg. 33.) So "the Law" can be understood as the books ofMoses, or as the entire Old Testament.

2. The Prophets:

Verses about the prophets and Prophethood abound in the Koran, but not oneclear reference to the "book of the Prophets". This is not because theinspiration of the Old Testament prophets was not recognized. It has beforebeen shown that the Old Testament prophets are recognized by Islam.

3. The Psalms:

There seems to be no direct evidence that the Jews in the Prophet's day knewthe Kethubim also as the Psalms. It can only be assumed based on thepractice of Jews in preceding centuries. It is clear that the accepted Hebrewcanon before Hazrat Muhammad's time placed Psalms at the head of the thirdsection of the Hebrew Bible, and it is also clear that Hebrew Bibles today dothe same. However, the Babylonian Talmud (pre-400 A.D.) places Ruth, not Psalms, at the head of the Kethubim:

"The oldest testimony of Jewish tradition about the order of the kethubim isfurnished by the Babylonian Talmud. In the treatise Baba Bathra (14b) we findafter the Prophets the series of the kethubim as follows: 'The order of thekethubim is: Ruth, and the Book of Psalms and Job and Proverbs,Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, and Lamentations, Daniel and the roll(megillath) of Esther, Ezra and Chronicles.'" (Dhorme, A Commentary on the

Book of Job, pg. vii.)

Two things are worth noting here:

1. that the section is not called Psalms but Kethubim (Writings), and2. that the first book is not Psalms, but Ruth.

This may mean that the Zabur of seventh century Arabia was only the book ofPsalms, but not necessarily. "The first five editions of the Hebrew Bible beginthe Hagiographa [Kethubim] with Psalms, Proverbs, Job." (Dhorme, Ibid ., pg.viii.). The Babylonian Talmud was not the only authority in Hebrew scriptural

matters at the time (e.g. - the Palestinian Talmud), and obviously its authorityhas not carried through the years in this particular matter. So it is possible that

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Zabur stands for the Kethubim. This designation may have been used amongJews, but what about Christians? The church did not follow the Hebrew Bibledivisions, seeing that their Bible was the Septuagint. What then did this term"the Psalms", or Zabur in Arabic, mean to the church?

"Tertullian, in the second century, tells us that the Christians were wont to singPsalms at their agap, and that they were sung antiphonally. From the earliesttimes they formed an essential part of Divine Service. Hilary, Chrysostom, Augustine, all mention the use of the Psalms in the public service, anddescribe them, sometimes as being sung by the whole congregation, at othersas being recited by one individual, who was followed by the rest." (Perowne,Commentary on the Psalms, 2 vol. in 1, pg. 23.)

To emphasize the importance that the early and medieval church placed onthe Psalms, Van Espen's comment on a canon of the Second Council of Nice(787 A.D.) that "a Bishop must know the Psalter by heart" is in order, because

of what it says about prior church history:

"And it should be noted that formerly not only the clergy, but also thelay people, learned the Psalms, that is the whole Psalter, by heart, andmade a most sweet sound by chanting them while about their work. Butas time went on, little by little, this pious custom of reciting the Psalter...slipped away to the clergy only and to monks and nuns..." (Schaff &Wace, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of theChristian Church: Second Series, vol. 14, pg. 556, 557.)

It is no wonder that Gustav Oehler speaks of the Psalms as he does:

"The book of Psalms is, above all other portions of Old TestamentScripture, that which, from the first, has been most used by theChristian church, and which she has cherished as one of her noblest jewels. Just as the Lord himself, following the passover custom of hisnation, at his last meal with his disciples sang the great Hallel out of thePsalms, Mat. xxvi. 30, so the apostle also, Col. iii. 16; Ep. v. 19, hasexhorted the Christian community to edify itself out of the same. Fromthis Israelitish book of song and prayer not only have the liturgies of theChristian church drawn many of their parts, but from it also has the

sacred hymnology of the church itself proceeded. And how can wesuitably express all the spiritual benefit which believers of all time havereceived from these songs?" (Fairbairn, The Imperial Bible-Dictionary,vol. 5, pg. 334.)

Of course, that statement holds true not only for the church, for as Perownesaid, "the Psalter has been in the truest sense, the Prayer-book both of Jewsand Christians." (Perowne, Ibid., pg. 22.) It appears from all this, that ArabicChristians would have understood Zabur to mean the book of Psalms, andthat they treasured it.



The Gospel:

The Koran's way of calling the New Testament, "the Gospel" or Injil issomething to be addressed. When the Koran mentions "the Gospel" is itreferring to the New Testament or to another book? After all, Christians do not

commonly call the New Testament by this name today. If it can be shown thatthis was a common title (used by Christians) for the New Testament beforeand/or during the time of Muhammad, then it can be argued that the Koran isactually referring to the New Testament as it is known today.

One strong argument for identifying the Injil with the New Testament is theword Injil itself. This word found its way into the Koran ultimately from the NewTestament. Christians would have been heard to use the word gospel quiteregularly. Jews would not have used it much, and neither would Arabian idol-worshippers. Where did Christians get the word from? The New Testament, ofcourse. The word euaggelion occurs some 77 times in the New Testament,

and euaggelizw/euaggelizomai some 55 times. Injil or gospel is a NewTestament word. Not only that, but the New Testament authors made it clearthat they believed their message (whether spoken or written) was the gospel or Injil :

Mark 1:1-- "The beginning of the gospel about JesusChrist, the Son of God."

Romans 16:25,26-- "Now to him who is able toestablish you by my gospel and the proclamation ofJesus Christ, according to the revelation of the

mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealedand made known through the prophetic writings by thecommand of the eternal God, so that all nationsmight believe and obey him --"

1 Thessalonians 1:5-- "...because our gospel came toyou not simply with words, but also with power, withthe Holy Spirit and with deep conviction."

The common belief is that the original Injil was given to Hazrat Isa, and sopeople have difficulty in seeing the New Testament written by anyone otherthan him.

The following quote from the apocryphal Epistle of Barnabas may help tobridge the gap from the Muslim position and the New Testament as it stands:

"And when he [Isa] chose his apostles, which were afterwards to publish hisGospel, he took men who had been very great sinners; that thereby he mightplainly shew, That he came not to call the righteous but sinners torepentance." (The Lost Books of the Bible, pg. 149.)

The New Testament itself bears abundant witness to the gospel being HazratIsa's gospel, a gospel which he committed into the hands of his followers topublish throughout the world.



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From historical documents it is clear that the church of the centuries beforeIslam arrived, did use "Gospel" as a title for all or part of the New Testament:

"At a very early date it appears that the four Gospels were united inone collection. They must have been brought together very soon after

the writing of the Gospel according to John. This fourfold collection wasoriginally known as 'The Gospel' in the singular, not 'The Gospels' inthe plural; there was only one Gospel... Ignatius, bishop of Antioch,refers to 'The Gospel' as an authoritative writing, and as he knew morethan one of the four 'Gospels' it may well be that by 'The Gospel' sansphrase he means the fourfold collection which went by that name."(Bruce, The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? pg. 23.)

Toward the end of the second century, Irenaeus gave a similar testimony,"The Word gave to us the Gospel in a fourfold shape, but held together by oneSpirit". (Harrison, Introduction to the New Testament, pg. 99.)

In the fourth century, Chrysostom wrote,

"We assert, therefore, that, although a thousand Gospels were written, if thecontents of all were the same, they would still be one, and their unity no wiseinfringed by the number of writers. -- Whence it is clear that the four Gospelsare one Gospel; for, as the four say the same thing, its oneness is preservedby the harmony of the contents, and not impaired by the difference ofpersons." (Schaff, A Select Library of Nicene and Post- Nicene Fathers of theChristian Church: First Series. vol. 8, pg. 7.)

But what about the rest of the New Testament?

"The corpus Paulinum, or collection of Paul's writings, was brought togetherabout the same time as the collecting of the fourfold Gospel. As the Gospelcollection was designated by the Greek word Euangelion, so the Paulinecollection was designated by the one word Apostolos... " (Bruce, Ibid., pg.25.)

Apparently, Augustine knew of the same divisions in his day in the fourthcentury, "For I ask them, is it good to take pleasure in reading the Apostle? orgood to take pleasure in a sober Psalm? or good to discourse on the Gospel?

They will answer to each, 'It is good'." (The Confessions of St.Augustine, pg.144.)

In the same time period, "Gospel" was used by Christian church historianEusebius in the same way, as well as for each of the four gospels individually.

The whole New Testament was known as simply the Gospel very early onhowever. In fact, Christian theologian B.B. Warfield states that it was theearliest name for the entire New Testament collection:

"The earliest name given to this new section of Scripture was framed

on the model of the name by which what we know as the OldTestament was then known. Just as it was called 'The Law and the



Prophets and the Psalms' (or 'the Hagiographa'), or more briefly 'TheLaw and the Prophets,' or even more briefly still 'The Law'; so theenlarged Bible was called 'The Law and the Prophets, with TheGospels and the Apostles' (so Clement of Alexandria, "Strom." vi. 11,88; Tertullian, "De Prs. Hr." 36), or most briefly 'The Law and the

Gospel' (so Claudius Apolinaris, Irenus); while the new books apartwere called 'The Gospel and the Apostles,' or most briefly of all 'TheGospel.' This earliest name for the new Bible, with all that it involves asto its relation to the old and briefer Bible, is traceable as far back asIgnatius (A.D. 115), who makes use of it repeatedly (e.g., "ad Philad."5; "ad Smyrn." 7). In one passage he gives us a hint of thecontroversies which the enlarged Bible of the Christians arousedamong the Judaizers ("ad Philad." 6). 'When I heard some saying,' hewrites, 'Unless I find it in the Old [Books] I will not believe the Gospel,'on my saying, 'It is written,' they answered, 'That is the question.' Tome, however, Jesus Christ is the Old [Books]; his cross and death and

resurrection, and the faith which is by him, the undefiled Old [Books] --by which I wish, by your prayers, to be justified. The priests indeed aregood, but the High Priest better,' etc. Here Ignatius appeals to the'Gospel' as Scripture, and the Judaizers object, receiving from him theanswer in effect which Augustine afterward formulated in the well-known saying that the New Testament lies hidden in the Old and theOld Testament is first made clear in the New." (The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible, pg. 413.)

Again, in his letter to the Smyrnns, early church father Ignatius identifies theGospel, alongside the Law and the Prophets:

"Only in the name of Jesus Christ, I undergo all, to suffer together withhim; he who was made a perfect man strengthening me. Whom somenot knowing, do deny; or rather have been denied my him, being theadvocates of death, rather than of the truth. Whom neither theprophecies, nor the law of Moses have persuaded; nor the Gospel itself even to this day, nor the sufferings of every one of us." (The LostBooks of the Bible, pg. 187.)

The Apostolic Constitutions, probably written in the late 4th century, though

parts possibly dating from the 5th century, contains several interestingreferences to the "Gospel":

"Let him [a bishop] be patient and gentle in his admonitions, wellinstructed himself, meditating in and diligently studying the Lord'sbooks, and reading them frequently, that so he may be able carefully tointerpret the Scriptures, expounding the Gospel in correspondencewith the prophets and with the law; and let the expositions from thelaw and the prophets correspond to the Gospel". ...and let [therepentant] depart after the reading of "the law, and the prophets, andthe Gospel, that by such departure they may be made better in their

course of life..."



"Let us walk after the law, and the prophets by the Gospel." (The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7, pg. 397, 414, 461.)

These quotations make it clear that "the Gospel" was a title used torefer to the entire New Testament, as opposed to the Old Testament

("the law and the prophets").

Summary

1. Tawrat is quite properly and acceptably the title of the Pentateuch, however italso can signify the entire Old Testament in use today.

2. Zabur (Psalms) not only referred to the book with that name, but at one timewas also a title for the Kethubim or third division of the Hebrew Bible. It ishighly possible that it was still commonly used that way by Jewscontemporary to the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The Hebrew Bible, not the

Greek Septuagint, was the Old Testament known to the people of Arabia inthe time of the Prophet, in view of the fact that they were aware of the Tawrat ."Zabur " then can be arguably used as the title of that section of the HebrewBible known as the Kethubim.

3. The Prophets was unknown as a 'book' to Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), but theprophets described therein were clearly believed in by him. He apparently hadvery little firsthand knowledge of this collection. An Arabic equivalent for theHebrew title of this section of the Old Testament (Nebi'im) is Anbiya.

4. Inj i l is rightly a title for the New Testament. It was not new with the Koran, butone known and used by Christians before the Koran was given.

The Truth of the Bible:What does the Qur'an say about it?

Muslims and Christians believe in the infallibility of the original biblical manuscripts.But many adherents of Islam think that today's Bible has undergone substantialchanges with regard to its early manuscripts and their translated versions. However,the Qur'an does not support this claim unanimously! In fact, it makes it clear that theBible, known as the Torah and the Injil, was found reliable in Muhammad's(pbuh) time, the sixth century. To prove that the twentieth century Bible is stillauthentic it only has to be compared with a copy from the sixth century.

All quotations are taken from "The Meaning of the Holy Quran" translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali and published by Armana Corporation, U.S.A., 1989.



Because of a lack of space it has not always been possible to print whole verses. The readeris encouraged to look up the references and their contexts in either the Qur'an or the Bible.

The Testimony of the Qur'an about the Reliability of the Bible

1. "And if thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who havebeen reading the book from before thee..." (Surah 10, Yunus, verse 94).

"Those who have been reading the book from before thee" are Jews and Christians who readthe Torah and the Injil (Gospel)! If they were reading corrupted holy books, their minds wouldhave been influenced by many misconceptions. It would therefore make no sense for Allah tocommand those who are in doubt to ask Jews and Christians who allegedly were misled bychanged Scriptures! In order to follow the mandate in this verse it is absolutely necessaryto believe that the Scriptures before Islam are uncorrupted!

Here the question may be asked: "Are what is known as the Torah and the Injil inMuhammad's (pbuh) time identical with today's Bible that contains the Old and theNew Testament?" Regarding the Injil an affirming answer has already been given on ourpage "The History of the Qur'an and the Injil." The Old Testament too is identical with theTorah as seen from the following reasoning:

The Hebrew word "Torah" means literally "law", "instruction". It refers to therevelations given to Moses. "The term was often applied to the Pentateuch (the firstfive books of the Old Testament, e.g. 1 Chronicles 16:40) as a whole; and as theimportance of the Prophets and Writings grew, it was sometimes used todescribe them all as divinely revealed instructions and traditions" (RosemaryGoring, Dictionary of Beliefs and Religions (Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1995).

Evidence from the Bible:

Sometimes when the law is spoken of in the Injil, the New Testament, it is used in theall-including sense. In Romans 3 Paul quotes verses from the book of Psalms and from theProphets but then he concludes in verse 19 with, "what the law (Torah) says..." (See also 1Cor. 14:21)

Jesus himself referred to the Psalms as "the law (Torah)" in John 10:34. Another example isfound in John 12:34 where the Jews speak of verses from Psalms 89:36, Isaiah 9:7, andDaniel 7:14 as "the law (Torah)".

Evidence from the Qur'an:

In the Qur'an too the meaning of "Torah" (where all 39 books of the Old Testament are

included) is used. This becomes clear when one looks at the evidence found in the Qur'an,and in history:

Several verses in the Qur'an bear witness to the truth that the Torah was unchanged at thetime of Jesus.

In Surah 19, Maryam, verse 12, Yahya, who lived at the time of Jesus was told "to take holdof the Book, (the Torah)."

Surah 3, Ali'Imran, verse 48 tells us that Jesus was also taught in the Torah.

Numerous verses, such as Surah 34, Saba, verse 31, Surah 35, Fatir, verse 31, attest to the

truth that the Torah was uncorrupted in the time of Muhammad (pbuh) in the sixthcentury A.D. The Arabic phrase "bain yadaihi" which is used in these references to the Torahliterally means "between his hands". Dr. W. Campbell writes in his book The Quran and the

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Bible in the Light of History and Science (Middle East Resources: 1994), page 37: "...usually itis an idiom for "in his presence", or "in his power", or "in his possession," or "at his disposal..."(see also Surah 34, Saba', verse 12)

In the Qur'an some Jewish contemporaries of Muhammad (pbuh) are called "those who guideand do justice in the light of truth," besides many others whose reputation was not so

favorable in the sixth century (Surah 7, Al Araf, verse 159, see also Surah 5, Al Ma'idah,verse 66). The very fact that they were commended so highly shows that they were inpossession of the uncorrupted Torah. History tells us what was part of it.

Evidence from history:

Like in the case of the Injil, the New Testament, the formation of an official list (canon) of thebooks that were part of it took a considerable time. When finally an official list was approved itwas done so in defense against a growing number of heretical writings. The official listmerely confirmed what had been accepted by the Jews centuries before. Then it wasunnecessary because there was a common agreement as to which writings were part of theTorah.

After giving nine solid reasons for an early formation of the canon of the Old Testament, theauthors of An Introduction to the new Testament [D. Carson, D.J. Moo, L. Morris (Apollos:1992), pages 491-92] conclude by saying,

"It appears, then, that there is adequate evidence to support the view that therewas a (closed) canon of Scripture to serve as a model in the formation of theNew Testament canon. Even if this point be disputed, there is entirely convincingevidence that the Torah (here meaning the Pentateuch) and the Prophets wereviewed as closed collections by the first century A.D."

The Illustrated Bible Dictionary [F.F.Bruce (Leicester: IVP, 1980)] concludes an extensiveresearch by saying that the whole Hebrew Bible canon as we know it today existed

around 200 B.C.

More evidence from the Qur'an

2. One argument made by some against the accuracy of the Bible involves this verse:

"All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel made unlawful for itself,before the Law (of Moses) was revealed. Say, 'Bring ye the Law and study it, if ye be menof truth.'" (Surah 3, Ali 'Imran, verse 93).

In this specific incident, the Jews are asked to bring their own Law, the Torah. They arecommanded by God to study it in order to find the right answer to a particular

question. Maududi, the renowned Islamic scholar, said, that it addressed the differencebetween Muslims and Jews in regard to eating the meat of camels, hares and coneys. Inopposition to Islam, Judaism prohibits the eating of them according to today's Torah(Deuteronomy 14:7).

"But, the open challenge of the Qur'an to them to bring the Torah in proof thereofshows that the commandments referred to above did not exist in the Torah at thattime and were inserted afterwards; otherwise the Jews would have at once acceptedthe challenge of the Qur'an and presented the commandments thereof."[See: S. Abdul Maududi, The Meaning of the Quran, Vol. I, 12th Edition, (Pakistan:Islamic Publications Pvt LTD., 1992), comment on Surah 6, Al-Anam, verse 145,(hereafter referred to as "Maududi").]

This view is problematic because it ignores the fact that today's English translations of theTorah, such as the New International Version, are based on the Masoretic text--the standard







edition of the Hebrew Old Testament. It was prepared by Jewish scholars, called Masoretes,mainly from 500 to the 950 A.D. They introduced vowel points into the consonantal(consonants only) Hebrew text. They also studied each letter, word and phrase and wrotemarginal notes commenting on proper grammar and spelling.

[See: The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume 2 (U.S.A.: 1982), page 222b.]

Furthermore, the translators compared it with a number of other sources still inexistence today, the most important of which are:

The Dead Sea Scrolls, written in Hebrew at about 100 B.C. , discovered in the late1940's and early 1950's in Palestine. "Among the fragments discovered arecomplete copies or parts of every Old Testament book except Esther, and thevariations in the text after a thousand years of copying are minimal."

(See: Josh Mc Dowell and Don Stewart, Answers to Tough Questions (U.S.A.:1980).]

The Septuagint, a translation of the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures into Greek, atabout 250 B.C.

The Syriac Peshitta, a translation of the whole Bible into the common language ofcertain parts of Syria, from either the first or second century A.D.

The Vulgate, the entire Bible translated into Latin at about 400 A.D.

In none of the above sources is Deuteronomy 14:7, the verse under consideration,missing! Looking at all the evidence, it is impossible to say that it was missing in the prophetof Islam's time and only later inserted into the text!

"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 arenot (really) people of faith" (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, verse 43).

Maududi comments on this verse: "...sometimes, when their own law did not suit them, theywould take their cases to the Holy Prophet in the hope that they might obtain a morefavorable decree from him than they could from their own law." (Ibid)

This shows clearly that even corrupted Jews would never change the written Torah! They were only prepared to conceal the meaning of it. In spite of their wickedness, they didnot dare to change the written form of the Torah! That is why, according to the Qur'an, Allahtold them to look up their own law in which is the plain command of God!

"Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah hath revealed therein. If any do failto judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel"

(Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, verse 47).

This command is given to Muhammad's (pbuh) contemporaries. It is written in the"present" tense, which in the Arabic language can also refer to the future! If the Gospel(Injil) was corrupted at that time, then surely Allah would never have asked the people of theGospel, the Christians, to believe in it!

"If only they had stood fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent tothem from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There is from amongthem a party on the right course: But many of them follow a course that is evil" (Surah 5, AlMa'idah, verse 69).

The fact that there were Jews and Christians "on the right course" in Muhammad's(pbuh) time confirms the Torah and the Gospel to be unchanged in the 6th century

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A.D.! Certainly, they could never have been described in such an honorable way if they had"stood fast" by corrupted Holy Books!

"Say: 'O People of the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast bythe Law, the Gospel and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord...'" (Surah 5, AlMa'idah, verse 68).

"No change can there be in the Words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme Felicity." (Surah 10, Junus, verse 64).

No Muslim should doubt that the Torah and the Injil are words of Allah too! Therefore, it isimpossible for man to change them. God has the power to watch over His word and topreserve it.

The passages above attest to the fact that the Bible, consisting of the Torah (Old Testament)and the Injil (New Testament) was unchanged and trustworthy in the time of Muhammad(pbuh), that is in the 6th century A.D!

Is only part of the Bible trustworthy?

Many Muslims have the mistaken idea that parts of the Bible have been unchanged. Faith is only putin those statements which are supposed to confirm one's own opinions. Some Jews did the same inthe days of Muhammad (pbuh). The verse that was revealed to him on that occasion is still relevantfor all those who make the same error:

"...Then is it only a part of the Book that ye believe in, and do ye reject the rest? Butwhat is the reward for those among you who behave like this but disgrace in this life?--And onthe Day of Judgement they shall be consigned to the most grievous penalty. For Allah isnot unmindful of what ye do" (Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 85).

Does the Qur'an declare that the Bible has changed?

First of all, it needs to be noted that the Qur'an nowhere explicitly states the Injil (Gospel) waschanged!

But what about the Torah? History shows that whenever God revealed Himself, most of His peoplefell into disobedience after a period of time. So it was with the Jews. In spite of this sad fact, therewere always, up to this very day, good Jews who remain true to the book God gave them:

"Of the people of Moses there is a section who guide and do justice in the light of truth" (Surah7, Al A'raf, verse 159).

God's word is truth and good Jews surely would never have changed the meaning or even the wordsof their Holy Book! Let us now examine what bad Jews did to the Torah:

"There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (as they read) you wouldthink it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say, 'That is from Allah,' but it is notfrom Allah: It is they who tell a lie against Allah and (well) they know it!" (Surah 3, Ali 'Imran, verse78).

In the verse quoted above, the Jews are reading parts of their Book wrongly, while the written wordsremain unchanged.

"But because of their breach of their Covenant, We cursed them, and made their hearts grow hard:They change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the Message thatwas sent them, nor wilt thou cease to find them- barring a few- ever bent on (new) deceits: But



forgive them, and overlook (their misdeeds): For God loveth those who are kind" (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah,verse 13).

The phrase, "They change the words from their (right) places" could mean that they tampered with thetext of the Book. However, the second possibility, that the true meaning was distorted, not thetext itself, (see also Surah 5, Ma'idah, verse 44) will have to be given preference in the light of

the wider context (see above) which clearly shows that:

-The unchanged Torah was with the Jews of Muhammad's(pbuh) time. (Surah 5, Al Ma 'idah, verses 43,68)

-It was referred to by the Prophet in matters of dispute. (Surah 3, Ali 'Imran, verse 93)

In Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verses 75-79 (in verse 75, Jews are listening to the Qur'an being recited);Surah 4, Al Nisa, verse 46;, the Jews are accused of changing, writing down wrongly, whatMuhammad (pbuh) said. After checking all these references it becomes clear that the Torah remainedunchanged!

What does the Hadith Say About the Bible?

For many Muslims, the Hadith provides a key to the correct understanding of the Qur'an. It istherefore most interesting to see what it has to say about the accuracy of the Jewish-ChristianScriptures.

According to a tradition found in Mishkat al-Masabith, Book II, chapter 1, pages 62,63, Muhammad(pbuh) confirms that the Jews and the Christians read the Torah and the Gospel. He does notsay anything about them being corrupted!

In Bukhari's chapter "How Revelation First Began," we read that the prophet of Islam was taken toKhadijah's cousin, Waraqa ben Naufal. He used to translate the Torah and the Gospel, as Godgranted him strength. It does not say that he translated corrupted Holy Books!

In the Mishkat al-Masabith, Book XVI, chapter 1, page 758, we read how:

Muhammad (pbuh) judges according to the Torah that is before him without sayinganything about it being changed!

Out of the numerous traditions about this subject there is only one reference found in Bukhari, Sahih,Kitab al-Shahada, number 29, which says that the people of the Book changed it's actual text.

It may be possible that individual Jews in Arabia corrupted distinct texts of the Torah. Some

Muslims would interpret Surah 2, Baqara, verses 78-79 to refer to the Torah and not to the Qur'an asmentioned above. But what about all the copies found already in other parts of the world? It isnot possible that they have been changed in the same way. Besides that, the Christians who alsobelieve in the Torah of the Jews, were known to be in great opposition to the Jews. How could theyhave come together to corrupt their common Scriptures?

Therefore, it can be taken as a proven fact that the Bible has not been changed before the timeof Muhammad (pbuh). Otherwise, God was demanding us to believe in Scriptures that werealready corrupted. If we assume that changes were made during or after the prophet's time, wecan simply compare a twentieth century copy with one that was written before the sixthcentury. The result will be that all the teaching remained the same!



Has the Bible been abrogated (repealed, abolished)?

Most Islamic scholars believe that the Qur'an abrogates not the Bible, but either certain revelationswithin the Qur'an only, or, also parts of the Sunna.

Other scholars hold the view that the Sunna can abolish the Qur'an as well as the Sunna. Only a few,among them the Ahmadiyyas, teach that the Qur'an actually annuls the Bible. [For more details see Ahmad von Denffer, 'Ulum al-Quran (U.K.: Islamic Foundation), pages 104-113.]

This minority is wrong for two main reasons:

In Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, verse 48 the Qur'an is spoken of as confirming the Scripture that wasbefore it and as a watcher over it. The Arabic meaning of the word "watch" (Muhaimin) canalso be rendered "one who safeguards", "stands witness", "preserves" and "upholds". (See Abdullah Yusuf Ali's footnote) This clearly contradicts the view that the revelations given tothe prophet of Islam allegedly abrogated the Bible! If this was the case there would be noneed to confirm the Torah and the Gospel or even to watch over them in such a determinedway.

In Surah 2, Al Baqarah, verse 106 the principle of abrogation is explained: For everyrevelation that is abrogated something better or similar is substituted. If this versewould refer to the abrogation of the Gospel through the Qur'an, it would mean that theteaching of the former book would be inferior or at least similar to the latter one.

The essence of Christianity consists of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which istotally rejected by Islam (see also 1 Corinthians 15:14). The Bible teaches that, through faithin Jesus' work, the assurance of forgiveness of sin, of eternal life in God's presence, throughgrace (God's undeserved favor) is available to everyone! He who puts his faith into practiceby obeying what the Gospel says will benefit from all these blessings.

Surely this wonderful teaching cannot be called inferior or similar to the doctrines ofthe Qur'an! There we read about how people may get forgiveness from God through theirgood works, and, if He is willing, by His mercy. Paradise will be a place where God is absent.In Surah 76, Dahr, verse 5 and Surah 56, Waqi'a, verses 35-38, we read that what wasforbidden on earth will be legal (drinking of wine, and having sexual relationships with manyvirgins). The prophet taught a real and literal interpretation of these sensual delights inheaven. (See Sahihu Muslim, Mishkat book 23, chapter 13) It normally can only be enteredafter having spent some time in Hell first.

Furthermore, the minority who says the principle of abrogation given in Surah 2, Al Baqarah,verse 106, applies to the Bible will be left without guidelines as regards to their own book.They will have to depend on a later, unsure historical development about the code ofabrogation in order to deal with passages such as:

In Surah 58, Al Mujadilah, verse 12, the believers are commanded to give almsbefore a private consultation with the Messenger. In verse 13 they are told that it is nolonger necessary.

In Surah 33, Al Ahzab, verses 50-51 Muhammad (pbuh) is allowed to marry anddivorce an unlimited number of women. In verse 52 he is prohibited to continue to doso.

In Surah 73, Al Muzzammil, verses 2-4, the prophet of Islam is commanded to spendabout half of the night in prayer and reading of the Qur'an. In verse 20 of the sameSurah, this is changed into what is easy for him and those who followed his example.







Conclusion

The attentive reader is left with a fundamental problem of discrepancy. A number of Biblical teachings(at least as they were believed by some of the prophet's contemporaries) are described as erroneousin the Qur'an. Yet, the Qur'an confirms the Bible to be the unchanged word of God! Surah 4, Nisaa,

verse 82, says that the Qur'an is not from God if one finds discrepancies in it! Furthermore, Muslimswho say that the Bible is corrupted also contradict their own book.

Many sincere Muslims, who leave room in their hearts for the possibility that they could be wrong inthe beliefs they were taught from early childhood, are left deeply moved after understanding thesefacts. It is with those Muslims that the author identifies with. His life too was worked out for him byothers. For a number of years he lived more or less comfortably within the boundaries set by people,often "in the name of God".

Confronted by many other religions and ideas of how to live a meaningful live, he set out to discoverthe truth for himself. In that process, realizing that it is impossible to detect infinite reality as a finitebeing, he prayed wholeheartedly, "God if you are there, show me which way is the right one."

A few days later, he heard the Eternal One speaking through some passages of the Bible which weregiven to him by a friend! After confessing his sins, he asked Jesus to come in his life and use it for hisglory. Since that incredible experience the author's life changed, literally like day and night! He nowfollows Jesus Christ, who died for his sins on the cross, who rose again on the third day, whopromises eternal life in heaven and who says:

"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen toyou. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart"(Jeremiah 29:12-13).

"Whoever comes to me I will never drive away" (John 6:37).

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the word wasGod. The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us....He came tothat which was his own, but his own did not receive him....Yet to all whoreceived him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right tobecome children of God." (John 1:1,14,11)

Were the Injil and the Qur'an accurately recorded and preserved

through the years?

What is the history of these holy books?

To correctly understand any matter, it is always vital to study and understand itshistory. In order to confirm the validity of the Injil, which is also known as the NewTestament, it is necessary to look at its history and that of the Qur'an. In both cases,one will find that the books were carefully preserved in the beginning and ever since.This page provides the evidence.

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In the Qur'an, Christians are referred to as the people of the Injil [Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, 47,

all references refer to: Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali, The Meaning of The Holy Qur'an (U.S.A.: Amana

Publications, 1989]. The literal meaning of the word is "Good News," or "Gospel." It isused in three ways:

1. The "good news" that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, on our behalf, andthat he rose from the dead ( Mark 14:61-62, Luke 18:31-33, Matthew 26:27).

2. The word "Gospel(s)" has been used to describe the written accounts ofJesus' words and deeds. (e.g., the Gospel of matthew, Mark, luke andJohn).

3. The term is used in the Qur'an to describe what is known to Christians asthe New Testament, including the four Gospels already mentioned andthe 23 other parts written by early followers of Jesus under theinspiration of God (Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, 111-113). (See What does theQur'an say about the Bible?) This becomes clear when one looks at theevidence found in the Qur'an and in history.

Surah 61, Al Saff, 14 mentions true Christians who prevailed in thetime of Jesus, in the 1st century AD.

Surah 57, Al Hadid, 27 speaks about true believers in Christ whoreceived their due reward at the beginning of monasticism, in the 4thcentury AD.

Surah 85, Al Buruj, 4-9 talks about believers who were ready to die fortheir faith. Hamidullah identifies them in the footnotes to his translationof the Qur'an as Christians who were persecuted in the sixthcentury by Dhu Nuwas, a Jewish king of Yemen. S. Abul A'la Maududiand Yusuf Ali also refer to that tragic incident as a possible explanationin the comments on those verses in their translations of the Qur'an.

Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, 66 mentions that some Jews and Christianswere on the right course in Muhammad's (pbuh) time, the sixthcentury.

People could only be called 'true Christian believers' if they were inpossession of the Injil (Gospel), the New Testament given by God, otherwisethey would not have been commended as they were. History tells us whatwas part of it.

Evidence from history

The 27 parts that together make up the New Testament as we know it today werealready accepted as single letters by the great majority of the early Christiansin the first century AD. In order to be better equipped against false teachings, a list(called "canon") of the 27 books contained in the New Testament was officiallyapproved by the Church in 397 AD at the Third Council of carthage [D.A. Carson, D.J.

Moo, and L. Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament (Apollos, 1992), pp. 493, 495].

F.F. bruce, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University ofManchester, England confirms this fact by saying:

"One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not becomeauthoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list;













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on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she alreadyregarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generallyapostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify thecanonical books were both held in North Africa- at Hippo Reius in 393 and atCarthage in 397 - but what these councils did was not to impose something

new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already thegeneral practice of those communities' [F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents, Are

They Reliable? (England: IVP, 1994), p. 27.].

The formation of the definite canon took place on the basis of criteria, such "...asapostolic authorship, reception by the churches, and consistency of doctrine withwhat the church already possessed" [E.F. Harrison, Bakers's Dictionary of Theology , (Grand

Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1994), "Bible," p. 95].

It is this whole New Testament teaching that the Christians before and inMuhammad's (pbuh) time undoubtedly were following. They are described in the

Qur'an verses above as:

Those 'who believed and received their due reward' in the fourth century.

'Believers who died for their faith' in the sixth century.

Those who 'were on the right course' in the sixth century.

Such favorable terms can only be used for those who followed the complete,unchanged, God-given book. Therefore, both, Qur'an and history, confirm that the Arabic word 'Injil' used in the Qur'an ('Gospel'), is identical with 'the NewTestament.'

The following comparison shows that both, the Muslim and the Christian books,have gone through similar stages of developments. Therefore, if someoneassumes that the Injil was changed in the course of time one would have to apply thesame scepticism to the Qur'an as well.

The Beginning of the Qur'an

Revelations were given to Muhammad (pbuh) from around 610 AD until shortly

before his death in 632 AD. They lasted about 23 years [Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum Al-

Quran (1985), pp. 54-55.].

The Beginning of the Injil

Jesus started his public ministry in about 26 AD. This is known because in Luke 3,verse 1 it is related to the '...fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar ...' Secularhistory verifies that Tiberius had authority in the provinces concerned beginning in 11 AD [New International Version Study Bible (1985), p. 1540.]. The mentioning of three annualJewish passover feasts ( John 2 , 6, 12) leads to the conclusion that he preached

and taught for about three years until 29 AD.

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Memorization of the Qur'an

During the time revelations were received by the prophet of Islam, the Muslimswere encouraged to memorize them:

"Narrated Uthman bin Affan: The prophet said: 'The most superior among you arethose who learn the Qur'an and teach it'" [Bukhari, VI, No. 546, all of Bukhari's English

translations in this comparison are taken from: Khan Muhammad Mushin, The Translation of the

Meaning of Sahih al-Bukhari , 9 volumes (Istanbul: 1978).].

"Narrated Abdullah bin Masud: Allah's Apostle said to me: 'Recite for me.' I said:'Shall I recite it to you although it had been revealed to you?' He said: 'I like to hearfrom others'..." (Bukhari, VI, No.106).

Memorization of the Injil

What Jesus said and did was memorized during his public ministry. This canbe taken as certain for two reasons:

1. The first followers of Jesus were all Jewish. Jews have a strong tradition ofmemorizing their Scriptures and the teaching of their rabbi's. The Mishna(rules for right living and a commentary on the Torah) says: "A good pupil islike a plastered cistern that looses not a drop." (Aboth ii,8)

2. The seriousness of Jesus' teaching made a memorization absolutelynecessary:

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not dowhat I say?...But the one who hears my words anddoes not put them into practice is like a man whobuilt a house on the ground without a foundation.The moment the torrent struck that house, itcollapsed and its destruction was complete" ( Luke

6:46,49).

First Written Accounts of the Qur'an

The revelations Muhammad (pbuh) received were written down during his lifetime

on different writing materials. However, they were not bound into one single book.This is confirmed by a report that says "when people came to Medina to learn aboutIslam, they were provided with copies of the chapters of the Qur'an, to read andlearn them by heart." [Hamidullah, Sahifa Hammam ibn Munabbih (1979), p. 64.].

First Written Accounts of the Injil

What Jesus said and did during his public ministry was also most probably writtendown during his lifetime. Papias, a hearer of John, one of Jesus' disciples wrotedown the following tradition, or Christian Hadith, sometime between 120 and 130 AD: "Matthew compiled the sayings (of Jesus) in the Hebrew language." (Eusebius,

Church History , V. 33,4.1) Furthermore, Luke who wrote his account of the Gospelprobably sometimes between 59 - 63 A.D. started of by saying: "Many have







undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us..."(Luke 1:1).

Therefore, it is very likely that the sayings of Jesus were also written down bynumerous other peoples during his life time.

Mainly Oral Transmission of the Qur'an for 43 Years

The revelations Muhammad (pbuh) received were passed on mainly orally for 43years from 610 AD until 653 AD. At that time, the Qur'an was officially written underthe command of Uthman. During the first 22 years of this period the prophet of Islamwas still alive. In case of doubt, his followers could have consulted him immediately.Many of them also memorized the revelations under his personal guidance. Morethan 20 of those are mentioned by name in the Hadith. Among them were well knowpersons, such as Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Ibn Masud, Abu Huraira, Abdullah

bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As, Aisha, Hafsa and Umm Salama (Suyuti, Itqan, I,p. 124.).

Others went over the contents of the Qur'an with the prophet before his death.

"Narrated Qatada: I asked Anas bin Malik: 'Who collected the Qur'an at the time ofthe prophet?' He replied, 'Four, all of whom were from the Ansar: Ubai bin Ka'b,Muadh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thabit and Abu Zaid.'" (Bukhari, VI, No.525).

After the prophet's death, they could be consulted and correct each other if therewas any dispute that arose. Besides that, the tradition of memorizing the Qur'an has

continued for many centuries throughout all generations until today.

In any case, secular history makes it clear that Islam spread within its first 25 yearsof the Hejira [the departure of Muhammad (pbuh) from Mekkah (Mecca)] into manyother countries outside Arabia.

Damascus and Syria were taken in 13 AH. One year later, Muslim armies madeinroads into Persia. In 19 AH, Egypt fell into Muslim hands. By 25 AH, Islamicwarfare brought success in Armenia, in northern Turkey.

Many soldiers and leaders who conquered those far away countries had memorized

at least parts of the Qur'an. They also knew about the historical events in regard toits beginnings. Within a short period of time, the revelations Muhammad (pbuh)received spread in this way from Egypt to Persia and from Turkey to Arabia. Anychanges within the Qur'an would surely have met with fierce opposition from allthese parts of the world.

Mainly Oral Transmission of the Injil for 29-44 Years

The gospel was mainly passed on by oral means for 29 years from 26 AD until55 AD, when it's main teaching was first written down by Paul. This document, orbook, is known as "1 Corinthians" (1 Corinthians 15:1-8, compare with Jesus'teaching in Matthew 26:27 and Mark 14:61-62).




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The date of the Injil is undisputed by all Biblical scholars. "1 Corinthians" is one of 27parts that together form the New Testament. W.F. Albright, one of the world's bestBiblical archaeologists, said:

"We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating

any book of the New Testament after about 80 AD" [Albright, Recent Discoveries in BibleLands (1955), p. 136.].

Another renowned scholar summarizes that the whole New Testament was writtenbefore the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD [Robinson, Redating the New Testament (1976).].

It is very interesting that those scholars who would disagree with the aboveconclusions studied the matter on the basis of theories known as"documentary hypothesis" and "form criticism". They both deny vehementlythat the Gospel was revealed by God, and that miracles and prophecies can bepossible. This is the reason why true Muslims and Christians alike, have to

reject their views, also, regarding many of the alleged contradictions found inthe Bible. Sadly, these liberal scholars are most commonly referred to by Muslimauthors and speakers.

However, all scholars are in agreement that many of the New Testament books werewritten between 55 and 70 AD. In the light of this evidence, the dates of 55 to 70 ADare taken as an average time period wherein the whole New Testament was officiallywritten down. This allows for the balanced conclusion that the Gospel wastransmitted predominantly by oral means for a period of 29-44 years.

During the first three years of this time, Jesus was still with his followers. If ever therewas doubt, they could have consulted him. Afterwards, many of his disciples whomemorized what they saw and heard concerning Jesus could remind each other incases of dispute. In any case, Biblical sources ( Acts 2:5-11; 11:19-20; 18:1-2) andsecular history make it clear that about 25 years after Jesus started his publicministry, many Christians were found all over the Eastern Mediterranean. They alsospread to the West as far as Rome. Any changes to the Gospel would have beenmet with very fierce opposition from all these different parts of the world.

The Man Who Wrote Down the First Official Copy of the Qur'an

The revelations given to Muhammad (pbuh) were not written down by himself:

"Narrated al Bara: There was revealed 'Not equal are those believers who sit andthose who strive and fight in the cause of Allah' (Surah 4, Nisaa, verse 95). Theprophet said: 'Call Zaid for me and let him bring the board, the ink pot and thescapula bone.' Then he said: 'Write: Not equal are those believers...'" (Bukhari, VI, No.

512).

The Qur'an was written down during the prophets lifetime, but only on loose piecesof different material. When at the battle of Yamama, in 633 AD, a number of Muslimswere killed, it was feared that part of the revelations might be lost. Therefore, AbuBakr, the first Muslim leader after Muhammad's (pbuh) death, asked Zaid ibn Thabit







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to collect all the different writing materials on which the Qur'an was written down.This was his reaction:

"...By Allah, if he (Abu Bakr) had ordered me to shift one of the mountains it wouldnot have been harder for me than what he had ordered me concerning the collection

of the Qur'an.

I said to both of them, 'How dare you do what the prophet has not done?' Abu Bakrsaid, 'By Allah, it's a good thing'... So I started locating the Qur'anic material andcollecting it from parchments, scapula, leafstalks of date palms and from thememories of men. I found with Khuzaima two verses of Surah Tauba which I had notfound with anybody else..." (Bukhari, VI, No. 201).

Even though those verses had only been found with one person and only one man,had the sole responsibility to collect the first official Qur'an, Muslims believe itcontained all the revelations given to their prophet.

The Men Who Wrote Down the First Official Copies of the Injil

The message Jesus brought was not written down by himself. As already mentioned,Matthew, one of his disciples wrote down what he said and did in the Hebrewlanguage. These things were also memorized by the followers of Jesus.

The first four books of the New Testament contain the words and deeds of Jesus.They were written down by four different authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke (he alsowrote "Acts") and John (he also wrote "1,2,3 John" and "Revelation"). These men

wrote under God's inspiration ( 2 Peter 1:20-21) for different communities withdifferent needs. The book of Matthew, for example was originally directed at Jewishreaders. The book of Mark on the other hand was written for Gentiles [see New

International Version Study Bible (1985), pp. 1439, 1490.].

God inspired the authors to write down the known words and deeds of Jesus in theirparticular fashion, according to the needs of the original recipients of their books.They, like the other writers of New Testament books, Paul, Peter, James and Jude,were either eyewitnesses or had first hand knowledge of Jesus' ministry.

The remaining 23 books of the New Testament again addressed different needs.

God inspired the authors to comment and elaborate on the words and facts of Jesus'ministry. Muslims and Christians alike believe that inspiration from God comes indifferent ways but nevertheless in as great a degree, that means, in the same perfectquality. [See also: T.P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam (1988), p. 213.].

Variant Readings in the Qur'an

A number of Hadith mention that several of Muhammad's (pbuh) companionswrote down their own collections of the revelations (Suyuti, Itqan I , p. 62).

The most well known among them are:

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Ibn Masud He claimed to have learned some seventy Surahs directly from the prophet.Muhammad (pbuh) told other people to learn the Qur'an from him and threeothers (Bukhari, 6, No. 521). However, Surah 1, 113 and 114 were missing in hiscollection (Fihrist, I, pages 53-57).

Ubay bin Kab The prophet's secretary in Medina. He is one of the other three mentionedabove whom the prophet recommended as a teacher of the Qur'an. Hiscollection contained two additional Surahs and an otherwise unknown verse(Suyuti, Itqan I , p. 65; Ibn Abi Dawud, Masahif , pages 180-181, also Noeldeke, Geschichte

des Quran's, pages 33-38.). His text was widely used in Syria before theappearance of Uthman's text.

Abu Musa His collection was used by the people of Basra. It was identical with the

material of Ubai bin Kab.

These different collections of the Qur'an contained also many variant readings. Morethan 1700 are attributed to Ibn Masud alone (A. Jeffry, Materials for the history of the text of

the Quran, 1937.).

Muhammad Hamidullah divides them into four classes in the introduction to hisFrench translation of the Qur'an (p. XXXIII):

1. Variants caused by a copy mistake. They can be detected easily bycomparing with other manuscripts.

2. Variant readings caused by accidentally adopting marginal notes into the textof the Qur'an.

3. Variations caused by Muhammad's (pbuh) permission to recite the revelationsin different dialects.

4. Variations caused by the fact that the Qur'an was copied without vowel marksand without dots to distinguish between different letters that were written inthe same way. (Only 15 different forms of letters present 28 letters)

Most of the variant readings have very little significance with regard to the meaningof the text. Only a rew present some problems, such as:

Surah 5, Maida, verse 6319 alternate readings have been identified, some of which change the actualmeaning of the verse. 14 changes were caused by changing the vowelcombinations. In the remaining 5 cases one or two consonants were added(Ibid, by A. Jeffery, pages 39, 129, 198, 216, 237).

Surah 33, Alizab, verse 6"The Prophet is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wivesare their mothers..." "...In some Qiraats, like that of Ubai ibn Kab, occur alsothe word " and he is a father to them..." (A. Yusuf Ali, The Holy Quran, 1975, note

3674).



Only reports in the hadith about these variants have survived. But none of themchanges any doctrine of the Qur'an in the slightest way.

Variant Readings in the Injil

There are about 5500 Greek manuscripts still existent which contain the whole orpart of the New Testament (Josh Mc Dowell and Don Stewart, Answers to Tough Questions,

1980, p. 4).

Many of them contain a number of variant readings mostly caused bygrammatical differences. They are often spread throughout all of the 5500manuscripts. That is why a variant spelling of one letter of one word within one versein 3000 manuscripts is considered to be 3000 variant readings. They are usuallyprinted in the margin of today's translations which are based on manuscriptswritten from the second to the fourth century AD. All variant readings arisingfrom mistakes that happened in later years have therefore no effect on thepresent translations.

In order to get the right understanding of the problem it also needs to be studied inthe context of the whole Injil. The well known textual scholars Westcott and Hortcame to the conclusion that only one-sixtieth of all variant readings would riseabove "trivialities." This leaves a text 98.33-percent pure. [N.L. Geisler and W.E. Nix,

General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), p. 365.). A. T. Robertson,another great expert in this field, said, that the real concern is only with a"thousandth part of the entire text" (A.T. Robertson, An Introduction to the Textual Criticism

of the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman, 1925), p. 22.).

Because all manuscripts have been carefully preserved, a scholarly study is possibleto determine the correct readings. The following criteria is important in this science:

1. The age of the manuscriptIf a variant occurs in younger manuscripts but is not found in older ones, thisshows that it is incorrect.

2. The frequency of variantsIf a variant reading is only found in a few manuscripts, but not in the majorityof others, it can also be identified as incorrect.

As seen above, most of the variant readings are of very little significance with regardto the meaning of the text. Only a few present some problems, such as:

1 John 5, verses 7,8 This verse, as it appears in some older English versions only, adds somewords that speak about the Tri-unity of God. "But the addition is not found inany Greek manuscripts or NT translation prior to the 16th century" (New

International Version Study Bible, 1985, p. 1913.). It was probably a marginal note thatwas translated by mistake as part of the text.

Mark 16, verses 9-20 These verses summarize the ministry of Jesus. The literal translation of verse

8 reads: "Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from thetomb. They said nothing to anyone. They were afraid for..." The last word in

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this verse is a translation from the Greek conjunction "gar". Metzger, a leadingscholar in New Testament Greek says that in all Greek literature "no instancehas been found where gar stands at the end of a book." (Metzger, Text of the New

Testament , pp. 226-229.).

He lists two possible solutions to this problem:

1. Mark was interrupted in his writing and prevented (maybe by death)from finishing.

2. The last leaf was lost before other copies could be made.

Verses 9-20 therefore present a marginal note that accidentally became partof the text.

John 7:53-8:11 In these verses a woman who has committed adultery is brought before Jesus

by Jewish teachers. They want to test how he judges her. "This story may nothave belonged originally to the Gospel of John. It is absent from almost all theimportant early manuscripts, and those that have it sometimes place itelsewhere. But the story may well be authentic" (New International Version Study

Bible, 1985, p. 1611.).

The famous historian Philip Schaff said that none of these variant readingsaffected "an article of faith or a precept of duty which is not abundantlysustained by other and undoubted passages, or by the whole tenor ofScripture teaching" (Philip Schaff, Companion to the Greek Testament and English Version

(New York: Harper, 1883, p. 177.).

Oldest Copy of the Qur'an as Known Today

The many variant readings of the Qur'an caused Muslim soldiers from Iraq (whofollowed Ibn Masud's collection) and soldiers of Syria (who took Ubay's collection tobe the correct one) to accuse each other of lying.

Uthman's reaction in 653 AD is recorded in the following Hadith:

"Uthman sent a message to Hafsa saying, 'Send us the manuscripts of the Quran so

that we may compile the Quranic materials in perfect copies and return themanuscripts to you'. Hafsa sent it to Uthman, Uthman then ordered Zaid bin Thabit, Abdullah bin Az-Zubair, Said bin Al-As and Abdur Rahman bin Harith bin Hisham torewrite the manuscripts in perfect copies. Uthman said to the three Quraishi men, 'Incase you disagreee with Zaid bin Thabit on any point in the Quran, then write it in thedialect of Quraish as the Quran was revealed in their tongue.'

They did so, and when they had written many copies, Uthman returned the originalmanuscripts to Hafsa.

Uthman sent to every Muslim province one copy of what they had copied, andordered that all the other Quranic materials whether written in fragmentarymanuscripts or whole copies, be burned. Zaid bin Thabit added, 'A verse from Surah






33, Alizab, (verse 23) was missed by me when we copied the Quran and I used tohear Allah's Apostle reciting it. So we searched for it and found it with Khuzaima binThabit Al-Ansari...'" (Bukhari, VI, No. 510).

In spite of the radical measures taken, there still is a verse missing in today's Qur'an:

"Abdullah bin Abbas reported that Umar bin Khattab sat on the pulpit of Allahsmessenger and said: 'Verily Allah sent Muhammad (pbuh) with truth and he sentdown the book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sentdown the book upon him, and the verse of stoning was included in what was sentdown to him. We recited it, retained it in our memory and understood it...I am afraidthat with the lapse of time, the people (may forget) and may say: We do not find thepunishment of stoning in the book of Allah, and this go astray by abandoning thisduty prescribed by Allah...'" (Bukhari, VIII, No.816, Muslim, III, No. 4194)

The verse cannot have been abrogated, because the messenger of Islam was the

only one who was authorized to do so. By the time the problem arose, he was dead.The only reference found in today's Qur'an reads:

"The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication, flog each of them with ahundred stripes..." (Surah 24, Nur, verse 2).

Perhaps for reasons such as this Ibn Masud opposed the new official version of theQur'an with the following words:

"The Prophet taught me to recite 70 Surahs which I had mastered before Zaidhad even become a Muslim. How can you order me to recite the readings ofZaid, when I recited from the very mouth of the Prophet some 70 Surahs? AmI to abandon what I acquired from the very lips of the Prophet?" (Ibn Abi Dawud,

Masahif ).

After having studied the early surviving Qur'an manuscripts very thoroughly JohnGilchrist states: "The oldest manuscripts of the Qur'an still in existence datefrom not earlier than about one hundred years after Muhammdad's death" (Jam'

Al-Qur'an, p. 153.).

He comes to this conclusion because two of the oldest manuscripts, the Samarqand

and Topkapi codices are both written in the Kufic script. It "can generally be datedfrom the late eigth century depending on the extent of development in the characterof the script in each case" (Ibid., page 146.).

Oldest Copy of the Injil as Known Today

The present translations of the New Testament (the Gospel, Injil) are based on thefollowing, oldest manuscripts:

1. P 75 It is dated around 200 AD and originally contained "Luke" and "John" on 144pages. 102 pages, that is about 70%, still exist today.



2. P 46 It is also dated around 200 AD and originally contained 10 books of the NewTestament, written by Paul. Of the 114 pages 86, that is about 75% still existtoday. Translations of the New Testament into Latin and Syriac were madebetween 150-180 AD. Copies of them from the fourth and fifth century AD

exist today. They confirm the 70-75% existing texts of the manuscripts P 75and P 46. Therefore it is valid to assume that the 25-30% and the rest of theNew Testament books which have not survived from around 200 AD, alsoagreed originally.

3. Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus They are both dated around 350 AD, shortly after the beginning ofmonasticism, and contain all New Testament books. According to the Qur'an(Surah 57, Al Hadid, verses 27-28) true Christians were still around at that time.Since one can only be a true Christian if he possesses and lives according tothe true teaching of the New Testament, this is further evidence that the twocodices remained unchanged. They both confirm the manuscripts P 75 and P

46 and also the Latin and Syriac translations. Codex Vaticanus and CodexSinaiticus are used to translate those parts of today's New Testament whichare missing from P 75 and P 46.

The 27 books that together form the New Testament were accepted asauthentic by the different, early Christian communities. But because of the fastexpansion of Christianity and the growing number of heretic writings(Apocryphals: the prophet of Islam faced the same problem in Musailama whoclaimed to have received revelations, too (see: P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, 1988,

p. 422.). It became necessary to write down officially the names of the NewTestament books.

There was no need for this process until around the end of the fourth century,when the Syriac Church accepted some Apocryphals to be part of the Bible.This happened even though the Peshitta, the Syriac Bible of the secondcentury A.D. did not contain them. Until the end of the fourth century, therewas common agreement among the Christians as to which books were part ofthe Gospel.

Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church, too, accepted some heretic writings aspart of the Bible, but only in 1563 AD as a reaction to the Protestant

Reformation. By doing so, they legitimized their reference to them in disputeddoctrinal matters (Josh Mc Dowell, Answers to Tough Questions, 1980, p. 37.).

The oldest known copies of almost half of the New Testament that are still inexistence, are dated about 200 AD, that is 130-174 years after they wereoriginally written. It is important to realize that all the main Christian doctrinesare therein contained! The oldest copy of the complete New Testament(Gospel) which still exists today is dated around 350 AD, that is 280-324 yearsafter it was first written down.



Conclusion

The first written accounts of both the Qur'an and the Gospel were made during the

life of Muhammad (pbuh) and Jesus respectively. In both cases the transmissiontook place mainly orally. The Qur'an was passed on in that way for about 43 years,the Gospel for 29-44 years.

Muslims and Christians alike believe that God inspired their holy book and that Hewatched over the process when it was memorized and later written down. In spite ofnumerous variant readings in both books, Muslims and Christians believe that theypossess essentially what God had intended them to receive.

For good reasons both communities believe that their books had been

carefully preserved in the beginning and ever since.

How do we know the Bible is true?

There have been hundreds of books written on the subject of the evidences of the

divine inspiration of the Bible, and these evidences are many and varied. Mostpeople today, unfortunately, have not read any of these books. In fact, few haveeven read the Bible itself! Thus, many people tend to go along with the populardelusion that the Bible is full of mistakes and is no longer relevant to our modern

world.

Nevertheless the Bible writers claimed repeatedly that they were transmitting the

very Word of God, infallible and authoritative in the highest degree. This is an

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amazing thing for any writer to say, and if the forty or so men who wrote the

Scriptures were wrong in these claims, then they must have been lying, or insane,

or both.

But, on the other hand, if the greatest and most influential book of the ages,

containing the most beautiful literature and the most perfect moral code ever

devised, was written by deceiving fanatics, then what hope is there for ever finding

meaning and purpose in this world?

If one will seriously investigate these Biblical evidences, he will find that their

claims of divine inspiration (stated over 3,000 times, in various ways) were amply

ustified.

Fulfilled Prophecies

The remarkable evidence of fulfilled prophecy is just one case in point. Hundreds

of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled, specifically and meticulously, often long

after the prophetic writer had passed away.

For example, Daniel the prophet predicted in about 538 BC (Daniel 9:24-27) that

Christ would come as Israel's promised Savior and Prince 483 years after the

Persian emperor would give the Jews authority to rebuild Jerusalem, which was

then in ruins. This was clearly and definitely fulfilled, hundreds of years later.

There are extensive prophecies dealing with individual nations and cities and with

the course of history in general, all of which have been literally fulfilled. More than

300 prophecies were fulfilled by Christ Himself at His first coming. Other

prophecies deal with the spread of Christianity, as well as various false religions,

and many other subjects.




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There is no other book, ancient or modern, like this. The vague, and usually

erroneous, prophecies of people like Jeanne Dixon, Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce,

and others like them are not in the same category at all, and neither are other

religious books such as the Koran, the Confucian Analects, and similar religious

writings. Only the Bible manifests this remarkable prophetic evidence, and it does

so on such a tremendous scale as to render completely absurd any explanation

other than divine revelation.

Unique Historical Accuracy

The historical accuracy of the Scriptures is likewise in a class by itself, far superior

to the written records of Egypt, Assyria, and other early nations. Archeological

confirmations of the Biblical record have been almost innumerable in the last

century. Dr. Nelson Glueck, probably the greatest modern authority on Israeli

archeology, has said:

"No archeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of

archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact

detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper

evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."

Scientific Accuracy

Another striking evidence of divine inspiration is found in the fact that many of

the principles of modern science were recorded as facts of nature in the Bible long

before scientist confirmed them experimentally. A sampling of these would

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include:

Roundness of the earth (Isaiah 40:22)

Almost infinite extent of the sidereal universe (Isaiah 55:9)

Law of conservation of mass and energy (II Peter 3:7)

Hydrologic cycle (Ecclesiastes 1:7)

Vast number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22)

Law of increasing entropy (Psalm 102:25-27)

Paramount importance of blood in life processes (Leviticus 17:11)

Atmospheric circulation (Ecclesiastes 1:6) Gravitational field (Job 26:7)

and many others.

These are not stated in the technical jargon of modern science, of course, but in

terms of the basic world of man's everyday experience; nevertheless, they are

completely in accord with the most modern scientific facts.

It is significant also that no real mistake has ever been demonstrated in the

Bible—in science, in history, or in any other subject. Many have been claimed, of

course, but conservative Bible scholars have always been able to work out

reasonable solutions to all such problems.

Unique Structure

The remarkable structure of the Bible should also be stressed. Although it is a

collection of 66 books, written by 40 or more different men over a period of 2,000

years, it is clearly one Book, with perfect unity and consistency throughout.

The individual writers, at the time of writing, had no idea that their message was

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into place and serves its own unique purpose as a component of the whole.

Anyone who diligently studies the Bible will continually find remarkable structural

and mathematical patterns woven throughout its fabric, with an intricacy and

symmetry incapable of explanation by chance or collusion.

The one consistent theme of the Bible, developing in grandeur from Genesis to

Revelation, is God's great work in the creation and redemption of all things,

through His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bible’s Unique Effect

The Bible is unique also in terms of its effect on individual men and on the history

of nations. It is the all-time best seller, appealing both to hearts and minds,

beloved by at least some in every race or nation or tribe to which it has gone, rich

or poor, scholar or simple, king or commoner, men of literally every background

and walk of life. No other book has ever held such universal appeal nor

produced such lasting effects.

One final evidence that the Bible is true is found in the testimony of those who

have believed it. Multitudes of people, past and present, have found from personal

experience that its promises are true, its counsel is sound, its commands and

restrictions are wise, and its wonderful message of salvation meets every need for

both time and eternity.

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Can the Bible be infallible if it is written by fallible humans?

And if not, how can we accept it as literal truth?

There is no logical reason why this could not be true. After all, even

fallible humans can get things right some of the time, especially if they are

supervised by Someone who is infallible.

Christians do not claim that the humans who penned the books of the Bible

were always accurate in everything they said or did. We simply believe that

the Bible is right when it claims that God guided these men in their task of

writing Scripture, in such a way that the result is an infallible book. The

apostle Peter undoubtedly said some foolish things during his lifetime, but

God did not allow him to clutter up the Bible with any of those blunders.

2 Timothy 3:16 contains the classic claim that the Bible was produced by

God, not just men:

All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,

for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

One standard explanation of the concept of “inspiration” is given by Ryrie:

God's superintendence of the human authors so that, using their own

individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His

revelation to man in the words of the original autographs [Charles Ryrie, A

Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972), p. 38].

We do not know exactly how God accomplished His purpose of providing a




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totally accurate Bible. But 2 Peter 1:21 gives some insight:

No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the

Holy Spirit spoke from God.

The word “moved” in this verse is also used in Acts 27:15 to describe the

way a great storm blew the apostle Paul's ship off course across the

Mediterranean. The people on board could spend the time as they chose

(either bailing or wailing!), but the storm determined their destination of

Malta. Similarly, God guided the writers of Scripture to produce exactly the

message He wanted.

When we say that the Bible is the Word of God, does that

imply that it is completely accurate, or does it contain

insignificant inaccuracies in details of history and science?

Some theologians teach that the Bible is inspired and authoritative, and

that it is an accurate revelation of what God wants us to know about

salvation— but they leave room for minor errors in non-crucial areas. One

theologian, for instance, says that the Holy Spirit's work in inspiring the

Bible only guaranteed “selectivity of events and accuracy of reporting and

interpretation sufficient to achieve God's purpose throughout the rest of

man's existence” (Dewey Beegle, Inspiration of Scripture, p. 190).

However, classic Christianity rests on the assurance that the Bible is

completely accurate. It may contain statements that are (1) figures of







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speech, (2) non-technical descriptions, or (3) difficult to understand. But

actual errors would fall into a different kind of category. If there are any

errors in Scripture, no matter how small, the book can no longer be our

standard of truth. I become the standard of truth, as I determine which

Bible statements are right and which are wrong. And if I can't trust God to

get the facts straight on things like dates and measurements (where I can

check on Him), why should I expect Him to be more accurate in areas like

sin and salvation (where I can't check on Him)?

The Bible doesn't use the word “inerrant,” but the idea is obvious.

Psalm 19:7-9—“The law of the Lord is perfect… the testimony of the

Lord is sure… the commandment of the Lord is pure… the

judgments of the Lord are true forever.”

Psalm 119:43—“the word of truth.”

Psalm 119:142—“Thy law is the truth.”

Psalm 119:160—“Thy word is true from the beginning.”

John 17:17—“Thy word is truth.”

An inaccurate Bible contradicts God's character quality of absolute

truthfulness.

Titus 1:2—“God who cannot lie.”

Hebrews 6:18—“It is impossible for God to lie.”

Some consider this a minor issue, but the idea that the Bible contains

errors opens the door to serious spiritual danger. When people decide they

have the authority to label one verse as a mistake, they soon find others

that they consign to the “error” category. I've watched it happen over the

years. Each generation rejects more and more Scripture, as it gets in the




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way of their own opinions.

What is the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls?

What archaeological discovery has had the all-time greatest Biblical

impact?

"Probably the Dead Sea Scrolls have had the greatest Biblical impact. They have

provided Old Testament manuscripts approximately 1,000 years older than our

previous oldest manuscript. The Dead Sea Scrolls have demonstrated that the Old

Testament was accurately transmitted during this interval. In addition, they

provide a wealth of information on the times leading up to, and during, the life of

Christ.

— Dr. Bryant Wood, archaeologist, Associates for Biblical Research

Discovery of the Scrolls

Men of Qumran and the Messiah

Juma was beginning to get nervous. Some of his goats were climbing too high up

the cliffs. He decided to climb the face of the cliff himself to bring them back.

Little did Juma realize as he began his climb on that January day in 1947 that

those straying goats would eventually involve him in “the greatest archaeological

discovery in the twentieth century.” Such thoughts were far from his mind when

he saw two small openings to one of the thousands of caves that dot those barren

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cliffs overlooking the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea.

He threw a rock into one of the openings. The unexpected cracking sound

surprised him; what else could be in those remote caves but treasure? He called to

his cousins, Khalil and Muhammed, who climbed up and heard the exciting tale.

But it was getting late, and the goats had to be gathered. Tomorrow they would

return—perhaps their days of following goats would come to an end once the

treasure was uncovered!

Cave 4 at Qumran where approximately 15,000 fragments from some 574 manuscripts were found.

The youngest of the three, Muhammed, rose the next day before his two fellow

“treasure-seekers” and made his way to the cave. The cave floor was covered with

debris, including broken pottery . Along the wall stood a number of narrow jars,

some with their bowl-shaped covers still in place. Frantically, Muhammed began

to explore the inside of each jar, but no treasure of gold was to be found… only a

few bundles wrapped in cloth and greenish with age. Returning to his cousins, he

related the sad news—no treasure.

No treasure indeed! The scrolls those Bedouin boys removed from that dark cave

that day and the days following would come to be recognized as the greatest

manuscript treasure ever found—the first seven manuscripts of the Dead Sea

Scrolls!

Such was the discovery of a group of manuscripts which were a thousand years




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older than the then-oldest-known Hebrew texts of the Bible (manuscripts, many

of which were written more than 100 years before the birth of Jesus). These

manuscripts would excite the archaeological world and provide a team of

translators with a gigantic task that even to this day has not been completed.

The story of how those scrolls traveled from the hands of young Bedouin goat

herders to be under the scrutinous eyes of international scholars is stranger than

fiction. Although all the details of the next few years will probably never be known

for sure, this much is clear. After hanging from a pole in a Bedouin tent for a

period of time, the seven original scrolls were sold to two separate Arab antiquitiesdealers in Bethlehem. From there, four were sold (for a small amount) to

Athanasius Samuel, Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan at St. Mark's Monastery in the

Old City of Jerusalem. Scholars at the American School of Oriental Research, who

examined them, were the first to realize their antiquity. John Trever

photographed them in detail, and the great archaeologist William F. Albright soon

announced that the scrolls were from the period between 200 BC and AD 200.

The initial announcements were then made that the oldest manuscripts ever

discovered had been found in the Judean desert!

Clay jar of the type the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in. From Qumran, now in the Citadel Museum, Jordan.

Three of the other original scrolls found by the Bedouin boys were sold to E. L.

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Sukenik, archaeologist at Hebrew University and father of Yigal Yadin (a general

in the Israeli army who later became a famous archaeologist and excavator of

Masada and Hazor). It should be noted that the drama of these events was

heightened because these were the last days of the British Mandate period in

Palestine, and tensions between the Arab and Jewish population were great. This

made examination of the scrolls by scholars extremely dangerous.

All of the scrolls finally came together at Hebrew University under another strange

set of circumstances. After touring the U.S. with his four scrolls and not being able

to find an interested buyer, Metropolitan Samuel placed an ad in the Wall Street Journal . By coincidence (or divine providence?) Yigal Yadin happened to be

lecturing in New York and saw the advertisement. Through intermediaries, he was

able to purchase these priceless scrolls for around $250,000. In February of 1955,

the Prime Minister of Israel announced that the State of Israel had purchased the

scrolls, and all seven (including the three purchased earlier by Professor Sukenik)

were to be housed in a special museum at Hebrew University named the Shrine of

the Book, where they can be seen today.

Needless to say, the initial announcement about the scrolls prompted feverish

searches in the area of the original discoveries. An official archaeological

expedition was begun in 1949 which eventually resulted in the discovery of ten

additional caves in the surrounding area also containing scrolls. The

archaeologists then directed their attention to a small ruin nearby called "Khirbet

(ruins of) Qumran," which had been thought of as the remains of an old Roman

fortress. After six seasons of intensive excavation, the scholars were sure beyond

any reasonable doubt that the scrolls found their origin in this community which

flourished between 125 BC and AD 68. The scrolls had been stored in haste in the

caves as the community fled the encroaching Roman army, which was in Judea to

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put down the Jewish Revolt of AD 66-70.

The ruins of Qumran, which can be visited today, revealed that a substantial group

of Jewish ascetics inhabited this community. Storehouses, aqueducts, ritual baths

and an assembly hall were all uncovered. One of the most interesting rooms

uncovered was a scriptorium, identified by two ink wells discovered there along

with some benches for scribes. It was in this room that many, if not all, of the

discovered manuscripts were copied.

Description of the Scrolls

As soon as the announcement of the scrolls' discovery was made, the scholarly

debates about their origin and significance began. The debates increased when the

amazing contents of the scrolls were successively revealed.

The seven original scrolls, from what came to be called “Cave One,” comprised the

following:

1. a well-preserved copy of the entire prophecy of Isaiah—the oldest copy of

an Old Testament book ever to be discovered

2. another fragmentary scroll of Isaiah

3. a commentary on the first two chapters of Habakkuk —the commentator

explained the book allegorically interms of the Qumran brotherhood

4. the “Manual of Discipline” or “Community Rule”—the most important

source of information about the religious sect at Qumran—it described the

requirements for those aspiring to join the brotherhood

5. the “Thanksgiving Hymns,” a collection of devotional “psalms” of

thanksgiving and praise to God

6. an Aramaic paraphrase of the Book of Genesis

7. the “Rule of War” which dealt with the battle between the “Sons of Light”

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(the men of Qumran) and the “Sons of Darkness” (the Romans?) yet to take

place in the “last days,” which days the men of Qumran believed were about

to arrive.

Those seven original scrolls were just the beginning. Over six hundred scrolls and

thousands of fragments have been discovered in the 11 caves of the Qumran area.

Fragments of every Biblical book except Esther have been found, as well as many

other non-Biblical texts.

One of the most fascinating of the finds was a copper scroll which had to becut in

strips to be opened and which contained a list of 60 treasures located in various

parts of Judea (none of which have been found)! Another scroll, which Israeli

archaeologists recovered in 1967 underneath the floor of a Bethlehem antiquities

dealer, describes in detail the community's view of an elaborate Temple ritual.

This has been appropriately called the “Temple Scroll.”

The contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls indicate that their authors were a group of

priests and laymen pursuing a communal life of strict dedication to God. Their

leader was called the “Righteous Teacher.” They viewed themselves as the only

true elect of Israel—they alone were faithful to the Law .

They opposed the “Wicked Priest”—the Jewish High Priest in Jerusalem who

represented the establishment, and who had persecuted them in some way. This

wicked priest was probably one of the Maccabean rulers who had illegitimately

assumed the high priesthood between 150-140 BC. Most scholars have identified

the Qumran brotherhood with the Essenes, a Jewish sect of Jesus' day described

by Josephus and Philo.

Whoever the men of Qumran were, their writings provide us with a marvelous

background picture of one aspect of the religious world into which Jesus came.

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Some have sought to draw parallels between figures in the scrolls and John the

Baptist or Jesus, but an objective examination of such parallels reveals that the

differences are greater than the similarities. Any contact of Jesus with Qumran is

entirely speculative and most improbable. The suggestion that John the Baptist

may have spent some time with the Qumran community is possible, since the

Gospels tell us that he spent considerable time in the wilderness near the area

where the Qumran community is located (Mt. 3:1-3; Mk. 1:4; Lk. 1:80; 3:2-3).

John's message, however, differed markedly from that of the Qumran

brotherhood. The only real common point was that they both taught that the

"kingdom of God" was coming.

One of the most important contributions of the Dead Sea Scrolls is the numerous

Biblical manuscripts which have been discovered. Until those discoveries at

Qumran, the oldest manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures were copies from the

9th and 10th centuries AD by a group of Jewish scribes called the Massoretes.

Now we have manuscripts around a thousand years older than those. The amazing

truth is that these manuscripts are almost identical! Here is a strong example of

the tender care which the Jewish scribes down through the centuries took in an

effort to accurately copy the sacred Scriptures. We can have confidence that our

Old Testament Scriptures faithfully represent the words given to Moses, David

and the prophets.

Doctrine of the Scrolls

The men of Qumran fervently believed in a doctrine of “last things.” They had fled

to the desert and were readying themselves for the imminent judgment, when

their enemies would be vanquished and they, God's elect, would be given final

victory in accordance with the predictions of the prophets. It was in connection

with these end-time events that one of the most fascinating teachings of the sect

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emerges. The messianic hope loomed large in the thought of the brotherhood. As a

matter of fact, evidence shows that they actually believed in three messiahs—one a

prophet, another a priest and the third a king or prince.

In the document mentioned earlier called the “Manual of Discipline” or the "Rule

of the Community," it is laid down that the faithful should continue to live under

the rule "until the coming of a prophet and the anointed ones [messiahs] of Aaron

and Israel" (column 9, line 11). These three figures would appear to usher in the

age for which the community was making preparation.

In another document found in Cave Four and referred to as the “Testimonia,” a

number of Old Testament passages are brought together which formed the basis

for their messianic expectations. The first is the citation from Deuteronomy 18:18-

19 where God says to Moses: "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their

brethren, like unto thee." Next comes a quotation from Numbers 24:15-17, where

Balaam foresees the rise of a princely conqueror: "a Scepter shall rise out of Israel,

and shall smite the corners of Moab," etc. The third passage is the blessing

pronounced by Moses upon the tribe of Levi (the priestly tribe) in Deuteronomy

33:8-11. The way in which these three quotations are brought together suggests

that the writer looked forward to the advent of a great prophet, a great prince and

a great priest.

There were three individuals in the Old Testament writings that were referred to

as "my anointed ones"—the prophet, the priest and the king (refer to Ex. 29:29; 1

Sam. 16:13, 24:6; 1 Kg. 19:16; Ps. 105:15). Each of these was consecrated to his

work by an anointing with oil. The Hebrew word for "anointed" is meshiach, from

which we get the word Messiah.

The marvelous truth of the New Testament doctrine of the Messiah is that each of









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these three offices found fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth!

The people were amazed at His feeding of the multitude and said, "This is of a

truth that prophet that should come into the world" (Jn. 6:14; also Jn. 7:40; Acts

3:22, 7:37). Jesus also was a priest, not from the order of Levi but from the order

of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4; Heb. 7), who offered Himself as a sacrifice and appears

for us in the presence of His Father (Heb. 9:24-26; 10:11-12). Also, Jesus was

announced as the One who will receive "the throne of his father, David. And he

shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no

end" (Lk. 1:32-33). He will be acclaimed "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF

LORDS" (Rev. 19:16).

Thus, we have found an interesting point of contact between Qumran and

Christianity —a point of contact which is also a point of cleavage. The Qumran

community and the early Christians agreed that in the days of the fulfillment of

Old Testament prophecies there would arise a great prophet, a great priest and a

great king. But these three figures remained distinct in Qumran expectation,

whereas the New Testament saw them unified in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

One more manuscript that has come to light in recent years provides a fascinating

background to the New Testament messianic hope. It has been reconstructed from

twelve small fragments, furnishing less than two columns of writing; but this

much can be ascertained from its brief contents. It is a prediction of the birth of a

Wonderful Child, possibly drawing on Isaiah 9:6-7: "For unto us a child is born,

unto us a son is given… and his name shall be called Wonderful." This child will

bear special marks on His body and will be distinguished by wisdom and

intelligence. He will be able to probe the secrets of all living creatures, and He will

inaugurate the new age for which the faithful fervently awaited.

Is it not striking that soon after this manuscript was composed, a child wa sborn












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who fulfilled the hopes of Israel and inaugurated a new age? Although the men of

Qumran were mistaken in the details of their messiah, they did expect one whose

general characteristics were strikingly illustrated by Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of

God and Messiah. It is not known if some early Christian brought the message of

Jesus to this wilderness community. We are left only to speculate on how they

would have responded to the Wonderful Child born in Bethlehem who was the

Prophet, Priest and King of Israel.





About the Bible - The Tawrat, Zabur, And Injil (Al Kitab) - By Abdullah Ibrahim

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Transcript of About the Bible - The Tawrat, Zabur, And Injil (Al Kitab) - By Abdullah Ibrahim