Corruption of Previous Scriptures: Difference between revisions
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This article analyzes the claim that the [[Qur'an]] states the previous [[Islam and Scripture|scriptures]] (the [[Taurat]] and [[Injil]]) were physically corrupted. | This article analyzes the claim that the [[Qur'an]] states the previous [[Islam and Scripture|scriptures]] (the [[Taurat]] and [[Injil]]) were physically corrupted. | ||
Latest revision as of 21:48, 11 December 2025
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This article analyzes the claim that the Qur'an states the previous scriptures (the Taurat and Injil) were physically corrupted.
Introduction
While early Islamic scholars such as Ibn al-Layth, Ibn Rabban, Ibn Qutayba, Al-Ya'qubi, Al-Tabari, Al-Baqillani, Al-Mas'udi, and Al-Bukhari would disagree,[1][2] today it is a common belief among Muslims that the Qur'an states that the previous scriptures (the Taurat and Injil) have been physically corrupted by those who were charged with safeguarding it (the Jews and Christians). Thus, the Qur'an is the 'return' to the true message of the God of the Bible.
Quran 2:79 is often presented as evidence for this claim.
Yusuf Ali: Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
Pickthal: Therefore woe be unto those who write the Scripture with their hands and then say, "This is from Allah," that they may purchase a small gain therewith. Woe unto them for that their hands have written, and woe unto them for that they earn thereby.
Shakir: Woe, then, to those who write the book with their hands and then say: This is from Allah, so that they may take for it a small price; therefore woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.This verse alone May appear to indicate that the Qur'an indeed holds this view. Examine what the Qur'an[3] otherwise says about Taurat and Injil reveals a different picture.
What the Qur'an says about corruption
The Qur'an has much to say about previous scriptures:
Analysis
The first thing to note when reading through these verses is the wording used. Nowhere in the above verses does it say that the Jews or Christians wrote down, in their holy books, what was not revealed from Allah:
- Quran 2:59 They "Changed it for a saying other than had been spoken to them."
- Quran 2:77 Allah "knows what they keep secret and what they make known."
- Quran 2:140 They "Conceal a testimony they have from Allah."
- Quran 3:78 A "Party among them" (Jews) '"distort the book with their tongues and say it is from Allah."
- Quran 3:79 The Jews "teach the book and read it themselves."
- Quran 3:187 The Jews "cast it (Allah's book) "behind their backs"
- Quran 4:46 The Jews "alter the words from their places" and "distort the book with their tongues."
- Quran 5:13 The Jews "altered the words from their places" and "forgot a good part of the message."
- Quran 5:15 The Jews "concealed that which Muhammad had made clear" and Muhammad made clear much which they had "passed over" (in their book)
- Quran 5:41 The Jews "alter the words from their places."
Evidently, the Qur'an charges that the Jews and Christian's corrupted their scriptures; but only in their oral recitations. Qur'an 2:77 charges that the Jews deliberately "keep secret" parts of their Taurat from the people who do not know the Jewish scriptures. If the physical scriptures have been corrupted, this begs the question of how would the Jews knew what was in it. One answer is it that there are 'original' Taurat's still in existence, accessibly by an elite clerical class. These elite Jews are supposedly literate people because they 'knew what their book said but hid it behind their backs.' This could indicate that they keeping the information from the illiterate people (like Muhammad). This would fit with the Qur'an's charge that the Jews 'distorted the book with their tongues.'
The Jews 'altered the words from their places' and 'forgot a good part of the message'; this also does not speak to physical scriptural corruption, but (alleged) corruption in their recitations to those who did not know the Jewish scriptures. Consider the claims made in Qur'an 5:15, where the Qur'an alleges that Muhammad 'made clear' what the Jews had 'concealed'; Muhammad also made clear that which they had 'passed over.' If the actual text was corrupt, this would presumably have been some kind of miracle, but there's no indication that this was the case. If the physical corruption claim is true, the Qur'an should be using words like "the parts that the Jews removed from their books" or "the parts which have been omitted."
There is no such wording in the language of the Qur'an; only evidence that Muhammad thought the Jews were lying about what was written in their Taurat, in order to reject him as a prophet of their God.
The Message of the Qur'an Confirms the Previous Scriptures
The Qur'an claims to confirm and verify the previous scriptures:
Analysis
The Qur'an claims to be the continuation of the message from Allah. In the verses above it claims to confirm the message in the previous books that the Jews and Christians have with them.
- Quran 2:89 "...a book from Allah verifying that which they have."
- Quran 2:91 "...verifying that which they have."
- Quran 2:101 "..threw the book of Allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing."
- Quran 2:101 "..a messenger from Allah verifying that which they have."
- Quran 2:140 "he who conceals a testimony that he has from Allah."
- Quran 3:81 "...verifying that which is with you."
- Quran 4:47 "...verifying what you have."
- Quran 5:43 "They have the Taurat wherein is Allah's Judgment."
- Quran 20:133 "...has there not come clear evidence of what is in the previous books?"
In the above verses the Qur'an confirms that the Jews and Christians had intact scriptures at the time of Muhammad. They have the book with Allah's judgment in it (the Taurat).
Some Muslims claim that parts of it are Allah's book and parts are not; if the physical scriptures were corrupted, Allah would not say he "verifies that which you have" he would have said that he "verifies parts of which you have" and then indicate that the texts are no longer intact. The only conclusions from these statements of Allah are that:
(a) The Jews were literate - they knew their scriptures; they 'threw the book of Allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing." They could not know the book of Allah if it was corrupted.
(b) The Jews and Christians both had intact (alleged) revelations from Allah when the Qur'an was revealed. Since manuscripts that pre-date Muhammad's time are extant, that means the same as the Bible exists today, the same one(s) Jews and Christians still use in their own worship.
Referrences to both the Taurat and Injil?
The Qur'an was referring to the previous scriptures (and corruption) as being both of the Taurat and the Injil.
Analysis
In the above Qur'an verses Allah claims to have revealed both the Taurat (to Musa) and Injil (to Isa). Qur'an 5:47 confirms also that the Injil was intact during Muhammad's time, when it says "and the followers of the Injeel should have judged by what Allah revealed in it". This shows, that, in order to judge Muhammad's truthfulness on his prophetic claim, the Christians should have gone to the Injil which they had with them in order to 'confirm' his claim. Allah is inferring that their scripture, as well as that of the Jews, is uncorrupted.
Qur'an 2:79 in Context
Many apologists often accuse critics of taking the Qur'an 'out of context', however ,in the case of Quran 2:79, the apologetic claim that the Quran accuses other scriptures of corruption itself stands out of context from the surrounding material. Here it is in context:
It would appear that the Qur'an does charge some (unknown) people with writing a book without knowledge and claiming it is a revelation from Allah. However considering the preceding verse, it says that the people who do this are illiterate. This means that have not read Allah's previous revelations.
Analysis
Jews and Christians are described as literate
- Quran 2:101 "...a party of those who were given the book threw the book of Allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing."
- Quran 2:140 "Nay! do you say that Ibrahim and Ismail and Yaqoub and the tribes were Jews or Christians?....who is more unjust than he who conceals a testimony that he has from Allah?"
- Quran 3:78 "..most surely there is a party amongst those who distort the book with their tongue....and they say it is from Allah; and they tell a lie against Allah while they know."
- Quran 3:78 "...because of your teaching the Book and your reading (it yourselves)."
- Quran 3:187 "And Allah made a covenant with those who were given the book...but they hid it behind their backs."
- Quran 4:46 "...distorting the word with their tongues."
- Quran 5:13 "...much for what you concealed of the Book and passing over much."
- Quran 5:47 "And the followers of the Injeel should have judged by what was revealed in it."
- Quran 5:48 "...therefore judge between them by what Allah has revealed."
The quotes from the verses above establish that the Jews and Christians were literate people who knew their scriptures.
- Jews are accused of knowing the book, but when Muhammad claimed to be a prophet of Allah, the Qur'an asserts that they 'threw the book' (Taurat) 'behind their back as if they knew nothing.'
- Allah confirms that they Jews teach from the book and 'read it themselves'
- The Christians are told that they should have consulted their books and 'confirmed' what Muhammad was saying before rejecting him.
- Both Jews and Christians are told to judge between their respective books and the Qur'an to judge whether Muhammad was truthful.
The only other verse that slightly resembles Qur'an 2:78-79 is 3:79. However it charges that the Jews knew what their scriptures said, but corrupted it with their tongues. The mentions of the books of the Jews and Christians impies that at least some of them are literate. The accusation of the Jews hiding the truth of their book implies that they know its true meaning (having it to read at will). All the verses above show that the Qur'an never charges that the Jews and Christians are illiterate; quite the opposite, therefore it seems unlikely that Qur'an 2:79 would be referring to them 'writing the book with their hands.
Who are the Illiterate and what 'Book' did they write?
The Qur'an does not elaborate on exactly what scripture was being written by these 'illiterates', but looking at the evidence above, we know that it is not the people of the Book. There are three possible explanations for who these illiterate people manufacturing scripture were:
- If the People of the Book truly were changing the scripture in their recitations of it to the illiterate people, it is not unreasonable to surmise that an illiterate person (who could not read the original documents) then wrote down (or elaborated on) what they heard in the recitation.
- Allah was originally a pagan semetic god and the sirah claims he was already worshipped by the Meccan pagans in Muhammad's day; thus these verses could mean that pagans were writing scripture and claiming it was from Allah "The God".
- The Qur'an makes the "Surah Like It" Challenge:
It is most likely that Qur'an 2:78-79 is referring to the people who took up this challenge to produce a surah like it. However, since the Qur'an does not elaborate, we can only say for certainty that it is not referring to the Jews and Christians.
Summary
A review of the evidence show the following
- The Qur'an never charges that the Jews and Christians have physically corrupted their scriptures. It states that they have 'changed words from their right places (with their mouths)' and 'concealed parts of the message given to them'.
- The Qur'an claims to verify the books that they have with them. This precludes the possibility that the People of the Book had corrupted scriptures in their possession at the time of Muhammad. The language used in the Qur'an confirms that the whole texts were intact and 'verified' by the Qur'an. Since we have Biblical texts that pre-date Islam, that match what we have today, we know that today's scriptures are the same as they were in and before Muhammad's time.
- Allah in the Qur'an is 'verifying' both the Taurat and Injil; telling Christians and Jews to check their specific scriptures to 'judge by what Allah has revealed.'
- Both the Jews and Christians were literate peoples who knew their scriptures.
- Qur'an 2:79 when read in context clearly states that the illiterate people were writing the book 'with their own hands' and claiming it was from Allah. Since the people of the Book were literate, these verses are not referring to them.
The Qur'an never says the physical scriptures of the previous revelations are corrupt (since we have precluded 2:79). If the previous scriptures are not corrupt, what do we do if the Qur'an contradicts the message of the Bible? Let's see what the Qur'an tells you to do:
Qur'an 2:79 is not referring to the previous scriptures
External Links
- How does Islam view the Bible? - Answering Islam
- Islamic Claims that the Bible is Corrupted - Calculated Risk