Belief in the Divine
Scriptures
Question 18:
You always say that the Old and New Testaments contain fabrications. Why then do you sometimes use them as
references when it is convenient for you?
Answer
18: I would like to clarify that Muslims believe that books were
revealed by God to His prophets; and among these are the Torah, the Gospels,
David’s Psalms, and the Qur’an and accounts of prophet Abraham’s life. Their belief in these reveations is a
fundamental aspect of islamic teachings.
Therefore, the Muslims believe that, generally speaking, the Torah and
the Gospels are divinely revealed. But
people who follow these revelations have introduced fabrications in them. God has revealed this fact to us in the
Qur’an. Therefore not all of the Bible
is fabricated. And not all that Jews and
Christians claim to be true of the Bible is wholly from God. As a result Islamic scholars have articulated
a sound position regarding these books which can be summerized as follows:
1.
Whatever is in acordance with the Qur’an, we believe in and quote for the
benefit of those who follow these scriptures.
2. Whatever contradicts the
Qur’an, we reject, knowing that it is a fabrication. We do not quote it, and do not believe in it.
3. We maintain silence over
what neither agrees nor contradicts Qur’anic teachings. This is due to our fear of refuting what may
be well true or accepting what might be false.
The
latter attitude is imposed by the teachings of the prophet (pbuh), who said:
“Do not give credence to what the people of the Book (Jews and Christians); and
do not refute it outright.” Therefore,
when we quote te Bible, we are in fact quoting what finds support in the
qur’an, and not arbitrarily.
Question 19:
Why do you believe that the divine reveltions were not preserved in the same
way that you claim the Qur’an was?
Answer
19: God made the preservation of earlier scriptures the
responsibilities of the followers of these books. God says: “…For to them was entrusted the
protection of God’s books, and they were witnesses thereto” (Holy Qur’an: 5: 44). But they were negligent of this; distorted
the books with their interpolations and the reversal of some facts. This is not a total loss, because God
intended another scripture whose teachings and principles will serve the good
of man and under all conditions.
God did not give the
responsibility of protecting the Qur’an to man.
He pledged to protect it Himself, knowing that this was the last
revelation to mankind. This is the
absolute necessity that it be preserved intact.
God says: “Verily, it is We Who have sent down the dhikr
(the Qur’an) and surely, we will guard it (from corruption)” (Holy Qur’an: 15: 9). Due to this divine pledge, the Qur’an has
been preserved. It is impossible for
anyone to do to the Qur’an what was done to previous scriptures.
Question
20: To what extent, do you think, are the present Gospels
authentic?
Answer
20: The present Gospels, as attested by Christian scholars, were
written by historians. They are
therefore not totally authentic. Parts
of these books are authentic, others are fabricated. The falsehood in them supercedes the truth,
espacially in those parts which deify Jesus Christ (pbuh) and
make him the son of God. The Muslim
accepts what is in accord with the Islamic teachings and rejects what
contrdicts them. He is silent over
aspects that are not clearly in agreement or disagreement with Islamic teachings.
Question
21: How can you tell a true religion from a
false one?
Answer
21: All the religions that God revealed through His prophets are
true. Any discernible corruption in
these religions is a result of human interpolation. People had been entrusted with the
preservation of these religions, but failed to fully care for this trust. We can mention here a few criteria that can
help distinguish a true religion from a false one.
1. Examine the core contents
of the religion both in terms of the foundational texts and how they have been
transmitted from generation to generaion.
See if there is internal consistency in the texts. Do the prescriptions of the religion uplift man
or oppress him?
2.
Examine the methods of transmission in terms of their reliability and the
claims of transmision.
3.
Look into the life of the founder of the religion (the prophet), if applicable.
4.
Look into the lives of the disciples of the prophet.
5.
Is the religion monotheistic or ploytheistic?
6.
Are the religion’s teachings in clear contradiction with known facts about the
world?
Question 22:
Can Muslisms read scriptures, other tha the Qur’an? Explain with regards to the prophet’s
position on this question?
Answer
22: The prophet (pbuh) once showed displeasure when he saw Umar ibn
al-Khattab reading the Bible. Umar asked
the prophet: “Sometimes we hear fine words from the Jews, can we write some of
these words?” The prophet replied: “Are
you confused about your religion, just as the Jews and the Christians are about
theirs? I have brought you a crystal
clear teaching. Had Moses been alive, no
doubt he would have been my follower.”[1] In the beginnig of the prophet’s mission he
disallowed his disciples from meddling with Torah for fear of confusing it with
the Qur’an, which was being revealed.
The Qur’an having, been completely revealed, the prophet told his
disciples to teach about the Jews. The
prophet says: “Do not believ the people of the Book or disbelieve them, but say
‘We believ in God and that which has been sent down to us (Holy Qur’an: 2:
136)’.”[2] The study of different sacred texts can only
strengthen a Muslim’s faith. What is
true in these faiths has been confirmed by the Qur’an; and falsehood in them
had likewise been made manifest in the Qur’an.
Question
23: Where in the Bible was the prophet’s name mentioned?
Answer
23: In John 14: 16. “And
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may
abide with you for ever” (John: 14: 16).
Parclete
means “Muhammad” or “Ahmad.” The
statement that the “Parclete will remain with us forever points to the eternal
validity of Muhammad’s religion, book and way of life. God vowed to protect and preserve them. This is what is meant by “He will remain with
you forever.”
Question 24:
Why did God reveal the Qur’an in Arabic, rather than in another
language? What is the wisdom behind this
choice?
Answer
24: It was God’s choice to reveal Qur’an in Arabic, just as it was
his choice to reveal previous scriptures in other languages. God does as He pleases. No one has the right to question His will; He
can question the actions of His creatures.
The wisdom behind the choice of Arabic to be the vehicle in which the
Qur’an was revealed can be summed up in the follwoing points:
1.
The prophet through whom the Qur’an was revealed was an Arab, and Arabic was
his language. How could God have
revealed to him a scripture in a foreign tongue?
2. The past people to whom the
prophet was sent were Arabs. Had the
book been revealed in other than their language, that would have given them a
pretext to reject it. They would have
accused him of absurd innovations and would have refused to heed his call.
3.
Arabic os best equipped to articulate the nuance of the revelatin.
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