Mar Elias Evangelisation

1. The Quran witnesses that the Holy Bible is given by God

«Then in the footsteps of the prophets, We sent Jesus, son of Mary, confirming the Torah revealed before him. And We gave him the Gospel containing guidance and light and confirming what was revealed in the Torah—a guide and a lesson to the God-fearing.» (Quran 4:46)

The Quran witnesses that the Holy Scriptures were given directly by God. First the Torah (Quran 5:44, 2:87, 12:2, 21:48, 23:49, 25:35), the Psalms (Quran 17:55, 4:163, 35:25), the Prophets (Quran 3:184, 16:43, 21:25, 4:163, 5:70, 21:7), the Gospel (Quran 5:46, 57:27) and the Bible altogether (Quran 6:156, 29:46, 35:25, 3:184).

«If you are rejected by them, so too were messengers before you who came with clear proofs, divine Books, and enlightening Scriptures [literally: enlightening Book].» (Quran 3:184)

«If they deny you, so did those before them. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs, divine Books, and enlightening Scriptures [literally: enlightening Book].» (Quran 35:25)

This establishes from the Quran itself the divine origin of the Holy Bible, that it came from God and that it was inspired by Him.

2. The Quran testifies that the God given Scriptures cannot be corrupted

«It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and it is certainly We Who will preserve it.» (Quran 15:9)

The Quran witnesses that the Scriptures which were inspired by God are impossible to corrupt: They cannot be changed ‘tabdeel’ nor altered (Quran 10:64, 18:27, 6:34). The Quran even says that inspired Scriptures are protected by God from corruption (Quran 15:9). In this verse as in many others, the word ‘ḏikr’ (meaning remembrance or reminder) is used to refer to the Quran itself; but the same word is used to refer to the Holy Bible in two other verses (Quran 16:43 and 21:7).

3. The Quran testifies that the Bible was uncorrupted at the time of Muhammad

«So let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it. And those who do not judge by what Allah has revealed are ˹truly˺ the rebellious.» (Quran 5:47)

The Quran admits that the Bible was preserved uncorrupted in its original state just as it was inspired, and that the Christians and Jews of Muhammad’s time had it in their hands. For example:

1. The Quran asks the Christians to “judge” ‘yaḥkom’ according to the Gospel (Quran 5:47).
2. It asks the Jews to “judge” according to the Torah (Quran 5:43, 5:44, 5:45, 3:93).
3. It asks both Jews and Christians to “uphold” ‘tuqimu’ the Scriptures (Quran 5:68).
4. The Quran asks the Muslims to “believe” ‘āminu’ in the “book” ‘kitāb’ which was “descended” before Muhammad’s time (Quran 4:136).
5. It commands Muhammad and the Muslims to follow the “guidance” of the Jews and Christians (Quran 6:90) and to “ask” ‘fasʾalou’ them if they [the Muslims] “did not know” ‘la taʿlamun’ (Quran 16:43, 21:7, 10:94). One verse even asserts that Muhammad couldn’t find any “clearer” (literally: better guiding, ‘ahda’) book than the Torah and the Gospel! (Quran 28:49)
6. It witnesses that the Christians and the Jews knew the text of the Holy Bible and they “recited” it as it was given to them by God (Quran 2:121). It even states that they “knew it” ‘yaʿrifunahu’ as they knew their children! (Quran 2:146, 6:20)
7. It witnesses to the truthfulness of the Bible at the time of Muhammad (Quran 2:41, 2:89, 2:91, 2:97, 2:101, 3:3, 4:47, 5:48, 6:92, 10:37, 12:111, 35:31).

Why would the Quran encourage Muhammad and the Muslims to “ask” the Jews and Christians for “guidance”? Or even command Christians to “judge by the Gospel”? Would not this mean that Quran is assuming that the Jews and Christians had the same books which God himself inspired? Otherwise it is meaningless that the Quran asks them to “follow” non-existent scripture, or scripture which had already been corrupted. One wonders, if the Bible was truly changed and corrupted, and if the deity of the Quran knew about this corruption, should not the Quran have warned Muhammad and the Muslims? But what we find instead is the complete opposite: The Quran affirming the Holy Bible in every possible way: inspiration, preservation, authenticity, reliability, correctness and authority. This is undisputable evidence that the Quran is a witness that the Holy Bible was preserved unchanged even during the life of Muhammad who came six centuries after Christ. Let us keep in mind that the Bible was compiled in a single book in the year 382 AD; two full centuries before Muhammad’s birth; and that it is mentioned by name as “the book” ‘kitāb’ (Quran 2:146, 6:156). In fact, Jews and Christians are referred to throughout the Quran and the Islamic world as the “people of the book” ‘ahl al-kitāb’(Quran 2:105, 2:109, 3:64, 3:69, 3:70, 3:72, 3:98, 3:99, 3:110, 3:113, 4:123, 4:159, 4:171, 5:15, 5:19, 5:65, 5:68, 29:46, 57:29, 59:2, 59:11, 98:1, 98:6).

1. The Holy Bible comes from God.
2. God’s revelation is impossible to corrupt.
3. The Bible was preserved from corruption at the time of Muhammad.

The first group contains 5 verses. These verses might be quoted by Muslim activists and removed from context to give the impression that they prove the “corruption” of the Bible. But such verses either talk about “corruption” by “a party of the Jews” only, not all Jews:

«Do you ˹believers still˺ expect them to be true to you, though a group of them would hear the word of Allah then knowingly corrupt it after understanding it?» (Quran 2:75)

«So woe to those [Jews] who distort the Scripture with their own hands then say, “This is from Allah”—seeking a fleeting gain! So woe to them for what their hands have written, and woe to them for what they have earned.» (Quran 2:79)

«Some Jews take words out of context and say, “We listen and we disobey,” “Hear! May you never hear..”» (Quran 4:46)

«Nor those among the Jews who eagerly listen to lies, attentive to those who are too arrogant to come to you. They distort the Scripture, taking rulings out of context, then say..» (Quran 5:41)

Or they mention “distortion” by “some” of “the people of the book”:

«There are some among them who distort the Book with their tongues to make you think this ˹distortion˺ is from the Book—but it is not what the Book says. They say, “It is from Allah”—but it is not from Allah. And ˹so˺ they attribute lies to Allah knowingly.» (Quran 3:78)

Indeed, such charges must be done by a party, otherwise the Quran risks contradicting itself according to what we stated earlier.

The second group of verses contains 4. It talks about “concealing” the truth either by “a party” of the Jews:

«And they [some Jews] have not shown Allah His proper reverence when they said, “Allah has revealed nothing to any human being.” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Who then revealed the Book brought forth by Moses as a light and guidance for people, which you split into separate sheets—revealing some and hiding much?» (Quran 6:91)

Or by “a party” of the “people of the book” meaning Jews and Christians:

«Those We have given the Scripture recognize this ˹Prophet˺ as they recognize their own children. Yet a group of them hides the truth knowingly.» (Quran 2:146)

«O People of the Book! Why do you mix the truth with falsehood and hide the truth knowingly?» (Quran 3:71)

Or it refers to “hiding the book” by a party of the Christians:

«O People of the Book! Now Our Messenger has come to you, revealing much of what you have hidden of the Scriptures and disregarding much.» (Quran 5:15).

Whichever case, it certainly does not generalise on all Jews or Christians. The fact that the language of the Quran mentions “hiding”, or “concealing” means that the accused people had the original uncorrupted Scriptures, which we have clarified earlier.

The last problematic verse says:

«But for breaking their covenant We condemned them and hardened their hearts. They distorted the words of the Scripture and neglected a portion of what they had been commanded to uphold. You ˹O Prophet˺ will always find deceit on their part, except for a few. But pardon them and bear with them. Indeed, Allah loves the good-doers.» (Quran 5:13)

But this verse is about the Jews; not about the Christians. Earlier verses witness that the Torah has indeed been preserved, this would mean that the only explanation to this verse is that the “distortion” was done by a party of the Jews, according to the claim.

In conclusion, the Quran witnesses not only that the Holy Bible comes from God; but it admits that it was preserved from corruption during the life of Muhammad; and that it is impossible to corrupt since it is God’s revelation. All corruption accusations are directed to certain “parties” either of the Jews or other groups heretical. In fact, and as the Orthodox Coptic Fr. Zakaria Botros says: There isn’t a single verse in the Quran which accuses the Christians with distorting or corrupting the Bible whether in its words or meanings (interpretations). If some Muslims misunderstand what they considered a holy book, how much less do they understand others’ Holy Books! To settle the question we asked in the introduction regarding stoning: Christ came to “fulfill” the law, and through it reveal the true identity of God, which is love and compassion. Therefore it was unfair for the woman to be put to death, rather she was given another chance: “Go and sin no more”. Amen.

Appendix: Historical Background

Historically, the Bible was put together at the Council of Rome (382 AD). We have 3 complete ancient Biblical manuscripts of the whole Bible all of which predate Muhammad: Codex Sinaiticus (325 AD), Codex Vaticanus (400 AD) and Codex Alexandiris (500 AD). Together with thousands of earlier 2nd, 3rd and 4th century parchments and papyruses: 5000 Greek, 10000 Latin, 9300 in Syriac and other languages; quotes from church fathers and non-Christian sources form an rich tree of sources in which the Holy Bible was preserved. This forms the foundation of the Holy Bible which we have today, and which is a part of Holy Apostolic Tradition. All predating Muhammad. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).