Herein we continue, from a series found here, gleaning from Dr. William Campbell’s book The Qur’an and the Bible in the light of history and science and will conclude that, ironically, if we trust the Qur’an aka Koran then we can be certain that 1) the Bible is accurate and 2) the Qur’an is discredited. To see how such an odd conclusion plays out, read on.
The following are “Verses where Muhammad actually quotes or appeals to the Torah and/or the Gospel”: The Star (Najm) 53:33-38,
“Do you (Muhammad) see the one who turns back? Gives a little, then hardens (his heart)? What has he knowledge of the unseen so that he can see? Nay, IS he not acquainted with what IS in the books of Moses and of Abraham who fulfilled his engagements? – namely that no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another.”
The Poets (Al-Shu’ara’) 26:192-197,
“Verily this is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The Spirit of faith came down upon your heart with it that you might be one of the warners in the plain Arabic tongue. And truly it IS in the Scriptures (Zubur) of the former people. IS it not a sign to them that the learned of the Children of Israel RECOGNIZE it.”
Ta-Ha 20:133,
“They (the Meccans) say, ‘Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?’ What! Has not a clear sign come to them in what IS in the former pages (al-suhuf al-aulla )?”
According to Baidawi’s commentary on this verse – The “former pages” refers to “the Torah and the Gospel and all the divine books.”
The Prophets (Al-Anbiya’) 21:7,
“And before thee (Muhammad), We sent no one, except men, to whom We granted revelation. ASK (plural) the people of the Scripture message, if you don’t know.”
The Prophets (Al-Anbiya’) 21:105,
“Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): ‘My servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.’”
This is a direct quotation from Psalm 37:29 which reads, “The righteous shall inherit the earth and dwell therein forever.” When considered with the preceding quotation from the same Sura (21:7), it is clear that, according to the Qur’an, God is quoting from the Psalms as still present and true at the time of Muhammad.
Gold Adornments (Al-Zukhruf) 43:44-45,
“The (Qur’an) is indeed a message for you (Muhammad) and your people, (all of) you shall be brought to account, and ASK those of our apostles whom we sent before thee, ‘Did We appoint any deities other than the Most Merciful whom they should worship?’”
According to Baidawi, Jelaleddin, and Yusuf Ali, “ask those of our apostles whom we sent before thee” means enquire of their people – those learned in their writings and doctrines. Therefore those writings and doctrines were clearly available in Muhammad’s time.
Jonah (Yunus) 10:94,
“If you (Muhammad) are in doubt regarding that which We have revealed to thee, ASK those who READ the book from before you…”
The Bee (Al-Nahl) 16:43-44,
“And We have not sent before you (Muhammad) other than men to whom we granted revelation. And (all of you) ASK the people of the (Scripture) Message if you don’t know.”
The Children of Israel (Bani Isra’il) 17:101, 107-108,
“To Moses We gave nine clear signs. ASK (O Muhammad) the Children of Israel…Say, ‘Whether you believe in it (the Qur’an) or not (O Meccans), it is true that those to whom knowledge came before it, when they hear it recited unto them fall down upon their faces worshiping… and it increases their humility.”
There are also “Verses stating that the Jews refused the Qur’an and tried to change it, or concealed verses in their own Torah and threw its meaning behind them”:
The Cattle (Al-An’am) 6:89-92,
“These were the men (the prophets from Noah to Jesus listed in verses 84-86) to whom We gave the Book, and authority, and prophethood: if these reject the same, We shall entrust their charge to a new people who do not reject it… and they do not estimate God with a just estimation, when they say, ‘God has not revealed anything to man.’ Say, ‘Who sent down the book, which Moses brought, a light and a direction to mankind? You make it upon sheets of paper which you show and conceal much: and you are taught that which you knew not, neither your fathers’ … And this book We have revealed, blessed, attesting to (the truth of) that which IS between his (its) hands (the Torah), and that you might admonish the mother of cities and all around her.”
The Prophet Hud (Hud) 11:110 (same idea in 10:93),
“And verily We gave Moses the book, and they (the Jews) fell to variance regarding it. And had not the word gone forth from thy Lord, surely the matter had been decided between them; and verily they are in perplexing doubt concerning the same.”
Gleaned from The Heifer (Al-Baqara) 2,
“O children of Israel!… believe in what I (God) reveal, attesting to (the truth of) that which IS WITH YOU (the Torah), and be not the first to reject faith in it, nor sell my signs for a small price… and do not clothe truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth while you know it… Do you command righteousness for people and forget yourselves, and yet you STUDY the book… What! Do you believe in part of the book and reject part? Whosoever among you does this, his reward shall be none other than disgrace in the present life and in the Day of Judgement they shall be cast into a more awful torment… And when there comes to them a Book from God, attesting to (the truth of) that which IS WITH THEM (the Torah)… they refuse to believe in it…miserable is the price for which they have sold their souls…He (Gabriel) brings it (revelation) upon thy heart, attesting to (the truth of) that which is between his (its) hands (the Torah)… and when there came to them an apostle from God, attesting to (the truth of) that which IS WITH THEM (the Torah), a faction (fariq) of those to whom the Book came threw away the Book of God behind their back as though they didn’t know (what was in it)… Or do you say that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes were Jews or Christians? Say, ‘Do you know better than God?’ Ah, Who is more unjust than those who conceal the witness which they HAVE from God?… The people of the Book know this as they know their own sons; but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know… Those (of the Jews) who conceal the clear (signs) and the guidance after we made it clear to the people of the Book, on them shall be God’s curse…
Those who conceal what God revealed in the Book and purchase with it a small profit, they shall eat naught but fire in their bellies…”
The Family of ‘Imran (Ali ‘Imran) 3:69-71, 75, 199,
“A section (Ta’ifa) of the People of the Book desire to lead you astray. But they shall not lead astray any but themselves and they do not perceive. Ye People of the Book! Why do you reject the signs of God, and you yourselves are witnesses. Ye People of the Book! Why do you clothe truth with falsehood, and conceal truth, and you yourselves HAVE knowledge… Among the People of the Book are some who, if entrusted with a hoard of gold, will (readily) pay it back; others, who if entrusted with a single silver coin, will not repay it unless you constantly stand demanding…
And there are, certainly, among the People of the Book those who believe in God, and in that which has been revealed to you (plural), and in that which has been revealed to them, bowing in humility to God. They will not sell the signs of God for a miserable gain. For them is a reward with their Lord, and God is swift in account.”
Beyond all of the accusations, note that, as William Campbell puts it:
…the Qur’an testifies that they have the Torah WITH THEM; and attests to the truth of the Torah “which is between its hands” (in its presence). The Jews “HAVE a witness from God”; they “are witnesses”; they “HAVE knowledge”; and they STUDY the Book”. This can best be summarized by looking again at quotation, from the Sura of the Heifer (Al-Baqara) 2:40-44, from 2 AH.
“O children of Israel!…believe in what I (God) reveal, attesting to (the truth of) that which IS WITH YOU (the Torah), and be not the first to reject faith in it, nor sell my signs for a small price… and do not clothe truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth while you know it… Do you command righteousness for people and forget yourselves, and yet you STUDY the book…in all of these verses there is no statement from God that even unbelieving Jews changed the written words of their Torah…
Thunder (Al-Ra’d) 13:43,
“And those who disbelieve say, ‘You (Muhammad) are not sent.’ Say, ‘God is sufficient as a witness between me and you, and also he who HAS the knowledge of the book.’”
The Heights (Al-A’raf) 7:156-157,
“And I will write down (my mercy) for those who are righteous and give alms and who believe in our signs; who follow the apostle, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in the Torah and the Gospel that IS WITH THEM.”
The Heights (Al-A’raf) 7:159, 168-170,
“Of the people of Moses there is a group (umma) who guide with truth and judge by it…He broke them (the Jews) up into sections on this earth. Some of them are righteous, and some of them are not. We have tried them with blessings and with adversities in order that they might return to Us…What! has there not been taken from them the covenant of the Book, that they should not say of God other than the truth, and they diligently STUDY that which is therein… As to those (Jews) who HOLD FAST by the Book and observe prayer; verily We shall not detract from the reward of the righteous.”
The Heifer (Al-Baqara) 2:113,
“The Jews say, ‘The Christians are not (founded) upon anything.’ And the Christians say, ‘The Jews are not (founded) upon anything.’ And yet they READ the Book”
The Family of ‘Imran (Ali ‘Imran) 3:23, 79, 93-94,
“Do you not see those to whom a portion of the Book came. They were called to the Book of God (Torah) that it might judge between them. Then a party of them turned aside and declined…It is not for a man to whom is given the Book and wisdom and prophecy that he should then say to people, ‘Be worshipers of me in place of God.’ But rather, ‘Be true teachers (rabbaniyin), since you teach the Book and you STUDY it earnestly’…All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for itself before the Torah was revealed. Say, ‘BRING the Torah and READ it, if you are men of truth.’ If any, after this, invent a lie and attribute it to God, they are indeed transgressors.”
The commentators refer this verse to various incidents, but they agree that a dispute was submitted by the Jews to Muhammad for arbitration. He proposed to these Jews to determine the question by actual reference to their Scriptures, but they refused and went away.
The Women (Al-Nisa’) 4:60,
“Have you (Muhammad) not seen those who fancy that they believe in that which hath been revealed unto thee, and in that which has been revealed before thee? They desire to go for a mutual decision unto the Taghut (an idol); yet verily they have been commanded (in the Torah) to disbelieve therein, and Satan desires to deceive them into a wide deception.”
The Victory (Al-Fath) 48:29,
“On their faces (of the Muslim believers) are their marks, the traces of their bowing (in worship). This IS their likeness in the Torah; and their likeness 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, and delights the sower.” This seems to be a definite allusion to Jesus’ words as recorded in Mark 4:26-28 which reads:
“and he said, ‘This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground… all by itself the soil produces grain – first the blade, then the head, and then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe he puts the sickle to it because the harvest has come.’”
The Table (Al-Ma’ida) 5;46, 48,
“But why do they (the Jews) come to thee for decision, when they HAVE the Torah in which IS the command of God…We ordained therein for them (the Jews): ‘Life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for tooth, and wounds equal for equal.’ But if any one REMITS the retaliation by way of charity, it IS an act of atonement for himself. And if any fail to JUDGE by what God has revealed, they are wrong-doers.”
Within this same Surah “the Jews of Medina are warned, ‘if any fail to JUDGE by (the Torah) … they are wrong-doers’ and by verse 5:50 “And let the People of the Gospel JUDGE by what God has revealed in it. If any fail to judge by what God has revealed, they are licentious.” Then by 5:68-71,
“If only the People of the Book had believed and been righteous, we should have blotted out their sins and admitted them to gardens of bliss. If only they had performed the Torah and the Gospel and all that was revealed to them from their Lord, they would have eaten from above and from under their feet. Among them is a People (umma) on the right course, but evil is that which many of them do… Say, “O People of the Book! You are not (founded) on anything until you PERFORM the Torah and the Gospel, and what was revealed to you from your Lord.”
Women (Al-Nisa’) 4:136,
“O ye who believe! Believe in God and His apostle, and the book which He has sent to His apostle and the book (Torah) which He sent down from before.”
William Campbell sums this portion up by noting:
In the above verses there is a continuing testimony to the presence during Muhammad’s lifetime, of a true Torah and Gospel, recognized by the Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
He also points out that commentator Ibn Ishaq, references a Hadith regarding the above quoted The Table (Al-Ma’ida) 5:68-71,
“Rafi son of Haritha and Salam Ibn Mashkum and two others, came to Muhammad and said to him, ‘O Muhammad! do you not claim to be a follower of the religion of Abraham and of his faith, and do you not believe in that which we have of the Torah and do you not testify that it is truly from God.’ “He replied, ‘Yes, in truth, but you have invented new doctrines, and you deny that which is therein regarding which a covenant was taken from you; and you conceal what you have been commanded to show to mankind. Therefore, I separate myself from your new ideas.’ “They said, ‘And as for us, we hold by that which is in our hands, and we follow the truth and guidance; and we do not believe in you and we will not follow you.’
“Then the great and glorious God revealed, ‘Say, O People of the Book! You are not (founded) on anything until you perform the Torah and the Gospel and what was revealed to you from your Lord.’”
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