mmirza@grumpy.eng.ohio-state.edu (Muhammad Mirza) (12/03/90)
In a question it was asked " Do Islamic people agree with Quran and
accept the Torah word for word? ...." . This is a very important
point, and needs some explanation. It applies to Injil (New Testament)
as well, because Quran confirms all the Scriptures which preceded it.
Quran itself has explained this statement in other verses, and Islamic
scholars have given elaborate answers about these questions. For the
benefit of interested netters, I am posting this information.
First let us see what Quran says about its relation with previous
Scriptures:
" Allah! He is Ever-living, the Sustainer of the Universe: In
reality there is no god but He. He has sent down to you the
Book (Quran), which has brought the Truth and confirms the
Scriptures which preceded it. Before this, He sent down the
Torah and the Gospel for the guidance of mankind, and He has
sent down the Criterion (of right and wrong, the Quran)." 3: 2-4
" Then, O Muhammad, We sent this Book to you which has brought
the Truth: it confirms whatever has remained intact from the
Book at the time of its revelation and safeguards and protects
it" 5:48
Now, we see what Quran specifically mentions about Jews and Christians:
" Allah had bound the Israelites by a solemn covenant, .......
Now they have become so degenerate that they distort the word
of the Scriptures so as to change their meanings completely:
moreover they have FORGOTTEN the major portion of the teachings
given to them ...............
Likewise We bound by a covenant those people, who said, "We are
Nasara (Christian)." But they, too, forgot much of what had been
taught to them." 5: 12-13
" O People of the Book, Our Messenger has come to you: he makes
manifest to you many things of the Book which you were concealing
and passes over many things. Light has come to you from Allah
and the Book (Quran) which guides to the Truth, whereby Allah
leads to the path of peace those who seek His pleasure and brings
them out of the depths of darkness ...." 5:15
Although, there and many other verses in Quran make it abundantly clear
what Quran implies by confirming the previous Scriptures. Here are the
main points:
1. Quran rightly claims that the people of the previous Books tempered
with the divine guidance, forgot most of it and added their own
interpretations to them. With the advent of the Last Messenger, the
final link between the Creator and the creation, it was mondatory
to revive that original message, part of which was still in the old
Scriptures, and complete the guidance for mankind (a natural
consequence of the finality of the prophethood), and preserve
the final message (Quran).
2. Naturally, the Torah which Quran confirms, is not the Pentateuch but
is contained in it, and the Injil is not " the four Gospels" but is
within these books. There is no way for man to find out himself what
the original message was, the Lord of the universe, sent His original
message through His last Prophet. Since the divine guidance did not
change with time, even today we can find many places in both old and
new testaments, which confirm the teachings of Quran.
3. The Quran supports and upholds these Books in the sense that it
corroborates the Words of Allah (God) which has remained intact in
them. It stands a witness because it bears testimony to the Word of
Allah contained in those Books.
4. However, the absolute yardstick for right and wrong is only Quran.
It helps to sort it out from the interpretations and commentries
of the people which were mixed with previous Scriptures, the true
Words of the Creature revealed to those Prophets.
5. If something is mentioned in the Taurah, but is not there in Quran,
we have guidance from our Prophet,"neither testify nor falsify."
However, if any such story is against the general teachings of Islam,
the Islamic Scholors have the right to point it out and reject in
on based on Quran and Sunnah (the methodology of the Prophet).
--
Me
The Ohio State University
Electrical Engineering Dept.
Room 204 Dreese Labs