Are We Family?
The traditional teachings in Islamic societies have affected the attitude and perspective of many people towards the Gospel and the Torah. According to these teachings, the structure of the previous books sent by God has been changed and these books have lost their originality. Therefore, God had to send a new book to convey his true message. So, many Muslims thinks that because the Torah given to Moses was altered by the corrupted religious authorities after the death of Moses, the Gospel was sent with Jesus, and eventually, when the Gospel has been modified, God sent the Qur’an which is a universal book that contains all His commands and will not be changed forever. Many issues about this teaching can be discussed separately. But in this article, we will try to understand the perspective of the Qur’an, which is the source of Islam, about the Holly scriptures that preceded it. And again, it is not going to be a surprise to see the difference between the traditional teachings and God’s message.
First I would like to bring some more clearance to the existing situation. As briefly mentioned before, in Muslim societies, it is believed that the scriptures before the Qur’an are being changed. Therefore when a Muslim discusses with a Christian or a Jew on religion, he usually begins to list the contradictory verses within the Gospel and the Torah and tries to prove that those book has been modified. So it cannot be the message of God. Then they argue that the Qur’an is the only true message of God that contains no contradiction. However, it would not be so difficult for the non-Muslim interlocutor to find so-called “contradictions in the Qur’an” with superficial research done on the internet. Then the discussion becomes inextricable while all the parties try to defend their position and bring an explanation to the so-called contradictory verses. If the purpose is finding contradictions, it is possible to find contradictory statements in every text with a non-methodological examination. Therefore, in my opinion, this is not a healthy argument to be directed at people from other religions. However, if we look at the argument of the Qur’an in this regard, we are faced with a surprising situation. The advice of Qur’an to the Muslims about not discussing with the communities that the Gods message was given before (namely with those belonging to the Abrahamic religions and called “the people of the Book”) and acknowledging the messages sent down to them challenges the traditional perspective. In 29:46 it says;
“Do not argue with the people of the Book except in the best manner; except for those who transgress among them; and say, “We acknowledge what was sent down to us and what was sent down to you, and our God and your God is the same; to Him we also peacefully reconciled.” 29:46
As it is clear from the verse, according to the Qur’an Muslims should acknowledge the previous messages revealed by God. These revelations that were sent down to the people of the Book is also clearly stated in the Qur’an with the names of the scriptures and it is impossible for anyone who read the Qur’an to miss these sections;
“He sent down to you the Book (Qur’an) with the truth, authenticating what is in the hand; and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel (Injeel). Before; He sent down the Criterion as guidance for the people.…”3:3–4
“We have sent down the Torah, in it is guidance and light; the prophets who have peacefully reconciled judged with it for those who are Jews, as well as the Rabbis, and the Priests, for what they were entrusted of God’s Book, and they witnessed over it. So do not be concerned with the people but be concerned with Me, and do not trade away My signs/revelations for a cheap price. And whoever does not judge with what God has sent down, then these are the rejecters…..Then We sent in their footsteps Jesus, son of Mary, authenticating the Torah in his hands. And We gave him the Gospel, in it is a guidance and a light, authenticating the Torah in his hands, and a guidance and a lesson for the righteous. Let the people of the Gospel (Injeel) judge with what God has sent down in it. Whoever does not judge by what God has sent down, then these are the wicked ones.” 5:44–46
As you have seen, the Qur’an takes an affirming/authenticating position towards the Gospel and the Torah by saying they were also sent down by the same God rather than rejecting them. Moreover, it says that “the people of the Gospel” can make their judgment with their own book. This situation is not only special to the Gospel. There are verses in the Qur’an that also approves the validity of the Torah which presents while the Quran is being revealed. For example in verse 5:43 God criticize a group of Jews who asks Muhammad’s help to judge a conflict in their group;
“How can they make you their judge when they have the Torah, containing God’s judgment; then they turn away after that. They do not acknowledge.”5:43
These verses show that both Jews and Christians could follow the guidance of their books, the Torah and the Gospel, while making their judgment even though prophet Mohammed was among them and the Qur’an was being revealed. As you may notice, this situation present a contradiction with the todays doctrines that suggest the other scriptures are altered and therefore they are unreliable and should be rejected. In fact, from the Qur’anic perspective, those who do not follow the Books include the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an that were revealed by the same God are the rejecters. In the end they should be seen as the parts of a one coherent message which was sent down for all the people in the world. For example, in the following verse, God talks to Mohammad and says;
“Say, “O people of the Book, you are not upon anything until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel (Injeel) and what was sent down to you from your Lord.” For many of them, what was sent down to you from your Lord will only increase them in transgression and rejection. So do not feel sorry for the ingrates.” 5:68
Another example is the orders of God for the ones who acknowledge His message;
“O you who acknowledge; acknowledge the God and His messenger, and the Book which was sent down to His messenger, and the Book which was sent before. And whoever rejects God, and His angels, and His Books, and His messengers, and the Last Day; then he has strayed a far straying.” 4:136
So, do you think God would order people to acknowledge the previous Books and to uphold the Torah and the Gospel as well as the Qur’an if these previous books had lost their originality and value? It’s not very likely! The Qur’an repeatedly states that the Torah and the Gospel are guidance for the righteous people and contain the message of God. After all, the people who read carefully can see that all these books establish the same monotheistic understanding with the Qur’an. Moreover, there is nowhere in the Qur’an that claims God sends down new books because the previous ones have been destroyed or got lost. On the contrary, it points out the confirming and authenticating relationship between the previous books and the new message in such that the Gospel confirms the Torah and the Qur’an confirms both the Gospel and the Torah.
Then how did the problem start and what caused this today’s confusion that leads Muslims to believe that the previous scriptures are not reliable religious sources anymore? Was it because of the misinterpretation of some verses in the Qur’an? Was it due to political and social contentions? Was it related to the doctrines of some churches or some teachings of Jewish groups which was not in line with the Gospel and the Torah? Was it because of the meaning shift of some words from these scriptures and from the Qur’an that happens in time? Or was it some translation errors? If you are curious about finding answers to these questions you may wait for my next article or start doing your research and keep staying open-minded.
“This Qur’an could not possibly be authored by other than God. Rather it is to confirm what is in your hands and to give the details of the Book in which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the universes.” 10:37
Sources;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k2dbCiLGiA&list=PL3i5KcFB8YoT0qFFxO1mTvaKfPbEqea8v&index=9
