The Christian and Islamic Scriptures
The Quran claims to be the next and final revelation in the Abrahamic tradition. That is, the religion of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Unlike the New and Old Testament that we have today, the Quran was revealed to only one person over a 23 year period. Over those years, according to Islamic tradition Muhammad told his followers these revelations who then wrote them down or committed them to memory. Shortly after Muhammad’s death, the Muslim community got together and constructed a single Quran and this is the Quran read today. That’s at least how the official story relates it. The Quran speaks of previous revelations from God given to Jesus and to Moses. According to the Quran, the Injeel(Gospel) was given to Jesus by God and the Taurat(Torah) was given Moses by God. When Christians hear the word Gospel, they think of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; when they think of the Torah, they think of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Quran on the other hand says that they were documents revealed to the two Prophets. One can reasonably assume that they were revealed in a way similar to the Quran was. The only difference is, that according to Muslims, the followers of Jesus and Moses never managed to preserve these revelations. Muslims view the Torah and the Gospel found in Christian Bibles to be corrupted though containing some fragments of truth from the original pristine revelation.
At this point, many Christian apologists look at this data and try to point out contradictions in the Quranic testimony. They say that there is no clear text that says the Taurat and the Injeel have been corrupted. They say that the Quran demands Christians to judge by the Injeel and therefore it cannot be corrupted. These arguments carry some weight but I prefer to take another approach.
The Quran has made a claim, let the Muslims prove it. As I have said in the past, the Quran is an ahistorical book. If the Quran simply filled out murky, ambiguous or empty areas of history, this would not be as big a problem. Instead it puts itself against firmly established history. The Torah and the Gospel are just one of many examples. If what the Quran said was true regarding the Taurat and the Injeel being revealed to Moses and Jesus was true, it should leave its imprint in history.
Absolutely none of the sources we have whether Biblical, historical or archeological, give the slightest bit of evidence that the Taurat and Injeel were revealed like the Quran was supposedly revealed to Muhammad. Mark 10:5 and John 5:46 testify to Moses having written the Torah. The Muslims may say that this is false but they are first century witnesses of the traditional view that was always held by Jews and Christians regarding the Torah. They have no evidence for their view. This is one of many places where the Quran tries to refute established history.
Muslim apologists would like Christians to abandon the Christian faith and embrace Islam. My question for them is the following:
Where is the evidence that the Quranic version of the Torah or the Gospel ever existed?
Let me shock you brother. There is not a single verse in the Quran that explicitly says the Taurat was given to Moses. Not one!
Hi Sam,
You would know better than I would but I’ve always assumed that Surah 5:44 relates this but when I look at it again, it’s not as clear. Verse 46 clearly says that Jesus received the Injeel though.
Either way, I think that most Muslims would believe that Moses received the Taurat. If they don’t, they are relieved of this burden but they still have to prove that their version of the Injeel even existed even though it was lost.
Have any Muslims ever tried to prove this? I know they’ll say that the Gospels that we have are fabricated but I don’t think I’ve come across a positive case for the existence of their Injeel.
Here are the verses in question:
Yet how will they make thee their judge seeing they have the Torah, wherein is God’s judgment, then thereafter turn their backs? They are not believers. Surely We sent down the Torah, wherein is guidance and light; thereby the Prophets who had surrendered themselves gave judgment for those of Jewry, as did the masters and the rabbis, following such portion of God’s Book as they were given to keep and were witnesses to. So fear not men, but fear you Me; and sell not My signs for a little price. Whoso judges not according to what God has sent down – they are the unbelievers. And therein We prescribed for them: ‘A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds retaliation’; but whosoever forgoes it as a freewill offering, that shall be for him an expiation. Whoso judges not according to what God has sent down — they are the evildoers. And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah before it, as a guidance and an admonition unto the godfearing. S. 5:43-46
The name Moses is nowhere to be found in the Arabic. It says the Torah was given to the Jews and the prophets judged by it since it is the book of Allah.
Now let me show you why this is important. A Muslim can no longer claim that the Quran only confirms the original Torah given to Moses since it never says the Torah was given to Moses, nor does it ever say that the Torah has been corrupted. What the Quran confirms is the Torah that was in the possession of both Christ and Muhammad, with that Torah being identical to what we possess to this day.
Therefore, even if Muslims want to argue that the Torah we have till this day is a patchwork of 4 different sources, i.e. the Documentary Hypothesis or JEPD theory, this still doesn’t prove their point. All this would prove is that the Quran is confirm that the Yahwist, Elohist, Priestly and Deuteronomist sources were revealed and inspired by God who then guided his prophets to combine and weave them together into one coherent whole.
Hope this makes sense.
Correction. JEPD should be JEDP. But you get the point.
It totally makes sense. I just always assumed that was traditional Muslim belief. I must have just read past this verse while reading orthodox Islamic theology into it.
It is true that regarding the Taurat and the Injeel, there is internal inconsistencies regarding where they’re from, if they’re still authentic, do the Christians and Jews possess them, etc. I just want to get to the source and ask if they can prove any of this – that an original Taurat or Injeel ever existed.
The greatest argument against Islam in my opinion is the fact that it is a polemic against history. You can believe in history or the Quran, not both. This is just one of many examples that can be brought up.
Assalamu Alaikum
I want to know why taurat and injeel was revealed by Allah before Quran. Ie why Allah not revealed quran earlier so that only this would be enough for every mankind without creating more books
Hello Shahab,
Thank you for taking an interest in this blog. This would be a good question for the Muslim readers of this blog.
As a Christian I don’t believe the Quran is from God and that the Taurat and Injeel as understood by Muslims today, never existed.
However, it’s an interesting question. If any of my Muslim readers want to respond, feel free.
Allan, thank you for directing me to this article. I have bad news for you- a Muslim apologist has responded to this challenge. But I also have good news- the Muslim is Ijaz Ahmad, notoriously sloppy and dishonest dawah-monger, so his “response” is just that- sloppy and dishonest. Enjoy:
https://callingchristians.com/tag/what-is-the-evidence-that-the-injeel-ever-existed/
Wow, that’s a weak article. In point #2 he simply just assumes what a prophet is without citing a source. In Islam, only Jesus, Moses and possibly King David received revelations, and we know what they are according to the Quran.
Jonah in the Bible or the Quran didn’t receive divine revelations. He just wanted to call others to return to the true God and repent. Similar situation with Elijah.
We know that the book of Jasher existed since it’s referenced in the OT, we just don’t know what it says. We have no knowledge of an “injeel” given to Jesus. Ijaz knows this.
Exactly my point. Notice how he brings up a pile of red herring while ignoring completely the main problem- there’s not a single shred of historical or archeological evidence that a book called Injil and containing Islamic teachings and prophecies about Muhammad existed during the time of Christ. And he confuses (in my opinion deliberately) the categories- proving that a revelation existed does not equal proving the existence of a book that contained the revelation, much less that the said revelation contained Islamic doctrines.
Just read that apologist and I’m speechless.