THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE TORAH AND THE GOSPEL

God has carefully watched over the unfolding of His Book with all wisdom and sagacity. Those who examine the Old Testament can see that the divine Scriptures themselves reveal that it took shape in three periods on history.

First period: Adam to Moses

The Sacred Scriptures, inspired by God, inform us that God gave a command to Adam, and that He brought animals and birds to him to see what he would call them (Genesis 2:15-19). But this passage does not say how God spoke to man in the beginning. Therefore most of us resort to conjecture and imagination when passing judgement on sacred history, forgetting that millions of years separate us from the events recorded in the first passages of the book of Genesis.

We are not sure when God began his revelations to mankind, but the contents of the Bible help us to come to a conclusion. Enoch, mentioned in the fifth chapter of Genesis, was, according to Jude the apostle, a prophet in the seventh generation after Adam. The Bible says that Enoch walked with God. There in so doubt that this prophet and some information about the past and, according to the genealogy of the Bible, he knew Adam and spoke with him. Methuselah, Enoch's son survived till the time of Noah, and was righteous in his generation and walked with God.

Unquestionably Noah, who preached righteousness and truth, passed on the sacred news to the generations after the flood (2 Peter 2:5).

Shem, Noah's son, lived till the time of Abraham (Genesis 10:21 and 11:10,26). The Bible tells us that accounts of the sacred news were communicated to Abraham. In Galatians 3:8 we read the following, The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blesses through you.' This verse assures us that Abraham had clear information about previous events and that he in his turn passed on what he knew to his sons. In Genesis 18:19 we read, I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him. It is evident from this text, that continuity of communication between Abraham and Moses was not hard to achieve.

Second period: The generations of Moses

Beginning with the book of Exodus, a chronicle of events was recorded in detail in the holy Books in agreement with God's command to Moses to do so. Therefore we read, The Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it' (Exodus 17:14).

In fact we know that He (Moses) took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people (Exodus 24:7), and that at the Lord's command Moses recorded the stages in their journey (Numbers 33:1). We also read that, After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, he gave the command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 'Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you' (Deuteronomy 31:24-26).

Third period: Joshua to Malachi

God said to Joshua, Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it (Joshua 1:8). And Joshua recorded these words in the Book of the Law of God (Joshua 24:26).

Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord (1 Samuel 10:25).

Towards the end of the era of kings, during the reign of Josiah the king, the reading of the Holy Scriptures by Shaphan the scribe at the command of Hilkiah the High Priest caused a revival (2 Kings 22:8-13).

Isaiah the prophet, called upon his people to go back to the Word of God and recite it, affirming its infallibility. He said, Look in the scroll of the Lord and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together (Isaiah 34:16).

The prophet Jeremiah was commanded by God to place his prophecies on record, saying, Take a scroll and write on it all the words I have spoken to you concerning Israel, Judah and all the other nations (Jeremiah 36:2).

The prophet Daniel testified to the Holy Scriptures in his prophetic book, when he said, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years (Daniel 9:2).

In the reign of Artaxerxes, the king of Persia, both Ezra and Nehemiah devoted themselves to the law of Moses that the Lord God gave to him. The Bible says, For Ezra had devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord (Ezra 7:10). In the book of Nehemiah we read, All the people assembled as one man in the square before the Water Gate. So... Ezra brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read from it from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate (Nehemiah 8:1-3).

And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: 'This is what the Lord Almighty says, 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another...' But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets' (Zechariah 7:8-12).

Malachi spoke of the Bible, which he called a scroll of remembrance, in the following words: Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name (Malachi 3:16).

The foregoing make it obvious to us that the Lord God watched carefully over the development of His Holy Book throughout the generations, inspiring His holy men to write down their prophecies and teachings for the good of mankind. And such a living God, after inspiring His laws, would see to it that these laws are preserved in accordance with His will and promises.

God's prophets and apostles testified that God spoke to them and inspired them to write their prophecies and teachings to be an eternal law for mankind. We quote some of their testimonies below.

David said, The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me; his word was on my tongue (2 Samuel 23:2).

Isaiah said, Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:7,8).

Look in the scroll of the Lord and read: None of these will be missing, not one will lack her mate. For it is his mouth that has given the order, and his Spirit will gather them together (Isaiah 34:16).

Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: 'What do you see, Jeremiah?' 'I see the branch of an almond tree,' I replied. The Lord said to me, 'You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled' (Jeremiah 1:11,12).

Ezekiel said, At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me' (Ezekiel 3:16,17).

The Lord Jesus told His disciples, For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you (Matthew 10:20).

The apostle Paul said, We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truth in spiritual words (1 Corinthians 2:12,13).

The apostle Peter said, For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, 'All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever' (1 Peter 1:23-25). No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20,21).

History tells us that the religious scholars who were contemporaries of the apostles and those who succeeded them in ministering to the church, quoted from the Bible, especially from the Gospels, in their sermons and works because they were convinced that the books were divine and inspired by God, and therefore incorruptible. We mention some below.

Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, who died in the year 100 AD.

Hermas who wrote a book in three volumes containing many quotations from the New Testament.

Ignatius, appointed Bishop of Antioch 37 years after Christ's ascension.

Polycarp, the Martyr, disciple of the apostle John and Bishop of Smyrna. He was martyred in the year 166 AD. Only one of his writings survives, a letter full of citations from the four gospels.

In addition to the above, there are also church fathers of the second century AD who quoted from the Bible to support their teachings. These include:

Papias, Bishop of the church in Hierapolis in Phrygia, known as a gifted scholar about the year 110 AD. He met Polycarp and wrote a commentary of six volumes on the Bible. He said that the gospels in Greek were circulating in the churches, and testified that Mark, the writer of the gospel, was a companion of Peter and that his gospel was in circulation among the Christians.

Justin, the Martyr, born in 89 AD, was a heathen philosopher before his conversion, but his search after the truth led him to Christianity. This celebrated thinker wrote many books in defence of Christianity and based his defence on the four gospels. In one of his books he mentions that he visited the churches in Rome, Alexandria and Ephesus and noted that the Christians worshipped by reading aloud from the gospels in their churches.

Hegius, who became prominent 30 years after Justin. His testimony has great importance, as he travelled from Palestine to Rome and met many bishops. He relates that he saw Christians in every place teaching one doctrine, based on the law, the prophets and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Irenaeus, of Greek origin from Asia Minor, was born in the year 140 AD. He was a disciple of Polycarp, who in turn was a disciple of the apostle John. The centre of his work was in Lyon where he was ordained bishop, succeeding Bonitus, who was martyred in 177 AD. He wrote an epistle full of quotations from the gospels. In one passage he says, We have not received salvation from any other source than from those who communicated the gospel to us, which they preached and later wrote by the will of God to be the foundation and pillar of our faith. For after Christ's resurrection from the dead, God endowed the apostles with the power of the Holy Spirit, and they came to know everything about the gospel fully well. They went to the ends of the (then known) world, carrying to mankind the good news of the grace of heavenly peace. Everyone of them carried God's gospel.

Matthew wrote his gospel to the Jews when Paul and Peter were in Rome preaching the gospel of peace and founding the church here. After their departure, Mark, disciple and companion of Peter, wrote his gospel which is the substance of Peter's preaching. Luke the physician and companion of Paul, wrote his gospel in accordance with the teachings of Paul. After this, John, the disciple of Christ, who leaned upon Christ's breast, wrote his Gospel while in Ephesus.

This eminent scholar added, The teachings which the apostles handed down spread throughout the world. All who seek after the truth find that every church guards these teachings and considers them holy.

He also said, It is possible for us to remember those whom the apostles appointed as leaders of these churches, and those who succeeded them, up to the present day; and, thanks to this uninterrupted chain of authority, we have received the narratives found in the church and the teachings of the truth as preached by the gospels.

Clement, Bishop of Alexandria, lived 16 years after Irenaeus. He testified that all the churches believed in the four gospels. This meticulous scholar cited the gospels in his teachings and writings and said the four gospels were authentic.

Tertullian was born in 160 AD and died about 220 AD. This scholar wrote of the apostles: John and Matthew teach us faith, Luke and Mark, their companions, refresh and inspire us. After enumerating the churches which Paul founded in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi and Thessalonica, and the churches which were founded by John, and the church of Rome founded by Peter and Paul, he said, The four gospels have been used by the church from the beginning. He also said, We Christians meet together to read the Holy Scriptures and nourish our faith, raise our hopes and affirm our trust through the holy word.

It follows from the foregoing that:

Among the treasures which the Christians preserve there exist ancient manuscripts, the history of which dates back many generations before the advent of Islam. These include the following:

The Alexandrian Codex, named after the city in which it was written. It holds first rank among the three manuscripts. It was presented to King Charles I of England by Cyril Lucar, patriarch of Constantinople in the year 1628 AD. Cyril had brought it with him from Alexandria, of which he had formerly been patriarch. It is written in Greek and contains all the books of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments. On the first page, in the margin, a note indicates that the whole book was copied by the hand of a noble Egyptian lady named Taqla, about the year 325 AD. Patriarch Cyril commented on this marginal note with his own hand, that this date was correct in his opinion. The manuscript was written in plain standard writing on parchment, with each leaf divided into two columns, each column consisting of fifty lines. It is till on display in the British Museum in London.

The Codex Vaticanus, so named because it is kept in the Vatican library. It is written on a very beautiful parchment in small plain standard script. There are three columns in each page, each consisting of 42 lines. The codex includes all the books of the Bible in Greek language. Scholars believe it was written about the year 300 AD.

The Codex Sinaiticus, rivals the Vatican Codex in antiquity, and is possibly a little older. It is of great importance in comparing texts. It was named the Sinai Codex owing to its discovery on Mount Sinai, by the German scholar Tischendorf in the monastery of St. Catherine in the year 1844. It is written in a large plain standard script on vellum, with four columns to each page, and shows evidence of great age. It was presented by the discoverer to Tsar Alexander of Russia, and remained in Russia until the Bolshevik revolution, when it was sold to the British Museum in London, where it is still kept.

The Ephraem Codex is kept in the National Library of Paris and contains all the books of the Bible in Greek language. It is written on parchment in fine script without spacing or signs. The first letter on each page is bigger than the rest. It was probably written about 450 AD.

All these ancient manuscripts give an answer to the claim of the Qur'an that the Holy Scriptures are corrupted and show that they are authentic, for they were written before the Qur'an. The copies in our hands today do not differ in any way from the ancient copies.

Excavations and the discovery of ancient scrolls have therefore confirmed the authenticity of the Bible in a remarkable way. It is remarkable that the divine book could agree with history in such detail. We anticipate that other discoveries will still be made. Scholars are working hard on excavations, and everything points to the fact that there is no ground left to stand on for the critic or the objector to the New Testament and its traditional dating. Undoubtedly such agreements between these discoveries and texts of the Bible present the strongest proof for the authenticity of divine inspiration and the integrity of those who recorded it.

The archaeologist Dr. Albright says, By right of the discoveries at Qumran, we can be sure that the New Testament is the same today as when it was first written and contains the teachings of Christ and His disciples. The date of writing goes back to the period between the years 25 and 80 AD.

From ancient times the Holy Scriptures have been subjected to the attacks of atheists and infidels, because God's word was incompatible with their thoughts. Many of them tried to find in the ancient remains and inscriptions something conflicting with the Holy Scriptures, but discoveries proved disappointing to them. Inscriptions discovered by archaeologists in Palestine and Mesopotamia confirmed what is recorded in the Bible to an extent that many atheists turned believers, because the ancient inscriptions which have been discovered, have testified to the genuineness of the biblical texts.

It was common belief among archaeologists that writing was not used in Palestine before the year 540 BC, which meant that Moses and other men of the Old Testament did not themselves write the books ascribed to them. Sceptics claimed that the writers of the Torah had grossly exaggerated in the events and extent of culture in the Near East, in view of discrepancies between their books and the findings of ancient historians.

However, modern discoveries have refuted these theories totally, as they have confirmed the authenticity of the divine books in their records of civilisation in Egypt, Babylon and Syria, and confirmed what is said about Sennacherib, Tiglath Pileser, Nebuchadnezzar and others.

We rejoice that these discoveries have offered us the opportunity of seeing tablets on which are inscribed the letters which were used by Moses and Joshua, Isaiah, Samuel and others, and that we are assured that writing was known at the time of Abraham, Moses, Job and Nehemiah as in our days.

We are happy that the words of Christ, that stones will speak, have been fulfilled in our generation. Indeed they have spoken through inscriptions engraved on them recording most of the important events mentioned in the Bible.

The Qur'an testifies to the authenticity of the divine Scriptures. Those who read it are astonished by its plain testimony, which is so clear that it does not need interpretation. This witness is repeated in a number of Suras including the following:

Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and light, by which the prophets who surrendered, pass judgement for the Jews, and the rabbis and the priests by such of Allah's Scriptures as was entrusted to them and thereunto they are witnesses (Sura Al-Ma'ida 3:44).

And we caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was revealed before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was revealed before it in the Torah a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off evil (Sura Al-Ma'ida 5:46).

And unto you we have revealed the Scriptures with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and watcher over it. So judge between them by that which Allah has revealed therein (Sura Al-Ma'ida 5:48).

In the first verse the Qur'an testifies to the authenticity of the Torah; that it is the right guidance against error and a light to reveal matters by which the prophets shall judge, in accordance with such of God's Book as was entrusted to them, and to the trust of which they were witnesses. In the second verse is a statement that Christ confirmed the Torah to be true and that His gospel, which is guidance, light and admonition, confirmed that which preceded it in the Holy Books. In the third text, the Qur'an affirms that it was revealed to Muhammad, confirming whatever scripture came before it, and that he was a guardian of it, enjoined to judge by what God had revealed in it, in support of the Torah and the Gospel.

In endorsing the Torah and Gospel, the Qur'an goes on to exhort their adherents to carry out the teaching therein, and in this respect says, Say: O People of the Scriptures; You have no (guidance) till you observe the Torah and the Gospel and that which was revealed unto you from your Lord (Sura Al-Ma'ida 5:68).

The Qur'an also exhorts the believers of the Gospel to uphold the judgement contained in their book and described those who neglect this as iniquitous. It says, Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has revealed therein. Whoso judges not by that which God has revealed, such are licentious (Sura Al-Ma'ida 5:47).

O you who believe: Believe in God and His messengers, and the Scripture which He revealed aforetime. Whoso disbelieves in God and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers and the Last Day, he verily has wandered far astray (Sura Al-Nisa' 4:136).

From the foregoing it has become clear that:

The Qur'an recognises the competence of the Bible to rightly assess things in the spiritual realm, when it says to Muhammad: How come they unto you for judgement when they have the Torah, wherein is contained the commandment of God? Yet even after that they turn away. Such (folk) are not believers (Sura Al-Ma'ida 5:43). This verse shows that those who uphold the commandments of the Bible have no need to resort to any other book to be judged by. Whereas those who turn away from the Divine Book, after knowing the truth contained therein, are described as unbelievers.

Say (unto them, O Muhammad!) Then bring a scripture from Allah that gives clearer guidance than those two (that) I may follow it, if you are truthful (Sura Al-Qasas 28:49). This verse instructs Muhammad on what to say to those who reject his message as they rejected that of Moses before him, i.e. to bring a scripture from God giving clearer guidance than the Bible and Qur'an.

And we sent not (as our messengers) before you other than men whom We inspired. Ask the followers of the Remembrance if you know not (Sura Al-Nahl 6:43). The Jalalan commentary says that: 'The followers of the Remembrance' are those learned in the Torah and Gospel. If you do not know that, they do and you are to believe them more than the believers of Muhammad (Jalalan, page 357).

In fact this verse is a clear testimony that the apostles of God and his prophets who wrote The Remembrance did so by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Alongside other verses we cited, this verse affirms that the Qur'an considers our Bible as guidance, a light, a remembrance, the command of God and His inspiration. God commanded the Muslims to ask us about that which they do not know. Is this not a clear admission from the Qur'an that our holy books are authentic and therefore uncorrupted?

They agree with the testimony of the apostles of Christ as to the authenticity of the Bible and its inspiration. The devoted apostle Paul said, All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16,17).

This is why Christians accept the Old Testament which was completed about the year 400 BC. The Jews divided it into three parts:

With regard to the books of the New Testament, scholars are unanimous that they were written and compiled while many of Christ's followers, who had heard Him and seen Him, were still alive. The New Testament consists of the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the letters of Paul, the letters of Peter, the letters of James, John and Jude, and the book of Revelation.

This is a summary of the contents of the Bible inspired by God through His saints. God has guarded it with the greatest care. He chose faithful men to write down His revelations, and likewise to translate them into the languages of the world. There is no doubt that its circulation today, in approximately one thousand and four hundred languages and dialects, proves that God has been watchful over His word and guards it forever.

Indeed nations will come and go, languages will die out and the world will change, but the precious Bible will live forever, because it contains the message of God for every man and woman, boy and girl, at all times and in all places: I mean the message of salvation through Jesus Christ which is for all, be they black or white and of all races and languages. There is living power in God's Book, which gives power to all who accept Jesus Christ as saviour by faith, to become the children of God.

Having covered the foregoing points, we feel entitled to ask those who claim that the Bible has been corrupted for scientific and historical proof as to the period when such corruption took place.

If they say it happened before Christ, we put it to them that Christ had testified to the authenticity of the Holy Scriptures, in the following instances:

Christ's apostles, too, followed the example of their master by citing the Old Testament prophecies in support of their writings. When relating the death of Judas Iscariot for instance, they said, For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it', and, 'May another take his place of leadership' (Acts 1:20 and Psalms 109:8).

When they spoke of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost they explained, This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your son and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy' (Acts 2:16-18 and Joel 2: 18,19).

Is it possible that Christ and his inspired apostles should try and confirm their apostleship and teachings by quoting from corrupted Scriptures and then exhort people to read them and keep their commands? Who would dare say that Christ and His apostles had no knowledge of such corruption and therefore quoted from it in ignorance? If anyone, of any belief, ventures such a claim, he would be discrediting the authenticity of inspiration to the apostles and prophets and, consequently, attributing to God negligence in guarding His Scriptures. Moreover, such a discrediting claim would expose the Qur'an most, because it contains many texts testifying to the authenticity of Holy Scriptures.

But if those who claim the corruption of the Bible, say that it was the Jews who interfered with the text of the Old Testament after Christ's era, the answer would be that it is impossible. All Old Testament books were in the hands of Christians and if the Jews played with the idea of meddling with them, the Christians would have exposed them.

If those who claim Corruption say that the Christians corrupted the Bible, our reply is that such an attempt is unlikely; and, if perchance, they did corrupt it, could there not have been an outcry from the Jews against the Christians?

And if the believers in corruption claim that both Jews and Christians conspired and played into each other's hands to corrupt the Bible, they would find themselves ridiculed, because the Jews who have been opposed to Christianity from the beginning, and who denied the coming of Christ are not likely to come to terms with Christians.

Supposing such an impossibility should have taken place, would not the Jews have insisted on cutting out all references which glorify Christ or speak of his divinity, and all the prophecies which speak of Him and His incarnation and miraculous birth together with the other prophecies of his suffering, death and resurrection? Since all such texts which glorify Christ remain in the Bible, every claim in this context is null and void.

There is also another fact which those who claim corruption cannot dismiss: Since the dawn of Christianity the books of the Old Testament have existed amongst Jews and Christians in the same language in which holy men of God wrote. Scholars have carried out careful comparisons of copies preserved by both sides and found that they are in full agreement.

Moreover, we are entitles to ask those who claim corruption: When did such corruption of the Gospel take place? Was it before or after the Qur'an? If they say, before the Qur'an, then the Qur'an places them in a dilemma, because it commands Muhammad to seek help from those who read the Bible in order to eliminate any doubts, when it says, And if you (Muhammad) are in doubt concerning that which we reveal unto you, then question whose who read the Scripture (that was) before you (Sura Yunus 10:94).

Since God is omniscient, it is not in keeping with His majesty to refer Muhammad to those who read a corrupted book, in order to eliminate any doubts.

In testifying to the authenticity of the Bible, the Qur'an goes on, And unto you have We revealed the Scripture with the truth, confirming whatever Scripture was before it, and a watcher over it (Sura Al-Ma'ida 5:48). A watcher is a guard, and a guard is one who protects the books of God and its divine laws and truths.

If the alleged corruption took place after the Qur'an, then anyone claiming corruption is saying that the Qur'an has failed in its function as a guard. In other words, if the Torah and Gospel have been corrupted after the Qur'an, such a claim is a clear indictment of the people of the Qur'an for the neglect of the most important duty which the Qur'an was given. They should have at least kept one or more copies of the Torah and Gospel before they were corrupted, because guardianship necessitates the existence of something to be guarded.

The Christians have done this. When they saw in the Torah prophecies about Christ, their Lord, they made themselves guardians thereof and did their utmost to propagate them in the world to an extent that translations are available in 1400 languages today. Why have the Muslims not done the same, seeing they believe that the Torah and Gospel contain prophecies and evidences about Muhammad?

The following are some verses on the incorruptibility of God's Word:

The above collection of texts contains promises from God that no one can change his Word, for He revealed it and He guarded it.

Having covered this ground we feel we ought to ask this question: If a group of Muslims who observe the Qur'an in detail wanted to go the people of the Book to ask about some theological matters, and met on their way a group of those who claim corruption and said to them: We are on our way to the People of the Book, as the Qur'an bids us, to ask about some matters, would those who claim corruption dare say to them, Do not go, because their book is corrupted? If, by chance, they dared to say so, what would be the position of those believers? Would they believe those who claim corruption or would they believe the Qur'an which says, Ask the People of the Book if you do not know?

This first question leads us to another: How would those who believe in the corruption-theory fare, if sceptics who fed them with the idea of the corruption of the Torah and Gospel, hurled the same accusation against the Qur'an, and claimed it too was corrupted? What would they say and with what weapon would they face such sceptics after they have discarded the only weapon which God put into their hands, i.e. His promise that He upholds and guards His Holy Books from all distortion and corruption?

There is a third question: What attitude would the average Muslim who accepts the claim of the corruptionists take in the face of the following words of the Qur'an: Alif. Lam. Mim. This is the Scripture of which there is no doubt, a guidance, unto those who ward off (evil), who believe the unseen, and establish worship, and spend of what We bestowed upon them; and who believe in that which is revealed unto you (Muhammad) and that which was revealed before you, and are certain of the Hereafter. These depend on guidance from their Lord. These are the successful (Sura Al-Baqara 2:1-5). Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and that which the prophets received from their Lord. We makes no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered (Sura Al-Baqara 2:136).

How come that the Qur'an commands those who believed in what was revealed in it, that they should make no distinction between their Qur'an and Books which where before it, if the latter has been corrupted and changed? Would not such a claim of corruption be an indictment on the righteousness of God, His truth and integrity?

Take the truth from history: All who read history have learned that the Christians from the early apostolic era to the beginning of the fourth century AD suffered persecution and torture at the hands of the heathen and the Jews. They bore it with endurance, which astonished the whole world, especially their persecutors. This endurance sprang from their faith in the Holy Gospel and their devotion to its divine principles.

History tells us that they faced martyrdom with joy, out of love for Christ and in obedience to His command to them to be faithful unto death. Many of them brought on themselves the worst forms of persecution because they refused to deny Christ or reject His Gospel, preferring any kind of death to temporary enjoyment of life.

Open the records of Christianity and you will find mention of masses of witnesses who were tortured and would not accept deliverance because they looked forward to a better resurrection. Can anyone believe that the Christians, who made such great sacrifices, and endured suffering for the principles of the Gospel would venture to corrupt their Gospel?

Would the Christians allow anyone, no matter what his position, to change a single word of the Gospel of God, when they had that apostolic command which ways, But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! (Galatians 1:8).

I would like to ask everyone who claims corruption, what is the incentive of Christians to corrupt their Bible? Would such an incentive be more preferable to them than their eternal life? Their Lord and Redeemer, whom they worshipped with their spirit and blood and with everything they held precious, had sealed his covenant with them by a warning to them through His faithful apostle John which says, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life in the holy city, which are described in this book (Revelations 22:18,19).

If however the corruptionists claim that corruption took place after the Qur'an, their allegations are rendered untenable by the following facts:

Against this background, therefore, the claim that Christians conspired to alter the Gospel cannot stand. We are thus clearly entitled to pose a question to those who claim corruption and ask them to mention the time and place where such corruption took place, and the perpetrators thereof, and how it was that they reached agreement.

The world has never lacked honest historians who preserved writing chronicles of world events. Can anyone, therefore, mention the name of a historian, heathen, Jews or Muslim, who stated or even suggested that there ever was any conference between people of the world who embraced Judaism and Christianity, with differing beliefs and languages, where the act of perverting the Word of God was committed? Presuming this did take place would it not have occurred to anyone to preserve one or more (original) copies to stand witness to the collusion of the Jews and Christians?

Certainly, if such collusion did take place, it would have meant that the controversy between Jews and Christians had come to an end, at the cost of perverting the Law of God.

It is clear from the foregoing that the Qur'an recognises the Torah and the Gospel as the Word of God, and emphasises that the Word of God cannot be changed. If this double testimony is true, the conclusion follows that the Torah and the Gospel have not been corrupted, either before the Qur'an or after.

As a matter of fact, Muslim scholars in India, having examined this matter in detail in the light of the contents of the Qur'an, were convinced that the book of the Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testament, have not been changed, substituted or corrupted as is generally taken for granted; but there are indications that some of the Jews acted wrongly in their interpretations

These faithful scholars have based their convictions on certain comments by Muslim scholars on some texts of the Qur'an, such as those of Al-Razi, Al-Jalalan and Abu Ja'far Al-Tabari. We reproduce below some of these texts.

The following question may be appropriate here: Who was it among the Jews who 'corrupted' the Torah and in what era? Al-Razi says it was particularly the contemporaries of Muhammad who did so. But he observes, in volume three of his commentary to the Qur'an that 'corruption' meant casting vain doubts, reading into the text and misrepresenting the true meaning of words by false renderings, and resorting to verbal tricks, as was done by heretics throughout the ages with texts which conflicted with their particular views.

We are by no means defending the integrity of the Jews. But we do wish to make it known that the Jews did not dare to alter the text of the Torah, and this was not implied in the accusations of the Qur'an. Then there is something else we must point to here, and that is that the Qur'an never accuses Christians of distorting the Gospel.

In any case we put it to anyone who claims corruption of the Bible in its text or alleges that the true text of the Book is not available, that such an allegation is contradictory to the plain contents of the Qur'an, which testifies that the Bible is authentic and beyond falsehood. We have established that it is one of the Qur'an's main objectives to confirm the Bible.

Indeed, no one who believes in God and His Books and Messengers, dares to attribute to God, glory be to His name, the fact that He sent the Qur'an to authenticate a forged and distorted Book as for as the doctrines contained in it are concerned.

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