The Prophet Isa (Jesus, peace be upon him)

Islamic Ruling Regarding the Present Gospels"

The prophet I`sa was given a book (the Injeel) from Allah, but the present gospels, chronicles and epistles are certainly not the Injeel referred to by the Holy Quran and so they are not as such, acceptable to the Muslims. The Islamic Ruling regarding the whole Bible i.e. Pentateuch, other bodies of the Old testament, the Gospels and the rest of the new testament is that any Biblical statement which is in line with the Quranic teaching will be acceptable and what is not in confirmation with the Quranic Revelation will be rejected by the Muslims.

Any statement about which the Quran is silent, the Muslims will also remain silent, the Muslims will neither accept it nor reject it, they will also remain silent upon it.

Allah Almighty has addressed his prophet Muhammad in the Holy Quran with these words;

"To thee we sent the Book (Quran) in truth confirming what came before it of the book, and assuring it’s safety, so jury between them by what Allah has revealed, And follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee." Quran[5 : 48]

"And this is a book (Quran) where set down bringing blessings, and confirming (the revelations) which came before it." Quran [6:92]

The word used in verse 5:48 is "Muhaymin" which signifies that the Quran is the one who judges, and according to the exegesis of some exegetes, who have defined it as "Almusaddiq", it signifies that the Quran bears witness of its truthfulness.

The Quran is a guardian, a witness bearer and a support for the past revelations. The Quran is also the judge, in the sense that the statements of the past scriptures will be judged by the Quran, which will differentiate between that which is divine and that which has been fabricated and added to it, by way of accepting what is in conformity and in line with the Quranic Judgment, and excluding what is not.

Imam Qurtubi has stated that every Muslim scholar who has examined the Torah and the Evangel has certainly refused to recognise the authenticity of these books, as stated by Maulana Kiranwi in his famous book ‘The Truth Revealed’.

Imam Al-Qurtubi said in his book Kita`bul A'Lam Bima` Fi Deenin-Nasara Minal Fasa`di Wal Awha`m, that the present gospels, which are called evangelicals, are not the same evangelicals which the prophet Mohammad alluded to with the words :

"And Allah revealed the Torah and the Evangel for the guidance of the earlier people." Then Imam Qurtubi put forward the argument that the disciples of Jesus were not Prophets, hence not protected from impurity, and the miraculous events ascribed to them have not been proved by an unbroken chain of reporters. They are only statements made by isolated reporters, and there is no indication that the copiers were protected from wrong report, and therefore the possibility of error and fault from them cannot be overlooked. We also do not find any indication that the copies of these gospels are free from serious manipulations.

Al-Qurtubi has added that it is evident from the above statement that the present gospels have not been authenticated by means of a chain of transmission. The presence of the above two factors deprives the gospels of their divine character, authenticity and hence their reliability. The proven presence of human manipulation within the text of these gospels is enough to prove their unacceptability.

Thus it is apparent that the present gospels and the Pentateuch cannot be trusted and that neither of them are capable of providing divine guidance to man, because no historical chain of transmission can be adduced in favour or support of their authenticity.

As the holy prophet Muhammad said :

"Why do you go to the People of the book, the Jews and Christians, to seek injunctions about the Shari’a while your book, the Holy Quran, revealed to Muhammed, the prophet of Allah, is the latest and purest revelation of God. You recite it in its original form. Allah Almighty has told you that the Jews, have changed the Pentateuch, the Book of Allah, having written it with their own hands. They started saying that it was from Allah, only to gain little amount of money in return. Does your knowledge not prevent you from asking them questions!" Another version of this Hadith as cited by Imam Bukahri with a different ‘Isnad’ (chain of narrators) is as follows: "O Muslims! Why do you ask the People of the Book questions regarding anything when your own Book is the Word which God has revealed to your Prophet, Muhammed (Peace be on him). It is the latest, new , pure, original, free from mishandling. Allah has declared in his book that the people of the book have changed and distorted their books. They have written them with their own hands and claimed that they come from God, (they did so) only for a small amount of money. Does the knowledge which has come to you not prevent you from seeking guidance from them? No, by God! We have not seen them asking you about what has been sent to you. Why then do you ask them knowing that their books have been distorted." Imam Bukhari has stated the following statement of the companion Mu`a`wiyah(may Allah be pleased with Him)regarding Ka`b al-Ahba`r (an expert on the Bible and a scholar of Islam):

"Although he was one of the most truthful of those scholars of Hadith who sometimes report traditions from the People of the Book, we have nevertheless found falsehood in them, i.e. reports of the Bible."

This implies that the falsehood found in those reports was due to the fact that those books had been distorted, not Ka`b al-Ahba`r’s mis-statement, because he is considered one of the righteous scholars of the Bible by the Companions of the Prophet. The phrase, "We have found falsehood in them," clearly denotes that the Companions of the Prophet had the belief that all the Judeo-Christian books had been distorted.

Every Muslim scholar who has examined the Torah and the Evangel has certainly refused to recognise the authenticity of these books.

We have cited several contradictions and discrepancies on different occasions in this book to show that these books have been subject to great changes and distortions in their texts. The condition of other books of the Christian theologians can well be imagined in the light of the distorted texts of the Jeudo-Christian scriptures, books of such prime importance to them.

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