Islamic view of the Bible: Difference between revisions

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In Islam, the Bible is held to reflect true unfolding revelation from God; but revelation which had become corrupted or distorted in its handing down (in Arabic: tahrif); which necessitated the giving of the Qur'an to Mohammed, to correct this deviation.

Specifically, the Qur'an identifies books known as the Tawrat (the Torah, or perhaps the entire Hebrew Bible), the Zabur (the Book of Psalms), and the Injil (the Gospels, or perhaps the entire New Testament) as genuine divine revelations taken from the same Guarded Tablets as the Qur'an itself and brought by true messengers to both Jews and Christians respectively. Together with the Qur'an itself, and the now unknown Suhuf-i-Ibrahim ("Scrolls of Abraham"), these make up the ketub, the Islamic holy books. Belief in the divine inspiration of all of these books is one of the fundamental tenets of Islam.

The Qur'an's relationship to earlier books

Muslims believe in progressive revelation, that the revelation of God (Arabic: Allah) changed with time and different groups of people. Thus, the Qur'an specified that the Injil abrogated the Tawrat and the Qur'an abrogated all the other books. (It is silent in regard to the Zabur, but Muslims infer that the Zabur was abrogated by a successive revelation.)

As an example, while the Qur'an acknowledges that the Torah prohibited working on the Sabbath, the Qur'an allows working and overrules it. In Muhammad's earlier years it was revealed to him, "O People of the Book! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Torah, (and) the Gospel." Qur'an Surah 5.68. It was believed that their conversion to Islam would begin by devoutly following the earlier holy books.

Islamic view of the Torah

The Qur'an mentions the Torah directly or indirectly at least a dozen times. ("The Koran", Dawood, Penguin Classics, London, 1999 pp. 43, 47-48, 50, 84-85, 87, 91, 121, 145, 275, 362, 337-338, 391, 393)

Islamic view of the Book of Psalms

The Qur'an (Surah An-Nisa 4:163) states "and to David We gave the Psalms". Therefore, Islam confirms the Psalms as being inspired of God.

Islamic view of the Gospel

The Qur'an mentions the Gospel twelve times.

Biblical prophecy of Muhammad

Certain passages in the Bible have been interpreted by some Islamic scholars as prophetic references to Muhammad, ^[1] such as Deuteronomy 18:15-22.

Mention of Parakleitos (English translation commonly "Comforter") in John 14:16, 15:26, 16:7 and John 18:36 have been taken to be prophetic references to Muhammad. Christian scholars, on the other hand, tend to interpret Parakleitos as the Holy Spirit. ^[1]

Similarly, the Spirit of truth mentioned in John 16:12-14 has been interpreted as a prophetic reference to Muhammad.^[1]

The Gospel of Barnabas conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins.

Qur'anic references to other persons in the Bible

Aaron, Abel, Abraham, Adam, Cain, (King) David, Disciples of Jesus, Elias, Elisha, Enoch, Eve, Ezra, Goliath, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Jesus, John the Baptist, Jonah, Joseph, Lot, Mary mother of Jesus, Moses, Noah, Pharaohs of Egypt, (King) Saul, Solomon, Zacharias ("The Koran", Dawood, Penguin Classics, London, 1999 Index)

^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Abdus Sattar Ghauri (September 2006). "Muhammad foretold in the Bible: An Introduction" Renaissance 16 (9). ISSN 1606-9382.
^ (1999). ["The Koran" ] Penguin. ISBN 0-14-044558-7.

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 Similarly, the Spirit of truth mentioned in  John 16:12-14 has been interpreted as a prophetic reference to Muhammad.<ref name="Ghauri" />
-The [[Gospel of Barnabas]] conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins]].
+The [[Gospel of Barnabas]] conforms to the Islamic interpretation of Christian origins.
 ==Qur'anic references to other persons in the Bible==