Islamic holy books
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Islamic holy books are the texts which Muslims believe were dictated by God to various Islamic prophets throughout the history of mankind. All these books, in Muslim belief, promulgated the code and laws of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an, the final holy scripture, was sent because all the previous holy books had been either corrupted or lost.[1] Nonetheless, Islam speaks of respecting all the previous scriptures in their original forms. Belief in all the revealed books is an article of faith in Islam and a Muslim must believe in all the scriptures to be a Muslim. The four books are the Tawrat, Zabur, Injil and Quran. The Torat was sent to Musa (Moses), the Zabur was sent to Dawood (David), the Injil was sent to Isa (Jesus) and the Qur'an was sent to Muhammad.
Major books
The Qur'an mentions at least three main Islamic scriptures which came before the Qur'an by name.
- Tawrat (at-Tawrāt): According to the Qur'an, the Tawrat was revealed to Moses,[2] but Muslims believe that the current Torah, although it retains the main message,[citation needed] has suffered corruption over the years, and is no longer reliable. Moses and his brother Aaron used the Torah to preach the message to the Banu-Isra'il (Children of Israel). The Qur'an implies that the Torah is the longest-used scripture, with the Jewish people still using the Torah today, and that all the Hebrew prophets would warn the people of any corruptions that were in the scripture.[3]
- Zabur (az-Zabur): The Qur'an mentions the Zabur, often interpreted as being the Book of Psalms, as being the holy scripture revealed to King David. Scholars have often understood the Psalms to have been holy songs of praise.[4] The current Psalms are still praised by many Muslim scholars,[5] but Muslims generally assume that some of the current Psalms were written later and are not divinely revealed.[citation needed]
- Injil (al-Injil): The Injil was the holy book revealed to Isa, according to the Qur'an. Although many lay Muslims believe the Injil refers to the entire New Testament, scholars have pointed out that it refers not to the New Testament but to an original Gospel, written by God (Arabic الله Allah: see God in Islam), which was given to Isa.[6] Therefore, according to Muslim belief, the Gospel was the message that Isa, being divinely inspired, preached to the Children of Israel. The current canonical Gospels, in the belief of Muslim scholars, are not divinely revealed but rather are documents of the life of Isa, as written by various contemporaries, disciples and companions. These Gospels, in Muslim belief, contain portions of Isa's teachings but don't represent nor contain the original Gospel, which has been corrupted and/or lost, which was a single book written not by a human but by God.[7]
Other texts of the Prophets
The Qur'an also mentions two ancient scrolls and another possible book:
- Scrolls of Abraham: The Scrolls of Abraham are believed to have been one of the earliest bodies of scripture, which were vouchsafed to Abraham,[8] and later used by Ishmael and Isaac. Although usually referred to as 'scrolls', many translators have translated the Arabic suhuf as "books".[9] The Scrolls of Abraham are now considered lost rather than corrupted, although some scholars have identified them with the Testament of Abraham, an apocalyptic piece of literature available in Arabic at the time of Muhammad.
- Kitab of Yahya: There is an allusion to a Kitab or Book of Yahya[10] (who is also known as 'John the Baptist'). It is possible that portions of its text appear in some of the Mandaean scriptures such as the Genzā Rabbā (German translation available here) or the Draša d-Iahia "The Book of John the Baptist" (text; German translation). Yahya is revered by the Mandaeans and by the Sabians.
- Scrolls of Moses: These scrolls, containing the revelations of Moses, which were perhaps written down later by Moses, Aaron and Joshua, are understood by Muslims to refer not to the Torah but to revelations aside from the Torah. Some scholars have stated that they could possibly refer to the Book of the Wars of the Lord,[11][page needed] a lost text spoken of in the Old Testament or Tanakh at Numbers 21:14.
See also
References
- ^ Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, Cyril Glasse, Holy Books
- ^ Qur'an 53:36
- ^ Qur'an 5:44
- ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Psalms
- ^ Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary; Martin Lings, Mecca; Abdul Malik, In Thy Seed
- ^ Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary, Appendix: On the Injil
- ^ Encyclopedia of Islam, Injil
- ^ Qur'an 87:19
- ^ Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'an; Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary
- ^ Qur'an 19:12
- ^ Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur'an: Text, Translation and Commentary