First, I will explain what the Qur'an says and what Muslims are obliged to believe. Muslims believe the Qur'an to be the final written revelation from god, sent as a guidance to all humanity. About the Qur'an, Allah says:
[12:2] Surely We have revealed it-- an Arabic Quran-- that you may understand.And Allah also tells us that he revealed previous scriptures before this Qur'an:
[12:3] We narrate to you the best of narratives, by Our revealing to you this Quran, though before this you were certainly one of those who did not know.
[3:3] He has revealed to you the Book (Qur'an) with truth, verifying that which is before it, and He revealed the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) aforetime, a guidance for the people...So we can confirm that Allah claims his divinely authored revelations include, in chronological order:
[17:55] ...and certainly We have made some of the prophets to excel others, and to Dawood (David) We gave a scripture (Zaboor - Psalms).
[87:18 - 19] Most surely [these doctrines of Islam are] in the earlier scriptures, the scriptures of Ibrahim (Abraham) and Musa (Moses).
- The scriptures of Abraham (Suhufi Ibrahim)
- The scriptures of Moses - the Torah (Taurat)
- The book of David - the Psalms (Zaboor)
- The book of Jesus - the Gospel (Injeel)
- The book of Muhammed - the Qur'an
[4:47] O you who have been given the Book (Jews and Christians)! believe that which We have revealed (the Qur'an), verifying what you have (the Jewish/Christians books)...
[5:44] Surely We revealed the Taurat in which was guidance and light; with it the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged (matters) for those who were Jews, and the masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors, because they were required to guard (part) of the Book of Allah, and they were witnesses thereof;...
[5:46] And We sent after them [the prophets] in their footsteps Isa, son of Marium, verifying what was before him of the Taurat and We gave him the Injeel in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of Taurat and a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil).
[5:47] And the followers of the Injeel should have judged by what Allah revealed in it; and whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors.
[5:48] And We have revealed to you the Book (Qur'an) with the truth, verifying what is before it of the Book and a guardian over it, therefore judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their low desires (to turn away) from the truth that has come to you;...
[2:136] Say (O Muslims): We believe in Allah and (in) that which had been revealed to us, and (in) that which was revealed to Ibrahim and Ismail (Ishmael) and Ishaq (Isaac) and Yaqoub (Jacob) and the tribes, and (in) that which was given to Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus), and (in) that which was given to the prophets from their Lord, we do not make any distinction between any of them, and to Him do we submit.
But then, he also says that these books were altered, essentially corrupted and that parts have been changed, words have been altered, moved and/or hidden.
[4:46] Of those who are Jews (there are those who) alter words from their places and say: We have heard and we disobey...And after telling them to follow the old scriptures, Allah then requests them to follow the Qur'an and establishes the superiority of the Qur'an over the older scriptures by telling devout Jews and Christians, who believe that their books are perfect, that their books have been corrupted while the Qur'an is perfect, free from discrepancies and cannot be forged.
[5:13] But on account of their breaking their covenant We cursed them and made their hearts hard; they altered the words from their places and they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of; and you shall always discover treachery in them excepting a few of them; so pardon them and turn away; surely Allah loves those who do good (to others).
[5:14] And with those who say, We are Christians, We made a covenant, but they neglected a portion of what they were reminded of, therefore We excited among them enmity and hatred to the day of resurrection; and Allah will inform them of what they did.
[5:15] O followers of the Book! indeed Our Apostle [Muhammed] has come to you making clear to you much of what you concealed of the Book and passing over much; indeed, there has come to you light and a clear Book from Allah;
[5:68] Say: O followers of the Book! you follow no good till you keep up the Taurat and the Injeel and that which is revealed to you from your Lord; and surely that which has been revealed to you from your Lord shall make many of them increase in inordinacy and unbelief; grieve not therefore for the unbelieving people.
[5:69] Surely those who believe and those who are Jews and the Sabians and the Christians whoever believes in Allah and the last day and does good-- they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve.
[5:19] O followers of the Book (Jews and Christians)! indeed Our Apostle [Muhammed] has come to you explaining to you after a cessation of the (mission of the) apostles, lest you say: There came not to us a giver of good news or a warner, so indeed there has come to you a giver of good news and a warner; and Allah has power over all things.There are a number of problems with this message that the Qur'an puts forward. If you understand these issues you will have clear proof that the Qur'an is not a divine revelation and is not the word of god, because god cannot be ignorant of the past, should not make mistakes and must be truthful. The problems that arise will be discussed in brief detail and include:
[16:89] ...and We have revealed the Book (Qu'ran) to you explaining clearly everything, and a guidance and mercy and good news for those who submit.
[4:82] Do they not then meditate on the Quran? And if it were from any other than Allah, they would have found in it many a discrepancy.
[2:2] This Book, there is no doubt in it, is a guide to those who guard (against evil).
[11:13] Or, do they say: He has forged it. Say: Then bring ten forged chapters like it and call upon whom you can besides Allah, if you are truthful.
- The Missing Scriptures of Abraham
- The Torah as a Divine Book
- The Missing Injeel of Jesus
What we know about the person of Abraham is primarily from the Old Testament. Islamic sources that talk about Abraham are based on narrated stories and the Qur'an. Stories mainly recount his youth and tell us that his birth was hidden because a king of the time was told that a prophet would be born to replace him so he ordered all new born boys to be killed. The Qur'an [37:83+] tells us that as a youth he recognised god by looking at the stars, sun and moon and determining that they were created by a god through deductive reasoning, and god was so impressed he befriended him. Later, Abraham destroyed the idols of his town, leaving an axe in the chief idol, making him complicit in the crime, and then was rescued by god from execution by fire. No such stories about an evil king, Abraham destroying idols or being rescued from the fire are found in the biblical account.
In fact, very little if anything is mentioned about Abraham's youth in the bible and if the Torah was revealed by god then it would surely have contained stories from his early years to confirm the stories found in the Qur'an and other Islamic literature, yet it does not. It is strange how the god of the Qur'an, who we have established above also revealed the Torah, was unable to ensure these stories remained in the Torah, if they were ever in the Torah. Did those deceitful Jews [5:13] purposely miss those parts out? Or, perhaps they never were part of the original revelation for a reason known only to god?
The biblical account paints Abraham as a secluded old man who travels with his wife Sarah and her slave girl Hagar. The biblical account is somewhat brief. And we see him briefly crossing paths with his cousin Lot and negotiating with God before the eventual destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Both the biblical and quranic accounts tell how Sarah could not have a child so gave her slave girl to Abraham so he could have a son. The Islamic and Biblical accounts tell of Sarah's jealousy leading to Hagar being abandoned by Abraham in the Arabian desert to die with Ishmael - one of God's tests. Then the Qur'an retells the story of the bible - of God testing Abraham again by making him attempt to murder his only begotten son (accounts of which son differ). And then we are told that god changes his mind after all regarding Sarah and allows her to become pregnant and give birth to Isaac. The Qur'an tells us that Abraham built the Kaabah with his son Ishmael and it tells us that Abraham had scriptures revealed to him.
No mention of any scriptures of Abraham are mentioned in the Torah. Moreover, there is no mention of any scriptures being revealed to Abraham in the whole bible - Old and New Testament. One wonders why and how such an important scripture or knowledge of this scripture would be excised entirely from the Torah and the rest of the bible? We know that the Jews did not have such a book during the life of the prophet Muhammed or before because there is no mention of it anywhere. It is only the Qur'an that mentions it, oddly, and it's existence or non-existence is clearly of no consequence whatsoever, except that Muslims are obliged to believe it existed.
However, it does not make sense to believe in this missing book of Abraham because one can argue - why does god go to all the trouble of revealing a holy scripture in scriptural form, painstakingly written on parchment no doubt, and allow it to disappear entirely from existence leaving no trace, neither physical nor allegorical, behind? And then its existence would not be acknowledged in the divine scriptures after it - the Torah, Zaboor and Injeel - but only come up in the Qur'an? What, did the Jews and Christians also remove its mention from their books or did god deem it unimportant so didn't bother mentioning it in those later scriptures? And now, all of a sudden, it is mentioned in the Qur'an - but are we able to see, read or hear it? No? Then what was the point of it or of bringing it up? To which people was this supposed scripture revealed at the hands of the solitary nomad Abraham? And what purpose or significance does it serve to have it revealed as a scripture and then disappear into thin air later on? Why would god waste everyone's time? It really makes no sense.
2. The Torah as a Divine Book
According to the Qur'an [7:141+], the Torah was said to be divinely revealed by god after the Jews returned from the wilderness after 40 years of wandering and before the dietary laws were revealed [3:93]. It is not entirely clear when these revelations were sent according to the Qur'an but the Torah itself relates a series of events spanning 40 or more years of intermittent revelation. By then, Moses has already climbed up mount Sinai numerous times to receive several revelations and instructions as well as the "10 Commandments" tablets, but towards the end of his life he is finally given a complete book - the Torah. It is said the words were written on parchment by Moses himself.
That is the religious understanding of how the Torah was revealed to the Jews. The reality is much more complex and assuredly does not point to a glorious divine revelation. The Torah, also known as the Pentateuch or first five books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Duetronomy), contain numeric errors, mythological stories containing creation myths, great flood myths, giants, Jacob wrestling with god, prophets doing many immoral things like offering their daughters up for rape and getting drunk and having sex with them, people living for hundred of years, nudity, sexism, injustice, cursing, war, murder, genocide, rape, looting, slavery etc., that are sufficient proof that it could not be a divine revelation. Furthermore, after reading the book myself I was thoroughly shocked by how it portrays god so much so that I would have to agree with Richard Dawkins when he says:
"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." [The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins]
The language of the book is inconsistent and the text flows differently in different parts, as if it had multiple different authors. Words are used inconsistently indicating authors preferences for some words. Some parts are also repeated twice and there are inconsistencies between the versions, indicating that two different narratives have been combined into the book. Then there are clear influences in the stories of the Torah from other societies and legends present in the region at the time, so much so that some quotes are lifted word for word (see Noah's Ark blog post). And there are also clear numeric and continuity problems.
It comes as no surprise that modern-day researchers have held the divine authorship of the Torah to be highly doubtful or outright laughable. Most agree that the book was authored around 950-500BC based on earlier written and oral traditions around the time the Jews were exiled ending up in Babylon, Iraq. It reached its stable form nearer to 200BC. Many modern scholars believe it originated from four independent narratives edited by multiple authors over time. The prominent idea, Documentary Hypothesis, tries to explain how the book came to be via redactors and four sources: Yahwist, Elohist, Duetronomist and Priestly. Other ideas that build on this hypothesis are the Supplementary Hypothesis and Fragmentary Hypothesis. In none of these hypotheses is there any indication of the divine nature of the text as being the absolute word of god revealed to Moses. Instead it was a process of transcribing narrated stories resulting in a text full of repetition, numerical and continuity errors and differences in language and vocabulary. It is not a simple case of saying the book of Moses was "corrupted" as Muslims often repeat with ignorance. No, what Muslims have to understand is that it is an entirely different book!
It is clear that when Allah says in the Qur'an: [3:3] "He has revealed to you the Book (Qur'an) with truth, verifying that which is before it, and He revealed the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel) aforetime, a guidance for the people", then clearly he has no idea about the origin, contents of the book or what kind of 'guidance' the Torah contains. Allah also says: [5:13] "they [Jews] altered the words from their places and they neglected a portion", indicating he thinks the book they have is the same book supposedly revealed to Moses and all that has happened to it is that the Jews changed a few words and ignored some things in it. Allah even enjoins the Jews at the time of Muhammed to follow the book, saying: [5:68] "you follow no good till you keep up the Taurat". It is evident that Allah and his prophet had no idea about the contents of the book otherwise they would have been outraged by its depiction of god and his prophets. Instead we find Muhammed revering the Torah that the Jews at his time used:
"[Muhammed] placed the Torah on [a pillow] saying: I believed in thee and in Him Who revealed thee." [Hadith 38:4434, Sunan Abu Dawood]And if Allah were god and knew the past and the future and everything, then he would have surely known that the Torah in the hands of the Jews was not the same book he supposedly revealed to Moses. Instead, we find Allah repeating the same mythical stories as they might be told by Jewish parents to their children in the Qur'an with the occasional quote (e.g. 5:45), but it is evident there isn't an in-depth understanding or knowledge of what the Torah actual says. I plan to explain some of the differences between Judaism and Islam and their holy books that further demonstrates this disparity between what the Torah says and what Allah thinks it says.
3. The Missing Injeel of Jesus
In verse [5:46] of the Qur'an Allah says: "We gave him [Jesus] the Injeel in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of Taurat". In verse [3:3] it mentions it again with the Torah in the same sentence as being a revelation sent by god as a guidance for the people. It is then quite clear that the Injeel is a written scripture revealed to Christ. And Allah enjoins the Christians to follow the book and enjoin its teachings [5:68] and during the time of Muhammed he tells them to judge by its laws [5:46] "and whoever did not judge by [the Injeel] which Allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors". So it is clear that Allah fully recognises the Gospel and acknowledges that the book in the hands of the Christians at the time of the prophet Muhammed is the Injeel.
And here lies the problem - the book that is in the hands of the Christians at the time of Muhammed is the New Testament and NOT the gospel of Christ. The New Testament consists of some 27 very different texts written between 50 and 150 years after the birth of Christ and by the second century the four gospels of the New Testament had been established in all cannons of every church from then until now, and they are:
- The Gospel According to (Apostle) Matthew
- The Gospel According to (Evangelist) Mark
- The Gospel According to (Evangelist) Luke
- The Gospel According to (Apostle) John
So when the author of the Qur'an repeatedly says that the Injeel (Evangel/Gospel) was revealed to Christ as a guidance to the people, we are left wondering what book he is talking about and to which people? Allah clearly seems to think that the book in the hands of the Christians during the lifetime of Muhammed is the Injeel and orders them to live by it and enjoin its laws. But clearly, they do not have the Injeel and they must have thought Muhammed was telling them to follow the New Testament and I imagine they must have been happy he recognised their texts when, in fact, Muhammed and his god were mistaken about the identity of the book of the Christians. Clearly Allah and his prophet never read the books.
If Muslims go by what the Qur'an says is the Injeel - the word of god revealed to Christ and written down as scripture - then they must conclude that it was lost through the passage of time. It just disappeared! And if they do hold this view, then I can raise the same criticisms as the ones I made for the "Scriptures of Abraham". What is the point of revealing a scripture to believers in the new religion of Christianity and then suddenly having it disappear? How come no-one has ever heard of this scripture and it is not mentioned in any other books - how can it just disappear without a trace? To which people was it sent as guidance and why was this guidance later retracted? Why would god go to the time and effort to reveal a divine book and then have it disappear? Why does god waste everyone's time again and only mention the existence of this book in the Qur'an. And when he mentions it in the Qur'an why does he confuse it with the New Testament?
Conclusion
I have talked about the non-existing "Scriptures of Abraham" (Suhufi Ibrahim) and explained how they have no significance or purpose - only a passing reference in the Qur'an. I have talked about the Torah and how it cannot be the word of god as revealed to Moses but some far later conglomeration of Hebrew mythology. And I have talked about the Injeel, the missing Gospel of Christ, that Allah confused with the New Testament. I didn't mention the Zaboor, the Psalms of David, because to me and to the Jews it is just part of the Old Testament cannon and did not bring a new religion with it.
From what you have just read, you can see that Muhammed and his god have no idea of when these "holy" books were written, how they were collected together and by whome, and no knowledge of the text of any of them. It is evident Muhammed heard a few stories and quotes from the Jews and Christians and included some of these in the Qur'an as a means by which to attract them to his new religion, Islam. By portraying Islam as a religion that is accepting of Christianity and Judaism, accepting of the holy books of the Christians and Jews and claiming the Qur'an was revealed by the same god, Islam found a way to emotionally manipulate the ignorant and illiterate/unread followers of Judaism and Christianity into joining it. And the deception worked! Many people embraced Islam out of ignorance. If the Jews and Christians had actually read their books, understood their history and theology, they would never have accepted Islam. There is a clear contradiction between the three religions.
If Muslims actually read the old scriptures and think about what the Qur'an claims they say, they would not call the old texts "corrupted". Not because these books aren't corrupted, but because the word "corrupted" doesn't mean the same thing when you do not recognise these books as divine revelation and reject the idea that the Qur'an is a perfect divine revelation. I read the Old Testament when I was younger but was left with a nagging feeling in the back of my head for a long time after that because I subconsciously felt something was not right. Later on in life, when I looked again at the Torah, biblical history and the Qur'an again in more detail, I immediately recognised the disparity between the Islamic understanding of religion and the Jewish understanding. And the disparity between Islamic historical stories and established historical fact. I saw the contradictions of the Qur'an and the mistakes and manipulations of its author. It became obvious to me that had the author of the Qur'an been God himself, he would know everything about the Torah, Old Testament and the New Testament and what happened in their past during their collection and editing, and also what modern scholars would know about them in the future. If the author of the Qur'an was God, He would not have been confused nor would he have made mistakes about the nature of these books. In this article I have presented just a glimpse of this disparity and contradictions of the Qur'an and I hope you have begun to see it clearly now.
Links for further reading and study:
The Old Testament
Mosaic Authorship
Documentary Hypothesis
Development of the Hebrew Bible Cannon
The New Testament
Development of the New Testament Cannon
