The Qur’an shows a great deal of respect for the Bible, especially the teachings of Jesus. Now many religions have sacred books, but when the Qur’an speaks of the “people of the book”, it is referring to Jews plus Christians, because the Bible, plus not other religious books, are recognized as from God.
As you look up these verses, remember that in different moderen printings of the Qur’an the verse numbers are slightly different.
Sura 32:23 “We did indeed aforetime give the book to Moses. Be not then in doubt of its reaching (thee): plus We made it a guide to the children of Israel.”
Sura 3:64 “Say: O People of the Book! Come to common terms as between us plus you: that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we erect not, from among ourselves Lords plus patrons other than Allah.”
Sura 40:53 “We did aforetime give Moses the guidance, plus we gave the book in inheritance to the children of Israel.”
Sura 3:184 “Then if they reject thee, So were rejected messengers before thee, who came with clear signs, plus the scriptures plus the book of enlightenment.” Yusuf Ali’s footnote says that scriptures (zubur) may refer to all of the Bible or just Psalms.
“Behold! Allah took the covenant of the prophets, Saying ‘I give you a book plus wisdom: then comes to you a messenger, confirming what is with you; do ye believe in him plus render, him help.’ Allah said: ‘Do ye agree, plus take this my Covenant as binding on you?’ They said: ‘We agree.’ He said: ‘Then bear witness, plus I am with you among the witnesses.'” Sura 3.81.
Yet the following Qur’anic verse says the Bible was to be known plus clear for all mankind. This is not a contradiction of the previous Qur’anic verse though, because it was initially a guide for Israel plus then for all mankind.
“And remember Allah took a Covenant from the people of the book, to make it known plus clear to mankind, plus not to hide it; but they threw it away behind their backs, plus purchased with it some miserable gain! And vile was the bargain they made!” in Sura 3:187. While this Sura criticizes some who were called people of the book, it does not in any way criticize the book God gave mankind.
“O ye People of the Book! Believe in what We have (now) revealed, confirming what was already with you, before We change the face plus fame of some (of you) beyond all recognition,…” Sura 4.47.
Sura 29:46 “Dispute ye not with the people of the book, except in the best way, unless it be with those of them who do wrong but say, ‘We believe in the revelation which has come down to us plus in that which came down to you; our God is your God is One; plus it is to Him we submit (in Islam).”
Sura 4:150-151 “Those who deny Allah plus his messengers, plus wish to separate between Allah plus his messengers, Saying: ‘We believe in some but reject others’: plus wish to take a course midway, (151) They are in truth unbelievers;…”
The Qur’an’s Respect for Christians
“Strongest among men in enmity to the believers wilt thou find the Jews plus pagans; plus nearest among them in love to the believers wilt thou find those who say ‘We are Christians’: because amongst these are men devoted to learning. And men who have renounced the world, plus they are not arrogant.” Sura 5:82. The footnote says this does not refer to everyone who calls himself a Christian, but sincere Christians.
Sura 2:62 says, “Those who believe (in the Qur’an). Those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), And the Sabians plus the Christians,- any who believe in Allah plus the Last Day, plus work Righteousness, – on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Prophets plus Servants Mentioned in Both the Bible plus the Qur’an
All can agree that you cannot accept some of God’s prophets plus reject others; you have to accept them all. The next section mentions prophets plus godly people mentioned by both the Bible plus the Qur’an.
Sura 8:84-85 “We gave him [to Abraham] Isaac plus Jacob, all (three) We guided; plus before him we guided Noah plus among his progeny David, Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses, plus Aaron; Thus do we reward those who do good; And Zakariya plus John [the Baptist] plus Jesus plus Elias [Elijah] all in the ranks of the righteous.”
In addition to these, the Bible plus the Qur’an both mention Adam, Noah, Lot, the brother plus sister of Moses, the Queen of Sheba, the angels Gabriel plus Michael, Elishah, Mary the mother of Jesus, plus Jesus’ apostles.
The Qur’an Never Says the Bible was Corrupted
The Qur’an says some people of the Book were hypocrites (Sura 5:61-63) plus perverted what they heard. However, it never said that God’s word, given to the people of the Book, was changed. God has the power to give His word, plus God has the power to guard His word in safety from corruption.
Sura 2:75 says of some people (Jews of Medina?), “Hear the Word of Allah, plus perverted it knowingly after they understood it.” It does not say they corrupted the Bible, only that they perverted what they understood.
While the Qur’anic commentator Yusuf Ali tries to say the Biblical Gospel today is not the Injil (Gospel) meant in the Qur’an, the Qur’anic commentator Fazlur Rahman contradicts him. Jesus was taught the Gospel according to Sura 3:48, plus Christians are the people of the Gospel in Sura 5:46. Finally, ‘Aisha contradicts Yusuf Ali in Bukhari vol.4:605 plus Sahih Muslim vol.1:301 p.98, where she tells that Khadija took Mohammed to a Christian convert who used to read the Gospels in Arabic.
The Bible in Jesus’ Day plus Ours
Sura 3:48 says, “And Allah will teach him [Jesus] the book plus Wisdom, the Torah, plus the Gospel.”
“And in their [the prophets’] footsteps we sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him: we sent him the gospel; therein was guidance plus light. And confirmation of the Torah that had come before him: a guidance plus an admonition to those who fear Allah” Sura 5:46
Now this verse of the Qur’an is remarkable. If God sent Jesus to confirm the Torah (first five books of the Bible’s Old Testament), then at least in Jesus’ time, the Torah that people could read plus Jesus could confirm was the same Torah God sent.
It goes on. Sura 5:47 goes on to say “Let the People of the Gospel Judge by what Allah hath revealed Therein….” If the People of the Gospel are to judge by what God has revealed in the Gospel, then how can the Gospel they are to judge by not be the Gospel God told them to judge by?
Sura 5:48 says, “To thee (People of the Book) We sent the scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, plus guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, plus follow not their vain desires, diverging from the truth that hath come to thee….”
Since God had the power to give His word, God had the power to guard His word in safety. Do you agree?
In moderen times, some Arab boys found a cave at Qumran, wherein were a great number of scrolls from the time of Christ. Among the earliest was a scroll of Isaiah from a 100 years or so before Christ. These are called the Dead Sea Scrolls, plus they contain all but one of the books of the Old Testament. Thus we can read for ourselves today the Old Testament in Jesus’ time.
How the Bible plus Qur’an Differ
There are many similarities between the Bible plus the Qur’an; it has been proven that often the Qur’an respectfully refers to the Bible. However, one key difference between the Bible plus the Qur’an is the means of forgiveness. For 1,400 years God laboriously trained the Jews to understand the importance of sacrifice for forgiveness. Even before Moses, Abraham, Isaac, plus Jacob made sacrifices to God. Heb 9:22 says, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, plus without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
After over 1,400 years of preparation, imagine how the Jews felt when the prophet John the Baptist said of Jesus “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Hebrews 10:4 says, “because it is impossible for the blood of bulls plus goats to take away sins.” As Hebrews 10 points out, man’s repeated animal sacrifices were a shadow of God’s real sacrifice. They merely covered over the sins until forgiven, once plus for all, by the sacrifice God chose. As Isaiah, Jesus, plus Jesus’ apostles taught, the sacrifice was Jesus Himself.
If you feel unforgiven inside, perhaps it is because you rightly realize that all of the works you could ever do, plus all of the prayers you could ever pray, cannot take the place of God forgiving you for your sins toward Him. Only God can do that. God is gracious, compassionate, plus merciful, but He must forgive the sins against Him in His way, plus not our way. God has provided a way, plus every man plus women must choose whether to accept God’s way or try things on their own way, apart from God. Seek the Lord.