FAQ 2.15

Were the Previous Scripture available at the time of Muhammad?

Question:

The Quran tells us that previous books were textually corrupted. But if we read the following verse with an assumption that previous revelation is corrupted, it won't make any sense!

"And let the People of the Gospel judge by what God has revealed in it. If any fail to judge by what God has revealed, they are licentious." 5:47

If the gospel at the time of Muhammad was corrupted, how can they judge by it? And what was that Gospel? Do the words in 5:47 indicate that previous revelations were available at the time of Muhammad?

Reply:

Indeed, we read in the Quran that the people of the previous scripture have corrupted their books (4:46, 3:78, 2:75, 5:41).

First, it is important to note that the word “gospel” is a wrong translation. The word used in the Quran is the Injeel. The Injeel is not the Gospel or New Testament we have today. Let us read the correct translation of 5:47

[5:47] And the people of the Injeel shall rule in accordance with what God has brought down therein. Those who do not rule by what God has brought down are the wicked.

God tells us that he gave the Injeel to Jesus:

[57:27] Then We sent Our messengers to follow in their footsteps, then to follow We sent Jesus the son of Mary. We gave him the Injeel and We placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him.

It can easily be shown that the New Testament (NT) we have today is not the Injeel which was given to Jesus for the following reasons:

1- The NT was written after the death of Jesus.

2- The NT is a collection of stories about Jesus, his teachings and his sayings. Did God give Jesus a book about his life and sayings?

3- The NT was written by men like Mathew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul who never met Jesus. God did not give the Injeel to those men, but was given to Jesus.

The original Injeel that was given to Jesus was destroyed and the possession of any copies of it was banned after the council of Nicaea in 325 AD.

It is clear that when God speaks of “the people of the Injeel” God is speaking of the people who received the Injeel and who had access to it. The Christians today, or those at the time of Muhammad, are not “the people of the Injeel”, for they follow a man made book (NT) and a religion (Christianity) that was never authorised by God nor was it ever preached by Jesus (Jesus was a practicing Jew all his life).

With this understanding, we attain the correct meaning of “the people of the Injeel” in 5:47. This phrase speaks of the original receivers of the Injeel and those who still had access to it. They were they ones who were commanded by God to rule according to what they were given in the Injeel.