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Salaam Brother Ammar,
Thank you very much for your mail.
Muslims must believe in all the scriptures revealed by Allah to all the prophets. This is including al-Injeel (the Bible) revealed to Jesus Christ, known in Arabic to be Isa-ibn-Maryam (Jesus, son of Marry - peace be upon him).
We understand that all the revelations to the prophets came through Angel Jibreel (peace be upon him), who is called Ruuh al-quds (the Holy Spirit) in the Qur’an.
Christians of today regard the Holy Spirit to be God Himself. Rather, they hold that the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons in the One God. Whereas Muslims believe that the Holy Spirit is Angel Gabriel, or Jibreel (pbuh).
The revelation of the Bible was completed in Jesus’ life time, but was not documented then. How it was revealed to Jesus was not attached with any significance in shari`ah. Forms and ways of revelation are certainly part of divinity that is certainly beyond ordinary humans’ perception.
The topic of the corruption of the Bible involves a number of questions:
First of all consider the word, ‘Bible’ itself. ‘Bible’ is derived from a Greek word, biblos meaning ‘book’. This word is used for the whole scripture of the Christians, comprising the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Also, the use of the word ‘Injeel’ (Arabic word for ‘Bible”) is considered inaccurate. By Injeel we mean the collection of revelations received by Jesus Christ from God. They are not available now in the form of a book.
What we have is a collection of twenty seven books called the New Testament. The first four books of the New Testament are called the Gospels. These are supposed to have been written by the four disciples of Jesus, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
There are many evidences that the real authors of these four Gospels were not really the disciples chosen by Jesus Christ. Of course the Gospels speak about the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus himself; but the names Mark and Luke do not appear among these twelve.
Bible scholars point out many evidences to prove that the other two Evangelists Matthew and John were also two persons different from their namesakes among the disciples. So the opinion that the disciples of Jesus wrote the Gospels does not stand up to scrutiny.
There is an opinion that states that the content and the language of the Gospels clearly show that they are not the Word of God, and hence they were not revelations from God. See for example, how the Gospel of Luke begins: Luke 1 (1- 4): 1. Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,
2. Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;
3. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,
4. That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed. We can understand the following details from the above verses:- Many people had written “those things” believed to have happened in the life of Jesus Christ.
- Luke claims to have good understanding of “those things” from the very first, not because he was an eye witness, but because he says he received those ideas from eye witnesses and ministers of the word.
- Like the others who took in hand “to set forth in order the declaration of those things”, he too felt like writing them down.
- The purpose is that his friend Theophilus too can “know the certainty of those things” wherein he was instructed.
- Evidently this is the beginning of a letter addressed to Theophilus.
The foregoing clearly shows that the Gospel of Luke was certainly not a revelation or the result of inspiration.
The real revelations of God came to Jesus and no doubt he taught his disciples quoting from them. But we have no evidence to prove that Jesus dictated these word for word to be written down and kept intact.
What are called Gospels today are considered by Muslims to be the compositions made by the four evangelists based on hearsay. And the Gospels clearly show the writers were not careful in recording the words of God - as quoted by Jesus - separate from those of the Prophet Jesus.
Still, most Christians believe that all the Gospels and even the writings of Paul, Peter and others included in the later books are the Word of God. This being the case, Muslims cannot accept the whole of the present day Bible, as the True Word of God.
What a Muslim needs to believe is that God revealed Injeel to Isa (Jesus - peace be upon him); and that at least some of the ideas of Injeel are present in the four Gospels. So to believe in the real Injeel is different from the Gospels now available.
Thus we have no record of the Bible existing as free from corruption. But we may say that some of its teachings are preserved in the present day Bible.
And Allah knows best.
Thank you again for your question and please keep in touch.
Useful Link:Has the Qur'an Changed?
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