Taurat

The Taurat according to the Qur'an

The Qur'an talks of the Taurat/Tawrah ( توراة ) referring to the Torah - the first five books of the Jewish Bible; found in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Some Muslims and scholars believe it refers to the entire Old Testament, but this view is not widely held.

The Qur'an reports the Taurat to be one of the three previous Revelations of Allah (The other two being the Zabur and Injil ). The Qur'an asserts that Allah revealed the previous scriptures to the Jews and to the Christians, but that those who knew the scriptures 'changed the words from their right places' and 'forgot a good part of the message'. Regarding the Taurat:

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; therefore fear not the people and fear Me, and do not take a small price for My communications; and whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the unbelievers.

Qur'an 5:44

The Qur'an also claims to 'confirm what they (People of the Book - Jews and Christians) have with them':

O followers of the Book! indeed Our Messenger 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;

Qur'an 5:15

Muslim Claims about the Taurat

As with the Injil, the majority of Muslims believe that Allah tells them in the Qur'an that the "People of the Book" (Jews and Christians) have corrupted the Taurat; thus its contents no longer reflect the "true words" of Allah. Muslims claim that the actual Jewish texts have been changed, yet the Qur'an never makes this claim. It clearly states that the Jews knew what the Taurat said, as they had the correct texts with them, but changed the words and meanings in their oral recitations to the illiterate people. Ie. they said that the Torah said something that it did not actually say. The Qur'an makes this clear when it states:

And when there came to them a Messenger from Allah verifying that which they have, a party of those who were given the Book threw the Book of Allah behind their backs as if they knew nothing.

Qur'an 2:101

Clearly the Taurat was textually intact when the Qur'an was being revealed; as the Jews knew what the 'book of Allah' said, but 'threw it behind their backs as if they knew nothing.' Muhammad believed that he was prophesied in the Bible, and this was one of the things that the 'People of the Book' were keeping hidden.

Muslim evidence of Corruption

As with the Injil, Muslims present verse 2:79 as evidence that the Qur'an does actually state that the previous revelations were corrupt during the time of Muhammad:

Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.

Qur'an 2:79

However, looking at these verses in context, along with other verses mentioning the previous scriptures, proves this claim to be incorrect.

Muslims present further proof that the Taurat is corrupt by pointing to the differences in accounting of events common to both texts between the Taurat and the Qur'an. They claim that anything that contradicts the Qur'an is 'corruption'. However this excuse is not valid, as the Torah precedes the Qur'an; thus we must label any contradictions on the part of the Qur'an, as corruption from the original texts. Considering there is absolutely no archaeological evidence (scrolls and such) that confirms the claims of Muslims or the Qur'an, we must discard this interpretation.

Although Muslims believe the 'previous scriptures' to be corrupt , they believe the Qur'an remains unchanged from the moment of revelation, until this day; that Allah is 'protecting it from corruption.' Muslims are also told that they are to believe in the "previous Revelations", although the word of the Qur'an supersedes them all. This does not fit with the claim of textual corruption.

So the question remains: Why does Allah protect the Qur'an, but was unable to protect the Taurat? Also, why would you be ordered to believe in something that you claim is corrupt?

This page is featured in the core article, Islam and the People of the Book which serves as a starting point for anyone wishing to learn more about this topic

See Also

• Revelations - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Revelations

External Links

• Istinja' (cleansing your anus) with the Torah and New Testament - Daniel Pipes, September 21, 2010 (archived), http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2010/09/defecation-torah-new-testament