Title: If the Bible is Corrupted... Question: I have read your article about the Bible but doesn't that contradict the following: "And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture (that) was before thee..." ( Surah 10, Jonah, verse 94) "The scripture before thee", was the scripture of the 'People of the Book', namely the Jews and the Christians, why would God command Muhammad, to refer to the Scriptures of the Christians and the Jews if they were corrupted? "If only they had stood fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the right course: But many of them follow a course that is evil." ( Surah 5, Maaidah , verse 69) Here is a command to the Christians claiming to hold onto the scriptures given to them by their God, would God have commanded the Christians to stand fast to books that are corrupted? There are many other verses of this kind. Thank you. Answer: Let us try to understand the two referred verses keeping in view the context of these verses. The first verse is from Surah Yunus . The basic theme of Surah Yunus is that when the Almighty sends his Messenger ( Rasu'l ) in a people, the fate of these people depends on their acceptance or rejection of that Messenger. If they - as a nation - reject the messenger, they are punished, not only in the hereafter but also in this world. On the contrary, if they - in their collective capacity - accept the message of God and believe in the messenger, they are blessed with success as individuals in the hereafter, and, as a nation, in this world, as well. The Surah primarily addresses the Quraish and the Arab polytheists and informs them of the fact that with the advent of Mohammad (pbuh) as the messenger of Allah, they too are now subjected to the law of the Almighty concerning His messengers. If they reject His messenger, they shall meet the same fate as was met by those who rejected God's messengers in the past. While, if they accept Mohammad (pbuh) and follow his teachings, they shall then be blessed with God's bounties, as were those who accepted and followed the messengers of God in the past. From the beginning to verse 70 the basic message of the Qur'an - belief in one God, belief in His messenger and belief in the Day of Judgment - has been presented and the addressees are told that if they do not accept these elements of faith and reform their deeds accordingly, they shall face a painful punishment in this world as well as the hereafter. From verse 71 to the end, the fact that the rejecters of a messenger of God face severe consequences of their rejection and those who accept his message are blessed with the bounties of the Creator is historically evidenced. In this respect, reference is made to the people of Noah (pbuh) and the addressees of Moses (pbuh). In both the cases, the separate ends of those who rejected and those who accepted God's message is stressed. The Quraish and the Arab polytheists are informed that in both the cases the rejecters were annihilated and those who believed in the messenger of God inherited the rule of the land. The verse under consideration ( Yunus 10: 94) is placed at the end of this reference to the two nations. If seen in the correct context, it should be quite clear that the verse under consideration is not general but quite specific in its implication. The correct contextual translation of the verse, in my opinion, should be: If you are in doubt regarding what we have revealed to you [concerning these nations], ask those who read the scriptures before you. It is as if to say that these references are a part of the established history of the world and are thus, so well known that if anyone has any doubts regarding their authenticity, he may even ask the people of the book (the Jews and the Christians) about them. Even they shall accept them as facts. Thus, if seen in the correct perspective, it shall be known that this verse has nothing to do with the authenticity or corruption of the old scriptures. Now, let us turn to Al-Maaidah 5: 68. The correct translation of Al-Maaidah 5: 68, in my opinion should be: Say, O People of the book, you have no standing until you fully observe the Torah and the Gospel and that which has [now] been revealed to you from your Lord. It should be observed that this verse does not only say that the Jews should abide by the Torah and the Christians should abide by the Gospel, on the contrary, it tells them all to abide by all the books revealed by the Almighty. The words, ' and that which has been revealed to you from your Lord ' clearly refer to the Qur'an. To fully understand the implication of this verse, it is important to note that the Qur'an has given three different kinds of evidences to prove the prophethood of Mohammad (pbuh) to its three different categories of addressees. The quality of the language and the content of the Qur'an are presented as an evidence for the Quraish and the other local Arab groups of the time of the Prophet (pbuh). The Qur'an being void of all human deficiencies - like development and evolution in thought and the presentation of that thought - is presented as a general evidence of the Divine origin of the Qur'an. Finally, for the Jews and the Christians of the time of the Prophet (pbuh) the Qur'an has evidenced the prophethood and the Divine origin of the Qur'an on the basis of the fact that the Prophet (pbuh) is a clear manifestation of the prophecies and predictions of the Bible regarding the final prophet. Thus, the Qur'an has admonished the Jews and the Christians, of the time of the Prophet (pbuh), of the fact that because the Prophet (pbuh) has come according to the prophecies and predictions of their own books therefore, rejecting the Prophet, under these circumstances, would imply rejecting their own books. It is in this background that the verse under consideration be seen. If seen in the correct perspective, the verse actually states: 'O People of the book, you have no standing until you fully observe the Torah and the Gospel and if you do that, you shall then have to believe in that which has now been revealed to you from your Lord'. I would like to add here that in case the above explanation is not accepted, even then the verse under consideration does not imply that the Torah and the Gospel are in their original form. What the verse implies is just that the People of the book have absolutely no standing unless at least they fully abide by what they have in their hands, which they hold to be of Divine origin and abide by what has now been revealed to them from their Lord. A close look would clearly show that the implication of the verse is that the people of the book not only refuse to accept the Qur'an - which has been revealed to them from their Lord - but do not even abide by the books, which they themselves hold to be Divine. 17 th January 2000