Title: The Qur'an as Evidence of the Uncorrupted Bible - Al-Maaidah 5: 68 Question: A Jewish critic says: - "Muhammad's call to the Jews to keep the Torah covenant implies that he saw the Torah as both uncorrupted and incorruptible." I do not remember the verse number. I will be grateful for your answer. Wassalam , Answer: I think your reference is to Al-Maaidah 5: 68. The verse reads as: 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 evidence 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 evidence for the Qureish 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 in 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 of Muhammad (pbuh) 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 (pbuh), under these circumstances, would imply rejecting their own books. It is in this background that the verse under consideration should, in my opinion, 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 even in case the above explanation is not accepted, 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, contrary to what the Jewish scholar has stated, 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 also do not abide by the books, which they themselves hold to be Divine. 15 th August 1999