In this post I will prove that Muhammad was ignorant about the names attributed to the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians. As a result of his confusion, Muhammad would jumble up the titles of particular biblical writings by mistakenly attributing a specific term to the wrong book. All emphasis is mine.

THE TALMUD IS THE TORAH

Muhammad is reported to have said that the Torah warns fathers who do not marry off their daughters when they reach the age of 12, and therefore sin as a result, shall be guilty:

Abu Sa‘id and Ibn ‘Abbas reported God’s messenger as saying, “He who has a son born to him should give him a good name and a good education and marry him when he reaches puberty. If he does not marry him when he reaches puberty and he commits sin, its guilt rests only upon his father.”

‘Umar b. al-Khattab and Anas b. Malik reported God’s messenger as saying that it is written in the Torah, “If anyone does not give his daughter in marriage when she reaches twelve and she commits sin, the guilt of that rests on him.” Baihaqi transmitted both traditions in Shu’ab al-Iman. (Mishkat Al-Masabih English Translation With Explanatory Notes by Dr. James Robson, [Sh. Muhammad Ahsraf Publishers, Booksellers & Exporters, Lahore-Pakistan, Reprint 1990], Volume I, Book XIII. – Marriage, Chapter III. The Guardian in Marriage, and asking the Woman’s consent, section III, pp. 666-667; bold emphasis mine)

Here’s the online version:

13 Marriage

(2c) Chapter: The Guardian in Marriage, and asking the Woman’s consent – Section 3

‘Umar b. al-Khattab and Anas b. Malik reported God’s Messenger as saying that it is written in the Torah, “If anyone does not give his daughter in marriage when she reaches twelve and she commits sin, the guilt of that rests on him.”

Baihaqi transmitted in Shu’ab al-iman.

Reference: Mishkat al-Masabih 3139

In-book reference: Book 13, Hadith 59 (https://sunnah.com/mishkat:3139)

The problem with Muhammad’s assertion is that he confused and conflated the Torah with the Talmud, since this statement is found in the latter!

With regard to a girl, it was urged that the father’s duty was to secure a husband for her at an early age. The verse, ‘Profane not thy daughter to make her a harlot’ (Leviticus 19:29) was applied to a man ‘who delays in arranging a marriage while she is of suitable age’ (Sanhedrin 76a). She was considered to have arrived at this stage when she passed her twelfth birthday. According to Talmudic law, ‘A man is forbidden to give his daughter in marriage while she is a minor, until she is grown up and says, I wish to marry so-and-so’ (Kid. 41a). If he married her in her minority she could repudiate the marriage on reaching the age of twelve, and have it annulled without a divorce. (Abraham Cohen, Everyman’s Talmud – The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages [Schoken Books, New York 1995], Chapter V. Domestic Life, II. Marriage and Divorce, pp. 162-163; bold emphasis mine)

הָאִישׁ מְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת בִּתּוֹ כְּשֶׁהִיא נַעֲרָה. כְּשֶׁהִיא נַעֲרָה – אִין, כְּשֶׁהִיא קְטַנָּה – לָא. מְסַיַּיע לֵיהּ לְרַב, דְּאָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר רַב וְאִיתֵּימָא רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר: אָסוּר לְאָדָם שֶׁיְּקַדֵּשׁ אֶת בִּתּוֹ כְּשֶׁהִיא קְטַנָּה, עַד שֶׁתִּגְדַּל וְתֹאמַר: ״בִּפְלוֹנִי אֲנִי רוֹצָה״.

The mishna teaches: A man can betroth his daughter to a man when she is a young woman. The Gemara infers: When she is a young woman, yes, he can betroth her; when she is a minor, NO, he cannot betroth her. This statement supports the opinion of Rav, as Rav Yehuda says that Rav says, and some say it was said by Rabbi Elazar: It is prohibited for a person to betroth his daughter to a man when she is a minor, until such time that she grows up and says: I want to marry so-and-so. If a father betroths his daughter when she is a minor and incapable of forming an opinion of the husband, she may later find herself married to someone she does not like. (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 41a https://www.sefaria.org/Kiddushin.41a.8?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)

The Talmud further condemns marrying off a mature, post-pubescent maiden to an old man:

אם כן לימא קרא אל תחל מאי אל תחלל שמע מינה תרתי ואביי ורבא האי אל תחלל את בתך להזנותה מאי עבדי ליה אמר רבי מני זה המשיא את בתו לזקן

The Gemara answers: If so, and that is the sole derivation from the verse, let the verse say: Do not profane [taḥel]. What is the reason that the verse uses the more complex form: Do not profane [teḥalel]? Conclude two derivations from it. The Gemara asks: And according to Abaye and Rava, who derive the prohibition against engaging in intercourse with one’s daughter from a different source, what do they do with this verse: “Do not profane your daughter by causing her to act licentiously”? Rabbi Mani says: This verse is referring to one who marries his daughter to an old man. Since she will not be satisfied with him, it will ultimately lead her to engage in adultery, and her father is responsible for causing that situation.

כדתניא אל תחלל את בתך להזנותה רבי אליעזר אומר זה המשיא את בתו לזקן ר”ע אומר זה המשהא בתו בוגרת

This derivation is as it is taught in a baraita: “Do not profane your daughter by causing her to act licentiously.” Rabbi Eliezer says: This is referring to one who marries his daughter to an old man. Rabbi Akiva says: This is referring to one who delays the marriage of his daughter who is A GROWN WOMAN. Since she finds no permissible outlet for her sexual desire, she is apt to engage in licentiousness.

אמר רב כהנא משום רבי עקיבא אין לך עני בישראל אלא רשע ערום והמשהא בתו בוגרת אטו המשהא בתו בוגרת לאו רשע ערום הוא

Rav Kahana says in the name of Rabbi Akiva: You do not have a pauper among the Jewish people other than one who is a conniving wicked person, who seeks to conceal his true nature, and one who delays the marriage of his daughter who is a grown woman. The Gemara asks: Is that to say that one who delays the marriage of his daughter who is A GROWN WOMAN is not a conniving, wicked person? He connives to delay her marriage to ensure that she will stay at home and do the housework, sparing him the cost of domestic help, and thereby causes her to sin. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 76a https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.76a.24?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en)

Here’s another rendering:

Now, how do Abaye and Raba utilize the verse, Do not profane thy daughter to cause her to be a whore? — R. Mani said: [According to them] this refers to one who marries his [young] daughter to an old man.³² As it has been taught: Do not profane thy daughter to cause her to be a whore; R. Eliezer said: This refers to marrying one’s [young] daughter to an old man. R. Akiba said: This refers to the delay in marrying off a daughter who is already a bogereth.³³

R. Kahana said on R. Akiba’s authority: The only poor in Israel is the subtly wicked and he who delays in marrying off his daughter, a bogereth.³⁴ But is not one who thus delays himself subtly wicked?³⁵ Abaye answered: This is its meaning: Which poor man is subtly wicked? He who delays marrying off his daughter, a bogereth.

(32) Since she cannot willingly accept him, she may be led to adultery.

(33) Having attained puberty, she may become unchaste if not married. Marriage, of course, was then at a far earlier age than now.

(34) This is explained further on.

(35) Why ‘and he who delays etc.’: the two are identical. His wickedness consists in that he keeps her unmarried, that he may profit by her labour whilst endangering her chastity. (Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman and Jacob Shachter, Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, pp. 335-336 https://halakhah.com/pdf/nezikin/Sanhedrin.pdf)

THE QURAN IS THE TORAH

Here’s how the Quran describes Adam’s sin in eating of the forbidden tree:

So the two of them ate of it, and their shameful parts revealed to them, and they took to stitching upon themselves leaves of the Garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord, and so he erred. S. 20:121 Arberry

Muhammad embarrassingly thought that this was actually written down in the Torah given to Moses!

Abu Huraira reported that God’s messenger told of Adam and Moses holding a disputation in their Lord’s presence and of Adam getting the better of Moses in argument. Moses said, “You are Adam whom God created with His hand, into whom He breathed of His spirit, to whom He made the angels do obeisance, and whom He caused to dwell in his garden; then because of your sin caused mankind to come down to the earth.” Adam replied, “And you are Moses whom God chose to deliver His messages and to address, to whom He gave the tablets on which everything was explained, and whom He brought near as a confidant. How long before I was created did you find that God has written the Torah?”¹ Moses said, “Forty years.” Adam asked, “Did you find in it, ‘And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred’?”² On being told that he did, he said, “Do you then blame me for doing a deed which God had decreed that I should do forty years before He created me?” God’s messenger said, “So Adam got the better of Moses in the argument.”

Muslim transmitted it.

¹ At-Taurat, a general name for the first five books of the Old Testament.

² These words ARE IN QURAN, xx, 121.

Grade: SAHIH (Zubair `Aliza’i)

Reference: Mishkat al-Masabih 81

In-book reference: Book 1, Hadith 75 (Mishkat Al-Masabih English Translation With Explanatory Notes by Dr. James Robson, Volume I [Sh. Muhammad Ahsraf Publishers, Booksellers & Exporters, Lahore-Pakistan, Reprint 1990], p. 23 https://sunnah.com/mishkat:81)

Hence, Muhammad erroneously confused Moses’ Torah with his own Quran!

THE BIBLE IS THE QURAN

If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Muhammad also thought that David used to recite the Quran!

(But the decision of all things is certainly with Allah.) The decision over all affairs is with Allah Alone, whatever He wills, occurs and whatever He does not will, never occurs. Certainly, he whom Allah misguides, will never find enlightenment and he whom Allah guides, will never be misled. We should state here that it is possible to call other Divine Books, `Qur’an’, since this Qur’an is based on all of them. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said…

(Reciting was made easy for (Prophet) Dawud (David) in that he used to order that his animal be prepared for him to ride and in the meantime he would read the entire Qur’an. He used to eat only from what his hand made.) Al-Bukhari collected this Hadith. The Qur’an mentioned here is refers to the Zabur… (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Q. 13:31 https://quran.com/ms/13:31/tafsirs/en-tafisr-ibn-kathir; https://www.alim.org/quran/tafsir/ibn-kathir/surah/13/?ayah=31; bold emphasis mine)

It is obvious that Muhammad mistook the Psalms (Arabic Zubur) for the Quran, as the following hadiths show:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, “The reciting of the Zabur (i.e. Psalms) was made easy for David. He used to order that his riding animals be saddled, and would finish reciting the Zabur before they were saddled. And he would never eat except from the earnings of his manual work.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 628 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:3417)

And:

XXXVII: The words of Allah Almighty, “And We gave Dawud the Zabur.” (4:163)

Zubur are books, and the singular is zabür and zabara means “to write”.

“We gave Da’ud great favour from Us, ‘O mountains and birds, echo with him in his praise!'” (Mujahid said that it is: “Glorify with him”) And We made the iron soft for him (commanding), And We made iron malleable for him. ‘Make full-length coats of mail, measuring the links with care. (Do not make the rivet too small, so that it becomes loose, nor too large so that it breaks.) And act rightly, all of you, for I see what you do.'” (34:10-11)

3235. It is related from Abu Hurayra that the Prophet said, “Recitation was made easy for Da’ud. He used to order that his animals be saddled, and he had done his recitation before they were saddled, and he only ate from the work of his own hand.” (Aisha Bewley, The Sahih Collection of al-Bukhari, Chapter 64. Book of the Prophets)

Note that David is said to have recited the Psalms, not the Quran!

Apparently, Muhammad’s egregious mistake is what led Muslim scholars to come up with the post hoc explanation that the term Quran could be applied to any of the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians.

FURTHER READING

Does Taurat Refer Only to the Revelation Given to Moses?

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