Tag: bible

JOHN’S EGO EIMI SAYINGS REVISITED

A careful examination of the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, typically known as the Septuagint (LXX), with that of John’s Gospel will conclusively prove that Jesus’ “I AM” statements are clearly intended to identify him as the human incarnation of YHWH God (cf. John 1:1-18). The way in which John has communicated Christ’s words into the Greek tongue makes it obvious that the Apostle is making a direct connection with the “I AM” sayings of YHWH in the Hebrew Bible, specifically the book of Isaiah.

In the following chart, I cite from the LXX version of Isaiah in order to help readers see how Jesus’ “I AM” statements deliberately echo that of YHWH’s.

“Therefore shall my people know my name in that day for I am he, the one who is speaking to you (ego eimi autos ho lalon).” Isaiah 52:6 LXX

“All the nations are gathered together, and princes shall be gathered out of them: who will declare (anangelei) these things? or who will declare (anangelei) to you things from the beginning? Let them bring forth their witnesses (martyras), and be justified; and let them hear, and declare the truth. Be my witnesses (martyres); and I too am a witness (martyrs), says the Lord God, and the servant whom I have chosen (exelexamen)so that you may know, and believe, and understand that I am he (hina… gnote pisteusete… hoti ego eimi): before me there came to be (egeneto) no other god, nor shall there be any after me. I am God, and besides me there is none who saves. I declared (anengeila) and saved; I reproached, and there was no stranger among you: You are my witnesses; I too am a witness, says the Lord God.” Isaiah 43:9-12

“The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When he comes, he will proclaim (anangelei) all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am he, the one who is speaking to you (ego eimi autos ho lalon).’” John 4:25-27 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

“Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.’” John 4:39-42 NRSVUE

“In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I am (ego eimi) the one testifying (martyron) about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies (martyrei) on my behalf.” John 8:17-18

“He said to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are from this world, I am not from this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he (pisteusete hoti ego eimi).’” John 8:23-24 NRSVUE

“So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he (gnosesthe hoti ego eimi) and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.’” John 8:28-29 NRSVUE

“‘Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.’ Then the Jews said to him, ‘You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?’ Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham came to be (genesthai), I AM (ego eimi).’ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” John 8:56-59

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God (pros ton theon)… ‘I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen (exelexamen). But it is to fulfill the scripture, “The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.” I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it comes to be you may believe that I am he (hina hotan genētai pisteusete hoti ego eimi).’” John 13:3, 18-19

What makes the septuagintal rendering of Isa. 43:10 rather intriguing is that the servant is depicted as being distinct from both YHWH and the nation of Israel, whereas in the Hebrew version the servant and Israel are equated:

“You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.” NRSVUE

“Be my witnesses; and I too am a witness, says the Lord God, AND the servant whom I have chosen so that you may know, and believe, and understand that I am he.” LXX

Notice how the LXX gives the impression that the servant whom YHWH has chosen is personally distinct from the Israel that is summoned to also bear witness to YHWH being the only God that exists.

This comports with the fact that in Isaiah there are two servants, both of whom are called Israel, namely, the nation and the specific individual whom the NT and later Jewish tradition identifies as Messiah (Cf. Isa. 42:1-7; 49:1-10; 50:4-6; 52:13-15; Matt. 8:14-17; 12:17-21; Luke 22:37; Acts 8:30-35; 1 Peter 2:21-25).

Jesus’ ego eimi statements in John 13:19 is also significant in light of its context where John tells us that the Son “had come from God and was going to God (pros ton theon).”

These words deliberately the Prologue where Jesus is identified as the eternal Word who was with God (pros ton theon) from before the creation of all things:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God (pros ton theon), and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God (pros ton theon). All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people… The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-4, 9-10, 14

Elsewhere in John, Christ plainly speaks of his coming down from the Father to enter into the world, and of his leaving the world to go back to the Father:

“‘I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father (pros ton patera).’ His disciples said, ‘Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do you now believe?’” John 16:25-31 NRSVUE

Note, once again, John’s use of the preposition pros, which again points us to Jesus being the divine, uncreated Word who was pros (“with”) God from before the creation.

In fact, the Lord makes this very same point in his prayer to the Father:

“So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed… for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me… Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:5, 8, 24 NRSVUE

Here, Jesus affirms that he personally existed alongside the Father where they both shared the same glory from before the creation the world. This is why he could say that he had come forth from the Father and was now returning back to the glory that he had shared alongside of him.

Nor is this the only time where Christ spoke of his prehuman, heavenly existence with the Father:

“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” John 3:13 NRSVUE

“‘for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.’ Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’” John 6:38-42 NRSVUE

“Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?” John 6:62 NRSVUE

“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God, and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me.’” John 8:42 NRSVUE

Clearly, then, Jesus’ ego eimi saying in John 13:19 means much more than “I am the Messiah who was foretold by the prophets.” The context shows that Christ is deliberately echoing the “I AM” sayings of YHWH found throughout Isaiah, specifically in Isa. 43:10, in order to make it known to his disciples that they were beholding the God of Israel himself in human flesh.

FURTHER READING

JESUS CHRIST: ISRAEL’S ANI WAHO WHO SAVES

JESUS: THE I AM HE INCARNATE

Even More Proof That Jesus is Jehovah God Most High! Pt. 2

Jesus as the Great I AM

Jesus as the Great I AM Excursus

The Early Church Fathers On John 8:58

THE UNCLEAR QURAN: WHAT IS THE INJIL?

The Quran repeatedly asserts that it is a book that fully explains everything contained therein:

Say: “Shall I seek for judge other than God? – when He it is Who hath sent unto you the Book, explained in detail.” They know full well, to whom We have given the Book, that it hath been sent down from thy Lord in truth. Never be then of those who doubt. S. 6:114 Y. Ali

This Qur’an is not such as can be produced by other than God; on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book – wherein there is no doubt – from the Lord of the worlds. S. 10:37 Y. Ali

There is, in their stories, instruction for men endued with understanding. It is not a tale invented, but a confirmation of what went before it, – a detailed exposition of all things, and a guide and a mercy to any such as believe. S. 12:111 Y. Ali

One day We shall raise from all Peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and We shall bring thee as a witness against these (thy people): and We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims. S. 16:89 Y. Ali

A Book, whereof the verses are explained in detail; – a Qur’an in Arabic, for people who understand; – S. 41:3 Y. Ali

The Muslim scripture further attests that Jesus was given the Gospel:

“And He will teach him the Book, the Wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel,” S. 3:48 Arberry

When God said, ‘Jesus Son of Mary, remember My blessing upon thee and upon thy mother, when I confirmed thee with the Holy Spirit, to speak to men in the cradle, and of age; and when I taught thee the Book, the Wisdom, the Torah, the Gospel; and when thou createst out of clay, by My leave, as the likeness of a bird, and thou breathest into it, and it is a bird, by My leave; and thou healest the blind and the leper by My leave, and thou bringest the dead forth by My leave; and when restrained from thee the Children of Israel when thou camest unto them with the clear signs, and the unbelievers among them said, “This is nothing but sorcery manifest.” S. 5:110 Arberry

Then We sent, following in their footsteps, Our Messengers; and We sent, following, Jesus son of Mary, and gave unto him the Gospel. And We set in the hearts of those who followed him tenderness and mercy. And monasticism they invented — We did not prescribe it for them — only seeking the good pleasure of God; but they observed it not as it should be observed. So We gave those of them who believed their wage; and many of them are ungodly. S. 57:27 Arberry

The Islamic text states that the Gospel was in existence at Muhammad’s time, and that Christians were expected to live and judge by it:

And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah before it, as a guidance and an admonition unto the godfearing. So let the People of the Gospel judge according to what God has sent down therein. Whosoever judges not according to what God has sent down — they are the ungodly. S. 5:46-47 Arberry

Had they performed the Torah and the Gospel, and what was sent down to them from their Lord, they would have. eaten both what was above them, and what was beneath their feet. Some of them are a just nation; but many of them — evil are the things they do. S. 5:66 Arberry

The Quran is also aware of certain teachings found in the Gospel:

Say: ‘People of the Book, you do not stand on anything, until you perform the Torah and the Gospel, and what was sent down to you from your Lord.’ And what has been sent down to thee from thy Lord will surely increase many of them in insolence and unbelief; so grieve not for the people of the unbelievers. S. 5:68 Arberry

God has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions against the gift of Paradise; they fight in the way of God; they kill, and are killed; that IS a promise binding upon God IN the Torah, and the Gospel, and the Koran; and who fulfils his covenant truer than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him; that is the mighty triumph. S. 9:111 Arberry

Muhammad is the Messenger of God, and those who are with him are hard against the unbelievers, merciful one to another. Thou seest them bowing, prostrating, seeking bounty from God and good pleasure. Their mark is on their faces, the trace of prostration. That is their likeness in the Torah, and their likeness IN the Gospel: as a seed that puts forth its shoot, and strengthens it, and it grows stout and rises straight upon its stalk, pleasing the sowers, that through them He may enrage the unbelievers. God has promised those of them who believe and do deeds of righteousness forgiveness and a mighty wage. S. 48:29 Arberry

The Muslim scripture is even aware that the Gospel was sent down after the time of Abraham:

People of the Book! Why do you dispute concerning Abraham? The Torah was not sent down, neither the Gospel, but after him. What, have you no reason? S. 3:65 Arberry

The word Injil is always used for the Christian revelation, and particularly associated with Jesus. This word also occurs only in Medinan passages, with the exception of 7,156/157 which is traditionally regarded as late Meccan though it seems to have some Medinan references. The origins of Injil are clearly the Greek euangelion, Evangel, Good News, Gospel (Old English god-spel). Whether it entered Arabic from Syriac or Ethiopic has been debated, but the Ethiopic wangel has a long vowel like Injil and this suggests that the word was brought over by Abyssinian Christians and it was probably in widespread use in Arabia before Muhammad’s time.¹

Herein lies the problem.

Despite claiming that it is a scripture which explains all things in detail, the Quran fails to identify what the Gospel given to Jesus happens to be.

For instance, is the Gospel the revelation which Jesus proclaimed orally? Or does it also encompass the deeds of Christ, and not just to what he preached?

Does the Gospel mentioned in the Quran also refer to its eventual inscripturation, which became the means by which Jesus’ proclamation was preserved? After all, how could the Christians of Muhammad’s day live and judge by the Gospel if the term does not encompass the written component of the revelation given to and through Christ?

And since the only Gospel that the Christians of Muhammad’s day possessed are the four Gospels of the New Testament canon, wouldn’t this, therefore, prove that the Muslim scripture confirms the canonical Gospels as the preserved words of God?

Or does the Quran have in mind the diatessaron, which was a harmonization of the four Gospels into Syriac, composed by the Assyrian pupil of Justin Martyr named Tatian around 170 AD?

This Gospel harmony was what the Syriac speaking Christians went by until the fifth century AD when the Peshitta was produced, which contained a translation of all four of the Gospels separately.

How does any Muslim actually know?

The Islamic scholar George Parrinder’s statements exemplify the confusion that academics in the field face in trying to figure out the Gospel that the Quran has in view:

Whether Injil must be understood narrowly of the Gospel that Jesus preached, or more widely of the New Testament, the Christian scriptures, is a difficult question. Jesus brought the Gospel, but Christians later had the ‘Injil in their possession’. (7,156/157). This is a complex matter, and discussion must be deferred till later when consideration is given to the relationship between the words of Jesus and the four Gospels written by the evangelists, and the interdependence of the teaching and the life of Jesus.

The word Gospel (Injil) occurs twelve times in the Qur’an, as follows:

3,2/3: ‘He sent down the Torah and the Gospel aforetime as guidance for the people.’

3,43/48: ‘He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel.’

3,58/65: ‘Why do ye dispute about Abraham, seeing that the Torah and the Gospel were not sent down till after his time?’

5,50/46: ‘We gave (Jesus) the Gospel, containing guidance and light, confirming the Torah which was before it, and as guidance and admonition to those who show piety.’

5,51/47: ‘Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God hath sent down therein; if any do not judge by what God hath sent down, they are the reprobate.’

5,70/66: ‘If they had established the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to them from their Lord, they would have eaten from above and from beneath their feet.’

5,72/68: ‘O People of the Book, ye have nothing to stand upon until ye establish the Torah and the Gospel and what has been sent down to you from your Lord.’

5,109/110: ‘I have taught thee the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel.’

7,156/157: ‘The Gospel in their possession, urging them to what is reputable, and restraining them from what is disreputable, making good things allowable for them and foul things forbidden, relieving them of their burden and the shackles which have been upon them.’

9,112/111: ‘A promise binding upon him in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Qur’an.’

48,29: ‘What they are compared to in the Gospel is a seed which puts forth its shoot.’

57,7: ‘We gave (Jesus) the Gospel.’

In the Meccan sura 19,31/30 comes the word attributed to Jesus: ‘He hath bestowed on me the Book’. The above verses show that Jesus was given all the truths enshrined in the sacred books, the Torah and the Wisdom. Ibn Ishaq said that ‘in the Gospel is what Jesus brought in confirmation of Moses and the Torah he brought from God.’¹

The holy books of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are seen as belonging to a sacred succession; they are not outdated, but all bring divine truth to give guidance to men. Sura 3,2/3, addressed to Muhammad, says: ‘He hath sent down to thee the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it, and he sent down the Torah and the Gospel aforetime as guidance for the people, and he sent down the Furqan’. The Furqan is ‘discrimination’ or ‘revelation’. According to Zamakhshari it is used of the whole class of heavenly books, as in 21,49/48: ‘We gave to Moses and Aaron the Furqan and illumination.’ But in 3,2/3 and 25,’ and elsewhere it seems to be used of the Qur’an: ‘Blessed be he who hath sent down the Furqan upon his servant. ‘ In this sense the Qur’an is the Furqan as discrimination or criterion of truth, to make clear what went before. It is not an abrogation of previous scriptures, but a confirmation and a touchstone of truth, making clear what they meant: ‘This Qur’an is not such as to have been invented apart from God; but it is a confirmation of what is before it, and a distinct setting forth of the Book in which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds.’ So also 2,98/97: ‘ Gabriel – verily he hath brought it down upon thy heart with the permission of God confirming what was before it.’ (Geoffrey Parrinder, Jesus in the Qur’ān [OneWorld Publishers, Oxford England, Reprinted 1996], 15. Gospel (Injil), pp. 142-144; bold emphasis mine)

Parrinder believes that the Muslim book does not differentiate between the Gospel of Jesus and the Gospels which the Christians possessed:

Behind the written books is the heavenly original or archetype, the ‘Mother of the Book’ (umm al-kitab). ‘Lo it is in the Mother of the Book in our presence, exalted, wise.’ (43,3/4; 3,5/7; 13,39) And again: ‘A messenger from God reciting sheets kept pure, in which are Books true.’ (98,2) Messengers may be thought of as receiving books from God, copies of the heavenly original, as some of the apocryphal epistles said that Jesus had a book which he revealed to his disciples.¹

There is no suggestion in the Qur’an that the Gospel given to Jesus was different from the canonical Gospels held by Christians. This is a matter of importance, in view of later Muslim polemic. Indeed the Qur’an enjoins the ‘people of the Gospel’ to ‘judge by what God hath sent down therein‘. (5,51/47) It speaks of ‘ the Gospel in their possession’ (7,156/157) and urges them to follow the messenger spoken of in it. The Qur’an itself is sent down to confirm the Book which was before it, and to act as a ‘protector over it’. (5,52/48) (Ibid., p. 145; bold emphasis mine)

Parrinder also mentions Muslims who reject the idea of the Quran proclaiming that the text of the previous Scriptures has been corrupted:

Later Muslim writers spoke of the ‘corruption’ (tahrif) of the scriptures by Jews and Christians. The Ebionites, JudeoChristians, had already accused the Jews of corrupting their scriptures. Muslim writers differed in their opinions about what had been done. Some scholars (e.g. Biruni) declared that Jews and Christians had actually altered the text of the Bible. But others (Tabari, Ibn Khaldun, etc.) said that they had interpreted the words incorrectly. It was argued that tahrif meant to change a thing from its original nature, but no man could possibly corrupt words that came from God. So at the most Christians could only corrupt by misrepresenting the meaning of the word of God. Muslims could do the same with the Qur’an and Jews with the Torah. The Gospel was in its original purity, but it was possible to distort its meaning by unsound arguments. This was the teaching of Bukhari, and sura 3,72/78 was quoted to show that the Jews might misinterpret the scriptures yet these remained intact: ‘A part of them twist their tongues in the Book, that ye may think it to be a bit of the Book, though it is not a bit of the Book Be ye rabbis in virtue of your teaching the Book, and in virtue of your having studied it. ‘

In modern times some popular polemic may blame Christians for corrupting the Gospel, yet there are Muslim commentators who prefer the view that exposition has been at fault rather than any tampering with the text. Sayyid Ahmad Khan, who wrote the first commentary on the Bible by a Muslim, followed this viewpoint and he tried to bring Christian and Muslim exegesis into agreement. Another writer says: ‘In the Koran tahrif means either false interpretation of the passages bearing upon Mohammed or non-enforcement of the explicit laws of the Pentateuch. As for the text of the Bible, it had not been altered… No rival text is assumed.’¹

There remains the difficult problem of the relationship between the Gospel, the Good News that Jesus taught, and the record of his words in the four Gospels. There is no evidence that Jesus ever wrote a line of his teaching. Muslims also believe that Muhammad was illiterate and hence the written Qur’an was recorded by his followers; secretaries like Zaid ibn Thabit collected the written and oral fragments from ‘scraps of parchment and leather, tablets of stone, ribs of palm branches, camels’ shoulder-blades and ribs, pieces of board, and the breasts of men’. A similar process took place with the Gospel, though it had long been written down by the time of Muhammad. The canonical Gospels had been separated by the church from apocryphal legends. The first evangelists collected their material, as Luke says, from eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, and they tried to trace ‘the course of all things accurately from the first’. (Lk. 1,2f.) (Ibid., pp. 146-147; bold emphasis mine)

What the foregoing highlights is that the only thing clear about the Quran is that it is far from being a perspicuous scripture. Rather, it is a confused, incoherent, unintelligible mishmash of fables and instructions that make absolutely no sense without the aid of sources external to itself.

As the Iranian scholar of Islam Ali Dashti put it:

“Unfortunately the Qor’an was badly edited and its content are very obtusely arranged. All students of the Qor’an wonder why the editors did not use the natural and logical method of ordering by date of revelation, as in ‘Ali b. Abi Taleb’s copy of the text.” (Dashti, Twenty-Three Years: A study of the Prophetic Career of Mohammad (Allen and Unwin, London, 1985), p. 28; bold emphasis mine)

And:

“Among the Moslem scholars of the early period, before bigotry and hyperbole prevailed, were some such as Ebrahim on-Nazzam who openly acknowledged that the arrangement and syntax of the Qor’an are not miraculous and that work of equal or greater value could be produced by other God-fearing persons.

“Pupils and later admirers of on-Nazzam, such as Ebn Hazm and ol-Khayyat, wrote in his defence, and several other leading exponents of the Mo’tazelite school shared his opinion. They saw no conflict between the theses of on-Nazzam and the statements in the Qor’an. One of their arguments is that the Qor’an is miraculous because God deprived the Prophet Mohammad’s contemporaries of the ability to produce the like of it; in other times and places the production of phrases resembling Qor’anic verses IS POSSIBLE AND INDEED EASY.

“It is widely held that the blind Syrian poet Abu’l-‘Ala ol-Ma’arri (368/979-450/1058) wrote his Ketab ol-fosul wa’ l-ghayat, of which a part survives, in imitation of the Qor’an.

“The Qor’an contains sentences which are incomplete and not fully intelligible without the aid of commentaries; foreign words, unfamiliar Arabic words, and words used with other than the normal meaning; adjectives and verbs inflected without observance of the concords of gender and number; illogically and ungrammatically applied pronouns which sometimes have no referent; and predicates which in rhymed passages are often remote from the subjects. These and other such aberrations in the language have given scope to critics who deny the Qor’an’s eloquence. The problem also occupied the minds of devout Moslems. It forced the commentators to search for explanations and was probably one of the causes of disagreement over readings.” (Pp. 48-49)

“To sum up, more than one hundred Qor’anic aberrations from the normal rules and structure of Arabic have been noted. Needless to say, THE COMMENTATORS STROVE TO FIND EXPLANATIONS AND JUSTIFICATIONS FOR THESE IRREGULARITIES. Among them was the great commentator and philologist MAHMUD OZ-ZAMAKHSHARI (467/1075-538/1144), of whom a Moorish author wrote: ‘This grammar-obsessed pedant has committed a shocking error. Our task IS NOT TO MAKE THE READINGS CONFORM TO ARABIC GRAMMAR, but to take the whole of the Qor’an as it is AND MAKE THE ARABIC GRAMMAR CONFORM TO THE QOR’AN.’

“Up to a point this argument is justifiable. A nation’s great speakers and writers respect the rules of its language in so far as they avoid modes of expression which are not generally understood and popularly accepted, though they may occasionally find themselves obliged to take liberties. Among the pre-Islamic Arabs, rhetoric and poetry WERE WELL DEVELOPED and grammatical conventions WERE ALREADY ESTABLISHED. The Qor’an, being in the belief of Moslems superior to all previous products of the rhetorical genius, must contain the fewest irregularities.

“Yet the Moorish author’s censure of Zamakhshari is open to criticism on the ground that it reverses the usual argument. This is that the Qor’an is God’s word because it has a sublime eloquence which no human being can match, and that the man who uttered it was therefore a prophet. The Moorish author maintained that the Qor’an is faultless because it is God’s word and that the problem of the grammatical errors in it MUST BE SOLVED BY CHANGING THE RULES OF ARABIC GRAMMAR. In other words, while most Moslems answer deniers by citing the Qor’an’s eloquence as proof of Mohammad’s prophethood, the Moorish author, having taken the Qor’an’s divine origin and Mohammad’s prophethood for granted, held all discussion of the Qor’an’s wording and contents to be inadmissible.” (Pp. 50-51)

“Neither the Qor’an’s eloquence nor its moral and legal precepts are miraculous. The Qor’an is miraculous because it enabled Mohammad, single-handedly and despite poverty and illiteracy, to overcome his people’s resistance and found a lasting religion because it moved wild men to obedience and imposed its bringer’s will on them.” (Ibid., p. 57; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Dashti further stated that,

“The Qor’an contains many instances of confusion between the two speakers, God and Mohammad, in the same verse… Among these many passages are some, like the above, which can be easily explained, but also others which present great difficulty… The presence of confusions between God and the Prophet in the Qor’an cannot objectively be disputed. Sometimes God speaks, giving to the Prophet the command ‘say’ (i.e. to the people). Sometimes the sentence structure proves that it is the Prophet who speaks, expressing devotion to God. The impression conveyed by the Qor’an is that a hidden voice in Mohammad’s soul or subconscious mind was continually impelling him to guide the people, restraining him from lapses, and providing him with solutions to problems.” (Ibid., pp. 150-151)

Finally:

“Confusion between God’s and Mohammad’s words is again apparent in two verses of sura 10 (Yunos). ‘And if your Lord so wished, all the dwellers on the earth would believe together. Are you going to compel the people to be believers?’ (verse 99). ‘It is only (possible) for a soul to believe with God’s permission. And He inflicts vileness on those who are intelligent’ (verse 100). In verse 99 the words are from God and addressed to the Prophet, but in verse 100 the words appear to be Mohammad’s, a sort of self-consolation followed by an explanation of the obduracy of the polytheists who would not heed his teaching.” (Ibid., p. 152)

FURTHER READING

What kind of book is the Injil?

Did Allah give a Greek Injil to the Jews?

Incompleteness and Incoherence of the Qur’an

Analysis of the White versus Zawadi Debate [Part 1]

THE QURAN’S GOSPEL

THE GOSPEL THAT IS WITH THEM

THE QURAN ON INSCRIPTURATION

MATERIAL FOR THE ANDANI DISCUSSION

THE QURAN ON INSCRIPTURATION

The Quran speaks of the writing down of the revelations, which were sent to the Jews, Christians and Muslims:

Those are they to whom We gave the Book, the Judgment, the Prophethood; so if these disbelieve in it, We have already entrusted it to a people who do not disbelieve in it. Those are they whom God has guided; so follow their guidance. Say: ‘I ask of you no wage for it; it is but a reminder unto all beings.’ They measured not God with His true measure when they said, ‘God has not sent down aught on any mortal.’ Say: ‘Who sent down the Book that Moses brought as a light and a guidance to men? You put it into parchments, revealing them, and hiding much; and you were taught that you knew not, you and your fathers.’ Say: ‘God.’ Then leave them alone, playing their game of plunging. This is a Book We have sent down, blessed and confirming that which was before it, and for thee to warn the Mother of Cities and those about her; and those who believe in the world to come believe in it, and watch over their prayers. S. 6:89-91 Arberry

They say, ‘Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?’ Has there not come to them the clear sign of what IS in the former scrolls (fee al-suhufi al-oola)? S. 20:133 Arberry

The unbelievers say, ‘This is naught but a calumny he has forged, and other folk have helped him to it.’ So they have committed wrong and falsehood. They say, ‘Fairy-tales of the ancients that he has had written down, so that they are recited to him at the dawn and in the evening.’ S. 25:4-6 Arberry

“Or has he not been told of what IS in the scrolls of Moses and Abraham (fee suhufi moosa wa’Ibraheema), he who paid his debt in full?,” S. 53:36-37 Arberry

Surely this IS IN the ancient scrolls (hatha lafee al-suhufi al-oola), the scrolls of Abraham and Moses (suhufi ibraheema wa’moosa). S. 87:18-19

This affirms that the revelations weren’t meant to just be communicated orally, but also to be written down on pages to be preserved as tangible, material books.

The Quran also refers to the Jews and Christians reading the same book:

The Jews say, ‘The Christians stand not on anything’; the Christians say, ‘The Jews stand not on anything’; yet they recite the Book. So too the ignorant say the like of them. God shall decide between them on the Day of Resurrection touching their differences. S. 2:113 Arberry

Again, this only makes sense in the context of their possessing a physical, tangible book which they shared in common.

Finally, the words which Moses received are said to have been written by God himself on multiple tablets:

Said He, ‘Moses, I have chosen thee above all men for My Messages and My Utterance; take what I have given thee, and be of the thankful.’ And We wrote for him on the Tablets of everything an admonition, and a distinguishing of everything: ‘So take it forcefully, and command thy people to take the fairest of it. I shall show you the habitation of the ungodly. S. 7:144-145 Arberry

And when Moses returned to his people, angry and sorrowful, he said, ‘Evilly have you done in my place, after me; what, have you outstripped your Lord’s commandment?’ And he cast down the Tablets, and laid hold of his brother’s head, dragging him to him. He said, ‘Son of my mother, surely the people have abased me, and well nigh slain me. Make not my enemies to gloat over me, and put me not among the people of the evildoers. S. 7:150 Arberry

And when Moses’ anger abated in him, he took the Tablets and in the inscription of them was guidance, and mercy unto all those who hold their Lord in awe. S. 7:154 Arberry

Could it be any clearer that the revelations, which were given to the Jews and Christians were meant to be inscripturated in order that subsequent generations could both access and read them?

FURTHER READING

The Quranic Witness to Biblical Authority [Part 3]

THE QURAN’S GOSPEL

MATERIAL FOR THE ANDANI DISCUSSION

THE GOSPEL THAT IS WITH THEM

In this post I will be quoting from a monumental work titled The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary (SQ), produced by a team of credentialed and bonafide Muslim scholars from various academic backgrounds. It was published by HarperOne published in 2015, and its editor-in-chief is renowned Muslim philosopher and Sufi scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr.

I cite this work in order to show what this team of Muslim scholars/theologians say in regards to the Gospel, which the Quran states was in the possession of the Christians of Muhammad’s day. Bold emphasis will be mine.

Q. 5:66

66 This is one of several verses in this sūrah indicating the importance of Jews and Christians following their own scriptures (see also vv. 44, 47, 68) and suggesting that these scriptures remain a source of spiritual nourishment. “Observing” the Torah and Gospel is understood by some commentators in a limited sense to mean merely upholding the covenant with God established in those scriptures in a general way, which would not preclude Jews and Christians from following the Prophet— indeed, according to some, it would require them to follow the Prophet Muhammad, whom the Quran indicates was inscribed in the Torah and Gospel (R; see 7:157; 61:6). It can also be understood as enjoining them to continue to uphold the rituals and laws prescribed in these scriptures (R) in keeping with the statement in v. 48 that God had prescribed a law and a way for every religious community. Yet, the verse also requires them to observe that which was sent down to them from their Lord. This is understood by many early commentators as referring to the Quran (Q, Ṭ), although some have thought it might be a reference to certain prophetic books, such as the book of Daniel, found in the Hebrew scriptures, but outside of the Torah narrowly defined (Q, R).

For the People of the Book to observe both their own Scriptures and the Quran means, according to some commentators, that Jews and Christians should follow those teachings in the Torah and the Gospel that were either endorsed by the Quran or at least not declared false in it (Ṭ). Had they done this, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet…

68 As in v. 66, this verse reiterates the importance of Jews and Christians observing both their own scriptures, the Torah and the Gospel, and that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord, which most commentators understand to mean the Quranic message brought by the Prophet (see 5:66; 5:66c). The idea that many of the People of the Book will be increased in rebellion and disbelief echoes v. 64, which indicates that that which has been sent down unto the Prophet will increase some of the People of the Book in “rebellion and disbelief” (see 5:64; 5:64c). Here, as elsewhere, the Prophet is told to grieve not for those who are unresponsive to the Divine message (cf. 5:26; 27:70). Some connect this verse to the injunction to the Prophet in the previous verse to convey that which has been sent down to him, indicating that this message to the People of the Book to follow their own scriptures as well as the Quran was what the Prophet had hesitated or feared to convey (R, Ṭ).

Another reputable Quranic translator, the late Abdullah Yusuf Ali, also pointed to the current New Testament, specifically John’s Gospel, as foretelling Muhammad’s coming:

In this verse is a prefiguring, to Moses, of the Arabian Messenger, the last and greatest of the messengers of Allah. Prophecies about him will be found in the Taurat and the Injil. In the reflex of the Taurat as now accepted by the Jews, Moses says: “The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me” (Deut. xviii. 15): the only Prophet who brought a Shari’at like that of Moses was Muhammad Al- Mustafa, and he came of the house of Ismail the brother of Isaac the father of Israel. In the reflex of the Gospel as now accepted by the Christians, Christ promised another Comforter (John xiv. 16): the Greek word Paraclete which the Christians interpret as referring to the Holy Spirit is by our Doctors taken to be Periclyte, which would be the Greek form of Ahmad. See Q. lxi. 6. (Footnote: 1127 https://www.alim.org/translation/yusuf-ali/7/)

Q. 7:157

The Prophet is also said here to be inscribed in the Torah and the Gospel, meaning for most commentators that the qualities that identify and describe him as a prophet are mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel (Ṭ). See 61:6, where Jesus says that he brings glad tidings of a Messenger to come after him whose name is Aḥmad — Aḥmad is one of the most often used names of the Prophet in the Islamic tradition (see 61:6c). According to a ḥadīth, the Prophet was described in the Torah with some of the same qualities attributed to him in the Quran, including that he is a giver of glad tidings and a warner, that he does not do evil to those who do evil to him, that he is kind and forgiving, that he is not rude or loud in the marketplace, and that he is a guardian for the unlettered (ummiyūn), here probably referring to the Arabs. The ḥadīth goes on to say that he will cause even those who are astray to utter, “There is no god but God,” and hence open eyes, ears, and hearts (Q, Ṭ). Some commentators mention particular statements in the Torah and Gospel that were interpreted by Muslims as references to the coming of the Prophet Muhammad, including prophecies about the descendants of Ishmael in Genesis 16– 17 and Jesus’ reference to a spiritual “comforter,” the “Paraclete” (Fāraqlīṭ, which was understood to mean Aḥmad), who would come after him and “will speak whatever he hears” (John 16:7–14; Ṭ s).

Q. 61:6

6 A function of every Divine messenger is to confirm the revelations that have come before; thus 6:92 says of the Quran, This is a blessed Book that We have sent down, confirming that which came before it (cf. 35:31; 46:30). That the prophets would confirm one another is said to be part of the primordial covenant that they made with God in 3:81 and 33:7. The prophets’ confirmation of other messengers is also understood to refer to those who would follow them in time, and several verses are interpreted as references to the mention of the Prophet Muhammad in the Old and New Testaments (see 7:157c). The name Aḥmad means “most praised”; it derives from the same root as Muhammad— ḥ-md — and has long been recognized by Muslims as one of the many honorific names given to the Prophet by God Himself. This is based upon a saying of the Prophet: “I have several names: I am Muhammad; I am Aḥmad; I am al-Māḥī (the Effacer) by means of whom God eliminates unbelief.” Many other aḥadīth simply refer to the Prophet as Aḥmad.

Some Muslims have likened Jesus’ reference to Aḥmad here in the Quran to the reference to the Paraclete (Gk. Paraklētos) or Advocate of whom Jesus speaks in the Gospel of John 14:15– 16: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (see also John 16:7– 14; Āl, R). Such an interpretation is, however, complicated by the next verse, 14:17, where the Advocate or Paraclete is said to be “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you,” and by 14:26, where the Advocate is again equated with the Holy Spirit.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The scholars of the SQ realize that the only way to take seriously the Quran’s statements in respect to the existence of the Torah and the Gospel at Muhammad’s time is to presume that these terms refer to the Old and New Testaments respectively. At the very least, the Gospel mentioned cannot refer to anything other than the canonical Gospels, such the Gospel of John.

This, therefore, confirms that the author(s) and/or editor(s) of the Muslim scripture had the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in view, since these were the only sacred texts that the Jews and Christians had in their possessions during the reported lifetime of Muhammad.

FURTHER READING

Let the Study Quran Speak! Pt. 1, Pt. 1b, Pt. 2

THE QURAN’S GOSPEL

What the Qur’an says about the Bible (overview page)

Does the Holy Bible Call Itself the Holy Bible?

Does the Holy Bible claim to be the inspired Word of God?

Does the Quran confirm the Bible and the Canonical Gospels?

The Quran’s Confirmation of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures

Does Taurat Refer Only to the Revelation Given to Moses?

The Greek Quran Confirms That Allah Revealed the Holy Bible

The Muhammadan Fraud That Was Ahmed Deedat: Which Bible?

THE QURAN’S CONFIRMATION OF THE HOLY BIBLE REVISITED