Corruption of the bible in the Quran
Before we begin, we need to discuss the importance of peripheral route processing vs. central route processing.
Central Route Processing: Focus on a deep processing of the information. Integration of nuance and complexity to develop a full and complete understanding.
Peripheral Route processing: Focus on superficial characteristics (shallow processing of information). Ignores integration of nuance and complexity; achieves a peripheral level impression.
It's important that you engage in central route processing throughout your study of the Quran.
Unequivocal and unambiguous evidence:
[Quran 4:157] And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.
An important thing to recognize is that Muslims believe the Quran is the word of Allah and that Allah is speaking to us. In this verse, Allah is telling us that Jesus was actually never crucified, however, the bible states he was crucified. So we conclusively deduce that therefore the bible has been corrupted as the original bible given to Jesus by God would not have included such lies. This is unequivocal evidence that the Quran teaches there was textual corruption of the bible.
The Quran teaches that it is the word of Allah, and Allah is thus speaking to us in this verse which leads us to necessarily deduce that the modern bible we have has been subject to textual corruption.
Now, the nonbeliever may claim that this verse was only written because the prophet Muhammad did not know what is in the bible and the prophet Muhammad made this mistake. First, this is circular reasoning on their behalf because they start out with the assumption that the Quran is written by the prophet Muhammad, and not Allah, but more importantly, Muhammad being the author of the Quran is a false statement and it is not what the Quran teaches. We are interested in what the Quran is teaching about the corruption of the bible. The Quran teaches that it is the word of Allah, and thus when Allah speaks to us in verse 4:157, he is confirming to us conclusively and unequivocally that the bible has been corrupted.
Done. End. Resolved.
Now, what about the Jewish scriptures? All you have to do is find a verse in the Quran that contradicts the modern Torah, and thus we conclusively recognize that the Quran teaches that the Torah we have currently has been corrupted. That is simply what the Quran teaches and what Allah is saying to us. If the Quran says that Allah told the Jews to do X, but X is not currently in the Torah and instead Y (a contradiction to X) was in the Torah, then the current Torah does not reflect what the original Torah had and had been corrupted. This is Allah speaking to us and having us conclusively deduce this Quranic teaching.
Objections of the non-believer:
[Quran 6:115] And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words...
[Quran 18:27] And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words...
The non-believer commonly references the above verses in making the claim that none can change the word of Allah, and thus no one could change the bible. They like to pretend such verses are conclusive. However, there are several issues with their assumptions. As we had written above, it is important you appreciate nuance and complexity and not take just a superficial level analysis of the Quran.
Firstly, "word" is also translated as "promise" in Arabic. In fact, it is quite clear just from reading the context alone that what is meant by "none change His words" is that no one could stop Allah's promises from being fulfilled. Reading Surah 6:115 alone in context makes that very clear. In Quran 18:27, 'words" can also be translated as "promise"--that is the Quran contains the promises of Allah and you cannot change his promises. So contrary to the nonbeliever's superficial claim that these verses are conclusive in stating the bible has not been corrupted, we see here that these verses are actually inconclusive when we engage in deep analysis and appreciating nuance and complexity as opposed to the peripheral route processing of the nonbeliever.
Worse, even if we take "words" and not "promises" as the translation of these verses, it still remains true that no one can change the word of Allah. Corrupting the bible is not changing the word of Allah, it is changing a written copy of the word of Allah. In fact, it would be silly to say you cannot change the texts that contain the word of Allah--I can go right now, get a sharpie and cross out text in the Bible or the Quran--and when I do so I did not change the word of Allah. I changed the text that contained the word of Allah in written form, but I did not change the word of Allah itself. In fact, the Quran states literally everything is written in a preserved tablet--not even a leaf falls except it is recorded on this tablet (6:59, 36:12, 50:4, 57:22). It thus follows that the original Bible and Quran are written on that tablet. Thus, changing the copies we have on Earth of the word of Allah is not changing the word of Allah itself. Therefore, contrary to the claims of the non-believer, these verses do not conclusively or unequivocally rule out that the textual bible has not been corrupted.
[Quran 32:23] And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture, so do not be in doubt encountering it...
The nonbeliever would like to claim that verses similar to the above state that the textual bible has not been corrupted. However, this does not follow from what those verses say. Even if you have a book that contains fabricated insertions and deletions as well as some true words of Allah, you still have true words of Allah in your possession. And the Quran came to confirm them. No doubt even within the corrupted modern Torah and the Gospel, we do encounter the true words of Allah. However, this fact does not lend us the conclusion that the Torah and Gospel have not been corrupted. These verses are thus inconclusive as to whether they state the bible has been corrupted or not. And as we stated above, in the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to conclusive verses that settle the matter decisively and unequivocally (see discussion above on 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah).
[Quran 3:3] He has sent down upon you, the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.
You will encounter verses which say "confirming that of the Torah in their hands". It is important to understand that even with a corrupted Torah, they still have parts of the Torah in their hands and the Quran came to confirm this fact. Moreover, the Quran did not say specifically what aspects it is confirming in this verse nor did it say it is confirming every detail thus it could mean it is confirming the message (or the essence) of what is between their hands. The verse did not say which and as such it is inconclusive. The issue is, it is the assumption of the reader that leads them to the conclusion the Quran is stating that it is confirming every detail of the previous scriptures. The Quran does not say this (and in fact, it does not discuss every detail mentioned in the previous scriptures--the Quran is a small book), it only said it is confirming the other scriptures. What exactly does that mean? The verse does not elaborate. As such it is inconclusive. It could mean the Quran is confirming that Allah had revealed the Torah and Gospel (and the verse is silent as to whether elements of corruption have entered them); it could mean that the Quran is confirming the message of the Torah/Gospel; it could mean the Quran is confirming the divine origin of the Torah/Gospel (for example, the Quran says every nation has gotten a messenger (16:36), so even polytheist nations have gotten a messenger (divine origin), (not necessarily scriptures, but messengers), however those messages while they have a divine origin have been corrupted, and among those nations are the ones Allah has destroyed). It is only the assumption of the reader that leads them to conclude the Quran is claiming the Torah/Gospel they have in their hands is free of corruption--this verse simply does not say that. Such a conclusion requires an extrapolation from this verse, and as we see, such an extrapolation does not conclusively lead us to the conclusion of the Quran claiming the Torah/Gospel are free of corruption. As such, this verse is inconclusive.
[Quran 3:93] All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had made unlawful to himself before the Torah was revealed. Say, [O Muhammad], "So bring the Torah and recite it, if you should be truthful."
This verse is saying before the Torah, the Children of Israel had little dietary restrictions. The question is, how did Muhammad know this if he did not read the Torah before (as the Quran claims in 42:52, 29:48)? The Jews should thus recognize the prophethood of Muhammad because the Torah they have has this information. Now, the nonbeliever claims that the Quran is saying the Torah they have is not corrupted. I wonder, where in this verse does the Quran say something like that? The Quran is saying they have the Torah which states this fact. That means, this part of the Torah which mentions this specific fact about the new dietary restrictions is not a corruption--it has been confirmed. As mentioned above, even when you have a Torah that has had insertions and deletions of corruptions, you still have the Torah in your possession and you still have the message of the Torah and you are still reciting parts of the Torah as revealed by Allah.
In conclusion, this verse says absolutely nothing about whether the Torah has been corrupted or not. Such a belief must be extrapolated from the verse--and as we see, such an extrapolation does not conclusively lend the conclusion that the Quran is claiming that the Torah is free of corruption. As such this verse is inconclusive--and in the face of inconclusive verses we refer to conclusive verses that settle the matter decisively and unequivocally (see discussion above on 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah) to tell us definitively that the Torah/Gospel have been corrupted.
Moreover, I want to discuss a concept that is worth mentioning but is not required for this discussion (so you can just ignore it and move on). It is just assumed by the nonbeliever that "reciting the Torah" necessarily means reciting the whole book in its entirety. However, when I say "recite the Torah", that doesn't mean I am saying recite the entire book. (Side note: the same thing is true with the Quran, when I say I'm reciting the Quran, that doesn't mean I am reciting the whole Quran). Now that we have deconstructed such an assumption by the nonbeliever, it is made clear to us that it is possible that when you recite what Allah revealed in the Torah the Jews have, you are reciting "The Torah", but when you recite the human fabrications, you are not reciting "The Torah". Imagine in my copy text of the Quran, someone messed around with it and corrupted my copy at home--thus when I recite those corruptions I am not reciting the Quran, but when I recite something that hasn't been corrupted, I am reciting the Quran. And despite the corruptions inserted in them, between my hands is the Quran--I still have the Quran, it's just that those corruptions are not part of it. So "reciting the Torah" does not necessarily mean what the nonbeliever thinks. I want to understand what I am saying here--what I just mentioned is possible and it is not clear this is not the case, and as such this verse is inconclusive. I will not restate this concept in this article, and I will proceed as if this concept doesn't exist, but keep it in mind for your own understanding.
[Quran 53:36] Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses
There is absolutely nothing in this verse that says anything about the modern Torah. It is a rhetorical question and it is saying that Allah informed them of what was in the scriptures of Moses. Indeed the Quran did inform us of this. Moreover, even if we give the benefit of the doubt--the modern corrupted Torah still has elements of the original Torah within it, and so reading the Modern Torah would inform you of what is in the scriptures of Moses as revealed by Allah.
[Quran 29:46] And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."
There is no claim in this verse at all that the bible had not been corrupted. Yet the nonbeliever would like to attribute conclusiveness to this verse. Saying "we believe in what was revealed to you" means we believe what Allah revealed to them. Corruptions in the bible are not what Allah revealed to them.
[Quran 10:94] So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.
There is no claim in this verse at all the bible had not been corrupted. What the nonbeliever is doing is inserting extra-quranic assumptions onto this verse. This verse is telling the prophet to check out the previous scriptures and see the similarities and how the Quran is indeed repeating the same overall message of the bible. As we discussed above, even a corrupted bible has some uncorrupted truth in it, and it is through this truth that the prophet can recognize he is receiving a similar message from the same source (God). This verse says nothing about whether elements of corruption made it into their texts, and thus it is inconclusive; it does not lend the conclusion they desire.
[Quran 7:157] Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.
As discussed above, having a corrupted Torah/Gospel means you have elements of the original Torah/Gospel in there mixed in with elements of human fabrication. So they do have the Torah/Gospel with them even though they are corrupted. As such this verse is not making any claim whether the Torah/Gospel has been corrupted or not. As a side note, we should recognize that even if they have information about the unlettered prophet written in their scriptures, what is said about him could be partially corrupted and this verse does not rule that out--that means any verse in the modern bible which may refer to the coming of a future prophet may have been originally referencing the prophet Muhammad but had gotten corrupted and as such is now understood to reference a different prophet. This verse does not rule out this possibility. Additionally, the clause of this verse beginning with "who enjoins upon them..." can be interpreted as a description of the prophet's current actions and not what was written about him--likewise "unlettered" could be the honorific descriptions (adjectives) of Muhammad that the Quran is using to refer to him and not necessarily what was written about him in the previous scriptures (in other words ["the messenger, the prophet, the unlettered"] are descriptions (adjectives) of the prophet Muhammad (noun) and it is Muhammad (noun) who they find written about in the Torah/Gospel, not those descriptions (adjectives) of him. Again, we see here, this verse does not conclusively rule out that the bible had not been corrupted. As such, we refer to conclusive verses as discussed above. (If you are interested in further exploring this verse, I recommend this article here)
So as we see here, this Quranic verse is inconclusive. The Quran did not directly spill out what the nonbeliever wants to attribute to it, it didn't say "the Torah/Gospel they have is the original which has been preserved by Allah over time and uncorrupted, and within the Torah/Gospel, there is mention of an unlettered prophet who the Torah/Gospel says will do X, Y and Z", but the Quran did not say this. It is written in poetic form and it allows flexibility in interpretation. If a verse is inconclusive, then it is inconclusive and we refer to conclusive verses for the definitive answer (see discussion on 4:157 above). But, why would Allah write a verse that is misleading like that? As we will discuss below, this vagueness and ambiguity of the Quran is deliberate and purposeful so that it can facilitate the misguidance of those whose hearts have perversity/animosity/bias against Islam; through the ambiguity and vagueness, the Quran guides many and misguides many.
Side note: Potential places in the Torah/Gospel this verse is referring to is: Deuteronomy 18:15-19, where it mentions an upcoming prophet like Moses (Moses came with a law) from the brothers of the Jews (Arabs are brothers of the Jews) and that God will require the Jews to follow that new law. Note the specific statements that the prophet will be like Moses (who gave the law), it will be like the event at Mount Horeb (where the law was given--Muhammad was first given the revelation of the Quran at Mount Jabal an-Nour), God will put his words in his mouth (Quran is a verbatim recitation from God) and that the Jews will be required to follow it. Now, some Jews claim that this verse is talking about Joshua and they support this claim by referencing other parts of the Torah (which could've been corrupted) or the book of Joshua, however, that book of Joshua could've been corrupted, could have been fabricated in the name of Joshua, or Joshua was a false prophet. The Quran does not recognize nor mention the prophethood of Joshua. These corruptions could've been caused by the Jews or even Satan through the Jews (we seem to forget that the Quran teaches Satan is a force in this world that is actually trying to undermine humans religiously). Thus, this Quranic verse could be referencing Deuteronomy 18:15-19 as being about the prophet Muhammad--any claims that this verse is referencing another prophet could be derived from fabricated/corrupted texts in the Torah or Tenak. Additionally, that is how the prophet Muhammad could've explained this verse to his companions and Allah knows we can reason this and arrive at this understanding independently. Regarding the Gospel, it seems that Jesus did indicate the coming of a comforter/advocate after him in John 15:26--what is otherwise said about this comforter (such as him being a "spirit") could be corruptions. This verse could be referring to the prophet Muhammad and this could be what the Quran was referring to in 7:157. Note: John himself may have written this gospel from many sources of gospels which could have inserted elements from other sources of gospels (including the original God sent down) and thus remnants of the message from the original Gospel could've found its way into John. In the end, notice how both the Torah and the Gospel allude to someone coming after them just as the Quran explains. Now, for the nonbeliever who claims that Allah cannot update the Torah, I refer you here.
[Quran 5:44] Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah ] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.
The nonbeliever would like to claim that Allah entrusted the Torah to the Jews, therefore it wasn't corrupted. However, this does not conclusively follow. This verse only says that the Jews were commanded and entrusted to be the protectors of the Torah. It does not speak at all as to whether they did it successfully. Thus, it is inconclusive as to whether this verse is claiming the Torah was corrupted or not and thus we refer to conclusive verses as discussed above. In fact, Quran 3:187 informs us that the Jews, who were entrusted with the scripture, failed in their obligation; they transgressed and they did in fact sell their verses for a small price.
[Quran 5:43] But how is it that they come to you for judgement while they have the Torah, in which is the judgement of Allah? Then they turn away, [even] after that; but those are not [in fact] believers.
The nonbeliever claims that this verse states that the Torah has the judgement of Allah and that therefore this verse affirms that the Torah had not been corrupted. However, the Quran does not claim that there was wholesale complete corruption of the Torah such that it is completely unrecognizable from the original. Parts of the bible could have been corrupted, yet in spite of that, the verses they have of the Torah could have enough truth within it to be sufficient to be used specifically as a legal judgement, and this was good enough for Allah with respect to legal judgements. The very next verse (Quran 5:44) confirms that indeed that Torah was originally from God and that what they have of the Torah does contain the judgement of Allah in it. But note, these verses are silent as to whether elements of corruption made it into the Torah. Notice how this next verse does not explicitly state that the Torah which Allah sent down originally is completely identical to the Torah they have in their hands right now. These verses again do not conclusively assert that the Torah contains no corruptions. Notice how they will keep relying on inconclusive verses when it comes to trying to demonstrate the Quran claims the bible has no corruptions. If a verse is inconclusive, then we refer to conclusive ones as we discussed above for the decisive answer.
Separately, the nonbeliever also discounts another possible interpretation of this verse which adds to the case that this verse is inconclusive. When this verse is read in context, we learn that it may be a rhetorical question pointing out the inconsistent stance of the Jews in regards to their beliefs. They reject the prophethood of Muhammad, yet they want to go to him for a judgement? Don't they have the Torah which has the judgement of Allah? (rhetorical question). In other words, the Quran could be expressing what they believe with respect their Torah as part of a rhetorical question to expose their inconsistency. They are in fact not believers in the prophethood of Muhammad, yet they disingenuously act like they are when it suits them. Then, the very next verse (5:44) is confirming to them that the Torah was originally given to them from God, however, this verse does not conclusively affirm that the Torah they have is totally identical to the Torah originally sent down--in fact, from a related verse, Quran 3:187, we deduce that after Allah gave them the Torah, the Jews have not taken care of the Torah like they were entrusted to do, and thus the texts they inherited have not been well cared for. Worse, we also deduce from the Quran, that indeed the Jewish attempts of corruption have successfully been incorporated into the textual copies of the Torah (see discussion above on 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah) and thus the texts they inherited have indeed been corrupted.
Now, the last sentence in 5:44 could be seen as a general statement, in which the Jews should judge by what Allah revealed, which includes the Quran which establishes corruption of the previous scriptures and that it reinstated their original message and thus the Quran is the authority to judge with, or it could be understood as a statement Allah gave to the Jews at the time he revealed the Torah, in which he was telling the original Jews to judge by the Torah, and if this is the case, then Allah is not speaking to the current Jews in this verse--and he is not informing the current Jews to judge by the Torah they have because this understanding of the verse when understood in light of related verses, including 3:187, explain that the Torah has not been taken good care of after it was entrusted to the Jews to take care of it. Both of these interpretations are possible, and neither of them affirm the Torah has not been corrupted.
If the Quran wanted to say in 5:44 that it was affirming the Torah the Jews claim to have is identical to the one Allah sent down, it would have said so explicitly, but it did not. "The Jews claim they have the Torah with the judgement of Allah in it, Allah says that indeed he did send down the Torah and it was entrusted to the Jews, but in no way does he say that the Jews had been successful in protecting the Torah, in fact, in a related verse (3:187), the Quran suggests the Jews failed in their obligation with respect to the Torah, and verses such as 4:157 and others which contradict the Torah (as discussed above) unequivocally confirm that corruption has entered into the Torah, and thus we conclude that the Torah that was sent down originally entrusted to the Jews is not the one the current Jews claim to have in their hands". The Quran allowed for this interpretation and thus these set of verses do not conclusively state the Torah had not been corrupted.
Now, some would argue: why would Allah mislead those Jews into thinking for even a second that their Torah is reliable? The Quran states that it tries to mislead the defiantly disobedient using its verses (see Quran 2:26 and 3:7). Quran 2:26 for example says that through a verse, Allah will mislead many and guide many. Thus the Quran may very well be attempting to mislead and impose cognitive dissonance on those disobedient/disbelieving Jews to make it more difficult for them to put aside their cognitive dissonance and take a measured non-peripheral understanding of the Quran and recognize the Quran teaches in 3:187 and elsewhere that the Jews did not do what they were entrusted to do. The Jews are to correctly recognize this understanding of the Quran and conclude that 5:43-5:44 are thus inconclusive as to whether it was claiming the Torah was corrupted, especially while understanding other verses which decisively indicate the Torah has been corrupted as well as Quran 2:26 and Quran 3:7 which state the Quran will attempt to mislead those who are disobedient. And that those who are disobedient and refuse to believe, will tend to not take and not be motivated to take a deep level approach towards understanding the Quran because they want to follow the conclusion they desire which is satisfied by taking a peripheral approach that ignores the nuance and complexity of the Quran. Thus the complexity of the Quran was put in there to keep the disbelievers disbelieving because their defiance will have them seek whatever conclusion they desire by ignoring the complexity of the Quran. I've dedicated a section below to this Quranic phenomenon of using its verses to both guide and misguide--and only the righteous will be guided by the Quran; the defiantly disobedient will seek an interpretation they desire, which the Quran facilitates, so that they remain misguided.
So what is the significance of this deliberately misleading Quran? That means rejecting a Quranic understanding based on the fact that the Quran would otherwise be misleading is not a valid argument for accepting the "at face value" interpretation that you were misled to accept. ("At face value" means to accept something as it appears; to accept something based on a superficial analysis; to accept something on how it initially appears). We already know the Quran is intentionally misleading so that those who hearts are defiantly disobedient remain misguided. So if when taking a holistic and fully detailed understanding of the Quran, we conclude that the verses which allegedly state the bible has been not corrupted either don't make such a claim or are inconclusive as to the claim they are making, we thus cannot reach the conclusion that the Quran definitively endorses the view the bible has not been corrupted.
[Quran 5:47] And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.
Many times in the Quran, when referencing the bible they have in their hands, the Quran uses the term "ma bayna yadayhi" (between their hands), and we don't see this mentioned in this verse. Nonetheless, irrespective of that, the Quran did not say to judge by the Gospel they currently possess in their hands. Thus, this verse is inconclusive as to whether it is saying judge by the original gospel or the gospel they have in their hands. Now, some will say "but then, this verse is misleading". Yes...that's the point. The Quran says it attempts to mislead through inconclusive verses as discussed above. Many Christians, even today are being misled by this verse because they take it at face value (a peripheral approach) and refuse to recognize the nuance and complexity of the Quran. The Quran says it is deliberately misleading as discussed above (see above discussion on 5:43). However, a cautious understanding of the Quran leads us to understand this verse is inconclusive as to whether it claims the bible they have in their hands is uncorrupted (or even should be used as a judgement since it is not clear if the Quran is even talking about the one they have in their hands). In fact, when you take a holistic understanding of the Quran, 4:157 confirms to us unequivocally that the gospel they have in their hands has been corrupted and thus it is not the one to judge by because this verse says to judge by "what Allah has revealed therein"--Allah did not reveal those corruptions that were later added on to the gospel they currently have.
It would be telling them to Judge by what Allah had revealed in the Gospel. However, as we learn, the Quran unequivocally informs us the Gospel they have has been corrupted (4:157 and others which contradict the Gospel they have in their hands) and the next part of this verse says "whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed are the defiantly disobedient". This verse is a threat to the Christians. It is telling them it is important to judge by what Allah had revealed in the Gospel, but by judging with the Gospel they currently have they'd be judging by both what Allah revealed and the corruptions that were inserted--and thus by doing so, they would be the defiantly disobedient because they are not only judging by what Allah revealed in the Gospel. The Quran wanted them to ponder over this verse and deduce this conclusion. Similar to what the Quran suggests with the Jews (in 5:43-5:44), everyone is supposed to judge by what Allah revealed, however in 5:44 we learn the Jews have been entrusted to guard their scriptures and in 3:187 (as well as the verses which contradict the Torah), we learn that the Jews have failed to guard their scriptures and corruptions have made their way into the Torah. So both the Jews and the Christians judging by their corrupted texts are not exclusively judging by what Allah had revealed; they are also judging by what the corrupted texts say--and thus, in order to be righteous, the Jews and Christians must judge exclusively by what Allah revealed. The Quran is not meant to be passively read and superficially understood, in fact, in many verses (such as 47:24,4:82, 23:68, 38:29, 8:22), we are commanded to ponder/reflect upon its verses. So if this verse is understood as a command to Christians, then they are to understand that this verse does not conclusively say their gospel is uncorrupted, but that they should recognize that the Quran conclusively determined their bible was corrupted (see discussion on 4:157 above) and that they are to judge by what Allah revealed in the Gospel, and since they cannot discern what Allah revealed in the Gospel alone, they are to refer to the Quran. In fact, the very next verse, 5:48, informs us that the Quran was sent down to confirm "what is between their hands"-"ma bayna yadayhi" of the scripture and to act as a criterion over it ("wa-muhayminan" = guarding it by determining what is true and false). Since this is a possible interpretation of this verse, we see here that it is inconclusive and it is not saying the bible has not been corrupted contrary to the claims of the nonbeliever.
[Quran 5:48] And We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.
It's important to recognize that 5:48 just said "To each we have prescribed a law and method...to test you". It did not say anything about whether the texts that discuss the previous laws/methods have been corrupted, and it doesn't say anything about how to approach this test (it is Quran 5:68 and 4:47 that goes on to explain how to succeed in this test--by upholding the Torah, Gospel AND Quran), nonetheless, Quran 5:48 remains inconclusive as to whether it is making the claim the bible has been corrupted or not.
Now, let's closely read the next verse (5:48) to get a deeper understanding. It says Allah gave the prophet Muhammad the book confirming what is between their hands of the scripture and as a guard/criterion over it. Then it goes on to tell the prophet Muhammad to judge between the Jews/Christians based off of what he was revealed and not to follow their inclinations away from the truth the prophet Muhammad received. What we see here is that they have inclinations that deviate from the truth of what Allah revealed. These inclinations may be partly due to the corruptions of their scriptures. Next, this verse informs us that all of us have been prescribed (past tense) a law and a method. Now, the next verse is answering the burning question: Why? Why the confusion? Why the complexity? Why have the Quran as the guard/criterion over the previous scriptures? Why have the prophet judge between them based on the Quran if you are all powerful and could've just made us all agree on one thing without deviance in the first place? The Quran answers that Allah could've done so, however, he chose not to so that we may be tested with what Allah had given us. So now, we finally understand--this is a test. Now, in verse 5:68, it is made even clearer. The Jews/Christians are to judge by the Torah, Gospel AND what has been revealed from Allah (the Quran)-- "and that which is revealed to you from your lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief". Here, the Quran is informing them that the Quran is part of the test upon them and through it, many will fail (increase in disbelief). They are commanded to uphold the Quran; the reason Allah gave everyone a law and a method in the past and then have the Quran imposed on them is for them to be tested.
We must understand that 5:48 could be answering or explaining the question of why make things the way they are in the first place. The nonbeliever would assert this verse is addressing a different question. However, it is unclear what question this verse is addressing and as such it is inconclusive. The fact of the matter is this verse is not explicitly whether the bible has or hasn't been corrupted; any such conclusion would be derived from an implicit understanding--however, the issue with using this verse is that its implicit understanding is not clear and not unequivocal. It could very well be explaining why Allah made us have different religions in the first place and have the Quran as the criterion over the texts of the previous religions--and as such this verse does not affirm whether the bible has been corrupted or not and it is inconclusive. Notice how they will keep relying on inconclusive verses when it comes to trying to demonstrate the Quran claims the bible has no corruptions. If a verse is inconclusive as to its interpretation when it comes to whether the bible has been corrupted or not, then it is inconclusive. In that case we refer to conclusive verses which settle the matter definitely and unequivocally (see Quran 4:157's discussion above).
[Quran 5:68] Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord." And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.
The nonbeliever uses this verse to claim that the Quran endorses the Torah/Gospel they have in their hands. This verse is commanding the people of the book to uphold the Torah, Gospel AND Quran (what has been revealed to you from your lord). This is similar to Quran 4:47 which is tied to a severe threat if they do not uphold the Quran. Notice how this verse did not say "uphold the Torah and Gospel in their hands", rather it just said uphold the Torah and the Gospel and as such could be referring to the original Torah and Gospel. More importantly this verse commands upholding the Quran; upholding the Quran is upholding the original Torah and Gospel because the Quran confirmed/reinstated their message and is the criterion over the message. Additionally, the Torah and Gospel may have originally commanded following the upcoming prophet (Muhammad), but this message has been corrupted. So as we see here, this verse is inconclusive as to whether it asserts the Torah/Gospel has been corrupted or not, and in the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to conclusive ones as discussed above which definitively establish the corruption of the Torah/Gospel; additionally we learn this verse (along with 4:47) is commanding the Jews/Christians to follow the Quran.
Upholding the Torah, Gospel and Quran means upholding the Quran. The Torah/Gospel said to follow the next prophet, and the next prophet came with the Quran which teaches how to approach religion. By upholding the Torah/Gospel by following the Quran and what the Quran relieves and adds to the previous laws, you are upholding all three scriptures. Upholding the Quran is upholding the original messages of the Torah/Gospel (including their messages to follow the next prophet).
As a side note, notice how the end of the verse says "and that which has been revealed to you from your lord will increase them (Jews/Christians) in transgression and disbelief". This verse is informing us that the Quran is indeed a test for the Christians/Jews and through it, Allah will misguide some and guide some. This has been a recurring theme; the Quran will mislead those whose hearts have perversity to Islam--the Quran demands you to deeply consider its verses--don't submit yourself to superficial understandings and conjecture, rather, do a deep level central analysis and recognize that inconclusive verses are inconclusive, and as such we refer to conclusive verses. Don't fall for the traps set forth in the Quran, only those who want to reject Islam and want to take a superficial/peripheral interpretation will be misguided, but those who want to accept Islam could recognize that those former interpretations are peripheral and don't take into account the nuance and complexity of the Quran--and they will recognize that once they take a central approach to Quranic understanding, once they take an integrative approach that incorporates all the complexities (rather than ignore them), it will be made very clear to them that the Quran teaches the previous scriptures have been textually corrupted.
[Quran 26:196] And indeed, it is [mentioned] in the scriptures of former peoples.
[Quran 26:197] And has it not been a sign to them that it is recognized by the scholars of the Children of Israel?
If you noticed, the Quran did not say it is mentioned in the scripture they have in their hands, but instead in the scripture of the former peoples. There is no statement here that their scriptures have not been corrupted over time. And then the next verse is essentially saying even the Jewish scholars contemporaneous with the prophet recognized/knew the message and teachings of the Quran and that should be a sign for the Jews that the Quran is from their God (side note: and they are to also deduce that their scriptures have been corrupted to fully accept the Quran--in fact, regarding Quran 26:196, if the Quran is not mentioned in the modern copies of the bible, then we know that the modern copies of the bible have been corrupted since they don't have this fact which was mentioned in the original copies that Allah revealed to them). Those Jews contemporaneous with the prophet would have noticed an unlettered desert dwelling Arab who did not know the Torah (see Quran 42:52 and Quran 29:48 which says Muhammad was not a reader of any scripture before the Quran) and he is somehow saying the same message that is known and recognized by the Jews from the Torah they have? The Jews should recognize this as a sign that it is from their God--and that they are to follow the Quran.
[Quran 2:121] Those to whom We have given the Book recite it with its true recital. They [are the ones who] believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it - it is they who are the losers.
The problem is the nonbeliever did not read the context. Quran 2:119 informs us the subject is the prophet Muhammad's revelation (Quran). Additionally, the verse right before says the Jews/Christians will not be pleased until the prophet follows their religion and the Quran tells the prophet not to. More importantly, "recipients of the book" in 2:121 could refer to Muslims (who definitely received the book). Notice how the verse did not say "Ahl al Kitab" (people of the book; jews/christians) nor did it say "those who recite the Torah/Gospel the have now". So it is inconclusive as to whether it is talking about Muslims or Christians/Jews. Additionally, the verb recite (tala) can also mean “to follow,” so that who recite it as it should be recited can also mean, “who follow it as it should be followed". As an additional side note: many get lost in the English translation and as such, we refer you to look at the word for word translation. The verse could be saying: "those whom we gave the book and recite it with its true recital--those are the ones who believe in it". This verse is thus not definitely saying that those who have the book recite it with its true recital, rather it is saying that those who got the book and recite it with the true recital are the ones who believe in it. The Jews/Christians are not reciting their books with its true recital, they've been corrupted, and so they are not righteous. This verse does not say whether the Jews/Christian books have not been corrupted. Even worse, this verse may be talking about the Quran as "the book" and not the previous scriptures.
[Quran 2:113] The Jews say "The Christians have nothing [true] to stand on," and the Christians say, "The Jews have nothing to stand on," although they [both] recite the Scripture. Thus the polytheists speak the same as their words. But Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.
The Jews contemporaneous with the prophet say Christians are totally wrong (not on anything, nothing true to stand on); The Christians say the same thing. As we said above: even when you recite a corrupted scripture with elements of Allah's original revelation and elements of human fabrication, you are still reciting elements of Allah's original revelation (the scripture). Additionally, "Al-Kittab" (scripture/book) can refer to the Quran which settles their differences (5:68). No doubt the Jews/Christians were introduced to the Quran and recited it, in fact, they even shared it with each other and talked about it to each other to try to find points of contention as Quran 2:76 asserts. Quran 5:68 settles their differences by making it clear that they are not standing on anything until they uphold the Torah, Gospel AND Quran (what which was revealed to you from your lord). Since the Quran unequivocally points to the bible as being corrupt (4:157 and others as discussed above), "Torah"/"Gospel" in this verse is talking about the originals before they were corrupted, and the Quran came to reinstate their message--thus upholding what the Quran says is upholding by what the original Torah/Gospel said. All in all, this verse is inconclusive as to whether it states the bible has been corrupted or not. As such we refer to the conclusive verses which inform us that indeed the bible has been corrupted.
As a side note: we see here the Quran talks about the Gospel in the same light as the Torah. The Quran talks about the Gospel in the way it does despite it being corrupted; likewise when the Quran talks about the Torah in the way it does (which is similar to the way it speaks of the Gospel), it does not exclude its corruption.
[Quran 15:9] Indeed, it is We who sent down "the Dhikr" and indeed, We will be its guardian.
"Dhikr" does not necessarily mean book, it means "knowledge/remembrance/message". So one verse in the Quran is also considered Dhikr; the whole Quran is also Dhikr because it is knowledge/remembrance/message. The nonbeliever claims that this verse is referring to the bible. However, when looking at the context, there is no mention of the bible or the people of the book. The subject of these verses is the Quran (see 15:1 and 15:6 which uses "Dhikr" to refer to the message the prophet Muhammad received). And this is Allah's message that indeed he will personally guard this Dhikr the prophet Muhammad received.
Additionally, since Dhikr means knowledge/message/remembrance, and the Quran states that all previous messengers received the same basic message to worship Allah (16:36), so indeed the Quran is reinstating that original Dhikr.
What about Quran 2:75-2:79?
[Quran 2:75] Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allah and then distort the Torah after they had understood it while they were knowing?
[Quran 2:76] And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We have believed"; but when they are alone with one another, they say, "Do you talk to them about what Allah has revealed to you so they can argue with you about it before your Lord?" Then will you not reason?
[Quran 2:77] But do they not know that Allah knows what they conceal and what they declare?
[Quran 2:78] And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, but they are only assuming.
[Quran 2:79] So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.
This set of verses are very interesting. When read in context, the verses preceding 2:75 are talking about the Jews' defiance against Allah and the verse directly before (2:74) talks about how the Jews' hearts hardened. 2:75 then transitions to ask a rhetorical question to Muslims, "do you really think the Jews would believe in Islam when they continued in their defiance and used to tamper with the word of God?" It is important to note that the context of these verses are referring to the Jews. In fact, in Quran 2:75 "they" refers to the Jews mentioned in the context from 2:74, and those Jews mentioned there are the Jews of Moses' time--they too are the subject of 2:75-2:79. Because 2:74 is talking about the ancient Jews, and 2:75 uses the pronoun "they", Quran 2:75- are alluding to the similarities in the general defiance between the Jews then and now. That is, those verses are discussing the general state of the Jews and how their disobedience did not change from their defiance during Moses' time (when their hearts hardened) and during Muhammad's time.
Now the problem with these set of verses is just like the verses we discussed above, these set of verses are inconclusive when it comes to whether they are claiming here that the Jews corrupted their Torah and those distortions ultimately made it into the Torah. And as we discussed above, in the face of inconclusive verses, what we do is refer to conclusive verses that settle the matter unequivocally (such as 4:157 and verses which contradict the Torah as we discussed above). The reason why these set of verses are inconclusive is because it is unclear if 2:75 is referring to the Jews only distorting the Torah when speaking about it to Muslims at the time, or if it means the Jews were distorting the Torah long before that and continue to do so during Muhammad's time. Notice how 2:75 did not say "distorting with their tongue" (other verses say that, so it may be possible that Jews both distorted the Torah with their tongue and also textually distorted it), so it could very well mean that the Jews have a history of distorting the text. However, as I said it is inconclusive which one it refers to.
Now the non believers say that this verse is only referring to a "party of the jews" distorting their scripture. However, that is exactly what it would take to corrupt the scriptures--everyone doesn't have to engage in it, only a group of those in power with access to the texts are sufficient to corrupt the text. It only takes a few literates with access to the texts to corrupt the scripture; not everyone needs to be accomplices--a few with authority, power, influence or who gain influence can corrupt it. Worse, righteous Jews who wanted to preserve the Torah could've lost power and were killed. The Torah is a very old text; there were many opportunities for corruption of the Torah, even going back to just after Moses' death. Even if the Jews had initially protected the Torah, other jews may have gained power and tampered with the texts as time went on. So again, as I said above, it is inconclusive if this verse is saying the Jews corrupted the Torah or not. In the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to the conclusive verses which unequivocally teach that the bible has been corrupted (e.g 4:157 and verses which contradict the Torah as discussed above).
Quran 2:76 can be understood as discussing hypocrite Jews who say they believe in Islam, yet they use what they believe Allah revealed to them from their corrupted scriptures to identify contradictions or points of contention/dispute with Islam--indeed they do not believe in Islam and they are hypocrites. Quran 2:77 informs them that Allah knows their hypocrisy--that they still believe in their corrupted scriptures over the Quran as they keep trying to identify points of contention between those texts as if the Quran is the text that is wrong.
Moving on to Quran 2:79. Again, it is inconclusive whether it refers to only the people discussed in 2:78, or it refers to the whole of 2:75-2:79. Wiki-Islam says it is only referring to the uneducated Jews in Quran 2:78, however, such a reference is not conclusive. Quran 2:78 exists in conjunction (as denoted by the Quran's use of "and" and "them" in context) with previous verses talking about even educated jews corrupting the scripture (2:75). For example, if I say [Some knowledgeable jews corrupted the scripture AND some un-knowledgeable Jews also corrupted the scripture, SO woe to those who write the scripture with their own hands.]--if I said that, then "so woe to those" could be referencing BOTH of the statements before it because they were connected by the conjunction "And". We are not obligated to believe that Quran 2:79 only references Quran 2:78 and not the other verses connected to 2:78 in conjunction. Either could be the case, and since we do not know the case, these set of verses are inconclusive as to which they are referring to. Again, when faced with inconclusive Quranic verses, we must remember they are inconclusive, so we cannot conclusively decide which interpretation is correct based on which one we want to be correct. When faced with inconclusive Quranic verses, we refer to conclusive verses to settle the matter--verses which unequivocally teach that the bible has been corrupted (e.g 4:157 and verses which contradict the Torah as discussed above).
All it really takes to corrupt a scripture is to copy parts of it down in your writing and change what it is saying (distort/alter it) and when you change what it is saying, you are fabricating a different narrative that deviates from the teaching of the original scripture and attributing those fabricated narratives it to Allah. Another way you can distort the teaching of the Torah is to fabricate a scripture that references other verses of the Torah which are ambiguous, and those fabricated scriptures would give the impression that they are explaining the ambiguity of the Torah into something specific. Additionally, another way you can distort the words of Allah in the Torah is to delete parts of it (see 5:15) and add your own fabrications to it. Take the example of me saying "At sunrise, I will begin the fast"--and then deleting the last half of the sentence, while adding a fabrication to it: "At sunrise, I will go to sleep". This is an alteration of the original message; a distortion of the original statement.
Now one thing we know about Quran 2:75-2:79 is, in context, it is discussing the general state of the Jewish defiance and includes the Jews being so willing to tamper with the word of God after their hearts hardened (2:74) during/after Moses' time. In fact, after these set of verses we return to the Quranic discussion of the Jewish defiance (see Quran 2:83). This is the overall message of these set of verses: the Jews have been continually defiant and tamper with the word of Allah. These set of verses in conjunction with Quran 4:157 lead to the conclusion that the Jews had created fabrications and attributed them to Allah and that those fabrications made it into the bible as verse 4:157 and others necessarily entail. Quran 2:75-2:79 hints and alludes to the Jewish tendency to tamper with the word of Allah especially when considering the overall theme surrounding the context of these verses of the Jews' general defiance against Allah. And especially in conjunction with 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah, we learn that the Jewish tendency and attempts to corrupt the word of Allah ultimately made it into the text of their scriptures.
As a side note, Quran 2:79 begins with the Arabic conjunction 'fa'. It is translated here as "so". However 'fa' also means "and". With this in mind, we could see Quran 2:79 as adding the conjunction 'and' to these other actions in 2:75-2:78. That is: there has been a group of Jews who wrote the scripture with their own hands and attributed it to God in addition to the other people mentioned in previous verses. In other words there are Jews who heard the Quran and verbally distort it (2:75), there have been unlettered Jews who make stuff up (2:78) and there were Jews who actually wrote the scripture with their own hands and attributed it to God (2:79).
Why does the Quran have vague/ambiguous verses?
Why didn't the Quran just directly lay it out? Why does the Quran say things that can be easily misinterpreted by Christians/Jews into thinking the Quran affirms the preservation authority of the scriptures they have in their hands? Why does it allow Christians/Jews to be misled into the erroneously thinking the Quran has contradictions and allow them to disbelieve? Additionally, Quran 5:68 admits that what Allah reveals is intended to increase them in disbelief. But why? This is a big topic in and of itself: basically, it is part of the test of life; it is so Allah misguides the Christians/Jews whose hearts have perversity and antagonism. That is, biased Christians/Jews can use these ambiguous verses and extract an interpretation that confirms their bias and end up maintaining that Islam is false because it affirms the current bible and yet contradicts the bible; they would say that since the Quran affirms those scriptures in their hands, yet contradicts them, then the Quran is false. However, as we discussed above, such a conclusion is derived through a peripheral and superficial understanding of the Quran rather than a central approach that appreciates the nuance and complexity of the Quran--an approach that recognizes that inconclusive verses are inconclusive; that we should not base our understanding of the Quran on an interpretation of an inconclusive verse.
The Quran states that it tries to mislead the defiantly disobedient using its verses (see Quran 2:26 and 3:7). Quran 2:26 for example says that through a verse, Allah will mislead many and guide many. Thus the Quran may very well be attempting to mislead and impose cognitive dissonance on those disobedient/disbelieving Christians/Jews to make it more difficult for them to put aside their cognitive dissonance and take a measured non-peripheral understanding of the Quran. Additionally Quran 3:7 which state the Quran will attempt to mislead those who are disobedient as they will seek out an interpretation from an unambiguous verse that suits them and attribute that interpretation to the Quran/Islam. And that those who are disobedient and refuse to believe, will tend to not take and not be motivated to take a deep level approach towards understanding the Quran because they want to follow the conclusion they desire which is satisfied by taking a peripheral approach that ignores the nuance and complexity of the Quran. Thus the complexity of the Quran was put in there to keep the disbelievers disbelieving because their defiance will have them seek whatever conclusion they desire by ignoring the complexity of the Quran. Only the righteous will be guided by the Quran; the defiantly disobedient will seek an interpretation they desire, which the Quran facilitates, so that they remain misguided.
So what is the significance of this deliberately misleading Quran? That means rejecting a Quranic understanding based on the fact that the Quran would otherwise be misleading is not a valid argument for accepting the "at face value" interpretation that you were misled to accept. ("At face value" means to accept something as it appears; to accept something based on a superficial analysis; to accept something on how it initially appears). We already know the Quran is intentionally misleading so that those who hearts have perversity to Islam.
That's just the nature of the Quran. The Quran is not a book you pick up before bed and say that you're "going to do some light reading". It requires careful systematic analysis and central route processing. In fact, the Quran demands that you don't just passively read it, but that you ponder and reflect upon it (see 47:24,4:82, 23:68, 38:29, 8:22). This Quran facilitates misleading interpretations so that those who are biased against Islam can find reasons to reject it through a superficial understanding of the Quran.
For a deeper dive into the deliberate Quranic misguidance through inconclusive verses, see my other articles (click the links):
Approach to Quranic Understanding
Why is the Quran Vague
Thus, we see here that the verses which the nonbelievers allege say the bible is not corrupted are actually inconclusive on close inspection. These verses do not unequivocally say or necessarily lead to the conclusion that the Quran claims the bible had not been corrupted. So if when taking a holistic and fully detailed understanding of the Quran, we conclude that the verses which allegedly state the bible has been not corrupted either don't make such a claim or are inconclusive as to the claim they are making, we thus cannot reach the conclusion that the Quran definitively endorses the view the bible has not been corrupted.
Giving Benefit of the doubt:
There is no place in the Quran that conclusively confirms that the bible they have in their hands weren't corrupted. So even if the Quran was silent on this fact, it does not confirm it. Quranic silence does not mean the Quran endorses this position. So even if the Quran does not unequivocally lend the conclusion the bible was corrupted, the bible could still have been corrupted. Quranic silence on something does not mean it didn't happen. This seems to be the approach of the nonbeliever (including Wiki-Islam)-- they claim the Quran does not say the bible has been corrupted. They fail to recognize that the Quran does not say the bible has not been corrupted. Even if we accept their approach that the Quran does not assert the bible has not been corrupted, it does not follow that the Quran endorses the bible not being corrupted. That could be part of the vagueness of the Quran--where the Quran chooses not to be specific about something as a test for the nonbeliever. In that case, Muslims would neither believe nor disbelieve the bible since the Quran allegedly doesn't say whether they've been corrupted or not. In other words, even IF the Quran is silent and inconclusive as to whether the textual bible has been corrupted or not, then it does not conclusively give out such information and we cannot say the Quran definitively endorses the bible's non corruption.
More importantly though, the Quran does conclusively and unequivocally inform us the bible has been corrupted--see our discussion above on 4:157 and other verses which contradict the bible.
So let's assume for the benefit of the doubt, the Quran only said the Jews distorted their scripture with their tongue and didn't say anything further. This doesn't mean they also didn't distort and fabricate their scripture textually. However, the nonbeliever would claim that it would indicate that they didn't distort their scriptures because the "Quran just skipped over mentioning something so significant as the Jews corrupting their scriptures? That's unlikely; why would the Quran do that?". This objection assumes that the Quran is not trying to mislead/test Jews and allow them to reach that hasty conclusion and misguide them. What if the Quran deliberately did not want to say this directly in order to mislead Jews into thinking the Quran says the bible is not corrupted and only guide those willing to think more deeply about this and recognize that the Quran does attempt to mislead biased individuals, that Quranic silence on something doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen (it is inconclusive whether it happened or not since it is not mentioned) and that the areas in which the Quran contradict the Torah demonstrates indirectly yet unequivocally that it teaches Allah is speaking to us telling us the Torah has been corrupted. The Quran could've wanted us to intellectually deduce the conclusion, rather than directly spill it out, and it is made this way so that those biased against Islam can be misguided through taking a peripheral level approach to the Quran (because such an approach gives them the conclusion they want) rather than a central intellectual approach. In other words, the Quran could've omitted such a direct statement of the corruption of the bible so that those biased against Islam get securely misguided into erroneously thinking the Quran says the bible is not corrupted--the Quran could've purposely done this. Thus, the nonbelievers claim depends on the assumption the Quran is not trying to mislead them. And indeed, whoever Allah guides, none can misguide; whoever He misguides, none can guide (40:33).
The nonbelievers are arguing in a circle (begging the question):
Many times, the nonbeliever will keep on insisting that their peripheral interpretation is the right one. They go on to say that it shows "the prophet Muhammad did not know what he was talking about and that he thought the bible wasn't corrupted" etc etc. The only question we ask them is "how do you know?"; "how do you know God is not trying to mislead you into erroneously reaching that conclusion through taking a peripheral approach of the Quran rather than deep-level integrative analysis?", "how do you know". They just assume their approach is the right approach; the correct methodology. They assume the author of the Quran is not trying to misguide some or that the author of the Quran intends on not misleading them and making everything plain and not ambiguous rather than the author of the Quran purposely misguiding those whose hearts have perversity to Islam. You see, they start with this unjustified starting assumption that 'the Quran is written by Muhammad and not God', and they use the logic that proceeds from this assumption to demonstrate that 'the Quran is written by Muhammad and not God'. This is arguing in a circle; its begging the question. If what the Quran is alluding to is ambiguous, then it is ambiguous; if a verse could mean something else, then it could mean something else. The Quran demands that we deeply analyze and reflect upon it--not peripherally consider it and disregard nuance and complexity. Thinking that the peripheral 'at face value' interpretation of the Quran is the message the author intends to share is not justified. The author could've set the 'at face value' interpretation in such a way to misguide those who want the Quran to be in error, while those who don't want it to be in error will consider the nuance and complexity, they will recognize that a verse does not necessarily say what the nonbeliever wishes it to say at the face value level and this verse can mean XYZ etc. And through this, Allah guides and misguides depending on who he decides is worthy of guidance vs misguidance--those who want to reject God and are stubborn, those who yearn to reject Islam in their hearts will be misguided through the Quran.
The starting assumption that the Quran is from Muhammad leads to the conclusion that we should take a peripheral approach which means the Quran is from Muhammad because the peripheral approach shows the Quran to be in error. Rather than this, we should consider that the Quran could be from God and thus through deep central analysis, this Quranic verse could mean XYZ rather than the at face value approach, and Allah could be using the peripheral allusion of a verse as a mechanism to misguide some and guide others--and as such, the understanding that this verse is in error is not clear because it could either mean the at face value interpretation or XYZ. That is how the nonbeliever should approach this rather than begging the question and arguing in a circle. The author of the Quran could've purposely put in place this phenomena in its verses, where peripheral understandings misguide some and deep approaches guide some who want it and are of pure heart and are willing to think deeply and understand the potential nuances and complexities of the Quran. And thus restricting your approach to Quranic interpretation to peripheral approaches would bein grave error. Don't assume the author's intentions, don't assume who the author is, don't argue in a circle. Recognize the author could be God who placed those nuances and the verse could be referring to the central deep level conclusion not the peripheral superficial understanding and as such, it is not clear which case the verse is referring to (it is ambiguous)--this is because what the verse is referring to is contingent on who the author is and the author's intentions. As a consequence, the verse can mean either and thus either may be the case. If a verse is ambiguous, then it is ambiguous; it it can mean something else then it can mean something else. So even if there is no explicit mention of the bible's corruptions and there seems to be allusions to both sides (this is not the case, there are definitive unequivocal statements that demonstrate the bible's corruption, but EVEN IF such a thing didn't exist), then the Quran remains ambiguous and inconclusive regarding this topic of corruption in the bible. As such, if you are going to try to challenge Islam, you are going to have to use something else (not 'the Quran says the bible is not corrupt' BS) because this specific aspect is inconclusive and unfalsifiable. And if it is unfalsifiable, then its unfalsifiable and cannot be done--it is ambiguous and inconclusive.
Note to the Muslim:
The nonbeliever will attempt to show you more verses and claim that they demonstrate the bible is not corrupt in an effort to ultimately demonstrate that Islam is false. However, as we have seen above, the verses which they allege say the bible has not been corrupted either don't say that or are inconclusive as to their assertion. In the face of inconclusive verses we refer to conclusive verses which definitely settle the matter. The Quran warns us that there is deliberate vagueness and ambiguity in its verses (3:7, 2:26) which is meant to facilitate the misguidance of those whose hearts have perversity so that they seek the interpretation they desire while neglecting the nuance and complexity of the Quran (such as the Quran having ambiguous verses). An inconclusive verse is inconclusive. Again, in the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to conclusive verses which definitively settle the matter. Make sure you apply the pattern of reasoning I've shown above to address the nonbeliever's claims. People will conjure up whatever objection they can or assert a "contradiction". All you have to do is demonstrate the verse in question is inconclusive and refer to conclusive verses about the topic if they are present. Don't be tempted to take a superficial approach towards understanding the Quran. The Quran demands that you don't just passively read it, but that you ponder and reflect upon it (e.g. 47:24,4:82, 23:68, 38:29, 8:22). Always take a central approach and always consider the nuance and complexity of the Quran.
Conclusion:
The Quran does NOT affirm the preservation of the texts of the previous scriptures and if anything it conclusively and unequivocally demonstrates their corruption.
Central Route Processing: Focus on a deep processing of the information. Integration of nuance and complexity to develop a full and complete understanding.
Peripheral Route processing: Focus on superficial characteristics (shallow processing of information). Ignores integration of nuance and complexity; achieves a peripheral level impression.
It's important that you engage in central route processing throughout your study of the Quran.
Unequivocal and unambiguous evidence:
[Quran 4:157] And [for] their saying, "Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah ." And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.
An important thing to recognize is that Muslims believe the Quran is the word of Allah and that Allah is speaking to us. In this verse, Allah is telling us that Jesus was actually never crucified, however, the bible states he was crucified. So we conclusively deduce that therefore the bible has been corrupted as the original bible given to Jesus by God would not have included such lies. This is unequivocal evidence that the Quran teaches there was textual corruption of the bible.
The Quran teaches that it is the word of Allah, and Allah is thus speaking to us in this verse which leads us to necessarily deduce that the modern bible we have has been subject to textual corruption.
Now, the nonbeliever may claim that this verse was only written because the prophet Muhammad did not know what is in the bible and the prophet Muhammad made this mistake. First, this is circular reasoning on their behalf because they start out with the assumption that the Quran is written by the prophet Muhammad, and not Allah, but more importantly, Muhammad being the author of the Quran is a false statement and it is not what the Quran teaches. We are interested in what the Quran is teaching about the corruption of the bible. The Quran teaches that it is the word of Allah, and thus when Allah speaks to us in verse 4:157, he is confirming to us conclusively and unequivocally that the bible has been corrupted.
Done. End. Resolved.
Now, what about the Jewish scriptures? All you have to do is find a verse in the Quran that contradicts the modern Torah, and thus we conclusively recognize that the Quran teaches that the Torah we have currently has been corrupted. That is simply what the Quran teaches and what Allah is saying to us. If the Quran says that Allah told the Jews to do X, but X is not currently in the Torah and instead Y (a contradiction to X) was in the Torah, then the current Torah does not reflect what the original Torah had and had been corrupted. This is Allah speaking to us and having us conclusively deduce this Quranic teaching.
Objections of the non-believer:
[Quran 6:115] And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words...
[Quran 18:27] And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. There is no changer of His words...
The non-believer commonly references the above verses in making the claim that none can change the word of Allah, and thus no one could change the bible. They like to pretend such verses are conclusive. However, there are several issues with their assumptions. As we had written above, it is important you appreciate nuance and complexity and not take just a superficial level analysis of the Quran.
Firstly, "word" is also translated as "promise" in Arabic. In fact, it is quite clear just from reading the context alone that what is meant by "none change His words" is that no one could stop Allah's promises from being fulfilled. Reading Surah 6:115 alone in context makes that very clear. In Quran 18:27, 'words" can also be translated as "promise"--that is the Quran contains the promises of Allah and you cannot change his promises. So contrary to the nonbeliever's superficial claim that these verses are conclusive in stating the bible has not been corrupted, we see here that these verses are actually inconclusive when we engage in deep analysis and appreciating nuance and complexity as opposed to the peripheral route processing of the nonbeliever.
Worse, even if we take "words" and not "promises" as the translation of these verses, it still remains true that no one can change the word of Allah. Corrupting the bible is not changing the word of Allah, it is changing a written copy of the word of Allah. In fact, it would be silly to say you cannot change the texts that contain the word of Allah--I can go right now, get a sharpie and cross out text in the Bible or the Quran--and when I do so I did not change the word of Allah. I changed the text that contained the word of Allah in written form, but I did not change the word of Allah itself. In fact, the Quran states literally everything is written in a preserved tablet--not even a leaf falls except it is recorded on this tablet (6:59, 36:12, 50:4, 57:22). It thus follows that the original Bible and Quran are written on that tablet. Thus, changing the copies we have on Earth of the word of Allah is not changing the word of Allah itself. Therefore, contrary to the claims of the non-believer, these verses do not conclusively or unequivocally rule out that the textual bible has not been corrupted.
[Quran 32:23] And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture, so do not be in doubt encountering it...
The nonbeliever would like to claim that verses similar to the above state that the textual bible has not been corrupted. However, this does not follow from what those verses say. Even if you have a book that contains fabricated insertions and deletions as well as some true words of Allah, you still have true words of Allah in your possession. And the Quran came to confirm them. No doubt even within the corrupted modern Torah and the Gospel, we do encounter the true words of Allah. However, this fact does not lend us the conclusion that the Torah and Gospel have not been corrupted. These verses are thus inconclusive as to whether they state the bible has been corrupted or not. And as we stated above, in the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to conclusive verses that settle the matter decisively and unequivocally (see discussion above on 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah).
[Quran 3:3] He has sent down upon you, the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.
You will encounter verses which say "confirming that of the Torah in their hands". It is important to understand that even with a corrupted Torah, they still have parts of the Torah in their hands and the Quran came to confirm this fact. Moreover, the Quran did not say specifically what aspects it is confirming in this verse nor did it say it is confirming every detail thus it could mean it is confirming the message (or the essence) of what is between their hands. The verse did not say which and as such it is inconclusive. The issue is, it is the assumption of the reader that leads them to the conclusion the Quran is stating that it is confirming every detail of the previous scriptures. The Quran does not say this (and in fact, it does not discuss every detail mentioned in the previous scriptures--the Quran is a small book), it only said it is confirming the other scriptures. What exactly does that mean? The verse does not elaborate. As such it is inconclusive. It could mean the Quran is confirming that Allah had revealed the Torah and Gospel (and the verse is silent as to whether elements of corruption have entered them); it could mean that the Quran is confirming the message of the Torah/Gospel; it could mean the Quran is confirming the divine origin of the Torah/Gospel (for example, the Quran says every nation has gotten a messenger (16:36), so even polytheist nations have gotten a messenger (divine origin), (not necessarily scriptures, but messengers), however those messages while they have a divine origin have been corrupted, and among those nations are the ones Allah has destroyed). It is only the assumption of the reader that leads them to conclude the Quran is claiming the Torah/Gospel they have in their hands is free of corruption--this verse simply does not say that. Such a conclusion requires an extrapolation from this verse, and as we see, such an extrapolation does not conclusively lead us to the conclusion of the Quran claiming the Torah/Gospel are free of corruption. As such, this verse is inconclusive.
[Quran 3:93] All food was lawful to the Children of Israel except what Israel had made unlawful to himself before the Torah was revealed. Say, [O Muhammad], "So bring the Torah and recite it, if you should be truthful."
This verse is saying before the Torah, the Children of Israel had little dietary restrictions. The question is, how did Muhammad know this if he did not read the Torah before (as the Quran claims in 42:52, 29:48)? The Jews should thus recognize the prophethood of Muhammad because the Torah they have has this information. Now, the nonbeliever claims that the Quran is saying the Torah they have is not corrupted. I wonder, where in this verse does the Quran say something like that? The Quran is saying they have the Torah which states this fact. That means, this part of the Torah which mentions this specific fact about the new dietary restrictions is not a corruption--it has been confirmed. As mentioned above, even when you have a Torah that has had insertions and deletions of corruptions, you still have the Torah in your possession and you still have the message of the Torah and you are still reciting parts of the Torah as revealed by Allah.
In conclusion, this verse says absolutely nothing about whether the Torah has been corrupted or not. Such a belief must be extrapolated from the verse--and as we see, such an extrapolation does not conclusively lend the conclusion that the Quran is claiming that the Torah is free of corruption. As such this verse is inconclusive--and in the face of inconclusive verses we refer to conclusive verses that settle the matter decisively and unequivocally (see discussion above on 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah) to tell us definitively that the Torah/Gospel have been corrupted.
Moreover, I want to discuss a concept that is worth mentioning but is not required for this discussion (so you can just ignore it and move on). It is just assumed by the nonbeliever that "reciting the Torah" necessarily means reciting the whole book in its entirety. However, when I say "recite the Torah", that doesn't mean I am saying recite the entire book. (Side note: the same thing is true with the Quran, when I say I'm reciting the Quran, that doesn't mean I am reciting the whole Quran). Now that we have deconstructed such an assumption by the nonbeliever, it is made clear to us that it is possible that when you recite what Allah revealed in the Torah the Jews have, you are reciting "The Torah", but when you recite the human fabrications, you are not reciting "The Torah". Imagine in my copy text of the Quran, someone messed around with it and corrupted my copy at home--thus when I recite those corruptions I am not reciting the Quran, but when I recite something that hasn't been corrupted, I am reciting the Quran. And despite the corruptions inserted in them, between my hands is the Quran--I still have the Quran, it's just that those corruptions are not part of it. So "reciting the Torah" does not necessarily mean what the nonbeliever thinks. I want to understand what I am saying here--what I just mentioned is possible and it is not clear this is not the case, and as such this verse is inconclusive. I will not restate this concept in this article, and I will proceed as if this concept doesn't exist, but keep it in mind for your own understanding.
[Quran 53:36] Or has he not been informed of what was in the scriptures of Moses
There is absolutely nothing in this verse that says anything about the modern Torah. It is a rhetorical question and it is saying that Allah informed them of what was in the scriptures of Moses. Indeed the Quran did inform us of this. Moreover, even if we give the benefit of the doubt--the modern corrupted Torah still has elements of the original Torah within it, and so reading the Modern Torah would inform you of what is in the scriptures of Moses as revealed by Allah.
[Quran 29:46] And do not argue with the People of the Scripture except in a way that is best, except for those who commit injustice among them, and say, "We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to you. And our God and your God is one; and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him."
There is no claim in this verse at all that the bible had not been corrupted. Yet the nonbeliever would like to attribute conclusiveness to this verse. Saying "we believe in what was revealed to you" means we believe what Allah revealed to them. Corruptions in the bible are not what Allah revealed to them.
[Quran 10:94] So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.
There is no claim in this verse at all the bible had not been corrupted. What the nonbeliever is doing is inserting extra-quranic assumptions onto this verse. This verse is telling the prophet to check out the previous scriptures and see the similarities and how the Quran is indeed repeating the same overall message of the bible. As we discussed above, even a corrupted bible has some uncorrupted truth in it, and it is through this truth that the prophet can recognize he is receiving a similar message from the same source (God). This verse says nothing about whether elements of corruption made it into their texts, and thus it is inconclusive; it does not lend the conclusion they desire.
[Quran 7:157] Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him and followed the light which was sent down with him - it is those who will be the successful.
As discussed above, having a corrupted Torah/Gospel means you have elements of the original Torah/Gospel in there mixed in with elements of human fabrication. So they do have the Torah/Gospel with them even though they are corrupted. As such this verse is not making any claim whether the Torah/Gospel has been corrupted or not. As a side note, we should recognize that even if they have information about the unlettered prophet written in their scriptures, what is said about him could be partially corrupted and this verse does not rule that out--that means any verse in the modern bible which may refer to the coming of a future prophet may have been originally referencing the prophet Muhammad but had gotten corrupted and as such is now understood to reference a different prophet. This verse does not rule out this possibility. Additionally, the clause of this verse beginning with "who enjoins upon them..." can be interpreted as a description of the prophet's current actions and not what was written about him--likewise "unlettered" could be the honorific descriptions (adjectives) of Muhammad that the Quran is using to refer to him and not necessarily what was written about him in the previous scriptures (in other words ["the messenger, the prophet, the unlettered"] are descriptions (adjectives) of the prophet Muhammad (noun) and it is Muhammad (noun) who they find written about in the Torah/Gospel, not those descriptions (adjectives) of him. Again, we see here, this verse does not conclusively rule out that the bible had not been corrupted. As such, we refer to conclusive verses as discussed above. (If you are interested in further exploring this verse, I recommend this article here)
So as we see here, this Quranic verse is inconclusive. The Quran did not directly spill out what the nonbeliever wants to attribute to it, it didn't say "the Torah/Gospel they have is the original which has been preserved by Allah over time and uncorrupted, and within the Torah/Gospel, there is mention of an unlettered prophet who the Torah/Gospel says will do X, Y and Z", but the Quran did not say this. It is written in poetic form and it allows flexibility in interpretation. If a verse is inconclusive, then it is inconclusive and we refer to conclusive verses for the definitive answer (see discussion on 4:157 above). But, why would Allah write a verse that is misleading like that? As we will discuss below, this vagueness and ambiguity of the Quran is deliberate and purposeful so that it can facilitate the misguidance of those whose hearts have perversity/animosity/bias against Islam; through the ambiguity and vagueness, the Quran guides many and misguides many.
Side note: Potential places in the Torah/Gospel this verse is referring to is: Deuteronomy 18:15-19, where it mentions an upcoming prophet like Moses (Moses came with a law) from the brothers of the Jews (Arabs are brothers of the Jews) and that God will require the Jews to follow that new law. Note the specific statements that the prophet will be like Moses (who gave the law), it will be like the event at Mount Horeb (where the law was given--Muhammad was first given the revelation of the Quran at Mount Jabal an-Nour), God will put his words in his mouth (Quran is a verbatim recitation from God) and that the Jews will be required to follow it. Now, some Jews claim that this verse is talking about Joshua and they support this claim by referencing other parts of the Torah (which could've been corrupted) or the book of Joshua, however, that book of Joshua could've been corrupted, could have been fabricated in the name of Joshua, or Joshua was a false prophet. The Quran does not recognize nor mention the prophethood of Joshua. These corruptions could've been caused by the Jews or even Satan through the Jews (we seem to forget that the Quran teaches Satan is a force in this world that is actually trying to undermine humans religiously). Thus, this Quranic verse could be referencing Deuteronomy 18:15-19 as being about the prophet Muhammad--any claims that this verse is referencing another prophet could be derived from fabricated/corrupted texts in the Torah or Tenak. Additionally, that is how the prophet Muhammad could've explained this verse to his companions and Allah knows we can reason this and arrive at this understanding independently. Regarding the Gospel, it seems that Jesus did indicate the coming of a comforter/advocate after him in John 15:26--what is otherwise said about this comforter (such as him being a "spirit") could be corruptions. This verse could be referring to the prophet Muhammad and this could be what the Quran was referring to in 7:157. Note: John himself may have written this gospel from many sources of gospels which could have inserted elements from other sources of gospels (including the original God sent down) and thus remnants of the message from the original Gospel could've found its way into John. In the end, notice how both the Torah and the Gospel allude to someone coming after them just as the Quran explains. Now, for the nonbeliever who claims that Allah cannot update the Torah, I refer you here.
[Quran 5:44] Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah ] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers.
The nonbeliever would like to claim that Allah entrusted the Torah to the Jews, therefore it wasn't corrupted. However, this does not conclusively follow. This verse only says that the Jews were commanded and entrusted to be the protectors of the Torah. It does not speak at all as to whether they did it successfully. Thus, it is inconclusive as to whether this verse is claiming the Torah was corrupted or not and thus we refer to conclusive verses as discussed above. In fact, Quran 3:187 informs us that the Jews, who were entrusted with the scripture, failed in their obligation; they transgressed and they did in fact sell their verses for a small price.
[Quran 5:43] But how is it that they come to you for judgement while they have the Torah, in which is the judgement of Allah? Then they turn away, [even] after that; but those are not [in fact] believers.
The nonbeliever claims that this verse states that the Torah has the judgement of Allah and that therefore this verse affirms that the Torah had not been corrupted. However, the Quran does not claim that there was wholesale complete corruption of the Torah such that it is completely unrecognizable from the original. Parts of the bible could have been corrupted, yet in spite of that, the verses they have of the Torah could have enough truth within it to be sufficient to be used specifically as a legal judgement, and this was good enough for Allah with respect to legal judgements. The very next verse (Quran 5:44) confirms that indeed that Torah was originally from God and that what they have of the Torah does contain the judgement of Allah in it. But note, these verses are silent as to whether elements of corruption made it into the Torah. Notice how this next verse does not explicitly state that the Torah which Allah sent down originally is completely identical to the Torah they have in their hands right now. These verses again do not conclusively assert that the Torah contains no corruptions. Notice how they will keep relying on inconclusive verses when it comes to trying to demonstrate the Quran claims the bible has no corruptions. If a verse is inconclusive, then we refer to conclusive ones as we discussed above for the decisive answer.
Separately, the nonbeliever also discounts another possible interpretation of this verse which adds to the case that this verse is inconclusive. When this verse is read in context, we learn that it may be a rhetorical question pointing out the inconsistent stance of the Jews in regards to their beliefs. They reject the prophethood of Muhammad, yet they want to go to him for a judgement? Don't they have the Torah which has the judgement of Allah? (rhetorical question). In other words, the Quran could be expressing what they believe with respect their Torah as part of a rhetorical question to expose their inconsistency. They are in fact not believers in the prophethood of Muhammad, yet they disingenuously act like they are when it suits them. Then, the very next verse (5:44) is confirming to them that the Torah was originally given to them from God, however, this verse does not conclusively affirm that the Torah they have is totally identical to the Torah originally sent down--in fact, from a related verse, Quran 3:187, we deduce that after Allah gave them the Torah, the Jews have not taken care of the Torah like they were entrusted to do, and thus the texts they inherited have not been well cared for. Worse, we also deduce from the Quran, that indeed the Jewish attempts of corruption have successfully been incorporated into the textual copies of the Torah (see discussion above on 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah) and thus the texts they inherited have indeed been corrupted.
Now, the last sentence in 5:44 could be seen as a general statement, in which the Jews should judge by what Allah revealed, which includes the Quran which establishes corruption of the previous scriptures and that it reinstated their original message and thus the Quran is the authority to judge with, or it could be understood as a statement Allah gave to the Jews at the time he revealed the Torah, in which he was telling the original Jews to judge by the Torah, and if this is the case, then Allah is not speaking to the current Jews in this verse--and he is not informing the current Jews to judge by the Torah they have because this understanding of the verse when understood in light of related verses, including 3:187, explain that the Torah has not been taken good care of after it was entrusted to the Jews to take care of it. Both of these interpretations are possible, and neither of them affirm the Torah has not been corrupted.
If the Quran wanted to say in 5:44 that it was affirming the Torah the Jews claim to have is identical to the one Allah sent down, it would have said so explicitly, but it did not. "The Jews claim they have the Torah with the judgement of Allah in it, Allah says that indeed he did send down the Torah and it was entrusted to the Jews, but in no way does he say that the Jews had been successful in protecting the Torah, in fact, in a related verse (3:187), the Quran suggests the Jews failed in their obligation with respect to the Torah, and verses such as 4:157 and others which contradict the Torah (as discussed above) unequivocally confirm that corruption has entered into the Torah, and thus we conclude that the Torah that was sent down originally entrusted to the Jews is not the one the current Jews claim to have in their hands". The Quran allowed for this interpretation and thus these set of verses do not conclusively state the Torah had not been corrupted.
Now, some would argue: why would Allah mislead those Jews into thinking for even a second that their Torah is reliable? The Quran states that it tries to mislead the defiantly disobedient using its verses (see Quran 2:26 and 3:7). Quran 2:26 for example says that through a verse, Allah will mislead many and guide many. Thus the Quran may very well be attempting to mislead and impose cognitive dissonance on those disobedient/disbelieving Jews to make it more difficult for them to put aside their cognitive dissonance and take a measured non-peripheral understanding of the Quran and recognize the Quran teaches in 3:187 and elsewhere that the Jews did not do what they were entrusted to do. The Jews are to correctly recognize this understanding of the Quran and conclude that 5:43-5:44 are thus inconclusive as to whether it was claiming the Torah was corrupted, especially while understanding other verses which decisively indicate the Torah has been corrupted as well as Quran 2:26 and Quran 3:7 which state the Quran will attempt to mislead those who are disobedient. And that those who are disobedient and refuse to believe, will tend to not take and not be motivated to take a deep level approach towards understanding the Quran because they want to follow the conclusion they desire which is satisfied by taking a peripheral approach that ignores the nuance and complexity of the Quran. Thus the complexity of the Quran was put in there to keep the disbelievers disbelieving because their defiance will have them seek whatever conclusion they desire by ignoring the complexity of the Quran. I've dedicated a section below to this Quranic phenomenon of using its verses to both guide and misguide--and only the righteous will be guided by the Quran; the defiantly disobedient will seek an interpretation they desire, which the Quran facilitates, so that they remain misguided.
So what is the significance of this deliberately misleading Quran? That means rejecting a Quranic understanding based on the fact that the Quran would otherwise be misleading is not a valid argument for accepting the "at face value" interpretation that you were misled to accept. ("At face value" means to accept something as it appears; to accept something based on a superficial analysis; to accept something on how it initially appears). We already know the Quran is intentionally misleading so that those who hearts are defiantly disobedient remain misguided. So if when taking a holistic and fully detailed understanding of the Quran, we conclude that the verses which allegedly state the bible has been not corrupted either don't make such a claim or are inconclusive as to the claim they are making, we thus cannot reach the conclusion that the Quran definitively endorses the view the bible has not been corrupted.
[Quran 5:47] And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient.
Many times in the Quran, when referencing the bible they have in their hands, the Quran uses the term "ma bayna yadayhi" (between their hands), and we don't see this mentioned in this verse. Nonetheless, irrespective of that, the Quran did not say to judge by the Gospel they currently possess in their hands. Thus, this verse is inconclusive as to whether it is saying judge by the original gospel or the gospel they have in their hands. Now, some will say "but then, this verse is misleading". Yes...that's the point. The Quran says it attempts to mislead through inconclusive verses as discussed above. Many Christians, even today are being misled by this verse because they take it at face value (a peripheral approach) and refuse to recognize the nuance and complexity of the Quran. The Quran says it is deliberately misleading as discussed above (see above discussion on 5:43). However, a cautious understanding of the Quran leads us to understand this verse is inconclusive as to whether it claims the bible they have in their hands is uncorrupted (or even should be used as a judgement since it is not clear if the Quran is even talking about the one they have in their hands). In fact, when you take a holistic understanding of the Quran, 4:157 confirms to us unequivocally that the gospel they have in their hands has been corrupted and thus it is not the one to judge by because this verse says to judge by "what Allah has revealed therein"--Allah did not reveal those corruptions that were later added on to the gospel they currently have.
It would be telling them to Judge by what Allah had revealed in the Gospel. However, as we learn, the Quran unequivocally informs us the Gospel they have has been corrupted (4:157 and others which contradict the Gospel they have in their hands) and the next part of this verse says "whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed are the defiantly disobedient". This verse is a threat to the Christians. It is telling them it is important to judge by what Allah had revealed in the Gospel, but by judging with the Gospel they currently have they'd be judging by both what Allah revealed and the corruptions that were inserted--and thus by doing so, they would be the defiantly disobedient because they are not only judging by what Allah revealed in the Gospel. The Quran wanted them to ponder over this verse and deduce this conclusion. Similar to what the Quran suggests with the Jews (in 5:43-5:44), everyone is supposed to judge by what Allah revealed, however in 5:44 we learn the Jews have been entrusted to guard their scriptures and in 3:187 (as well as the verses which contradict the Torah), we learn that the Jews have failed to guard their scriptures and corruptions have made their way into the Torah. So both the Jews and the Christians judging by their corrupted texts are not exclusively judging by what Allah had revealed; they are also judging by what the corrupted texts say--and thus, in order to be righteous, the Jews and Christians must judge exclusively by what Allah revealed. The Quran is not meant to be passively read and superficially understood, in fact, in many verses (such as 47:24,4:82, 23:68, 38:29, 8:22), we are commanded to ponder/reflect upon its verses. So if this verse is understood as a command to Christians, then they are to understand that this verse does not conclusively say their gospel is uncorrupted, but that they should recognize that the Quran conclusively determined their bible was corrupted (see discussion on 4:157 above) and that they are to judge by what Allah revealed in the Gospel, and since they cannot discern what Allah revealed in the Gospel alone, they are to refer to the Quran. In fact, the very next verse, 5:48, informs us that the Quran was sent down to confirm "what is between their hands"-"ma bayna yadayhi" of the scripture and to act as a criterion over it ("wa-muhayminan" = guarding it by determining what is true and false). Since this is a possible interpretation of this verse, we see here that it is inconclusive and it is not saying the bible has not been corrupted contrary to the claims of the nonbeliever.
[Quran 5:48] And We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture and as a criterion over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed and do not follow their inclinations away from what has come to you of the truth. To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.
It's important to recognize that 5:48 just said "To each we have prescribed a law and method...to test you". It did not say anything about whether the texts that discuss the previous laws/methods have been corrupted, and it doesn't say anything about how to approach this test (it is Quran 5:68 and 4:47 that goes on to explain how to succeed in this test--by upholding the Torah, Gospel AND Quran), nonetheless, Quran 5:48 remains inconclusive as to whether it is making the claim the bible has been corrupted or not.
Now, let's closely read the next verse (5:48) to get a deeper understanding. It says Allah gave the prophet Muhammad the book confirming what is between their hands of the scripture and as a guard/criterion over it. Then it goes on to tell the prophet Muhammad to judge between the Jews/Christians based off of what he was revealed and not to follow their inclinations away from the truth the prophet Muhammad received. What we see here is that they have inclinations that deviate from the truth of what Allah revealed. These inclinations may be partly due to the corruptions of their scriptures. Next, this verse informs us that all of us have been prescribed (past tense) a law and a method. Now, the next verse is answering the burning question: Why? Why the confusion? Why the complexity? Why have the Quran as the guard/criterion over the previous scriptures? Why have the prophet judge between them based on the Quran if you are all powerful and could've just made us all agree on one thing without deviance in the first place? The Quran answers that Allah could've done so, however, he chose not to so that we may be tested with what Allah had given us. So now, we finally understand--this is a test. Now, in verse 5:68, it is made even clearer. The Jews/Christians are to judge by the Torah, Gospel AND what has been revealed from Allah (the Quran)-- "and that which is revealed to you from your lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief". Here, the Quran is informing them that the Quran is part of the test upon them and through it, many will fail (increase in disbelief). They are commanded to uphold the Quran; the reason Allah gave everyone a law and a method in the past and then have the Quran imposed on them is for them to be tested.
We must understand that 5:48 could be answering or explaining the question of why make things the way they are in the first place. The nonbeliever would assert this verse is addressing a different question. However, it is unclear what question this verse is addressing and as such it is inconclusive. The fact of the matter is this verse is not explicitly whether the bible has or hasn't been corrupted; any such conclusion would be derived from an implicit understanding--however, the issue with using this verse is that its implicit understanding is not clear and not unequivocal. It could very well be explaining why Allah made us have different religions in the first place and have the Quran as the criterion over the texts of the previous religions--and as such this verse does not affirm whether the bible has been corrupted or not and it is inconclusive. Notice how they will keep relying on inconclusive verses when it comes to trying to demonstrate the Quran claims the bible has no corruptions. If a verse is inconclusive as to its interpretation when it comes to whether the bible has been corrupted or not, then it is inconclusive. In that case we refer to conclusive verses which settle the matter definitely and unequivocally (see Quran 4:157's discussion above).
[Quran 5:68] Say, "O People of the Scripture, you are [standing] on nothing until you uphold [the law of] the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord." And that which has been revealed to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.
The nonbeliever uses this verse to claim that the Quran endorses the Torah/Gospel they have in their hands. This verse is commanding the people of the book to uphold the Torah, Gospel AND Quran (what has been revealed to you from your lord). This is similar to Quran 4:47 which is tied to a severe threat if they do not uphold the Quran. Notice how this verse did not say "uphold the Torah and Gospel in their hands", rather it just said uphold the Torah and the Gospel and as such could be referring to the original Torah and Gospel. More importantly this verse commands upholding the Quran; upholding the Quran is upholding the original Torah and Gospel because the Quran confirmed/reinstated their message and is the criterion over the message. Additionally, the Torah and Gospel may have originally commanded following the upcoming prophet (Muhammad), but this message has been corrupted. So as we see here, this verse is inconclusive as to whether it asserts the Torah/Gospel has been corrupted or not, and in the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to conclusive ones as discussed above which definitively establish the corruption of the Torah/Gospel; additionally we learn this verse (along with 4:47) is commanding the Jews/Christians to follow the Quran.
Upholding the Torah, Gospel and Quran means upholding the Quran. The Torah/Gospel said to follow the next prophet, and the next prophet came with the Quran which teaches how to approach religion. By upholding the Torah/Gospel by following the Quran and what the Quran relieves and adds to the previous laws, you are upholding all three scriptures. Upholding the Quran is upholding the original messages of the Torah/Gospel (including their messages to follow the next prophet).
As a side note, notice how the end of the verse says "and that which has been revealed to you from your lord will increase them (Jews/Christians) in transgression and disbelief". This verse is informing us that the Quran is indeed a test for the Christians/Jews and through it, Allah will misguide some and guide some. This has been a recurring theme; the Quran will mislead those whose hearts have perversity to Islam--the Quran demands you to deeply consider its verses--don't submit yourself to superficial understandings and conjecture, rather, do a deep level central analysis and recognize that inconclusive verses are inconclusive, and as such we refer to conclusive verses. Don't fall for the traps set forth in the Quran, only those who want to reject Islam and want to take a superficial/peripheral interpretation will be misguided, but those who want to accept Islam could recognize that those former interpretations are peripheral and don't take into account the nuance and complexity of the Quran--and they will recognize that once they take a central approach to Quranic understanding, once they take an integrative approach that incorporates all the complexities (rather than ignore them), it will be made very clear to them that the Quran teaches the previous scriptures have been textually corrupted.
[Quran 26:196] And indeed, it is [mentioned] in the scriptures of former peoples.
[Quran 26:197] And has it not been a sign to them that it is recognized by the scholars of the Children of Israel?
If you noticed, the Quran did not say it is mentioned in the scripture they have in their hands, but instead in the scripture of the former peoples. There is no statement here that their scriptures have not been corrupted over time. And then the next verse is essentially saying even the Jewish scholars contemporaneous with the prophet recognized/knew the message and teachings of the Quran and that should be a sign for the Jews that the Quran is from their God (side note: and they are to also deduce that their scriptures have been corrupted to fully accept the Quran--in fact, regarding Quran 26:196, if the Quran is not mentioned in the modern copies of the bible, then we know that the modern copies of the bible have been corrupted since they don't have this fact which was mentioned in the original copies that Allah revealed to them). Those Jews contemporaneous with the prophet would have noticed an unlettered desert dwelling Arab who did not know the Torah (see Quran 42:52 and Quran 29:48 which says Muhammad was not a reader of any scripture before the Quran) and he is somehow saying the same message that is known and recognized by the Jews from the Torah they have? The Jews should recognize this as a sign that it is from their God--and that they are to follow the Quran.
[Quran 2:121] Those to whom We have given the Book recite it with its true recital. They [are the ones who] believe in it. And whoever disbelieves in it - it is they who are the losers.
The problem is the nonbeliever did not read the context. Quran 2:119 informs us the subject is the prophet Muhammad's revelation (Quran). Additionally, the verse right before says the Jews/Christians will not be pleased until the prophet follows their religion and the Quran tells the prophet not to. More importantly, "recipients of the book" in 2:121 could refer to Muslims (who definitely received the book). Notice how the verse did not say "Ahl al Kitab" (people of the book; jews/christians) nor did it say "those who recite the Torah/Gospel the have now". So it is inconclusive as to whether it is talking about Muslims or Christians/Jews. Additionally, the verb recite (tala) can also mean “to follow,” so that who recite it as it should be recited can also mean, “who follow it as it should be followed". As an additional side note: many get lost in the English translation and as such, we refer you to look at the word for word translation. The verse could be saying: "those whom we gave the book and recite it with its true recital--those are the ones who believe in it". This verse is thus not definitely saying that those who have the book recite it with its true recital, rather it is saying that those who got the book and recite it with the true recital are the ones who believe in it. The Jews/Christians are not reciting their books with its true recital, they've been corrupted, and so they are not righteous. This verse does not say whether the Jews/Christian books have not been corrupted. Even worse, this verse may be talking about the Quran as "the book" and not the previous scriptures.
[Quran 2:113] The Jews say "The Christians have nothing [true] to stand on," and the Christians say, "The Jews have nothing to stand on," although they [both] recite the Scripture. Thus the polytheists speak the same as their words. But Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that over which they used to differ.
The Jews contemporaneous with the prophet say Christians are totally wrong (not on anything, nothing true to stand on); The Christians say the same thing. As we said above: even when you recite a corrupted scripture with elements of Allah's original revelation and elements of human fabrication, you are still reciting elements of Allah's original revelation (the scripture). Additionally, "Al-Kittab" (scripture/book) can refer to the Quran which settles their differences (5:68). No doubt the Jews/Christians were introduced to the Quran and recited it, in fact, they even shared it with each other and talked about it to each other to try to find points of contention as Quran 2:76 asserts. Quran 5:68 settles their differences by making it clear that they are not standing on anything until they uphold the Torah, Gospel AND Quran (what which was revealed to you from your lord). Since the Quran unequivocally points to the bible as being corrupt (4:157 and others as discussed above), "Torah"/"Gospel" in this verse is talking about the originals before they were corrupted, and the Quran came to reinstate their message--thus upholding what the Quran says is upholding by what the original Torah/Gospel said. All in all, this verse is inconclusive as to whether it states the bible has been corrupted or not. As such we refer to the conclusive verses which inform us that indeed the bible has been corrupted.
As a side note: we see here the Quran talks about the Gospel in the same light as the Torah. The Quran talks about the Gospel in the way it does despite it being corrupted; likewise when the Quran talks about the Torah in the way it does (which is similar to the way it speaks of the Gospel), it does not exclude its corruption.
[Quran 15:9] Indeed, it is We who sent down "the Dhikr" and indeed, We will be its guardian.
"Dhikr" does not necessarily mean book, it means "knowledge/remembrance/message". So one verse in the Quran is also considered Dhikr; the whole Quran is also Dhikr because it is knowledge/remembrance/message. The nonbeliever claims that this verse is referring to the bible. However, when looking at the context, there is no mention of the bible or the people of the book. The subject of these verses is the Quran (see 15:1 and 15:6 which uses "Dhikr" to refer to the message the prophet Muhammad received). And this is Allah's message that indeed he will personally guard this Dhikr the prophet Muhammad received.
Additionally, since Dhikr means knowledge/message/remembrance, and the Quran states that all previous messengers received the same basic message to worship Allah (16:36), so indeed the Quran is reinstating that original Dhikr.
What about Quran 2:75-2:79?
[Quran 2:75] Do you covet [the hope, O believers], that they would believe for you while a party of them used to hear the words of Allah and then distort the Torah after they had understood it while they were knowing?
[Quran 2:76] And when they meet those who believe, they say, "We have believed"; but when they are alone with one another, they say, "Do you talk to them about what Allah has revealed to you so they can argue with you about it before your Lord?" Then will you not reason?
[Quran 2:77] But do they not know that Allah knows what they conceal and what they declare?
[Quran 2:78] And among them are unlettered ones who do not know the Scripture except in wishful thinking, but they are only assuming.
[Quran 2:79] So woe to those who write the "scripture" with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.
This set of verses are very interesting. When read in context, the verses preceding 2:75 are talking about the Jews' defiance against Allah and the verse directly before (2:74) talks about how the Jews' hearts hardened. 2:75 then transitions to ask a rhetorical question to Muslims, "do you really think the Jews would believe in Islam when they continued in their defiance and used to tamper with the word of God?" It is important to note that the context of these verses are referring to the Jews. In fact, in Quran 2:75 "they" refers to the Jews mentioned in the context from 2:74, and those Jews mentioned there are the Jews of Moses' time--they too are the subject of 2:75-2:79. Because 2:74 is talking about the ancient Jews, and 2:75 uses the pronoun "they", Quran 2:75- are alluding to the similarities in the general defiance between the Jews then and now. That is, those verses are discussing the general state of the Jews and how their disobedience did not change from their defiance during Moses' time (when their hearts hardened) and during Muhammad's time.
Now the problem with these set of verses is just like the verses we discussed above, these set of verses are inconclusive when it comes to whether they are claiming here that the Jews corrupted their Torah and those distortions ultimately made it into the Torah. And as we discussed above, in the face of inconclusive verses, what we do is refer to conclusive verses that settle the matter unequivocally (such as 4:157 and verses which contradict the Torah as we discussed above). The reason why these set of verses are inconclusive is because it is unclear if 2:75 is referring to the Jews only distorting the Torah when speaking about it to Muslims at the time, or if it means the Jews were distorting the Torah long before that and continue to do so during Muhammad's time. Notice how 2:75 did not say "distorting with their tongue" (other verses say that, so it may be possible that Jews both distorted the Torah with their tongue and also textually distorted it), so it could very well mean that the Jews have a history of distorting the text. However, as I said it is inconclusive which one it refers to.
Now the non believers say that this verse is only referring to a "party of the jews" distorting their scripture. However, that is exactly what it would take to corrupt the scriptures--everyone doesn't have to engage in it, only a group of those in power with access to the texts are sufficient to corrupt the text. It only takes a few literates with access to the texts to corrupt the scripture; not everyone needs to be accomplices--a few with authority, power, influence or who gain influence can corrupt it. Worse, righteous Jews who wanted to preserve the Torah could've lost power and were killed. The Torah is a very old text; there were many opportunities for corruption of the Torah, even going back to just after Moses' death. Even if the Jews had initially protected the Torah, other jews may have gained power and tampered with the texts as time went on. So again, as I said above, it is inconclusive if this verse is saying the Jews corrupted the Torah or not. In the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to the conclusive verses which unequivocally teach that the bible has been corrupted (e.g 4:157 and verses which contradict the Torah as discussed above).
Quran 2:76 can be understood as discussing hypocrite Jews who say they believe in Islam, yet they use what they believe Allah revealed to them from their corrupted scriptures to identify contradictions or points of contention/dispute with Islam--indeed they do not believe in Islam and they are hypocrites. Quran 2:77 informs them that Allah knows their hypocrisy--that they still believe in their corrupted scriptures over the Quran as they keep trying to identify points of contention between those texts as if the Quran is the text that is wrong.
Moving on to Quran 2:79. Again, it is inconclusive whether it refers to only the people discussed in 2:78, or it refers to the whole of 2:75-2:79. Wiki-Islam says it is only referring to the uneducated Jews in Quran 2:78, however, such a reference is not conclusive. Quran 2:78 exists in conjunction (as denoted by the Quran's use of "and" and "them" in context) with previous verses talking about even educated jews corrupting the scripture (2:75). For example, if I say [Some knowledgeable jews corrupted the scripture AND some un-knowledgeable Jews also corrupted the scripture, SO woe to those who write the scripture with their own hands.]--if I said that, then "so woe to those" could be referencing BOTH of the statements before it because they were connected by the conjunction "And". We are not obligated to believe that Quran 2:79 only references Quran 2:78 and not the other verses connected to 2:78 in conjunction. Either could be the case, and since we do not know the case, these set of verses are inconclusive as to which they are referring to. Again, when faced with inconclusive Quranic verses, we must remember they are inconclusive, so we cannot conclusively decide which interpretation is correct based on which one we want to be correct. When faced with inconclusive Quranic verses, we refer to conclusive verses to settle the matter--verses which unequivocally teach that the bible has been corrupted (e.g 4:157 and verses which contradict the Torah as discussed above).
All it really takes to corrupt a scripture is to copy parts of it down in your writing and change what it is saying (distort/alter it) and when you change what it is saying, you are fabricating a different narrative that deviates from the teaching of the original scripture and attributing those fabricated narratives it to Allah. Another way you can distort the teaching of the Torah is to fabricate a scripture that references other verses of the Torah which are ambiguous, and those fabricated scriptures would give the impression that they are explaining the ambiguity of the Torah into something specific. Additionally, another way you can distort the words of Allah in the Torah is to delete parts of it (see 5:15) and add your own fabrications to it. Take the example of me saying "At sunrise, I will begin the fast"--and then deleting the last half of the sentence, while adding a fabrication to it: "At sunrise, I will go to sleep". This is an alteration of the original message; a distortion of the original statement.
Now one thing we know about Quran 2:75-2:79 is, in context, it is discussing the general state of the Jewish defiance and includes the Jews being so willing to tamper with the word of God after their hearts hardened (2:74) during/after Moses' time. In fact, after these set of verses we return to the Quranic discussion of the Jewish defiance (see Quran 2:83). This is the overall message of these set of verses: the Jews have been continually defiant and tamper with the word of Allah. These set of verses in conjunction with Quran 4:157 lead to the conclusion that the Jews had created fabrications and attributed them to Allah and that those fabrications made it into the bible as verse 4:157 and others necessarily entail. Quran 2:75-2:79 hints and alludes to the Jewish tendency to tamper with the word of Allah especially when considering the overall theme surrounding the context of these verses of the Jews' general defiance against Allah. And especially in conjunction with 4:157 and other verses that contradict the Torah, we learn that the Jewish tendency and attempts to corrupt the word of Allah ultimately made it into the text of their scriptures.
As a side note, Quran 2:79 begins with the Arabic conjunction 'fa'. It is translated here as "so". However 'fa' also means "and". With this in mind, we could see Quran 2:79 as adding the conjunction 'and' to these other actions in 2:75-2:78. That is: there has been a group of Jews who wrote the scripture with their own hands and attributed it to God in addition to the other people mentioned in previous verses. In other words there are Jews who heard the Quran and verbally distort it (2:75), there have been unlettered Jews who make stuff up (2:78) and there were Jews who actually wrote the scripture with their own hands and attributed it to God (2:79).
Why does the Quran have vague/ambiguous verses?
Why didn't the Quran just directly lay it out? Why does the Quran say things that can be easily misinterpreted by Christians/Jews into thinking the Quran affirms the preservation authority of the scriptures they have in their hands? Why does it allow Christians/Jews to be misled into the erroneously thinking the Quran has contradictions and allow them to disbelieve? Additionally, Quran 5:68 admits that what Allah reveals is intended to increase them in disbelief. But why? This is a big topic in and of itself: basically, it is part of the test of life; it is so Allah misguides the Christians/Jews whose hearts have perversity and antagonism. That is, biased Christians/Jews can use these ambiguous verses and extract an interpretation that confirms their bias and end up maintaining that Islam is false because it affirms the current bible and yet contradicts the bible; they would say that since the Quran affirms those scriptures in their hands, yet contradicts them, then the Quran is false. However, as we discussed above, such a conclusion is derived through a peripheral and superficial understanding of the Quran rather than a central approach that appreciates the nuance and complexity of the Quran--an approach that recognizes that inconclusive verses are inconclusive; that we should not base our understanding of the Quran on an interpretation of an inconclusive verse.
The Quran states that it tries to mislead the defiantly disobedient using its verses (see Quran 2:26 and 3:7). Quran 2:26 for example says that through a verse, Allah will mislead many and guide many. Thus the Quran may very well be attempting to mislead and impose cognitive dissonance on those disobedient/disbelieving Christians/Jews to make it more difficult for them to put aside their cognitive dissonance and take a measured non-peripheral understanding of the Quran. Additionally Quran 3:7 which state the Quran will attempt to mislead those who are disobedient as they will seek out an interpretation from an unambiguous verse that suits them and attribute that interpretation to the Quran/Islam. And that those who are disobedient and refuse to believe, will tend to not take and not be motivated to take a deep level approach towards understanding the Quran because they want to follow the conclusion they desire which is satisfied by taking a peripheral approach that ignores the nuance and complexity of the Quran. Thus the complexity of the Quran was put in there to keep the disbelievers disbelieving because their defiance will have them seek whatever conclusion they desire by ignoring the complexity of the Quran. Only the righteous will be guided by the Quran; the defiantly disobedient will seek an interpretation they desire, which the Quran facilitates, so that they remain misguided.
So what is the significance of this deliberately misleading Quran? That means rejecting a Quranic understanding based on the fact that the Quran would otherwise be misleading is not a valid argument for accepting the "at face value" interpretation that you were misled to accept. ("At face value" means to accept something as it appears; to accept something based on a superficial analysis; to accept something on how it initially appears). We already know the Quran is intentionally misleading so that those who hearts have perversity to Islam.
That's just the nature of the Quran. The Quran is not a book you pick up before bed and say that you're "going to do some light reading". It requires careful systematic analysis and central route processing. In fact, the Quran demands that you don't just passively read it, but that you ponder and reflect upon it (see 47:24,4:82, 23:68, 38:29, 8:22). This Quran facilitates misleading interpretations so that those who are biased against Islam can find reasons to reject it through a superficial understanding of the Quran.
For a deeper dive into the deliberate Quranic misguidance through inconclusive verses, see my other articles (click the links):
Approach to Quranic Understanding
Why is the Quran Vague
Thus, we see here that the verses which the nonbelievers allege say the bible is not corrupted are actually inconclusive on close inspection. These verses do not unequivocally say or necessarily lead to the conclusion that the Quran claims the bible had not been corrupted. So if when taking a holistic and fully detailed understanding of the Quran, we conclude that the verses which allegedly state the bible has been not corrupted either don't make such a claim or are inconclusive as to the claim they are making, we thus cannot reach the conclusion that the Quran definitively endorses the view the bible has not been corrupted.
Giving Benefit of the doubt:
There is no place in the Quran that conclusively confirms that the bible they have in their hands weren't corrupted. So even if the Quran was silent on this fact, it does not confirm it. Quranic silence does not mean the Quran endorses this position. So even if the Quran does not unequivocally lend the conclusion the bible was corrupted, the bible could still have been corrupted. Quranic silence on something does not mean it didn't happen. This seems to be the approach of the nonbeliever (including Wiki-Islam)-- they claim the Quran does not say the bible has been corrupted. They fail to recognize that the Quran does not say the bible has not been corrupted. Even if we accept their approach that the Quran does not assert the bible has not been corrupted, it does not follow that the Quran endorses the bible not being corrupted. That could be part of the vagueness of the Quran--where the Quran chooses not to be specific about something as a test for the nonbeliever. In that case, Muslims would neither believe nor disbelieve the bible since the Quran allegedly doesn't say whether they've been corrupted or not. In other words, even IF the Quran is silent and inconclusive as to whether the textual bible has been corrupted or not, then it does not conclusively give out such information and we cannot say the Quran definitively endorses the bible's non corruption.
More importantly though, the Quran does conclusively and unequivocally inform us the bible has been corrupted--see our discussion above on 4:157 and other verses which contradict the bible.
So let's assume for the benefit of the doubt, the Quran only said the Jews distorted their scripture with their tongue and didn't say anything further. This doesn't mean they also didn't distort and fabricate their scripture textually. However, the nonbeliever would claim that it would indicate that they didn't distort their scriptures because the "Quran just skipped over mentioning something so significant as the Jews corrupting their scriptures? That's unlikely; why would the Quran do that?". This objection assumes that the Quran is not trying to mislead/test Jews and allow them to reach that hasty conclusion and misguide them. What if the Quran deliberately did not want to say this directly in order to mislead Jews into thinking the Quran says the bible is not corrupted and only guide those willing to think more deeply about this and recognize that the Quran does attempt to mislead biased individuals, that Quranic silence on something doesn't necessarily mean it didn't happen (it is inconclusive whether it happened or not since it is not mentioned) and that the areas in which the Quran contradict the Torah demonstrates indirectly yet unequivocally that it teaches Allah is speaking to us telling us the Torah has been corrupted. The Quran could've wanted us to intellectually deduce the conclusion, rather than directly spill it out, and it is made this way so that those biased against Islam can be misguided through taking a peripheral level approach to the Quran (because such an approach gives them the conclusion they want) rather than a central intellectual approach. In other words, the Quran could've omitted such a direct statement of the corruption of the bible so that those biased against Islam get securely misguided into erroneously thinking the Quran says the bible is not corrupted--the Quran could've purposely done this. Thus, the nonbelievers claim depends on the assumption the Quran is not trying to mislead them. And indeed, whoever Allah guides, none can misguide; whoever He misguides, none can guide (40:33).
The nonbelievers are arguing in a circle (begging the question):
Many times, the nonbeliever will keep on insisting that their peripheral interpretation is the right one. They go on to say that it shows "the prophet Muhammad did not know what he was talking about and that he thought the bible wasn't corrupted" etc etc. The only question we ask them is "how do you know?"; "how do you know God is not trying to mislead you into erroneously reaching that conclusion through taking a peripheral approach of the Quran rather than deep-level integrative analysis?", "how do you know". They just assume their approach is the right approach; the correct methodology. They assume the author of the Quran is not trying to misguide some or that the author of the Quran intends on not misleading them and making everything plain and not ambiguous rather than the author of the Quran purposely misguiding those whose hearts have perversity to Islam. You see, they start with this unjustified starting assumption that 'the Quran is written by Muhammad and not God', and they use the logic that proceeds from this assumption to demonstrate that 'the Quran is written by Muhammad and not God'. This is arguing in a circle; its begging the question. If what the Quran is alluding to is ambiguous, then it is ambiguous; if a verse could mean something else, then it could mean something else. The Quran demands that we deeply analyze and reflect upon it--not peripherally consider it and disregard nuance and complexity. Thinking that the peripheral 'at face value' interpretation of the Quran is the message the author intends to share is not justified. The author could've set the 'at face value' interpretation in such a way to misguide those who want the Quran to be in error, while those who don't want it to be in error will consider the nuance and complexity, they will recognize that a verse does not necessarily say what the nonbeliever wishes it to say at the face value level and this verse can mean XYZ etc. And through this, Allah guides and misguides depending on who he decides is worthy of guidance vs misguidance--those who want to reject God and are stubborn, those who yearn to reject Islam in their hearts will be misguided through the Quran.
The starting assumption that the Quran is from Muhammad leads to the conclusion that we should take a peripheral approach which means the Quran is from Muhammad because the peripheral approach shows the Quran to be in error. Rather than this, we should consider that the Quran could be from God and thus through deep central analysis, this Quranic verse could mean XYZ rather than the at face value approach, and Allah could be using the peripheral allusion of a verse as a mechanism to misguide some and guide others--and as such, the understanding that this verse is in error is not clear because it could either mean the at face value interpretation or XYZ. That is how the nonbeliever should approach this rather than begging the question and arguing in a circle. The author of the Quran could've purposely put in place this phenomena in its verses, where peripheral understandings misguide some and deep approaches guide some who want it and are of pure heart and are willing to think deeply and understand the potential nuances and complexities of the Quran. And thus restricting your approach to Quranic interpretation to peripheral approaches would bein grave error. Don't assume the author's intentions, don't assume who the author is, don't argue in a circle. Recognize the author could be God who placed those nuances and the verse could be referring to the central deep level conclusion not the peripheral superficial understanding and as such, it is not clear which case the verse is referring to (it is ambiguous)--this is because what the verse is referring to is contingent on who the author is and the author's intentions. As a consequence, the verse can mean either and thus either may be the case. If a verse is ambiguous, then it is ambiguous; it it can mean something else then it can mean something else. So even if there is no explicit mention of the bible's corruptions and there seems to be allusions to both sides (this is not the case, there are definitive unequivocal statements that demonstrate the bible's corruption, but EVEN IF such a thing didn't exist), then the Quran remains ambiguous and inconclusive regarding this topic of corruption in the bible. As such, if you are going to try to challenge Islam, you are going to have to use something else (not 'the Quran says the bible is not corrupt' BS) because this specific aspect is inconclusive and unfalsifiable. And if it is unfalsifiable, then its unfalsifiable and cannot be done--it is ambiguous and inconclusive.
Note to the Muslim:
The nonbeliever will attempt to show you more verses and claim that they demonstrate the bible is not corrupt in an effort to ultimately demonstrate that Islam is false. However, as we have seen above, the verses which they allege say the bible has not been corrupted either don't say that or are inconclusive as to their assertion. In the face of inconclusive verses we refer to conclusive verses which definitely settle the matter. The Quran warns us that there is deliberate vagueness and ambiguity in its verses (3:7, 2:26) which is meant to facilitate the misguidance of those whose hearts have perversity so that they seek the interpretation they desire while neglecting the nuance and complexity of the Quran (such as the Quran having ambiguous verses). An inconclusive verse is inconclusive. Again, in the face of inconclusive verses, we refer to conclusive verses which definitively settle the matter. Make sure you apply the pattern of reasoning I've shown above to address the nonbeliever's claims. People will conjure up whatever objection they can or assert a "contradiction". All you have to do is demonstrate the verse in question is inconclusive and refer to conclusive verses about the topic if they are present. Don't be tempted to take a superficial approach towards understanding the Quran. The Quran demands that you don't just passively read it, but that you ponder and reflect upon it (e.g. 47:24,4:82, 23:68, 38:29, 8:22). Always take a central approach and always consider the nuance and complexity of the Quran.
Conclusion:
The Quran does NOT affirm the preservation of the texts of the previous scriptures and if anything it conclusively and unequivocally demonstrates their corruption.
If you are interested in a resource that delves deep into the topic and offers information on what old Islamic commentators say about this topic, I recommend this website: https://www.call-to-monotheism.com/does_islam_endorse_the_bible__
