Islamic view of the Bible
From Wikinfo
The Islamic view of the Bible is a topic in Islamic Christianity studies.
Contents |
What the Quran Says
The Quran mentions the scribes' change of their texts. See 2:75, 4:46, 5:13, etc. One verse (3:78) states that they add to the book. Modern scholarship and the documentary hypothesis attest that four authors likely wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. And although the manuscripts of NT can differ widely, the text reliability is not much contended except by high-critics.
Textual corruption
The majority of Muslim scholars before Ibn Hazm (11th century) were not believing in textual corruption of the Bible. However a principal alteration happened after Ibn Hazm. Ibn Hazm had an extremist view of the Bible. According to him, the Bible was ?an anti-scripture, ?an accursed book?, the product of satanic inspiration?. Even though Ibn Hazm?s extremist position was not adopted generally by subsequent writers, they marked a definite change in the more optimistic mood of the earlier period. Accusations of ?intentional corruption of the Holy Scriptures? being virtually non-existent in pre-Ibn Hazm period, was adopted by some Muslim scholars. Even then, in 14th century, Ibn Taymiyya stated the Islamic position towards textual distortion of the Bible as follows:
If...they [Christians] mean that the Qur?an confirms the textual veracity of the scriptural books which they now possess?that is, the Torah and the Gospels?this is something which some Muslims will grant them and which many Muslims will dispute. However, most Muslims will grant them most of that.
Biblical prophesy of Muhammad
Muslims believe that in the last sermon of Jesus in the Gospel of John, Muhammad was foretold. Christians usually believe that Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit.
Certain passages in the Bible have been interpreted by some Islamic scholars as prophetic references to Muhammad. [1] These sections include:
- Deuteronomy 18:18
- Mathew 1:18
- Luke 1:35
Mention of Parakleitos (English translation commonly "Comforter") in John 14:16, 15:26, 16:7 and John 18:36 have been taken to be prophetic references to Muhammad. Christian scholars, on the other hand, tend to interpret Parakleitos as the Holy Spirit. [1]
Similarly, the Spirit of truth mentioned in John 16:12-14 has been interpretted as a prophetic reference to Muhammad.[1] Some Muslims claim that in the language of John, as in 1 Jn 4, spirits mean prophets.
References
- ^ a b c Abdus Sattar Ghauri (September 2006). "Muhammad foretold in the Bible: An Introduction" Renaissance 16 (9). ISSN 1606-9382.
See also
External links
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Islamic_view_of_the_Bible" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_view_of_the_Bible, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
