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Monday 31 December 2012

Is Bible corrupt according to Qur'an?





Q: Was Bible corrupt before Qur'an was revealed?

A: According to Surah Al-Hijr, aya'ah 9 (Quran 15:9), it is written (Yusuf ALi), "We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption)."

According to Surah Younus aya'ah 64 (Quran 10:64), it is written (Pickthall), "Theirs are good tidings in the life of the world and in the Hereafter - There is no changing the Words of Allah - that is the Supreme Triumph."

According to Surah Younus, aya'ah 94 (Quran 10:94), it is written (Pickthall), "And if thou (Muhammad) art in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto thee, then question those who read the Scripture (that was) before thee. Verily the Truth from thy Lord hath come unto thee. So be not thou of the waverers."

According to Surah Al-Fatt-h aya'ah 23 (Quran 48:23), it is written (Yusuf ALi), "(Such has been) the practice (approved) of God already in the past: no change wilt thou find in the practice (approved) of God."

Looking at few of these verses, here we see, there is no chance that the word of God can be changed or corrupted and chronologically, Bible as a scripture before Qur'an which was read as the God breathed word. At the same time, most of the scholars such as Ahmed Deedat believed that Bible was corrupted even before Qur'an was revealed. Now let checkout few more verses from Qur'an, which are referring to Bible directly:

According to Surah Al-Mã´edah aya 46-50 (Quran 5:46-50), it is written (Yusuf ALi),"And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear God. Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God hath revealed therein. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what God hath revealed, they are (no better than) those who rebel. To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what God hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to God; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute; And this (He commands): Judge thou between them by what God hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they beguile thee from any of that (teaching) which God hath sent down to thee. And if they turn away, be assured that for some of their crime it is God's purpose to punish them. And truly most men are rebellious. Do they then seek after a judgment of (the days of) ignorance? But who, for a people whose faith is assured, can give better judgment than God?"

What we conclude from these verses here is that it clearly shows that Qur'am confirms Bible was present and that it was not corrupted untill the Qur'an was revealed.  Now this raises a question that if muslims believe that Bible is corrupted, then who corrupted it, since it was preserved according to Qur'an.





Q: Who corrupted the Bible?

A: Most of the muslims claim that Christians as well as Jews have corrupted the Bible. Let us check what Qur'an has to say in regards to this statement.

According to Surah Al-Baqarah aya'ah 113 (Quran 48:23), it is written (Muhammad Habib Shakir), "And the Jews say: The Christians do not follow anything (good) and the Christians say: The Jews do not follow anything (good) while they recite the (same) Book. Even thus say those who have no knowledge, like to what they say; so Allah  shall judge between them on the day of resurrection in what they differ."

With this Aay'ah what we understand is that there were already disagreements among the Jews and the Christians. Both were reading from the scriptures and in a situation such as this, no one would like the other party to point a finger on them on the charges of corruption. For example, there are prophecies of Jesus the Messiah in old testament, if Jews disagree with that, Christians certainly won't allow Jews to to change the scriptures as per their belief, likewise with the other side. Historically, there is no evidence that who corrupted the Bible or even that whether the Bible was actually corrupted.





Q: Is Bible corrupt after the death of Prophet Muhammad?

A: Well, personally this question will be Irrelevant because since Qur'an confirms that the word of God cannot be corrupted, how is it possible that corruption happened post prophet? Moreover, if this would have been the case, there would have been a high possibility of few verses in Qur'an bewaring the readers to be prepared as there may be chances of corruption in the coming time. Something like, "These people (Jews and Christians) have not performed any changes or corruption in God's word yet, but be careful as this may happen in future." There are old as well as new manuscripts and if we compare them, there aren’t any changes in them.





Q: Bible has added few things such as Crucifixion, Resurrection of Christ etc. This is also a corruption.

A: Personally I have a very strong disagreement with this statement and that this has no base and it is false. If you are saying that this was not mentioned earlier in the Bible and that it has been added later, I would like to ask that which historical document or manuscript says that events such as Crucifixion or resurrection were  not available in the Bible before corruption?





Q: The Bible SOcieties have played a major role in corrupting the word of God.

A: I have heard from many muslim friends with whom I exchange Ideas on Christianity and Islam, stating that Bible Societies such as The American Bible Society, The Bible Society of India, The British and Foreign Bible Society etc are one of the living evidences who are changing and corrupting the word of God by printing new versions of Bible. Well, this will be an utter misconception in regards to the understanding of what the Bible Society has been doing. There are hundreds of countries with hundreds of languages. It is likely possible that someone who knows Urdu cannot understand Tamil, A French may not understand Hindi, An English may not understand Arabic, A Papiamento may not understand Hindi. According to one of the encyclopedia, A Bible society is a non-profit organization (usually ecumenical in makeup) devoted to translating, publishing, distributing the Bible at affordable costs and advocating its credibility and trustworthiness in contemporary cultural life.

Many claim that there are changes within the english translation. Well this is actually not an excuse, as there are hundreds of words which are no longer in use now a days. These words are known as "Lost WOrds." Here are the few examples where few english words were in use, now these are either never used or you may hear or read them in few classical or historical works:

- 'Scaevity', means "Unluckiness", used between 1623-1658.

- 'Temerate', means "To Profane", used between 1635 -1654.

- 'Yelve', means "Dung Fork", used between 1000 -1886.

- 'Nidifice' means "Nest", used between 1656 -1656.

- 'Roblet means "To Lead Astray" used between 1674 -1755.

Likewise, there are hundreds of other words which we rarely hear. If someone speaks of them, we at times may fail to understand them. Bible Society is not corrupting different versions of Bible, infact they are printing new translations from the same source to reach out the unreached. Even we have various translations in Qur'an even in English, as mentioned above in the references. This doesn't means that Qur'an is corrupt.



Q: WHat exactly happened was, that, after the Zaboor was revealed, Torah was Abolished. After Injil was revealed, Zaboor was Abolished. After the Qur'an was revealed, Injil was Abolished. Doesn't this clarifies that Injil is no longer a trustworthy book?

A: I have no Idea how this has been put all together and comeup with something such as this statement. Well, if this was the fact, then there is no evidences or references that confirms such thing. Also, if people would have been aware, then how is it possible that Bible contains all three of them in a same book?

According to Surah Al-Mã´edah aya 69 (Quran 5:69), it is written (Yusuf ALi),"Those who believe (in the Qur'an), those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians and the Christians,- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness,- on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve."

According to Surah Al-Mã´edah aya 47 (Quran 5:47), it is written (Muhammad Habib Shakir),"And the followers of the Injeel should have judged by what Allah revealed in it; and whoever did not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors. "

Even Qur'an here confirms the presence of Injil (Gospel) and active. If all books as per the question here would have been abolished, then why would qur'an have made such a statement, else this verse would not have been in here. If we read the complete discussion here, I would encourage all my readers to read few verses before leaving, and they are:

2 Timothy 3:16, which says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."

The Gospel of John 8:32, "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”





God bless you all abundantly!

Sources used: http://phrontistery.info/clw1.html (Lost Words) and http://www.searchtruth.com/ (Translations of Qur'an).












Thursday 1 November 2012

Was Jesus alive or dead in the tomb?



 http://www.ronaldkennedy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/tomb.jpg
It is an accepted fact in Christian commentaries on the book of Jonah in the Bible that Jonah was kept miraculously alive during the time that he was in the stomach of the fish in the sea. At no time throughout his ordeal did he die in the fish and so came ashore as much alive as he was when he was first thrown into the sea.

In his booklet Deedat takes some of the words in the text quoted above out of their context and makes the statement read "As Jonah was ... so shall the Son of man be" and concludes:

If Jonah was alive for three days and three nights, then Jesus also ought to have been alive in the tomb as he himself had foretold! (Deedat, What was the Sign of Jonah?, p.6).

Although Jesus had only said that the likeness between him and Jonah would be in the period of time they were each to undergo an internment - Jonah in a fish, Jesus in the heart of the earth - Deedat omits this qualifying reference and claims that Jesus must have been like Jonah in other ways as well, extending the likeness to include the living state of Jonah inside the fish. When Jesus' statement is read as a whole, however, it is quite clear that the likeness is confined to the time factor. As Jonah was three days and three nights in the stomach of the fish, so Jesus would be a similar period in the heart of the earth. One cannot stretch this further, as Deedat does, to say that as Jonah was ALIVE in the fish, so Jesus would be alive in the tomb. Jesus did not say this and such an interpretation does not arise from his saying but is read into it. Furthermore, in speaking of his coming crucifixion, Jesus on another occasion used a similar saying which proves the point quite adequately:

"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up". (John 3.14)

Here the likeness is clearly in being "lifted up". As Moses LIFTED UP the serpent, so would the Son of man be LIFTED UP, the one for the healing of the Jews, the other for the healing of the nations. In this case the brass serpent Moses made never was alive and if Deedat's logic is applied to this verse we must presume that it means that Jesus must have been dead before he was lifted up, dead on the cross, and dead when taken down from it. Not only is this illogical, the contradiction between the states of Jonah and the brass serpent (the one was always alive through his ordeal, the other was always dead when used as a symbol on a pole) shows that Jesus was only drawing a likeness between himself and Jonah and the brass serpent respectively in the matters he expressly mentions - the THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS and the LIFTING UP on a pole. It does not matter whether Jonah was alive or not - this has nothing to do with the comparison Jesus was making.

By omitting the qualifying reference to the time period in Jonah's case, Deedat makes the saying of Jesus read "As Jonah was ... so shall the Son of man be" and it is from this unrestricted likeness that he seeks to extend the comparison to the state of the prophet in the fish. But if we follow the same method with the other verse quoted, we come to the exact opposite conclusion. In this case the statement would read: "As the serpent ... so shall the Son of man be" and the state of the serpent was always a dead one. This shows quite plainly that in each case Jesus was not intending to extend the likeness between himself and the prophet or object he mentions to the question of life or death but solely to the very comparisons he expressly sets forth. So we see that Deedat's first objection falls entirely to the ground. A contradictory conclusion automatically results from his line of reasoning and no objection or argument which negates itself can ever be considered with any degree of seriousness.


Source Used: John GilChrist - What Indeed Was the Sign of Jonah?

Saturday 27 October 2012

The Sign of Jonah and Jesus





During 1976 Ahmed Deedat of the Islamic Propagation Centre in Durban published a booklet entitled “What was the Sign of Jonah?” which talks about two things in specific:
1-      If Jonah had been alive throughout his sojourn in the fish, then Jesus must have been alive in the tomb after being taken down from the cross.
2-      If Jesus was crucified on a Friday and rose on the following Sunday morning, then he could not have been three days and three nights in the tomb. 

We shall consider these two objections in order and will thereafter proceed to analyze the whole subject to see what the Sign of Jonah really was. Let's see what three days and three nights mean. In Esther, chapter 4, in the Old Testament of the Christian Jewish Bible, it says there was a fast for three days and three nights. But, then it went on, and it says they completed the fast on the third day. You see in Jewish language, "after three days and three nights," meant "to the third day" or "on the third day." Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, “He would be buried for three days and three nights.” 

In Matthew 20, Jesus said, “He would be raised up on the third day” - not after the third day. The Jews came to Jesus, and they said in Matthew 27:63, "and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise." So, they asked for a Roman guard. Now watch the language here. "Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day," not after the third day. They knew what Jesus said, three days and three nights, meant until the third day, "Lest, His disciples come and steal Him away." 

On Friday, before six o'clock they had three hours to bury Him. It took less than an hour. The Jewish reckoning of time in the Jewish Talmud and the Babylonian Jerusalem Talmud (which are the commentaries of the Jews), said any part, an "Onan" - any part of the day is considered a full day. On Friday before six o'clock by Jewish reckoning, any minute was one day and one night. From Friday night at six o'clock to Saturday at six o’clock was, another day and another night. 

Men and women, from Jewish reckoning, not ours, any moment after six o'clock was Saturday night, is another day, another night. According to one of the debate of Dr. Josh McDowell in South Africa, he gave an example stating, “We do the same thing in my country. If my son was born one minute before midnight on December the 31st, on my income taxes to my government, I could treat my son with the same time principle as having been born at any time during that one full year, 365 days and 365 nights. For the 1st objection above, please read the November 2012 article "WAS JESUS ALIVE OR DEAD IN THE TOMB?"

Sources Used: Dr. Josh McDowell, John Gilchrist.

Saturday 29 September 2012

Is the Ark of the Covenant still there or lost in history?



First of all, there is was no specific tablet which was written by God’s finger. I encourage you all to read and understand the following verses:
Exodus 31:18 says, “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.”
Deuteronomy 9:10 says, “And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.”
Luke 11:20 says, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Looking at these verses, we sometimes may believe that God has a finger and it is Powerful and writes. Saying this actually is not fully incorrect since God has made us in His own image and he is full of Might and all Powerful. But, as per these verses we see another picture. I was going through one of the commentary by Geneva Study Bible for Luke, it makes it very clear, “That is, by the power of God: so it says in Geneva Exodus 8:19.” So does the Wesley’s notes says, “If I cast out devils by the finger of God - That is, by a power manifestly Divine. Perhaps the expression intimates farther, that it was done without any labour: then the kingdom of God is come upon you - Unawares, unexpected: so the Greek word implies.”
Getting back to the main question, understanding the Bible in context, a message was revealed to Moses and he wrote it down. I was listening to one of the recording by Allama Ibrahim Yusuf (Christian scholar) on the same topic, and he humorously says, “There are obviously no Printing Machines available with God that he writes stuff using various Dyes as well as plates.” According to Exodus 32:19, it says like this, “And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.” This verse clearly says that Moses breaks the tablets. Not only he breaks, while breaking the tablets, Moses was extremely angry. God had already revealed his commandments to mankind; still people broke the law and were worshiping the calf. So saying that tablets are by God to them does not show any importance during that event since people had already broken the law. Obviously when rules are already broken, what importance does that piece of stone hold? Now, if we read Exodus 34:1, it says like this, “The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.” Moses makes a new set of tablets which went for long but within time they were lost. If we see the history through the old testament, nations had been so much corrupted that even if those second sets of tablets would have been available, people may have started worshipping them itself in the name of God. Lord knew what was required and what not. The commandments were memorized, shared, copied as we still have it; there is no point of having the original tablets or raising a question that “Is the Ark of the Covenant, which God gave to Moses, still in the hands of the Jewish people or is it lost in history?”

Did Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat or Mount Judi?

 
According to the Bible, Genesis 8:4 says like this, “and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
As per qur’an, in Meccan Sura Hud 11:44, it says like this, “Then the word went forth: "O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!" and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong!
Jewish Babylonian, Syriac, and Islamic traditions identify Mount Judi or Qardu as a peak near the town of Jazirat ibn Umar (modern Cizre), at the headwaters of the Tigris, near the modern Syrian–Turkish border. Arab historian Al-Masudi (d. 956), reported that the spot where the ark came to rest could be seen in his time. Al-Masudi locates Jabal Judi at 80 parasangs from the Tigris. The description of medieval geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi matches exactly a 2089 m peak north of Silopi that is now called Jabal Judi or Judi Dagh by Muslims and Gardu by Christians and Jews.
Mount Ararat presently is a volcanic massif on the border between Turkey and Armenia and known in Turkish as "Agri Dagh." And at the same time, Al-Judi is one of those that divide Armenia on the south, from Mesopotamia, and that part of Assyria which is inhabited by the Curds, from whom the mountains took the name Cardu, or Gardu, by the Greeks turned into Gordyae, and other names. Looking at the accounts of researchers like Sir Walter Raleigh, George Sale etc., Mount Al-Judi lies within the mountains of Ararat.

I personally think that Bible has made it very clear with its verse from Genesis 8:4, stating, “
And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.” It specifically uses the plural of a Mount, i.e. “Mountains”. Henceforth, there is no contradiction within the bible for what the later accounts states or researchers say.