Islamic view of the Bible

References to the Bible, in the modern sense, are often fragmentary, since Muslims do not refer to the biblical canon of Chalcedonian churches. First references to the biblical canon can be found from the 9th century onwards, in Muslim writings. Ibn Qutaybah (d. 889), for example, included a translation of Genesis 1–3. Imam al-Qasim ibn Ibrahim (860) included a large portion of the Book of Matthew in his Refutation of Christians.[4] Most Christians Muslims encountered in early years have been Nestorians, Melkites and Jacobites. According to a hadith, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, a Jewish convert, referred to a story of the Torah which is absent in today's canon.[5]

The Quran mentions the word Tawrah (Torah) eighteen times, and confirms that it was the word of God. When referring to traditions from the Tawrat, Muslims have not only identified it with the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses), but also with the other books of the Hebrew Bible.[6]

However, some Muslims also believe that there were additions and subtractions in the Torah, according to their interpretation of Surat Al-Baqarah verse 79 of the Qur'an[7] which, although does not mention the word Torah, says: "Woe to those who write the book with their own hands in exchange for a small amount of money, woe to them by what their hands have written and Woe to them from what they were doing". However, the early quranic exegete Al-Tabari referred to the Torah in his words as "the Torah that they (the Jews) possess today".[8]

Surah An-Nisa 4:163 of the Quran states: "and to David We gave the Zabur".[9] Therefore, Islam affirms that the Zabur attributed to David, in which is called the Book of Psalms were inspired by God. The Quran mentions the word Zabur three times (Quran 17:55;[10] 21:105).[11]

When the Quran speaks of the Gospel, Muslims believe it refers to a single volume book called "The Gospel of Jesus": supposedly an original divine revelation to Jesus Christ. Accordingly, Muslim scholars reject the Christian canonical Gospels, which they say are not the original teachings of Jesus and which they say have been corrupted over time. Some scholars have suggested that the original Gospel may be the Gospel of Barnabas.[12]

And the LORD said unto me: 'They have well said that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.'

— Deuteronomy 18:17–18[13]

Deuteronomy 18:18 has often been considered a prophecy of the coming of Muhammad by Muslim scholars.[14] Al-Samawal al-Maghribi, a medieval Jewish mathematician who converted to Islam, pointed to Deuteronomy 18:18 in his book Confutation of the Jews as a prophecy fulfilled by the appearance of Muhammad.[15] Samawal argued in his book that since the children of Esau are described in Deuteronomy 2:4–6[16] and Numbers 20:14[17] as the brethren of the children of Israel, the children of Ishmael can also be described the same way.[18] Some Muslim writers, like Muhammad Ali and Fethullah Gülen, have interpreted several verses in the Quran as implying that Muhammad was alluded to in Deuteronomy 18:18, including Quran 46:10[19] and 73:15.[20][21][22]

Christians interpret Deuteronomy 18:18 as referring to a future member of the community of Israel who re-enacts the function of Moses, serving as a mediator for the covenant between Yahweh and the Israelites. Walter Brueggemann writes that "The primary requirement for the prophet, like the king in 17:15, is that he or she must be a member of Israel, thoroughly situated in the traditions and claims of the Yahwistic covenant."[23] The Gospels of Matthew and John both present Jesus as being the "prophet like Moses" from Deuteronomy 18[24] and Acts 3:15–23[25] states that Jesus is the one Moses was talking about in Deuteronomy 18:18.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate (παράκλητος), to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

— John 14:16–17, New Revised Standard Version[26]

Many Muslim scholars have argued that the Greek words paraklytos ('comforter') and periklutos ('famous'/'illustrious') were used interchangeably, and therefore, these verses constitute Jesus prophesying the coming of Muhammad; but neither of these words are present in this passage (or in the Bible at all), which instead has παράκλητος "Paracletos", that is, Paraclete, Advocate.[27]

The Paraclete, or Advocate, is mentioned five times in the Gospel of John.[28] The Advocate, called the "Spirit of truth", is considered to be the Holy Spirit; a replacement for Jesus into the world after Jesus leaves. John says that the world cannot receive the Spirit, although the Spirit abides with and in the disciples (14:17). The Spirit will convict the world of sin (16:8–9) and glorify Jesus (16:13–14).[29]