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).