What is the history of these holy books?
To correctly understand any matter, it is always vital to study and understand its history. In order to confirm the validity of the Injil, which is also known as the New Testament, it is necessary to look at its history and that of the Qur'an. In both cases, one will find that the books were carefully preserved in the beginning and ever since. This page provides the evidence.
In the Qur'an, Christians are referred to as the people of the Injil [Surah 5, Al Ma'idah, 47, all references refer to: Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali, The Meaning of The Holy Qur'an (U.S.A.: Amana Publications, 1989]. The literal meaning of the word is "Good News," or "Gospel." It is used in three ways:
The 27 parts that together make up the New Testament as we know it today were already accepted as single letters by the great majority of the early Christians in the first century AD. In order to be better equipped against false teachings, a list (called "canon") of the 27 books contained in the New Testament was officially approved by the Church in 397 AD at the Third Council of carthage [D.A. Carson, D.J. Moo, and L. Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament (Apollos, 1992), pp. 493, 495].
F.F. bruce, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis at the University of Manchester, England confirms this fact by saying:
"One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect. The first ecclesiastical councils to classify the canonical books were both held in North Africa- at Hippo Reius in 393 and at Carthage in 397 - but what these councils did was not to impose something new upon the Christian communities but to codify what was already the general practice of those communities' [F.F. Bruce, The New Testament Documents, Are They Reliable? (England: IVP, 1994), p. 27.].
The formation of the definite canon took place on the basis of criteria, such "...as apostolic authorship, reception by the churches, and consistency of doctrine with what the church already possessed" [E.F. Harrison, Bakers's Dictionary of Theology, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1994), "Bible," p. 95].
It is this whole New Testament teaching that the Christians before and in Muhammad's (pbuh) time undoubtedly were following. They are described in the Qur'an verses above as:
Those 'who believed and received their due reward' in the fourth century.
'Believers who died for their faith' in the sixth century.
Those who 'were on the right course' in the sixth century.
Such favorable terms can only be used for those who followed the complete, unchanged, God-given book. Therefore, both, Qur'an and history, confirm that the Arabic word 'Injil' used in the Qur'an ('Gospel'), is identical with 'the New Testament.'
The following comparison shows that both, the Muslim and the Christian books, have gone through similar stages of developments. Therefore, if someone assumes that the Injil was changed in the course of time one would have to apply the same scepticism to the Qur'an as well.
Revelations were given to Muhammad (pbuh) from around 610 AD until shortly before his death in 632 AD. They lasted about 23 years [Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum Al-Quran (1985), pp. 54-55.].
Jesus started his public ministry in about 26 AD. This is known because in Luke 3, verse 1 it is related to the '...fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar...' Secular history verifies that Tiberius had authority in the provinces concerned beginning in 11 AD [New International Version Study Bible (1985), p. 1540.]. The mentioning of three annual Jewish passover feasts ( John 2 , 6, 12) leads to the conclusion that he preached and taught for about three years until 29 AD.
During the time revelations were received by the prophet of Islam, the Muslims were encouraged to memorize them:
What Jesus said and did was memorized during his public ministry. This can be taken as certain for two reasons:
The revelations Muhammad (pbuh) received were written down during his lifetime on different writing materials. However, they were not bound into one single book. This is confirmed by a report that says "when people came to Medina to learn about Islam, they were provided with copies of the chapters of the Qur'an, to read and learn them by heart." [Hamidullah, Sahifa Hammam ibn Munabbih (1979), p. 64.].
What Jesus said and did during his public ministry was also most probably written down during his lifetime. Papias, a hearer of John, one of Jesus' disciples wrote down the following tradition, or Christian Hadith, sometime between 120 and 130 AD: "Matthew compiled the sayings (of Jesus) in the Hebrew language." (Eusebius, Church History, V. 33,4.1) Furthermore, Luke who wrote his account of the Gospel probably sometimes between 59 - 63 A.D. started of by saying: "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us..." (Luke 1:1).
Therefore, it is very likely that the sayings of Jesus were also written down by numerous other peoples during his life time.
The revelations Muhammad (pbuh) received were passed on mainly orally for 43 years from 610 AD until 653 AD. At that time, the Qur'an was officially written under the command of Uthman. During the first 22 years of this period the prophet of Islam was still alive. In case of doubt, his followers could have consulted him immediately. Many of them also memorized the revelations under his personal guidance. More than 20 of those are mentioned by name in the Hadith. Among them were well know persons, such as Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Ibn Masud, Abu Huraira, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As, Aisha, Hafsa and Umm Salama (Suyuti, Itqan, I, p. 124.).
Others went over the contents of the Qur'an with the prophet before his death.
"Narrated Qatada: I asked Anas bin Malik: 'Who collected the Qur'an at the time of the prophet?' He replied, 'Four, all of whom were from the Ansar: Ubai bin Ka'b, Muadh bin Jabal, Zaid bin Thabit and Abu Zaid.'" (Bukhari, VI, No.525).
After the prophet's death, they could be consulted and correct each other if there was any dispute that arose. Besides that, the tradition of memorizing the Qur'an has continued for many centuries throughout all generations until today.
In any case, secular history makes it clear that Islam spread within its first 25 years of the Hejira [the departure of Muhammad (pbuh) from Mekkah (Mecca)] into many other countries outside Arabia.
Damascus and Syria were taken in 13 AH. One year later, Muslim armies made inroads into Persia. In 19 AH, Egypt fell into Muslim hands. By 25 AH, Islamic warfare brought success in Armenia, in northern Turkey.
Many soldiers and leaders who conquered those far away countries had memorized at least parts of the Qur'an. They also knew about the historical events in regard to its beginnings. Within a short period of time, the revelations Muhammad (pbuh) received spread in this way from Egypt to Persia and from Turkey to Arabia. Any changes within the Qur'an would surely have met with fierce opposition from all these parts of the world.
The gospel was mainly passed on by oral means for 29 years from 26 AD until 55 AD, when it's main teaching was first written down by Paul. This document, or book, is known as "1 Corinthians" (1 Corinthians 15:1-8, compare with Jesus' teaching in Matthew 26:27 and Mark 14:61-62).
The date of the Injil is undisputed by all Biblical scholars. "1 Corinthians" is one of 27 parts that together form the New Testament. W.F. Albright, one of the world's best Biblical archaeologists, said:
"We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about 80 AD" [Albright, Recent Discoveries in Bible Lands (1955), p. 136.].
Another renowned scholar summarizes that the whole New Testament was written before the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD [Robinson, Redating the New Testament (1976).].
It is very interesting that those scholars who would disagree with the above conclusions studied the matter on the basis of theories known as "documentary hypothesis" and "form criticism". They both deny vehemently that the Gospel was revealed by God, and that miracles and prophecies can be possible. This is the reason why true Muslims and Christians alike, have to reject their views, also, regarding many of the alleged contradictions found in the Bible. Sadly, these liberal scholars are most commonly referred to by Muslim authors and speakers.
However, all scholars are in agreement that many of the New Testament books were written between 55 and 70 AD. In the light of this evidence, the dates of 55 to 70 AD are taken as an average time period wherein the whole New Testament was officially written down. This allows for the balanced conclusion that the Gospel was transmitted predominantly by oral means for a period of 29-44 years.
During the first three years of this time, Jesus was still with his followers. If ever there was doubt, they could have consulted him. Afterwards, many of his disciples who memorized what they saw and heard concerning Jesus could remind each other in cases of dispute. In any case, Biblical sources ( Acts 2:5-11; 11:19-20; 18:1-2) and secular history make it clear that about 25 years after Jesus started his public ministry, many Christians were found all over the Eastern Mediterranean. They also spread to the West as far as Rome. Any changes to the Gospel would have been met with very fierce opposition from all these different parts of the world.
The revelations given to Muhammad (pbuh) were not written down by himself:
"Narrated al Bara: There was revealed 'Not equal are those believers who sit and those who strive and fight in the cause of Allah' (Surah 4, Nisaa, verse 95). The prophet said: 'Call Zaid for me and let him bring the board, the ink pot and the scapula bone.' Then he said: 'Write: Not equal are those believers...'" (Bukhari, VI, No. 512).
The Qur'an was written down during the prophets lifetime, but only on loose pieces of different material. When at the battle of Yamama, in 633 AD, a number of Muslims were killed, it was feared that part of the revelations might be lost. Therefore, Abu Bakr, the first Muslim leader after Muhammad's (pbuh) death, asked Zaid ibn Thabit to collect all the different writing materials on which the Qur'an was written down. This was his reaction:
Even though those verses had only been found with one person and only one man, had the sole responsibility to collect the first official Qur'an, Muslims believe it contained all the revelations given to their prophet.
The message Jesus brought was not written down by himself. As already mentioned, Matthew, one of his disciples wrote down what he said and did in the Hebrew language. These things were also memorized by the followers of Jesus.
The first four books of the New Testament contain the words and deeds of Jesus. They were written down by four different authors: Matthew, Mark, Luke (he also wrote "Acts") and John (he also wrote "1,2,3 John" and "Revelation"). These men wrote under God's inspiration ( 2 Peter 1:20-21) for different communities with different needs. The book of Matthew, for example was originally directed at Jewish readers. The book of Mark on the other hand was written for Gentiles [see New International Version Study Bible (1985), pp. 1439, 1490.].
God inspired the authors to write down the known words and deeds of Jesus in their particular fashion, according to the needs of the original recipients of their books. They, like the other writers of New Testament books, Paul, Peter, James and Jude, were either eyewitnesses or had first hand knowledge of Jesus' ministry.
The remaining 23 books of the New Testament again addressed different needs. God inspired the authors to comment and elaborate on the words and facts of Jesus' ministry. Muslims and Christians alike believe that inspiration from God comes in different ways but nevertheless in as great a degree, that means, in the same perfect quality. [See also: T.P. Hughes, Dictionary of Islam (1988), p. 213.].
A number of Hadith mention that several of Muhammad's (pbuh) companions wrote down their own collections of the revelations (Suyuti, Itqan I, p. 62).
The most well known among them are:
He claimed to have learned some seventy Surahs directly from the prophet. Muhammad (pbuh) told other people to learn the Qur'an from him and three others (Bukhari, 6, No. 521). However, Surah 1, 113 and 114 were missing in his collection (Fihrist, I, pages 53-57).
Ubay bin Kab
These different collections of the Qur'an contained also many variant readings. More than 1700 are attributed to Ibn Masud alone (A. Jeffry, Materials for the history of the text of the Quran, 1937.).
Muhammad Hamidullah divides them into four classes in the introduction to his French translation of the Qur'an (p. XXXIII):
Most of the variant readings have very little significance with regard to the meaning of the text. Only a rew present some problems, such as:
Only reports in the hadith about these variants have survived. But none of them changes any doctrine of the Qur'an in the slightest way.
There are about 5500 Greek manuscripts still existent which contain the whole or part of the New Testament (Josh Mc Dowell and Don Stewart, Answers to Tough Questions, 1980, p. 4).
Many of them contain a number of variant readings mostly caused by grammatical differences. They are often spread throughout all of the 5500 manuscripts. That is why a variant spelling of one letter of one word within one verse in 3000 manuscripts is considered to be 3000 variant readings. They are usually printed in the margin of today's translations which are based on manuscripts written from the second to the fourth century AD. All variant readings arising from mistakes that happened in later years have therefore no effect on the present translations.
In order to get the right understanding of the problem it also needs to be studied in the context of the whole Injil. The well known textual scholars Westcott and Hort came to the conclusion that only one-sixtieth of all variant readings would rise above "trivialities." This leaves a text 98.33-percent pure. [N.L. Geisler and W.E. Nix, General Introduction to the Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), p. 365.). A. T. Robertson, another great expert in this field, said, that the real concern is only with a "thousandth part of the entire text" (A.T. Robertson, An Introduction to the Textual Criticism of the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman, 1925), p. 22.).
Because all manuscripts have been carefully preserved, a scholarly study is possible to determine the correct readings. The following criteria is important in this science:
As seen above, most of the variant readings are of very little significance with regard to the meaning of the text. Only a few present some problems, such as:
The famous historian Philip Schaff said that none of these variant readings affected "an article of faith or a precept of duty which is not abundantly sustained by other and undoubted passages, or by the whole tenor of Scripture teaching" (Philip Schaff, Companion to the Greek Testament and English Version (New York: Harper, 1883, p. 177.).
The many variant readings of the Qur'an caused Muslim soldiers from Iraq (who followed Ibn Masud's collection) and soldiers of Syria (who took Ubay's collection to be the correct one) to accuse each other of lying.
Uthman's reaction in 653 AD is recorded in the following Hadith:
In spite of the radical measures taken, there still is a verse missing in today's Qur'an:
The verse cannot have been abrogated, because the messenger of Islam was the only one who was authorized to do so. By the time the problem arose, he was dead. The only reference found in today's Qur'an reads:
Perhaps for reasons such as this Ibn Masud opposed the new official version of the Qur'an with the following words:
"The Prophet taught me to recite 70 Surahs which I had mastered before Zaid had even become a Muslim. How can you order me to recite the readings of Zaid, when I recited from the very mouth of the Prophet some 70 Surahs? Am I to abandon what I acquired from the very lips of the Prophet?" (Ibn Abi Dawud, Masahif).
After having studied the early surviving Qur'an manuscripts very thoroughly John Gilchrist states: "The oldest manuscripts of the Qur'an still in existence date from not earlier than about one hundred years after Muhammdad's death" (Jam' Al-Qur'an, p. 153.).
He comes to this conclusion because two of the oldest manuscripts, the Samarqand and Topkapi codices are both written in the Kufic script. It "can generally be dated from the late eigth century depending on the extent of development in the character of the script in each case" (Ibid., page 146.).
The present translations of the New Testament (the Gospel, Injil) are based on the following, oldest manuscripts:
The oldest known copies of almost half of the New Testament that are still in existence, are dated about 200 AD, that is 130-174 years after they were originally written. It is important to realize that all the main Christian doctrines are therein contained! The oldest copy of the complete New Testament (Gospel) which still exists today is dated around 350 AD, that is 280-324 years after it was first written down.
The first written accounts of both the Qur'an and the Gospel were made during the life of Muhammad (pbuh) and Jesus respectively. In both cases the transmission took place mainly orally. The Qur'an was passed on in that way for about 43 years, the Gospel for 29-44 years.
Muslims and Christians alike believe that God inspired their holy book and that He watched over the process when it was memorized and later written down. In spite of numerous variant readings in both books, Muslims and Christians believe that they possess essentially what God had intended them to receive.
For good reasons both communities believe that their books had been carefully preserved in the beginning and ever since.
(Above content authored and provided by Abdullah Ibrahim)