Answer
Asalamu Alaikum,
Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question.
Dr. Shabir Ally addresses this question in the video below:
Transcript:
Safiyyah Ally: Dr. Sahbir Ally, this is a question about the Dead Sea Scrolls: how do Muslims and Christians view the Dead Sea Scrolls? That’s the question.
Dr. Shabir Ally: The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of writings that were stashed away by a Nicene Jewish community who wanted to stay away from the political involvement of their time and to await for the last day.
Some of these writings are copies of passages from the Bible, some books of the Bible, and they were used for correcting later translations of the Bible. So, they’re widely accepted as authentic by Jews and Christians.
And by extension, Muslims should consider those writings to be more authentic than some of the other writings which were previously available.
But apart from Biblical books, these Scrolls contain other writings which were like a manual of discipline for the community itself. And generally people outside of that particular community would not regard these as being of any great significance from a religious point of view.
Safiyyah Ally: When were they discovered?
Dr. Shabir Ally: They were discovered in 1947.
Safiyyah Ally: OK. So, Muslims don’t really view the Dead Sea Scrolls as, you know, authoritative in anyway?
Dr. Shabir Ally: Well, for Muslims, they are not authoritative as religious texts. But from a historical point of view, Muslims studying this would see that they have a greater claim to authenticity than some of the previous copies of scriptures that were available to Jews and Christians.
I hope this helps answer your question. Please keep in touch.
Walaikum Asalam.
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