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How Did The People of The Book Change Their Books?

15 March, 2017
Q Assalaamu Alaikum, In the Quran 6:115: "The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfillment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all." I don't understand how the People of the Book were then able to change the books sent to them. Weren't they the Word of God also? Thank you.

Answer

Salam,

Thank you for contacting About Islam with your interesting question.

In fact, your question arises out of a misreading of the verse quoted: “None can change His words”. We need to read the previous verse also along with this verse to understand the context:

{Say: “Shall I seek for judge other than Allah. – when He it is Who has sent unto you the Book, explained in detail.” They know full well, to whom We have given the Book, that it has been sent down from your Lord in truth. Never be then of those who doubt. The word of your Lord does find its fulfillment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who hears and knows all.} (Al-An`am 6:114-115)

The following is the meaning of the verses:

Those people who seek judges other than Allah know well that the Book has been undoubtedly sent from Allah. The word of God will be fulfilled truly and with justice.

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And there is no scope whatsoever for anyone to change or tamper with the word of God; as Allah is All-hearing and All-seeing.

The word of God — the exact phrase in Arabic is kalimatihi — in this context stands for the promises of God — or the decrees of God — as given in the Book of Allah; and there is no one who can make any change in those promises or decrees of God.

The above quoted verses do not negate the possibility of interpolation, distortion, misinterpretation, deletion, etc., as regards the Books of God.

Indeed nothing is said here about the possibility for instance of someone printing a copy of the Book of God with a number of its words changed. That is a possibility we need to reckon with.

But such instances of corruption do not in any way affect the actual promises or decrees of Allah given in His revealed Books; and that is Allah’s promise.

Indeed, the verses, I repeat, do not negate the possibility of someone taking a pen and striking off, blacking out certain words or verses of the Book of God. Besides, it has been clearly said in the Quran that such interpolation or falsification has been done before:

{Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say: “This is from Allah,” to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.} (Al-Baqarah 2:79)

This verse clearly says that there were persons who were prepared to write their own “verses” and interpolate them into the Book of God with the intention of foisting them on the people as the Word of God.

And so, to those members of the People of the Book who quote verses like 6:115 to ‘prove’ that the Bible as existing now is the original pure Torah and Gospel, one can quote in response the following verses from the Bible itself:

[The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.] (Isaiah 40:8)

[How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie.] (Jeremiah 8:8)

The first of the above verses says effectively the same as Quran 6:115: No one can change the word of God.

The second verse says that the scribes among the Children of Israel in Jeremiah’s time had used their lying pen to change the law of God into a lie.

The first is the general principle underscored by the Quran about the word of God, that no one can change God’s commandments or Law. The second is what had happened to the Book of God with the Children of Israel, at the time of Jeremiah.

They did not have a correct copy of the Book of God with them. What remained with them had been falsified by the scribes.

I hope this answers your question. Please keep in touch.

Salam.

Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:

6 Reasons Qur’an Cannot Be a Copy of Bible

The Bible: What Changes Were Made? Part 1

The Bible: What Changes Were Made? Part 2