Refutation: The Quran’s View of the Holy Bible Revisited Pt. 2
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ,
Continuing from part one, let’s see what other faulty arguments against Islam that Sam’s invented this week:
The second problem with Williams’ appeal to Asad’s perversion of Q. 5:48 is that it ignores the immediate context of the passage which explains what is meant by the Quran coming to confirm and safeguard the Scriptures before it. Here is the immediate context, once again, in order to help the readers follow along with our exegesis:
This is a very shocking opening statement, what is bothersome about this is that Sam clearly displays intellectual fraud, anyone who has ever done a class in hermeneutics, literature, communication studies, academic writing would have you know that each and every translation from an original language to another is an interpretation based upon the methodology and understanding of the original text by the translator. However Sam decides that the translation he disagrees with is a perversion, that however as seen in part one, does not help his case as even that translation, which he appeals to confirms what Asad’s translation says.
I have to ask a direct question to Sam Shamoun, under what pretenses are you certified to do an exegesis of the Qur’aan? What have you formally studied under Ulum al Qur’aan? May we have your degree? Your Ijaza? Some form of academic approval to do Qur’aanic exegesis? Perhaps you can demonstrate for us your skill in Arabic, I’m sure you know very well classical Arabic and Arabic etymology. With that in mind, may we also know what form of certification you have to do exegesis of the Bible? It would be our pleasure for you to make public your certification, otherwise Sam Shamoun is not qualified to do such things, and as such his work is not an exegesis, rather it’s what we term eisegesis.
eisegesis – The interpretation of a word or passage by reading into it one’s own ideas.
Eisegesis is what uneducated laymen do to scripture. Eisegesis is the anti-thesis to exegesis. Ironically he has appealed to exegetical fallacies in part one, three of which I highlighted, namely:
(1) The Word Fallacy.
(2) The Reading Between the Lines Fallacy.
(3) The Fallacy of Appeal to Authority.
You can find these fallacies through various books, however I prefer to use Exegetical Fallacies: Common Mistakes Every Student of the Bible Must Avoid – Professor William D. Barrick. Sam goes on to reference Qur’aan Surah 5, Ayat 43 – 45, I however am using a translation variant from his, as it’s suited for modern English readers as translated by a scholar of Ulum al Qur’aan, Mufti Taq Uthmani [db]:
How do they ask you to judge while the Torah is with them, having the ruling of Allaah? Still, they turn away, after all that. They are no believers. Surely We have sent down the Torah, in which there was guidance and light by which the prophets, who submitted themselves to Allaah , used to judge for the Jews, and (so did) the men of Allaah and the men of knowledge, because they were ordained to protect the Book of Allaah, and they stood guard over it. So, (O Jews of today), do not fear people. Fear Me, and do not take a paltry price for My verses. Those who do not judge according to what Allaah has sent down are the disbelievers. We prescribed for them therein: A life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear and a tooth for a tooth; and for wounds, an equal retaliation. Then, if one forgives it, that will be expiation for him. Those who do not judge according to what Allaah has sent down, they are the unjust.
Notice, I’ve highlighted the areas Sam has also highlighted. He’s desperately trying to draw the conclusion that there was no need for the Qur’aan’s revelation or Muhammad’s {saw} judgement because the Qur’aan is saying that the Torah was still the modus operandi of the day when it come to judicial implementation. This however is a fanciful generalization. Refer to the Qur’aanic quotation above, it clearly states that the Torah which the Jews had contained a ruling from Allaah and it goes on to explicitly state what that ruling was: An eye for an eye…..etc, hence the Qur’aan is rebuking the Jews for knowing what the ruling of Allaah was, while they neglected to implement it. Hence why the Qur’aan states:
So, (O Jews of today), do not fear people. Fear Me, and do not take a paltry price for My verses. Those who do not judge according to what Allaah has sent down are the disbelievers.
The following excerpt explains the verses before the above ayat:
Their gist is that the Jews were habitually used to issuing religious edicts as desired by the people, either for the benefit of relatives or to satisfy their greed for money, property, influence, and recognition. This had become a common custom particularly in matters involving punishments that they would, if the crime was committed by an influential person, change the severe punishment of the Torah into an ordinary one. It is this behaviour, part of theirs which has been described in the first verse (41) in the following words: يُحَرِّفُونَ الْكَلِمَ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَوَاضِعِهِ (They displace the words after their having been placed properly).
Now the people who were used to making the severe punishments of the Torah easy for their clients by changing them saw an opportunity for themselves whereby they could take such shady matters to the Holy Prophet {saw} and make him their judge or arbitrator. The dual advantage they saw in it was that they would reap the benefits of all easy and light rules of Islamic law, while at the same time, they would not have to commit the crime of altering the Torah. But, here too, they had their crookedness at work as they would hold on to their decision of taking their case to him until such time that they succeeded in finding out beforehand through some source or ruse as to the actual verdict which would be delivered in their case when presented. Then, if they found this verdict matching their wishes, they would make him their arbitrator and have him decide their case. If it happened to be contrary to their wishses, they would leave it at that.- Tafsir Maar’iful Qur’aan : Mufti Rafi Uthmani, pages 164- 165.
This presents the precedence for verse 44 and onwards:
By saying: إِنَّا أَنْزَلْنَا التَّوْرَاةَ فِيهَا هُدًى وَنُورٌ (Surely We have sent down the Torah, having guidance and light therein), the hint given is that the abrogation of the Shari’ah of Torah at that point of time is not because of any shortcoming of the Torah itself but it has been done rather because of the need to change injunctions with the change of time. Otherwise the Torah too is a Book revealed by the same Revealer.
After that is was said: that is, ۚ يَحْكُمُ بِهَا النَّبِيُّونَ الَّذِينَ أَسْلَمُوا “We had revealed the Torah so that, until its Shari’ah has not been abrogated, all incoming prophets and their deputies, the men of Allaah and the Ulama shall all decide and rule in accordance with this Torah making it the working law of their time“. After that, it was said لِلَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالرَّبَّانِيُّونَ وَالْأَحْبَارُ بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُوا مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّـهِ وَكَانُوا عَلَيْهِ شُهَدَاءَ (because they were entrusted with the protection of the Book of Allaah and they stood guard over it). It means that these prophets and their two kinds of deputies, the Ulama and the Masha’ikh (Men of Knowledge and Men of Allaah) were responsible for enforcing the laws of the Torah because Almighty Allaah had entrusted them with the protection of the Torah and they had given up the pledge that they would guard it.
Up to this point, the text was referring to the Torah as Divine Scripture and guidance and light which was enforced and guarded by the Prophets, and their deputies among guides and scholars. Then, the focus turns on to the contemporary Jews who have been censured for not having guarded the Torah as their elders did. They acted crookedly when they started changing its injunctions, for example, the glad tidings of the coming of the Last among Prophets, Muhammad al Mustafa, may the peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him, was mentioned clearly in the Torah and the Jews were asked to believe in him. But, rather than believe in him as required, they became hostile to him. Also given here is the reason what prompted them to do so. It was love for power and love for money. They knew that the Holy Prophet {saw} was a true prophet of Allaah but they balked at the thought of following him because they were taken as leaders among their people, common Jews who followed them. Now if they were to embrace Islam, they will turn into common Muslim individuals. Gone will be their pivotal position for power play. Other than this, they had almost made it a profession that they would bend and alter the provisions of the Torah to provide officially endorsed conveniences for influential people against payment of bribes. The contemporary Jews were warned about this practise in the following words:
فَلَا تَخْشَوُا النَّاسَ وَاخْشَوْنِ وَلَا تَشْتَرُوا بِآيَاتِي ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۚ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّـهُ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
(So, do not fear people, fear Me. And do not take a paltry price for My verses).It means that they should not fear that their people will stop following them or turn against them and they they should not alter the Divine commands for the sake of insignificant worldly gains for it would ruin them both materially and spiritually because:
وَمَنْ لَمْ يَحْكُمْ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّـهُ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
(And whoever does not judge by what Allaah has sent down, then, they are the disbelievers.)In the second verse after that (45), there is a description of the injunctions of Qisas (Even Retaliation) with a particular reference stressing that, “We had revealed these injunctions on the Torah”. The words of the text are:
وَكَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ فِيهَا أَنَّ النَّفْسَ بِالنَّفْسِ وَالْعَيْنَ بِالْعَيْنِ وَالْأَنْفَ بِالْأَنْفِ وَالْأُذُنَ بِالْأُذُنِ وَالسِّنَّ بِالسِّنِّ وَالْجُرُوحَ قِصَاصٌ
(And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution.) Tafsir Maar’iful Qur’aan : Mufti Rafi Uthmani, pages 177 -180
Finally, to sum the entire context of the verses from 41 to 48, we read:
In the fifth (48) and sixth (49) verse, the address is to the Holy Prophet {saw} saying that to him Allaah has revealed the Qur’aan which confirms the Torah and Injil, Books previous to it, and is their custodian as well. This is because, after the people of the Torah altered the Torah and the people of the Injil made changes in the Injil, it was the Qur’aan alone which turned out to be the kind of overseer and protector which exposed the alterations made by them, lit up the truth and reality in their proper perspective. Even today, the true teachings of the Torah and Injil still survive through the Qur’aan while those who inherited them and those who claim to follow them have disfigured them to the extant that it has become impossible to distinguish truth from untruth. Towards the end of the verse, the Holy Prophet {saw} has been given the same instruction as was given to the people of the Torah and the people of the Injil, that is, all orders and judgments given by him should be accordng to injunctions revealed by Allaah, and that he should see through the ploy of these people who intend to have him decide matters according to their wishes and take his guard against their evil plans. – Tafsir Maar’iful Qur’aan : Mufti Rafi Uthmani, page 181.
As properly demonstrate above by an exegete, we can conclude the following:
(1) The Qur’aan confirms the Torah and Injil which are from Allaah.
(2) Allaah does not recognize the rulings of the Jews which are not based on His law.
(3) The Qur’aan although confirming what was revealed makes it clear that,
(4) It was revealed because the Shari’ah (laws) of the Torah were altered by the Jews and
(5) Altered by the Christians in the Injil, therefore:
(6) It makes it clear that the only rule of law to be accepted by Allaah is:
(7) By the Qur’aan and Muhammad {saw}.
The ruling which Allaah validates that is from Him is the ruling if Qisas given in ayat 44 (Equal Retribution), it is not validating the entire Bible. In fact, Sam’s quotation helps further prove this, but first, let’s examine this statement of his:
Here we not only have Muhammad judging the Jews according to their own copy of the Torah we also find him praising it by testifying that he believes in it and the God who revealed it! This clearly is not the actions of a man who thought that the Holy Bible was corrupted.
Note how he over exaggerates what Muhammad {saw} is doing. What exactly do the Hadith and Qur’aanic ayat speak of which Allaah had revealed? The law of Qisas (equal retribution – an eye for an eye…. etc), Muhammad {saw} was testifying that he believed in the law of Qisas which Allaah had revealed and protected. That is the only logical conclusion one can come to after reading the various exegeses on the matter in light of the Qur’aan and Hadith Sharh (commentary). To reaffirm this, let’s take one more look at the ayats in question,:
So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses (بِآيَاتِي) for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers. And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution. But whoever gives [up his right as] charity, it is an expiation for him. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the wrongdoers. – Qur’aan : Suratul Ma’ida (5) : 44 – 45.
Clearly the ayat speaks for itself, it is referring to these verses as it uses the term, بِآيَاتِي (verses) in ayat 44. Therefore for Sam’s argument to be valid, the ayat would have had to use the word كتب (book), however as one can see for themselves, it does not use that term. Shamoun then seeks to abuse even the most basic tenets of Islam:
On the other side, another party of hadith and fiqh scholars said: these changes took place during its interpretation and not during the process of its revelation. This is the view of Abi Abdullah Muhammad bin Ishmael Al-Bukhari who said in his hadith collection:
“No one can corrupt the text by removing any of Allah’s words from his Books, but they corrupted it by misinterpreting it.”
Al-Razi also agrees with this opinion. In his commentary he said:
“There is a difference of opinions regarding this matter among some of the respectable scholars. Some of these scholars said: the manuscript copies of the Torah were distributed everywhere and no one knows the exact number of these copies except Allah. It is impossible to have a conspiracy to change or alter the word of God in all of these copies without missing any copy. Such a conspiracy will not be logical or possible. And when Allah told his messenger (Muhammad) to ask the Jews to bring their Torah and read it concerning the stoning command they were not able to change this command from their copies, that is why they covered up the stoning verse while they were reading it to the prophet. It was then when Abdullah Ibn Salam requested that they remove their hand so that the verse became clear. If they have changed or altered the Torah then this verse would have been one of the important verses to be altered by the Jews.
“Also, whenever the prophet would ask them (the Jews) concerning the prophecies about him in the Torah they were not able to remove them either, and they would respond by stating that they are not about him and they are still waiting for the prophet in their Torah.”
The problem with Sam Shamoun is that he believes Muslims think that God’s word (Kalamullah) can become corrupted. However this only displays his ignorance as this is not an Islamic belief. We do not believe that God’s word can become corrupted. Sure someone can make scribal errors or forget a verse, those are human errors, but God preserves His revelations in a myriad of ways, while one scribe may make an error, the scribal overseer would notice that mistake, or another scribe would point it out under proof reading, in the case of recitation, a hafiz (Qur’aanic memorizer) would correct the incorrectly recited ayat. However, God’s “word” can become corrupted in another way:
(1) Interpretation (eisegesis), as what Sam is doing, or
(2) By ignoring/ hiding God’s word, writing your own “revelation” and claiming it to be from God:
فَوَيْلٌ لِلَّذِينَ يَكْتُبُونَ الْكِتَابَ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ يَقُولُونَ هَـٰذَا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّـهِ لِيَشْتَرُوا بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۖ فَوَيْلٌ لَهُمْ مِمَّا كَتَبَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَوَيْلٌ لَهُمْ مِمَّا يَكْسِبُونَ
(So woe to those who write the “scripture” with their own hands, then say, “This is from Allah,” in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.) – Qur’aan : Suratul Baqarah (2) : 79.
So the corruption of God’s word that most Muslims refer to when speaking of Biblical corruption, is away from the revelation of Allaah and towards men’s words claiming to be God’s. This is what we Muslims mean, so when Ibn Qayyim {rh} says this:
And the Torah is Allah’s word. (Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, Ighathat Al Lahfan, Volume 2, p. 351)
and the Qur’aan says this:
“And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can alter His words, and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.” – Qur’aan Surat al An’am (6) : 115.
These statements are being said in relation to Qur’aan Suratul Baqarah (2), Ayat 79, that people cannot change the word of God, but that they can hide God’s word and claim their self authored writing as revelation from God. We can see one example of that here:
If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. – Bible : 1 Corinthians (14) : 37.
Here, Paul is self prophesying that his writing is God’s word (God’s command), this is a bit of circular thinking on behalf of Paul as he doesn’t have any authority to say his writing is now God’s command, no verse from the Old Testament refers to Paul as the one who would write God’s command. Ironic as it is, he should have taken his own advice:
Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. – Bible : 1 Corinthians (8) : 2.
Or as demonstrated by the author of the Gospel of Luke, where the author’s intent was to document Jesus’ worldly ministry but somehow Christians made it into an inerrant scripture:
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.- Bible : Luke (1) : 1 – 4.
One moment this is an account for a person by the name of Theophilus, the next Christians are assuming it’s the word of God, inspired and inerrant. Therefore in this regard, this is what Muslims refer to as corruption of God’s word. People write documents and the masses are led to believe it’s from God. God’s word didn’t change, but people’s belief in a word of God changed. However things turned for a worse in Sam’s article, as he attempted to use, what I assume is logic statements:
A. No one is able to change the words of God.
B. The Torah (and by extension the Gospel and the rest of the Scriptures) is (are) God’s Word(s).
C. Therefore, no individual can ever change or corrupt the text of the Torah (or the other Scriptures for that matter).
That’s what we believe Sam, no one can change God’s word. To make it a bit more extant, God’s word is an attribute of God, just as you would have Al Alim (All Knowing) and Ar Rahman (Most Merciful), in this light Kalamullah (The Word of Allaah) cannot be altered as God does not change, He is, Al Awwal (The First – Alpha) and Al Akhir (The Last – Omega). This must be a new lesson for Sam as he clearly displays his ignorance of Islamic ‘aqidah. Continuing to examine his argument, we read:
Here is what that passage actually says:
And [likewise,] from those who say, “Behold, we are Christians.” We have accepted a solemn pledge: and they, too, have forgotten much of what they had been told to bear in mind – wherefore We have given rise among them to enmity and hatred, [to last] until Resurrection Day: and in time God will cause them to understand what they have contrived.
Now notice the contradiction between William’s interpretation of this text with the following verse that appears a little later in the same surah:
And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him and We gave to him the Gospel, wherein is guidance and light, and confirming the Torah before it, as a guidance and an admonition unto the godfearing. So let the People of the Gospel judge according to what God has sent down therein. Whosoever judges not according to what God has sent down — they are the ungodly. S. 5:46-47 Arberry
Let’s correct Sam’s misleading statements here, in this instance he’s appealing to a post hoc argument. Essentially, he does not take the verses into their contextual order, thereby purposely misleading himself and the audience at large. To begin with, the ayats he quotes above are from verse 14 and then he skips all the way to verses 46 and 47. Between those ayat there are 32/ 33 verses. He’s jumped 33 verses, to link two different statements to develop an entirely new understanding. This surely is academic dishonesty, for an example of what he’s done, let’s look at this Biblical example:
Looking at his disciples, he [Jesus] said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”
and then he says:
“How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!” – Bible, Luke 6, Luke 21.
That sounds wrong doesn’t it? Well that’s because, just as Sam, I deliberately removed those statements from their places of context, joined them together and the argument being presented from such an act is highly fraudulent, and this is what Sam has done to the Qur’aan. Moving on, the verse which Br. Paul Williams has referenced is verse 14:
And from those who say, “We are Christians” We took their covenant; but they forgot a portion of that of which they were reminded. So We caused among them animosity and hatred until the Day of Resurrection. And Allah is going to inform them about what they used to do.- Qur’aan : Surat al Ma’ida (5) : 14.
In its context, this admits that Christians, who at the time of Muhammad {saw} profess such statements, were sent a Prophet in the manner of Muhammad {saw}, the very next ayat demonstrates this:
O People of the Scripture, there has come to you Our Messenger making clear to you much of what you used to conceal of the Scripture and overlooking much. There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book. – Qur’aan : Surat al Ma’ida (5) : 15.
Later on in the Surah however, it refers to the time when Isa (Jesus – may God be pleased with him) was alive. Referring to two completely different times:
And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah as guidance and instruction for the righteous. – Qur’aan : Surah (5) : 46.
His argument is based on verses referencing two completely different times. This only goes on to display his incompetence and dishonesty. How shallow, can you go?
Fortunately we are in a position to know what the Torah which Jesus came to confirm looked like. As a result of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, along with Jesus’ extensive use of the OT Scriptures as documented in the Canonical Gospels, we know that the Scriptures that he was reading and confirming to be from God are the very same Books that we have today. This simply provides further evidence that Muhammad actually believed that the Torah has not been corrupted since he claimed that Jesus himself was sent to confirm the authority of the same Scriptures that he himself had access to.
The problem with Sam’s argument is that he cannot be consistent. On one end he professes the Dead Sea Scrolls are scripture, however the Christian New Testament is based loosely on a mixture of the Masoretic Text, Qumran Scrolls and Septuagint Manuscripts. Unless he can provide for us a single Christian Bible which uses the entirety of the Qumran / Dead Sea Scrolls, he’s essentially jumped the gun. Sam’s logic is described as such:
(A) Jesus lived at the time of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
(B) Therefore he used the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Well, it’s rather simple to challenge that. If he used the Dead Sea Scrolls:
(1) Did he live among the Essenes in Qumran? If so, give a source.
(2) Did he consider their codex to be canonical, because I don’t see the Book of War in the (Jewish/ Christian) Old Testament.
(3) Why would the early Church prefer the Septuagint over the Masoretic text which is closer to the Dead Sea Scrolls in language and content?
(4) Following the logic of (A) [implies] => (B) can we say that Jesus also used the Samaritan Scrolls which existed at the same time?
(5) Why did he have to use the Dead Sea Scrolls, why not the Scrolls from (4) or perhaps the Oral Tradition of the Pharisees?
His argument doesn’t follow proper logic, just because it may have existed within the era of Jesus, does not mean that he used it, as not a single Patristic source claims that Jesus used the Scrolls of the Essenes and if Sam has evidence of Jesus using the scrolls of the Essenes (Dead Sea Scrolls), then please, give it to the world, we’re waiting. In fact, to the contrary we have Christian scholars declaring the codex and canon of the Essenes to have contained pseudepigrapha books:
The Essene canon contained some of the Pseudepigrapha which they claimed to be divine. Most of these writings were midrash on canonized books and logically therefore would not be Scripture. For if the Pseudepigrapha contained a copy of a canonical book as well as commentary on it, why would it not negate the original canonical book, because the Pseudepigrapha with its inspired commentary would be much more valuable? In addition, “If they were conscious of being inspired, why did they not have the confidence to use their own names?”Even the quote in Jude 14 of 1 Enoch 1:9 does not require that 1 Enoch is Scripture. To quote what is true in Scripture is different than saying that what is quoted is Scripture. Even Paul quoted a pagan poet in Acts 17:28, yet he certainly did not regard it as Scripture but as simply true. – The Content and Extent of the Old Testament, by Wayne Stiles.
Seemingly reeling from a bout of inanity, Sam then desperately tries to attack the Qur’aan ina last ditch attempt to manifest some form of compensation for failing to argue against Br. Paul’s statements:
Lastly, what makes William’s distortion of the Quranic witness to the authenticity of the Holy Bible rather remarkable is that the Quran testifies to its own textual corruption!
(Of just such wrath) as We sent down on those who divided (Scripture into arbitrary parts), – (So also on such) AS HAVE MADE THE QUR’AN INTO SHREDS (as they please). S. 15:90-91 Y. Ali
Here is how another version translates this text:
As We sent down (Our curse and disagreement) on those who divided (the Scripture out of their own whims into equal parts and thus mutilated the integrity of its Surahs)—those who made Al-Quran into (thirty or sixty equal) parts (on the basis of the thickness of volume, completely disregarding the subject matter and the divisions sanctioned by the Divine Author). Dr. Kamal Omar
This ayat has nothing to do with textual corruption of the Qur’aan, whether during the lifetime of Muhammad {saw} or otherwise. This is why Sam’s eisegesis has led him to many false conclusions and his word study fallacy really is not helping the situation. Neither the ayat (verse) or Dr. Kamal’s translation speak about textual corruption, but Dr. Kamal does explain what the verse means:
completely disregarding the subject matter and the divisions sanctioned by the Divine Author
There were people who were disregarding what Allaah had said in the Qur’aan, and they were dividing it into their own understandings as Dr. Kamal clearly indicates. A word for word reproduction for what Sam is doing. The very Qur’aanic ayat he is trying to use to disparage the sacredness of the Qur’aan, backfires and in great irony, describes what he’s trying to do. Glory be to God. Let’s now try to seek the proper understand of this ayat:
(Who have made the Qur’an into parts.) Some have said that Al-Mutaqasimin refers to the Quraysh, that the Qur’an means this Qur’an (as opposed to the Scriptures of the People of the Book), and that “made it into parts” referred to what `Ata’ said that some of them said that he (the Prophet ) was a sorcerer, some said he was crazy, or a soothsayer. These various allegations were the parts. This opinion was also reported from Ad-Dahhak and others. Muhammad bin Ishaq reported from Ibn `Abbas that Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah – holding a noble position among the people – rallied a group of Quraysh behind him when Al-Mawsim (the time for pilgrims to meet in Makkah for Hajj) had come. He said to them, “O people of Quraysh! The time of Al-Mawsim has come, and delegations of Arabs will come to you during this time. They will have heard some things about this companion of yours (meaning the Prophet ), so agree on one opinion, let there be no contradicting or denials of each other’s sayings”. They said, “And you, O Abu `Abd Shams, give us an opinion and we will say that.” He said, “No, you make the suggestions and I will listen.” They said, “We say he is a soothsayer.” He said, “He is not a soothsayer.” They said, “We say he is crazy.” He said, “He is not crazy.” They said, “We say he is a poet.” He said, “He is not a poet.” They said, “We say he is a sorcerer.” He said, “He is not a sorcerer.” They said, “So what should we say” He said, “By Allah, what he says is as palatable ﴿to the average person﴾ as something sweet, so you cannot say anything against it without it being obviously false. – Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Qur’aan Surah 15 : Ayat 90 -91.
To now conclude with a brief summary, we recall:
(1) The Qur’aan came to confirm that Shari’ah of the Torah (from Allaah) and Injil (from Allaah), see 5:44 to 5:49.
(2) The Qur’aan which was revealed to Muhammad {saw} admonishes the Jews for ignoring the law of Qisas (Equal Retribution). (5:44)
(3) The Qur’aan which was revealed to Muhammad {saw} came to confirm the law of Qisas (which Muhammad {saw} testified was from God and which he testified in the corrupted Torah of the Jews). (5:44 – 45)
(4) Isa (Jesus – may God be pleased with him) confirmed the Injil (Gospel) giving to him by God, not that of Mark, Matthew, Luke or John which came with Pope Siricius’ Canon in 397 AD [after the failed vote of 393 AD]. (5: 46)
(5) The Qur’aan confirmed what God revealed and admonished the Jews and Christians for corruption of scripture (2:79, 5:14).
(6) It is in this context, that it is Allaah who has established the lawmaking to be based on the Qur’aan and Sunnah of Muhammad {saw}. (5:48)
As such, the Qur’aan as given by Allaah and as received to us through the Messenger, Muhammad {saw} clearly has demonstrated the errors of the Christians and Jews with respect to their scriptures and its corruption while enforcing the sanctity of the Qur’aan as being the source of hukm (law making) for Jews, Christians and Muslims.
This now places Shamoun in a dilemma. If Shamoun continues to believe that the Bible has not been corrupted then he has to conclude that his own article proves him to be wrong, and therefore a farce of an attempt to attack Islam. Yet if he agrees with himself that the Bible is the uncorrupt Word of God then Shamoun must again accept the fact that Paul was a false apostle since the latter contradicted the essential core doctrines taught within the self inspired pages of his own falsification of scripture, i.e. the condition Paul lays for himself in 1 Corinthians 8:2.
With that said, we now end our discussion with the following advice to Sam Shamoun: Read. Inwardly digest. Learn. and at some point, be Intellectually Responsible and avoid Inane and Petulant Deceits.
“He grants wisdom to whom He pleases; and he to whom wisdom is granted receives a benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the message but men of understanding” – [Al Qur’an 2:269]
wa Allaahu Alam.
[and God knows best.]
Calling Christians 
hector avalos wrote:
“Sometimes Jesus quotes from sources not regarded as scripture today. Consider the passage where Jesus explains the purpose of parables in Mark 4:12: “So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven” (RSV). This is an allusion to Isaiah 6:9-10. If one looks at the Hebrew Bible, one will not find the final words (“and be [they] forgiven”) but rather “and (let there be) healing for him” (wrp’ lw). The Septuagint has “I shall heal them” (kai iasomai autous). The words “and be they forgiven” (yštbyq lhwn), however, are found in the Aramaic Targum of Isaiah.”
I said here “Jesus quotes” because I am speaking of how he is portrayed in Mark, rather than as an assertion of historical facticity.
But please note that these Targums can be later than the time of Jesus as most existing manuscripts of these Targums are from Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
It is also difficult to know if the author of Mark is the one who knows the Targumic tradition or whether it actually goes back to Jesus. Thus, in Mark 5:41, note how the author of Mark actually inserts words in his Greek translation that are not present in the Aramaic phrase “Talitha qum(i)” Jesus is quoted as speaking. The Aramaic phrase means strictly, “Damsel, arise.” However, Mark’s Greek translation inserts “I say to you,” which is not in the Aramaic he quotes from Jesus.
rambo: the best an aramaic speaker could have done was use crappy armaic words and add his own words , ” i say to you” ?
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