A Muslim's Response by Randy Desmond
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 1996 11:51:28 PDT
The above arguement assumes that some of the revelations mentioned in the Qur'an, which
were received
by some of the earlier prophets, are in the Bible in untouched and unchanged form. That is
not so.
For example, the Qur'an mentions the Injil (Gospel) as a revelation given to Jesus (Peace
be upon
him) but the Bible does not contain the "Gospel of Jesus". What it does contain
are Gospels according
to Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John.
So how can one say the Qur'an contradicts earlier revelation contained within the Bible if
we do not
have that revelation in tact to compare it with? What we can do, however, is search the
documents,
such as the Bible, which are derivative works of the original revelations and see how it
compares. If
then we find "contradictions", is it not possible that those
"contradictions" may be from those who
composed the derivative works themselves and not from the Qur'an?
As for accusations of inaccurate data regarding historical events, it is interesting to
note that in
the Qur'an the Eqyptian tyrant which Moses (Peace be upon him) had to deliver the
Israelites from was
named Fir'aun. Notice the distinct 'n' at the end of the name. "Well, it turns out
that Herodotus, an
early greek historian (440 B.C.), comments upon the leaders of the Egyptians in his day
and before
his day as Fir'aun (not Pharaoh).
That is one example of very accurate data, and as we go through these web pages we will
see, God
willing, that all proposed questionable historical data in the Qur'an is, in fact, not
questionable
but actually quite accurate.
For reference, the information regarding the Egyptian ruler was obtained from Gary
Miller's "The
Basis of Muslim Belief" published by Islamic Affairs Division, Prime Minister's
Department, Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia.
Further response by the same Muslim:
The original statement was to "just document the differences between the Bible and
the Qur'an and
that is "in itself" no indication which one is the truth. ... But the fact that
the Qur'an claims to
confirm the earlier revelations although it contradicts them..."
So I addressed that in my response. I pointed out that the Qur'an mentions there is a
revelation
given to Jesus (Peace be upon him) called the Injil (Gospel). The Bible does not have
this. So when
you say that the Qur'an contradicts earlier revelation, I have to wonder how could the
Qur'an
contradict this if the Injil is not even there in the Bible as originally revealed?
And for saying that the Gospel of Jesus did not exist is erroneous to what the Gospels of
Mathew,
Mark, Luke and John are. They are the gospels of Jesus according to Mathew, Mark, Luke and
John, are
they not?
The point about mentioning Fir'aun and Pharoah is to illustrate that perhaps the Qur'an is
more
accurate in historical data even though it may not seem to fit with what we think is
accurate data.
Let's cite another example to illustrate the point that the Qur'an may be a much more
accurate source
for historical data than other sources. Where is Noah's ark resting place? Mount Ararat,
according to
the Bible. Mount Judi, according to the Qur'an. Where has it been found? Mount Judi. Do a
net search
on Noah's ark and you can find more information about this.
To recap what has been proposed and what it has been responded with, The original
statements of this
page question the Qur'an's compliance with earlier revelations. It was then pointed out
that
revelations mentioned within the Qur'an may not even be in the Bible, and if it was in the
Bible it
may have been changed from its original form - thus the reason there would appear
contradictions.
Another one of the original statements is that the Qur'an gives inaccurate data regarding
historical
events. But the statement is unsupported (It is assumed, however, that there will be
attempts to
support these points in other web pages at this site). Therefore, two examples were cited
which
reflect the accuracy of the data of Qur'an with respect to historical findings.