guidance and light as revealed in the Qur'an. However, some parts of
the Gospel were either lost in time or corrupted.Despite this, many
truthful statements which belong to the truereligion have been
preserved in the Gospel. Muslims appraise the Gospel in the guidance
of the Qur'an and hold good opinion of those accounts that conform
with the verses and the hadiths, considering these passages were not
corrupted. Therefore, Muslims may benefit from the statements in the
Gospel which are consistent with the Qur'an and the hadiths.
One may surely understand why some Christians do not want
toacknowledge the possibility that the Gospel, the Book of truth,
which God revealed as a light, was changed and misinterpreted over
time. They may get discontent when they learn that they are abiding by
a book that has been corrupted, when all along they thought it was a
true book. Yet, sincere Christians should take a fact into
consideration: Most parts of the Gospel represent the Truth. The
original Gospel sent down to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is revelation by
God and has deep and profound meaning and exquisite wording that is
esteemed in the Qur'an. However, each and every Christian who holds
sincere judgment may clearly recognize those parts either incorporated
later in theGospel or wrongly expounded. In order to comprehend this,
sincere Christians should take the following facts in consideration
and assess these points with wisdom:
Besides consisting of the truthful revelation sent down to the Prophet
Jesus (as), the Gospel also includes practices of the Prophet Jesus
(pbuh), his sayings narrated from one to another over time, as well as
information on various historical events and letters belonging to the
apostles. Therefore, claiming that these are "unchangeable and
absolute commands of God" is not going to be the right approach. There
are passages annexed to the Gospel later on as words of the prophets,
but their veracity is controversial as they bear qualities of hearsay.
Some parts were appended to the Gospel centuries later after the time
of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and those passages were based on
information that was accepted and put into effect by selection of a
council. The truthfulness and objectivity of these messages is highly
questionable. In fact, due to this, opposing sects in Christianity
appeared, and these disagreements caused controversies and
disputation. The drastic segmentation of the Christian world in the
3rd century was based on these polemical passages in question.
The four gospels that constitute the Gospel were selected among the
many other texts at the Council of Nicea by a majority vote. Just as
anyperson with plain good sense would admit, the authenticity of a
book written in various versions and in differentcontext is open to
dispute. Besides, there isuncertainty as to how the decision was made
to select these different 4 Gospels. There isn't anycertainty as to
which one of these canonized four gospels, that are in serious
conflict with oneanother, provides the exact truth.
There is substantial discrepancy among the Gospels, of which the
number has been reduced to four. While synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew
and Luke) accommodate substantive inconsistencies with the Gospel of
John, even those incorporate significant deviation from one another.
If we are to accept the message of one of the Gospels as true, then we
are required to ignore the contradictory information given in another.
If only one of the two messages is factual, then it is not possible to
claim that theGospel is a non-corrupted book, and every word of it is
based on revelation. Indeed, only this instance is adequate as clear
proof that the Gospel was indeed corrupted.
In the Gospel, information is given on the (so-called) crucifixion of
the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and the Holy Scripture is proceeded with
happenings after his (so-called) death. There is again a very serious
contradiction at this point. For example, how come the Holy Gospel,
which was revealed to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh)and is the greatest
verityfor him, include events that take place after his (so-called)
death? Obviously, those passages in question were comprised,
historically compiledby people who witnessed that period. Eventually,
itis not possible to call these texts revelations by God.
Almighty God surely has the power to protect thetrue Books which He
revealed to humanity as guidance. Christians, however, bring this
superior attribute of ourLord as evidence in order to deny the
statements in regard to the corruption of the Gospel. As a matter of
fact, there is wisdom hidden here that needs to be appreciated:
To emphasize once again, surely God is supreme and all-powerful to
preserve His book. Almighty God isomnipotent over all creation in the
universe. Yet, not everything in the universe is flawless and there is
a specific wisdom behind the creation of weaknesses.
The corruption which has taken place in the Holy Gospel and made
evident with clear proofs has occurred by the will of God and His
ordinance. This has come to happen with wisdom and ultimately created
for a special test that God decreed. Since God manifests the
prevailing circumstancesthis way and shows the proofs on this matter
in plain sight, one should not be obsessed with a fixed idea but try
to see and understand the insight behind all this. Obviously, the
Christian world is being tested by means of this fact. They are
summoned to use their conscience. It is apparent that this situation
is a particular requirement for the coming of the Prophet Jesus
(pbuh). By means of this trial, false beliefs will obviously be
widespread throughout the world and people will fall into turmoil,
dispute and bloodshed because of this, and eventually the signs
foretold in the Torah, Gospel and Qur'an as well as the hadiths in
regard to the End Times will take place. On account of this, the
primary responsibility ofsincere Christians is to seek the true
commands of the Gospel and hold steadfast to these.
In fact, it is to be stated that the Gospel, the book of truth, has
really been preserved in conformity to the assertions of our Christian
brothers. However, the Gospel which has been preserved is hidden and
not found yet. By the will of God, the original Torah and Gospel will
befound with the return ofthe Prophet Jesus (pbuh)and both Jews and
Christians will be judged according to these books of truth.
At the same time, our Christian brothers shouldacknowledge the fact
that the Qur'an comprises and reveals the entirity of true commands of
the Gospel.The righteous decrees ofthe Gospel have their place in the
Qur'an and therefore Muslims are also obliged to observe the true
Gospel. The Qur'an is the book of truth which confirms theGospel and
this way discerns the flaws and affirms the truth. In this respect,
Muslims are followers of the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and
grant him peace), and followers of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh)who
observed the true Gospel, also followers of the Prophet Moses (pbuh)
who abide by thetrue Torah. For that reason, if a true Christianis
willing to adhere to the true Gospel and judge according to the true
commands of the Gospel, then he will be able to find the totality of
these decrees in the Qur'an. The Gospel that is the book of truth is
our holy book which God praises in the Qur'an. God reveals how the
Gospel was a book ofguidance for humanity at the time of its
revelation in the Qur'an in the following verses:
He has sent down the Book to you with truth, confirming what was there
before it. And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel before this, as a
guide to mankind… (Surah Al 'Imran, 3)
And We sent Jesus son ofMary following in their footsteps, confirming
the Torah that came before him. We gave him the Gospel containing
guidance and light, confirming theTorah that came before it, and as
guidance and admonition for those who have taqwa. (Surat al-Ma'ida,
46)
Then We sent Our Messengers following in their footsteps and sent
Jesus son of Mary after them, giving him the Gospel. We put compassion
and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him. They invented
monasticism – We did not prescribe it for them – purely out of desire
to gain the pleasure of God, but even so they did not observe it as it
should have been observed.To those of them who had iman We gave their
reward but many of them are deviators. (Surat al-Hadid, 27)
Finally, before our Christian brothers reject the Qur'an through a
prejudiced outlook, theyshould refer to the Qur'an based on this
viewpoint. Every person,who asks for an understanding of judgment
between rightand wrong in sincerity, will be granted this superior
blessing of God.
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