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Refuting the booklet named: ‘The Quran confirms the Word of God’Article by Yahya Snow

This booklet fell into my possession on the 07

of February (2009-02-08), while I was in Bradford, UK.A group of Christian missionaries were distributing free literature and I conversed with them and theykindly allowed me to take some of the literature whilst I stated that I had reservations concerning thetruthfulness of the Christian missionary literature focussing on Islam, especially after seeing the title of the booklet being examined as I clearly recognised it to be based upon unscholarly and deceptivefoundations.I must clear the missionaries of any charge of mindful deception as they were there handing out theliterature in good-faith, believing it to be reliable. I highly doubt they knew of these deceptions and lackintellectual integrity their booklet contained. To further clear them of mindful deception they did ask meto show them any falsehoods within there literature and gave a sincere impression that they wouldremove the literature if proven to be deceptive whilst also condemning deceptive preaching techniques.However, they should be more vigilant in checking sources, especially literature concerning other faiths;this would at least prevent the spread of corrupted Christian missionary material as it would beintercepted at source after realising it to be unreliable and misrepresenting.While I write this article on the 08

of February 2009, I have an intention to meet the missionaries I metagain and show them this article in the near future, Insha’Allah (God willing), as well as send a copy tothe publishers/distributors of the book in question in the hope that they will fear God and desist fromspreading falsehoods and deceptions intentionally/unintentionally, whichever the case maybe for therespective parties.I must state from the outset that the misconceptions/falsehoods that the booklet is based upon havebeen refuted many times over and I was well aware of the Christian missionary ‘claim’ prior to receivingthe booklet. On a scholarly level their arguments have been debunked many times over comprehensively by more learned Muslims all over the world yet many zealous Christians still propagateit, either through ignorance of the truth or in flagrant disregard of the truth in the hope it will deceive andresult in a convert to their faith.A word regarding the author, F.S. Copleston, I believe he has passed on now, may Allah (Arabic namefor God) have mercy on him if he passed away in a state that Allah would allow His mercy to befall onsuch a person. F.S. Copleston received his training in the early 1900s, which is an age where there wasa lot of orientalist falsehoods and missionary propaganda regarding Islam being banded about andunfortunately many of those ended up being the basis of literature arguing against and even insultingIslam. An example and one of the most copious examples of the lack of scholarly rigour and deceptionaround is the work of Rev. W. St. Clair Tisdall, of course his material has been fully refuted and theerroneous nature based on a lack of research exposed many times over by Muslims but what interestsme more is that many modern anti-Islamic polemics still reference and use it, despite it being openlyexposed as erroneous and lacking truth. Coupling all of that with the fact that modern scholarship haseven denounced his work as ‘missionary propaganda’ (1). We must really condemn the lack of sincerity,zeal for the truth and honesty these missionaries have.Before we go into the heart of the claims the author makes, despite these Christian claims beingaround for a while, I am still of the position that both lay Muslims and lay Christians will find it to be anodd claim. Both parties will have their own reasons for finding the claim to be unbelievable, the Muslimswill say that the Quran teaches the opposite to those claims and it is a basic Muslim belief that theBooks of the Jews and Christians have been corrupted. The Christians would cite the Muslims’ constantcriticism and disbelief in the modern-day Bible as enough evidence to find the missionary claim to bedifficult to believe.As a reference point, it is important to state the relevant Muslim beliefs concerning the Bible before fullyrefuting the booklet by Copeston.There are still a few misconceptions out there when it comes to the Muslim belief concerning the Bibleand it is important to clear these up in this article, one of these misconceptions is the one which isespoused by Copleston. I would imagine there are two main misconceptions out there, the two being:

Muslims believe the Bible to be the Word of God and they receive their beliefs and practicesfrom the Bible (Copleston implicitly spreads and supports this misconception in his booklet)

Muslims fully reject the Bible and all the Biblical figures (including Jesus and other Prophetsetc)These misconceptions will be cleared up within this article, God willing. In order to educate peopleconcerning Muslim beliefs and thus clear any mis-perceived ideas people may have this article beginswith a summary of Muslim beliefs. Muslims follow a religion called Islam. Islam means submission to the

Will of God.Muslims believe in all the Prophets (peace be upon them), including Abraham, Moses, Jesus andMuhammed (peace be upon them) and we believe all Prophets to be Muslims (a Muslim is someonewho submits to the will of God, thus the Prophets fit within this definition). We also believe that GodAlmighty (Allah) sent Prophet Moses (p) and Prophet Jesus (p) to the Jews of their respective times.The previous Prophets (p) were sent to a particular people limited to their respective times and thus,their message was never meant for people of other locations or other times. The last message sent withProphet Muhammad (p) is for all people and all times. The essential message of all the Prophets wasthe same and they all taught monotheism and sincere devotion to the One and only GodAs this article is directed towards Christians and less knowledgeable Muslims it would be appropriate toclarify that Muslims believe Jesus (p) as a Prophet of God, just like other Prophets such as Abraham,Moses, David and Muhammed etc. Muslims do not believe in Jesus to be God or the son of God.Muslims only believe in one supreme God (the God of Abraham and all the Prophets and all of creation)and are pure monotheists (monotheists are people who believe in the One God).Muslims believe that the above mentioned Prophets (p) were sent with Scriptures from Allah (God), thisincludes the Taurah (sent with Moses, p), al-Injeel (sent with Jesus, p) and the Quran (sent withMuahmmed, p). The Muslim belief is that the Original Torah and Injeel no longer exist their pure andoriginal form (i.e. the Torah and the Gospel have been corrupted and thus the modern day Bible is notaccurate or reliable). The Quran is the final revelation from God and this Book has not been corruptedand remains the pure Words of God and mankind must use this Book for guidance now and in the futureMoving onto Copleston’s writings, his booklet comprises of 12 pages. The first page begins with a brief,2 paragraph, and introduction in the form of a foreword by the author. A summary of the mainobjectives/claims (explicit or implicit) of Copleston’s book are:1. To convince Muslims into thinking that the Quran fully supports and agrees with the Bible (page 2 of Copleston’s book)2. Copleston suggests that the Quran never mentions that past Scriptures were changed by men3. Copleston suggests the Quran

confirms

the current Bible as the uncorrupted word of God and thustries to influence Muslims to subscribe to Christian beliefs, this is the main and most consistent theme inhis booklet and the first 7 pages are all devoted in efforts to ‘prove’ his claims4. He suggests that the Quran instructs Muslims to ask Christians, thus implying that Muslims shouldlearn religious knowledge from Christians (page 2 of Copleston’s book)

5. Page 3 and 5 of his book respectively suggest/imply that the Quran states that the Bible can never bechanged as well as suggesting the Quran is not the last Book from God6. Page 8 of his booklet contains a veiled challenge to Muslims to prove the Bible has beenchanged7. Before going on to evangelise Christianity, on page 9, Copleston claims Christians have a personalrelationship with God while Muslims do not and he worryingly suggests that Christians know where theywill go after death

(implying paradise!)

All the above claims will be refuted within this article, God willing.The first claim/objective:

To convince Muslims into thinking that the Quran fully supports and agrees with the Bible(page 2 of Copleston’s book)

This first claim of Copleston is linked to his second claim, so more information will be given whenanswering his second claim. To prove this is an incorrect belief or claim we must look at the Quran andanalyse it in order to see if it agrees with the Bible as well as checking the Quran to ascertain what theQuran says of the Bible and Christian beliefs.So what does the Quran say? Well Copleston clearly did not read the Quran in its entirety, he either justread excerpts of the Quran without any contextual understanding or he was in the business of deliberately deceiving people, Christians and non-Christians alike! These, of course, are hefty chargesand I am reluctant to accuse him of deliberate deception as I do not know what was in his heart andwhat knowledge he actually possessed. I say this as it is clear the Quran contradicts the Bible andChristian beliefs thus destroying Copleston’s first suggestion! A few examples from the Quran will sufficeto show that the Quran does not agree 100% with the modern-day bible.

•

The first example is the Christian belief that Jesus (pbuh) is the son of God. The Quran does NOTagree with this Christian belief thus does not agree with the Bible here as the Christians get their beliefs from the Bible . In fact one of the most popular chapters in the Quran (surah 112) states

that God has NO son. Now, Copleston has an obvious problem as the Quran disagrees with amajor Christian belief, yet he suggests in his booklet that the Quran agrees with the Bible. Thiseither exposes Copleston’s lack of knowledge of the Quran or it exposes him as a deviant and adeceiver as the quote from the Quran (112) is one of the most popular verses by the Quran,memorised by millions, if not billions of Muslims. Therefore, Copleston either did not read theQuran or was dishonest.

•

The second example I will give to you is that the Quran clearly opposes the Trinity. Again, showingCopleston’s claims to be inaccurate and completely disregarding honesty. The following verse fromthe Quran is obviously NOT agreeing with Copleston’s Bible:

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught butthe truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) an apostle of Allah, and HisWord, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allahand His apostles. Say not Trinity: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah.Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in theheavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. [Quran 4:171]

The above mentioned verse from the Quran shows that the Christian doctrine has beenchanged and thus the Quran corrects it by rejecting the Trinity and stating that Jesus is anApostle of God and the Son of Mary (Not God)Also 10:68-70 shows God has no son and those who make up a ‘lie’ about God are to bepunished, here the modern Christian belief of trinity is seen as a lie!● Also the Quran disagrees with the Bible concerning the crucifixion, in fact the Quran statesthat it did NOT happen, once again Copleston’s claims look silly as Christians believe Jesus(p) was crucified. The Quran states:

That they said (in boast), We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them,and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but onlyconjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not. [Quran 4:157].

In fact Christians get their beliefs from the modern-day Bible, yet the Quran is telling us thatthose who believe in the crucifixion follow ‘conjecture’, therefore ‘conjecture’ is within the Bible.This is making Copleston’s booklet look like the missionary propaganda that it is.So, to summarize, Copleston’s attempt

to convince Muslims into thinking that the Quran fullysupports and agrees with the Bible (page 2 of Copleston’s book)

Is shown to be unscholarly and a gross deception as I have demonstrated that the Quranclearly disagrees with the Bible by giving three key examples that concern crucial Christiantheological beliefs, i.e.*The Quran REJECTS the trinity*The Quran teaches us God has NO son*The Quran teaches us that the crucifixion did NOT happenAnother thing Copleston fails to mention is that the word ‘Bible’ is never mentioned in the Quran. Thisthrows further refutation and humiliation on his claim; ‘It is obvious that the Quran fully confirms all theScriptures in the Holy Bible’ (Copleston page 3). It must be said in the way of a side-note to further educate the uninitiated, the word ‘Bible’ is not even mentioned within the Bible.The Quran only mentions the~Tawrat (Revelation given to Moses, pbuh),~the Zabur (Revelation given to David, pbuh)~the Injeel (Revelation given to Jesus, pbuh)Please note that the Tawrat, Zabur and Injil mentioned in the Quran are NOT the same as the BiblicalTorah (first 5 books of Old Testament), the Zabur is not the same as the Psalms of David and the Injeelis not the same as the 4 Gospels of the New Testament. A short explanation outlining a coupe of reasons illustrating why it is clear that they are not the same has been given in the reference section (2),feel free to read this.I mention the fact that the Quran does not mention the Bible to illustrate the lack of honesty, integrity andscholarly endeavour within those who spread this type of Christian missionary propaganda.The fact thatthe Quran does not even mention the Bible also helps show the lack of truth in his second claim

2. Copleston suggests that the Quran never mentions that the past Scriptures were changed bymen

Copleston shows his lack of Quranic knowledge again when he suggests that God does not say in theQuran that past Scripture was changed. God clearly did and the following Quotes establish this fact.

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Does the Quran Confirm the Bible

Some eveangelical Christians are claiming that the Koran endorses the current Bible.

This is shown to be false and the Christian claims are shown to be deceptive and unschola... (More)

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Category:	Books - Non-fiction > Religion & Spirituality
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Upload Date:	06/28/2009
Copyright:	Attribution Non-commercial
Tags:	quran bible confirm jesus new testament muhammad christian missianary claims changed corrupt paul mark gospel trinity falsehood quran bible confirm jesus new testament muhammad christian missianary claims changed corrupt paul mark gospel trinity falsehood (fewer)