Are the scriptures corrupt?

0:00 Outline
0:17 Hebrew Bible (Miqra)
3:03 New Testament
5:18 Qur’an (like Miqra)
7:03 Is the Bible corrupt?
8:02 The “Islamic Dilemma”
10:03 Conclusion

This video looks at Abrahamic scriptures and the problems of falsehood, fabrication, loss and corruption, as well as internal and external contradictions; that is, contradictions within these texts and between them or with other credible sources.

The fact most scriptures are false, corrupt, forged or lost can be called the “biblical dilemma”. From an Islamic point of view, however, it is normal for scriptures to be lost, forgotten or corrupted (Qur’an 2:106). The Qur’an is supposed to be the only exception. Indeed, the ‘miracle’ of the Qur’an—the book that “cannot be washed away by water” (Muslim 53:76)—is that it is supposed to be incorruptible (Qur’an 15:9), inimitable (Qur’an 10:38) and irrefutable (Qur’an 2:2), because it is the absolute truth.

Thus, from an Islamic point of view, even if every Qur’an was burned, people might eventually rediscover the fundamental truths it contains. That is why it is said to be part of the heavenly scripture (Qur’an 85:22). The Qur’an (lit. recitation) recites truths that were lost, ignored or covered up (whence the word Kufr). The Qur’an acts as a “criterion” (Ar. Furqan) that distinguishes between truth and falsehood and right and wrong. It also defends the Law and Prophets (Qur’an 5:48) without discriminating between them (Qur’an 2:285).

The Hadith correspondingly refer to “the Magians of every nation” (Abu Dawud 42:97) like those who are supposed to have corrupted the teachings of Zarathustra by following Mani, a “false prophet” who preached dualism, and followers of Paul of Tarsus, who preached the trinity (Muslim 43:190), thereby ‘mixing truth with falsehood’ (Qur’an 2:42).

The Qur’an thus relies on its own intrinsic truth-value—not the Bible, as the “Islamic dilemma” falsely assumes. Indeed, it is meant to be a solution to the biblical dilemma, which helps to explain its success in the biblical world and beyond. For instance, unlike the papacy or Sanhedrin, the Qur’an does not command burning other scriptures, because even forged or corrupted scriptures confirm it (Qur’an 2:41), including its claim they are corrupt (e.g., Jeremiah 8:8).

Islamic law applies the same principle to other religious traditions, as it maintains that prophets (teachers of the law of God or nature) were sent to every nation (Qur’an 10:47) like the Vedas (Qur’an 18:90, according to Pseudo-Callisthenes) and Avestas (Abu Dawud 20:115) and arguably the works of Aristotle if “The Man of the Two Horns” (Qur’an 18:83-98) is Alexander the Great.

The Qur’an basically acts as a key to correct or explain corruptions and discrepancies in other sources (Qur’an 27:76). Muslims, for instance, do not accept or reject any version of the Bible (Bukhari 65:12) to avoid accepting what is false or rejecting what is true; that is, Type I and II errors (Abu Dawud 26:4).