Transcription
The Quran affirms the inspiration, preservation, and authority of the gospel. And yet, our Muslim friends tell us that the gospel has been corrupted. No matter how many times I show our Muslim friends what the Quran really says; no matter how many times I challenge them to show me a single Quran verse that says the gospel has been corrupted, they continue insisting that the Quran says something completely different from what it actually says.
Since they haven't read the Quran, they always seem to assume that there must be some verse somewhere in the Quran that says the gospel has been corrupted, because that's what their sheikhs and imams tell them it says. Fortunately, there is a way for all of us to finally get to the bottom of this. There is a way to settle this dispute and see who's right and who's been duped by lying sheikhs and imams.
In this video, we're going to read every single verse in the Quran that mentions the gospel. If you're watching this and you're a Muslim, you're about to learn way more about what the Quran says about the gospel than your sheikhs and imams will ever tell you. They do not want you to know this, so they hide it from you.
If you're watching this and you're a non-Muslim, you're about to have some awesome material for some very interesting conversations with your Muslim friends. You're about to go from beginner to expert level. Now, to ensure careful reasoning as we go through these verses, let's set up two hypotheses here at the beginning and then we'll go through the Quran and see which hypothesis is confirmed by the evidence.
My hypothesis, we'll call it the Dwood hypothesis, is this: According to the Quran, Allah gave different revelations to different groups of people through different prophets, and those different groups are responsible for obeying the scriptures that were revealed to them. Christians received the gospel through Jesus; the gospel is still reliable and authoritative, and Christians are commanded to judge by the gospel, not by the Quran. That's the Dwood hypothesis.
If the Dwood hypothesis is correct, Muslims face two major problems. First, the Quran sounds like it’s saying that Allah gave a book called The Gospel to Jesus and that Jesus then gave this book to his followers. But the Quran says that Christians still have the gospel and that Christians have to judge by the gospel. Since Christians have never had a book that was given by Jesus, Allah apparently doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Second, in the Quran, Allah really seems to think that the gospel that Christians still have agrees with the Quran, when it clearly doesn’t. Since Allah affirms our scriptures when our scriptures contradict the Quran, Allah once again doesn’t know what he’s talking about. So that's my hypothesis, and those are the two main problems for Islam.
If my hypothesis is correct, then there's the Muslim hypothesis, we'll call it the standard Islamic narrative. The standard Islamic narrative is this: According to the Quran, Allah gave different revelations to different groups of people, but they were all corrupted except the Quran. Christians received the gospel through Jesus, but they corrupted it. The gospel is not reliable or authoritative, and Christians must now judge by the Quran, not by the gospel. That is what you believe, isn't it my Muslim friends? That is what your sheikhs and imams tell you, isn't it?
There's just one problem for the standard Islamic narrative: the Quran. Let's go through the Quran and read every single verse that mentions the gospel so we can see which hypothesis is correct. Now, there are only 12 verses that mention the gospel. If you're taking notes, the verses are Surah 3:3, Surah 3:48, Surah 3:65, Surah 5:46, Surah 5:47, Surah 5:66, Surah 5:68, Surah 5:110, Surah 7:157, Surah 9:111, Surah 48:29, and Surah 57:27.
Some of these verses are perfectly clear on their own, so we can read those on their own. Some of the verses require a bit of context; for those, we'll read some of the surrounding context. All right, let's confirm a hypothesis and disconfirm another hypothesis.
First up, Surah 3:3. We'll read verses 2-4 for context:
"God, there is no God but He, the Living, the Self-subsisting. He sent down the book upon thee, upon Muhammad, in truth, confirming what was before it. So the Quran confirms what came before it, and He sent down the Torah and the gospel a four time as a guidance to mankind. And He sent down the criteria. Truly, those who disbelieve in the signs of God shall have a severe punishment, and God is mighty, possessor of vengeance."
There are a few interesting pieces of evidence here. Surah 3:3 obviously affirms the inspiration of the gospel; it says that Allah sent down the Torah and the gospel. The verse says that the Quran confirms what was before it, and then clarifies that it's referring to earlier revelations. English translations obscure another important piece of evidence here. When the Quran is said to confirm what was before it, does this just mean before it in time?
Is the Quran only saying that the Torah and the gospel were reliable when they were originally revealed, but not necessarily later? Or does it mean something much more significant? Well, the Arabic phrase translated as "before it" is مَا يَدِي, which literally means "between his hands" or "between its hands." When used as an idiom, مَا يَدِي can mean "in his presence" or "in its presence."
So it doesn’t sound like the Quran is verifying books that came before it but were subsequently corrupted; it sounds like the Quran is verifying books that were still available as it was being revealed. Verse four says that Allah revealed the gospel as a guidance to mankind. This means that Muslims who say that the gospel was corrupted early on by someone like the Apostle Paul are telling us that Allah failed, because if they're right, the gospel was corrupted and didn't guide mankind.
And finally, we have Allah warning people that those who disbelieve in His signs, which here refers to His revelations, shall have a severe punishment. So if Allah is affirming not only the inspiration but also the preservation and authority of the gospel, and Muslims say the gospel has been corrupted, they're going to face a severe punishment from Allah.
With such a terrifying warning, you'd think Muslims would investigate this issue a bit more carefully. Putting all of these pieces of evidence together, Allah says that He revealed the gospel; He says that the Quran confirms the gospel; He seems to indicate via the Arabic phrase مَا يَدِي that the Quran confirms texts that were still available in the 7th century; and He says that the gospel was to be a guidance for mankind—not something that was going to be lost or corrupted.
I think we can say definitively that Surah 3, verses 3 to 4, strongly support the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
Next verse: Surah 3:48. We'll start at verse 45 for context:
"When the angel said, 'O Mary, truly God gives thee glad tidings of a word from Him whose name is the Messiah: Jesus, Son of Mary, high honored in this world and the Hereafter and one of those brought nigh. He will speak to people in the cradle and in maturity and will be among the righteous.' She said, 'My Lord, how shall I have a child while no human being has touched me?' He said, 'Thus does God create whatsoever He will: When He decrees a thing, He only says to it "Be," and it is. And He will teach him the book, wisdom, the Torah, and the gospel.'"
Verse 48 is a little confusing because it sounds like it's talking about four different revelations: there's the book and the wisdom and the Torah and the gospel. So here there seems to be a distinction between the book and other revelations. But that's not our concern here; our only concern is that the angel tells Mary that Allah would teach Jesus the gospel. Since both the Dwood hypothesis and the standard Islamic narrative claim that, according to the Quran, Allah revealed the gospel through Jesus, this verse confirms neither hypothesis over the other.
Next verse: Surah 3:65. We’ll start a verse earlier for context:
“Say, 'O people of the Book, come to a word common between us and you, that we shall worship none but God, shall not associate aught with Him, and shall not take one another as lords apart from God.' And if they turn away, then say, 'Bear witness that we are submitters.'
O people of the Book, why do you dispute concerning Abraham, as neither the Torah nor the gospel was sent down until after him? Do you not understand?"
Surah 3:65 simply says that the Torah and the gospel were revealed after the time of Abraham, so there’s nothing here that confirms either of our hypotheses over the other.
Next two verses: Surah 5:46 and Surah 5:47. These are back to back, so we’ll read them together:
"And in their footsteps we sent Jesus, Son of Mary, confirming the Torah that had come before him, and we gave him the gospel, wherein is guidance and a light confirming the Torah that had come before him as a guidance and an exhortation to the reverent.
Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has sent down therein. Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down it is they who are iniquitous."
Lots of important details in these two verses. Allah says that He sent Jesus confirming the Torah that had come before him, and "before him" here is مَا يَدِي, which, as we've seen, means "between his hands" or "in his presence." So Jesus confirmed the Torah that was still present in his time.
This is significant because we have copies of the Torah from before the time of Jesus, so we know what the Quran is confirming here. Allah says that He gave Jesus the gospel and that the gospel contains guidance and light, and that the gospel confirms the Torah, meaning "between his hands" or "in his presence," and that the Torah contains guidance and an exhortation.
Notice the similarity to Surah 3:3-4. In Surah 3:3-4, Allah said that He revealed the Quran; He said that the Quran confirmed the Torah and the gospel that were still available when it was revealed; and He said that the Torah and the gospel were given as guidance to mankind.
Here in Surah 5:46, Allah says that He revealed the gospel; He says that the gospel confirms the Torah that was still available when it was revealed; and He says that the gospel and the Torah contain guidance.
I have to point out, my Muslim friends, if this is Allah trying to say that the Torah and the gospel have been corrupted, He’s doing a really, really bad job of it. Then we have Allah's command and warning in Surah 5, verse 47.
Now, if the standard Islamic narrative is correct, this would be a perfect place to tell Christians that the gospel has been corrupted and that they now have to judge by the Quran. But what does Allah say? He says,
"Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has sent down therein."
Allah commands Christians to judge not by the Quran but by what He has sent down in the gospel! Then He gives us a stern warning:
"Whosoever judges not by that which God has sent down, it is they who are iniquitous."
If we don't judge by the gospel, we're iniquitous, we're immoral. There's a fundamental principle in ethics: ought implies can. If I say you ought to do something; if I say you have a moral obligation to do something, I'm assuming that you can do it, I'm assuming that you have the ability to do it. It would make no sense for me to command you to do something that you can't possibly do.
If I tell you you have a moral obligation to give a million dollars to charity right now, that command only makes sense if you have a million dollars. If you don't have a million dollars, I'm commanding you to do something you can't possibly do. And it’s absurd to say you have an obligation to do something you can’t possibly do.
So when Allah commands Christians to judge by the gospel and tells us that we're iniquitous if we don't, Allah’s command assumes that we still have the gospel. If we don't have the gospel because it's been lost or corrupted, Allah’s command makes no sense, because He would be commanding us to do something that we can't possibly do.
Putting all these lines of evidence together, we can say that Surah 5, verses 46 to 47 strongly confirm the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
Next two verses: Surah 5:66 and Surah 5:68. These are closely connected, so we'll read them together, and we’ll start at verse 65 for context:
"Had the people of the Book believed and been reverent, we would surely have absolved them of their evil deeds and caused them to enter gardens of bliss. Had they observed the Torah and the gospel and that which was sent down unto them from their Lord, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet. There is a moderate community among them, but as for many of them, evil is that which they do."
"O Messenger, convey that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord, and if thou dost not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message, and God will protect thee from mankind. Surely God guides not disbelieving people."
"Say, O people of the book, you stand on not till you observe the Torah and the gospel and that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord. Surely that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord will increase many of them in rebellion and disbelief, so grieve not for disbelieving people."
Here we have a common theme in the Quran that Jews and Christians don’t believe or aren’t reverent. Had they observed the Torah and the gospel and that which was sent down unto them from their Lord, something we can only do if we still have the Torah and the gospel, they would surely have received nourishment from above them and from beneath their feet.
Another theme in the Quran is that there is a minority of Jews and Christians who do believe and who do obey God. The Quran's criticism of Jews and Christians is not that we have corrupt scripture; it's never that we have corrupt scriptures. The Quran's criticism of Jews and Christians is that we don't obey our scriptures.
If you think I'm wrong, look at what Allah says in verse 68:
"O people of the book, you stand on not till you observe the Torah and the gospel and that which has been sent down unto you from your Lord."
Jews and Christians have nothing to stand on until we obey the Torah and the gospel. Remember, ought implies can. Can we obey the Torah and the gospel if we don't have the Torah and the gospel? No! So Allah is declaring yet again that we still have the Torah and the gospel, and He's commanding us yet again to obey the Torah and the gospel.
And it's clear yet again that Jews and Christians are supposed to judge by the revelations that were given to us, not by the Quran. Surah 5:66 and 68, much like verses 46 to 47, strongly favor the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
Next verse: Surah 5, verse 110. We’ll start at verse 109 for context:
“The day when God will gather the messengers and say, 'What response did you receive?' They will say, 'We have no knowledge. Truly, it is Thou who knowest best the things unseen.'
Then God will say, 'O Jesus, Son of Mary! Remember my blessing upon thee and upon thy mother when I strengthened thee with the Holy Spirit, that thou mightest speak to people in the cradle and in maturity, and when I taught thee the book, wisdom, the Torah, and the gospel.'”
And how thou wouldst create out of clay the shape of a bird by My leave, and thou wouldst breathe into it, and it would become a bird by My leave, and thou wouldst heal the blind and the leper by My leave, and thou wouldst bring forth the dead by My leave, and how I restrained the children of Israel from thee when thou did bring them clear proofs. And those who disbelieved among them said, 'This is not but manifest sorcery.'"
Plenty of interesting material here, but the only relevant part for this video is Allah saying that He taught Jesus the book, wisdom, the Torah, and the gospel. So this is simply Allah telling Jesus to remember what happened, and it’s very similar to what the angel said to Mary in Surah 3:48. Nothing new here that confirms one hypothesis over the other.
Next verse: Surah 7, verse 157. We'll start part of the way through verse 156 for context. This passage is way too long to give the complete context, so I'll just summarize. The passage is about Moses going up the mountain to receive the tablets. Aaron makes a golden calf, Moses comes back down the mountain and he's mad; Allah is mad.
Moses tells Allah that he shouldn't punish them because Allah is the one who chooses to lead people astray or guide them. And Moses finally says, "Can't you just prescribe good for us?"
Then we have Allah's response, starting in verse 156:
"He said, 'I cause My punishment to smite whomsoever I will. Though My Mercy encompasses all things, I shall prescribe it for those who are reverent and give alms and those who believe in My signs.' Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find inscribed in the Torah and the gospel that is with them, who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes good things lawful for them and forbids bad things and relieves them of their burden and the shackles that were upon them. Thus, those who believe in him, honor him, help him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him, it is they who shall prosper."
This is actually very confusing because Allah is saying this to Moses. Moses asks Allah to be merciful after Aaron made an idol, and Allah replies to Moses that He will show mercy to those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find inscribed in the Torah and the gospel that is with them.
Most Muslims are convinced that this is referring to Muhammad, so this must have been extremely confusing to Moses. Moses would have no clue what the gospel is, and he'd have no clue who Muhammad was.
And notice what Allah says at the end of verse 157. This is supposedly referring to Muhammad; Allah says that those who believe in him, believe in Muhammad, honor him, help him, and follow the light that has been sent down with him, it is they who shall prosper.
So Moses says, "Can't you be merciful?" and Allah replies, "I’m only going to be merciful to people who believe in Muhammad and honor him and help him." Considering Muhammad wasn’t born for another 2,000 years, this would be no small task for Moses and his followers.
We can only conclude, if we're being generous, that Allah's response to Moses was really meant for Muhammad's listeners when this verse was eventually revealed, since this was revealed during the time of Muhammad. The part that's relevant for us is this: those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find inscribed in the Torah and the gospel that is with them.
This verse claims that Muhammad is prophesied in the Torah and the gospel. More importantly, Muhammad is supposedly prophesied in the Torah and the gospel that is with them—the Torah and the gospel that is with them. According to Surah 7, verse 157, when the Quran refers to the Torah and the gospel, it's referring to the Torah and the gospel that Jews and Christians still have with them.
If Allah says He’s confirming the Torah and the gospel that are with Jews and Christians, and if we're supposed to take the Torah and the gospel seriously as sources of divine prophecy, we obviously can’t believe that they've been corrupted. So Surah 7:157 strongly confirms the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
Next verse: Surah 9, verse 111.
"Truly, God has purchased from the believers their souls and their wealth in exchange for the garden being theirs. They fight in the way of God, slaying and being slain. It is a promise binding upon Him in the Torah, the gospel, and the Quran. And who is truer to his pact than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have made; that indeed is the great triumph."
This verse says that in exchange for Allah giving believers Paradise, they fight for Him, slaying and being slain. So if you fight for Allah, you know that He’s going to keep His end of the bargain. And Allah says that this promise is binding upon Him in the Torah, the gospel, and the Quran.
I have no idea which verse of the gospel is supposed to confirm this agreement, but Allah says it's there in the gospel, so He confirms that the gospel is still available. It wouldn’t make much sense to say that people should believe in a promise they find in a corrupt book.
But since there isn’t much here to go on, I’ll just say that this verse somewhat favors the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
Next verse: Surah 48:29.
"Muhammad is the messenger of God; those who are with him are harsh against the disbelievers, merciful to one another. You see them bowing, prostrating, seeking bounty from God and contentment. Their mark upon their faces is from the effect of prostration. That is their likeness in the Torah, and their likeness in the gospel is as a sapling that puts forth its chute and strengthens it, such that it grows stout and rises firmly upon its stock, impressing the seers, that through them He may enrage the disbelievers. God has promised forgiveness and a great reward to those among them who believe and perform righteous deeds."
So if you're with Muhammad, then you are harsh against disbelievers and only merciful towards fellow believers—that's not very tolerant. But the verse goes on to say how believers are described in the Torah and the gospel.
In the gospel, believers are compared to a sapling that puts forth its chute and strengthens it, such that it grows stout and rises firmly upon its stock, impressing the seers. There are passages in the gospel that say something very similar to this. This is similar to the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed in Mark 4.
This would fit with either hypothesis. I could say that the Quran is referring to what we still have; here Muslims could say that even though the gospel was corrupted, there are still parts that are true. What's relevant for our discussion is that the Quran continues to appeal to the Torah and the gospel for confirmation of its teachings.
Their likeness in the gospel is what the Quran claims is still in the gospel, which means that the gospel is still available, and there's no indication here that the gospel has been corrupted. So the Quran once again appeals to the gospel for confirmation.
It doesn't make much sense to appeal to a corrupt book for confirmation. I'll say that Surah 48:29 somewhat favors the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
Our final verse: Surah 57:27.
"Then we sent our messengers to follow in their footsteps, and we sent Jesus son of Mary, and we gave him the gospel and placed kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who follow him. And monasticism, they invented; we did not ordain it for them, only to seek God's contentment, yet they did not observe it with proper observance. So we gave those of them who believed their reward; yet many of them are iniquitous."
Here the Quran once again claims that the gospel was given to Jesus. We have the added bonus that Allah says that He placed kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who follow Jesus, so Christians are kind and merciful according to the Quran.
Allah says that Christians invented monasticism; He's saying He didn't reveal that. Instead, He told Christians to seek God's contentment, but He says Christians haven't observed that with proper observance. Notice the Quran always criticizes Christians for not obeying what He revealed in the gospel and for inventing certain practices that He didn't command.
Allah never ever ever condemns our scriptures or gives even the slightest hint that our scriptures can’t be trusted. And we know this because we’ve now gone through every single Quran verse that mentions the gospel. Since Surah 57:27 fits with either of our hypotheses, we’ll say that it doesn’t confirm one over the other.
Although we could argue that if the standard Islamic narrative were correct, Allah should be saying in all or at least some of these verses that the gospel has been corrupted.
Returning to our two hypotheses, we have the Dwood hypothesis: According to the Quran, Allah gave different revelations to different groups of people through different prophets, and those different groups of people are responsible for obeying the scriptures that were revealed to them. Christians received the gospel through Jesus; the gospel is still reliable and authoritative, and Christians are commanded to judge by the gospel, not by the Quran. That’s the Dwood hypothesis.
Then we have the standard Islamic narrative: According to the Quran, Allah gave different revelations to different groups of people, but they were all corrupted except the Quran. Christians received the gospel through Jesus, but they corrupted it. The gospel is not reliable or authoritative, and Christians must now judge by the Quran, not by the gospel.
After reading every single verse in the Quran that mentions the gospel, we’ve seen that four verses (3:48, 3:65, 5:110, and 57:27) confirm neither hypothesis over the other. Two verses (9:111 and 48:29) somewhat confirm the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative.
And six verses (3:3, 5:46, 5:47, 5:66, 5:68, and 7:157) strongly confirm the Dwood hypothesis over the standard Islamic narrative. There isn’t a single verse anywhere in the Quran that confirms the standard Islamic narrative over the Dwood hypothesis.
Allah repeatedly affirms the inspiration of the gospel; He repeatedly affirms the preservation of the gospel, and He repeatedly affirms the authority of the gospel. Christians are commanded to obey the gospel. In fact, we’re told that we have no ground to stand on until we obey the gospel.
Christians are criticized and condemned for not obeying the gospel. Allah never says one word—not one word—in the entire Quran that’s even slightly critical of the text we have before us. And what do all of our Muslim friends say?
"Don't believe the gospel. Don't judge by the gospel. The gospel has been corrupted. You can't trust the gospel. Everyone has to judge by the Quran."
Now they say the exact opposite of what Allah says in the Quran, and then they tell us to believe in the Quran when they clearly don't believe in it.
My Muslim friends, how can you possibly tell us to respect the Quran when you don't respect the Quran at all? How can you possibly tell us to obey Allah when you also tell us not to obey Allah? If He tells us over and over again to obey the gospel and He tells us over and over again—yes, I'm talking about the gospel that Christians still have—then you say, "No, don't obey the gospel because you definitely don't have the gospel."
You're telling us that Allah is either a liar or a complete fool. You're telling us that Allah is the worst communicator in history. Why would we take the Quran seriously when, according to you, it was revealed by a liar or a complete fool?
Your God affirms the inspiration, preservation, and authority of our book. You tell us not to believe what your God says, but to believe your book anyway. If we can't trust your book when it talks about our book, why would we trust your book at all?
A more important question for you would be this: when your God tells you one thing and your lying sheikhs and imams tell you the exact opposite, why do you side with your lying sheikhs and imams and not with your God? Why do you call yourselves Muslims—people who submit to God—when you really submit to your lying sheikhs and imams who insult and degrade your God?
And since you've decided to submit to a bunch of liars and not to God, why do you want us to join you in submitting to the biggest bunch of liars the world has ever seen?