Not only do Muslims believe in the Holy Qur’an, but also in the ‘Books of Allah’ given to other Prophets. The Qur’an makes reference to five revealed Books including the Holy Qur’an itself.
These are as follows:
- Suhuf (Scrolls): given to prophet Abraham, peace be upon him (87:20)
- Taurat (Torah): given to prophet Moses, peace be upon him (3:4, 5:45)
- Zaboor (Psalms): given to prophet David, peace be upon him (4:164)
- Injeel (Gospel): given to prophet Jesus Christ, peace be upon him (5:47)
- Qur’an: given to prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him (6:20)
There is, however, a note of caution: All revealed Books except the Holy Qur’an were partly changed by their followers and are not preserved in their original form. As such, the belief of the Muslims in the ‘Books of Allah’ refers solely to the ‘original guidance’ received by their Prophets, and not to the present day version of these Books. The text of the Holy Qur’an, however, has always remained unchanged and preserved in its original form. Islam claims that the teachings of the Qur’an are complete, perfect and eternal. These teachings are fully capable of guiding mankind in all ages.
We believe that Allah sent His message to every people, but due to language problems and lack of transport, that message was delivered in the language of a particular people and only for that people – hence different names of religion developed and over time the message started to get changed. It was the plan of Allah, that when man reached a point in his development, travel was no longer an issue and man could move quickly over the earth; speak to people in different languages and countries; start forming in large groups of countries etc. so there would be the need of only one message for all mankind – Holy Qur’an. This is why Allah did not protect the previous messages of Abraham, Moses etc. as Allah would be sending a teaching which would come in fulfilment of all those previous teachings. Therefore we believe that it is only the Holy Qur’an which has been protected by Allah and is the same today as when it was revealed, whereas Allah didn’t protected the previous teachings.
Suhuf (Scrolls)
It is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an about the Suhuf (Scrolls) of Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham), may peace be upon him, but that is all we know. All Prophets of God were spoken to by Allah and were Guided and then they guided the people. Some Prophets were law-giving prophets like Hazrat Moses, may peace be upon him, and Hazrat Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, others were followers of the law, like all the Jewish prophets after Hazrat Moses, may peace be upon him. We do not know of any law or teachings of Hazrat Abraham, therefore it is difficult to catalogue him as a law-giver or follower of the law. Certainly there must have been some laws from Hazrat Adam, may peace be upon him, and Hazrat Noah, may peace be upon him. Hazrat Abraham may peace be upon him, is recorded in the Holy Bible of travelling to many places and he did not really settle in one particular place and to raise a community, therefore it seems unlikely that he brought any laws and the Suhuf was just his moral teachings which he imparted to his sons, grandsons and any other followers. We understand that both Hazrat Ishmael and Hazrat Isaac, may peace be upon them both, were greatly blessed by Allah, which was due to the numerous blessings bestowed upon Hazrat Abraham, may peace be upon him.
We also know that Hazrat Abraham’s religion was Haneef (inclined to Allah) which is basically the same as being a Muslim (one who has submitted to Allah). We know that he definitely worshipped the One God, whereas those around him worshipped idols, sun etc. He must have received some revelations and prophecies from Allah and must have guided his followers as we also know his sons had also submitted to the One God. The Holy Qur’an alludes to this fact by saying:
“This indeed, is in the former scriptures – The scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa”. (87:20)
What was that message? – It states in verses 15-16 “Verily, he, indeed, will prosper who purifies himself, and remembers the name of his Lord and offers Prayers.” and then goes on to state in verses 17-18 that ‘the next life is best and more lasting.’
The Holy Qur’an only mentions the Suhuf once, in Chapter 87, verses 19-20 “This indeed is what is taught in the former scriptures, the Scriptures of Abraham and Moses”. so the teachings of the Suhuf are lost to us today, and this verse of the Holy Qur’an seems to indicate that the basic message of the Holy Qur’an was also taught in the former scriptures.
The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) claimed to have found the ‘Book of Abraham’ and their founder Joseph Smith apparently translated the book from some ancient records which were found on papyrus. But this has been rejected by experts.
Taurat (Torah)
Allah revealed to Hazrat Musa (Moses), may peace be upon him the ‘ten commandments’ which are found in the Torah. The Torah is a collection of five books of Hazrat Musa, may peace be upon him, which relates the history from the beginning to his time i.e. the stories of Adam, Ibrahim etc. It also contains laws which was revealed to Hazrat Musa, may peace be upon him, for the Jews and about how he brought the Jews out of captivity and then wandered in the Promised Land. This was transmitted from mouth to mouth until finally it was written down much later after his death. We know this because in the Torah it talks about Hazrat Musa, may peace be upon him, being buried and ‘to this day they do not know where?’ (Deuteronomy 34:6), which proves that it was not written during Hazrat Musa’s lifetime.
Zaboor (Psalms)
The Zaboor – Psalms of Hazrat Daud (David), may peace be upon him, is a collection of poetry which Christians now use as Hymns when singing in the church. Whilst there are some prophecies, there are no new laws as Hazrat Daud was not a law-giving Prophet, instead he followed the law of Hazrat Musa, may peace be upon him).
Injeel (Gospels)
The Injeel – Gospels of Hazrat Isa (Jesus), may peace be upon him, are a collection of Seerat (history) and Ahadith (sayings) of Jesus. There are four books which are generally understood to have been written by the gentile (non-Jews) Christians maybe 50-70 years after Hazrat Isa had left them to go to the ‘other sheep’, therefore they are not a reliable source and they were not transmitted by his original followers (Jews) and are just stories which have been heard and gathered. We look at the Injeel to be the actual words of Jesus – the ‘good news’ that he spoke of, which was often said in parables (stories). Again there are no new laws as Jesus was not a law-giving prophet - “I have not come to destroy the law but to fulfil it” (Matthew 5:17) – only Jesus gave a different stance on the law, introducing the ‘love and forgiveness’ side of the teachings instead of the ‘retaliation’ side that Hazrat Musa, may peace be upon him, stressed on.
The Holy Qur’an
The Holy Qur’an is the Word of Allah and was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, over a period of 22-23 years and was sent down piecemeal according to the need of the time. It was the practice of the Holy Prophet to follow the previous guidance until new guidance was sent down i.e. the Holy Prophet use to face towards Jerusalem before Allah changed the Qibla (direction) to the Holy Ka’aba. Therefore the guidance found in the previous books was also from Allah and was sent for that particular people i.e. Torah for the Jews etc. but Allah felt that there was a need to develop that teaching so that it can be used for all people, for all time or if that teaching had been changed by man and needed to be restored, so Allah revealed the new teachings to the Holy Prophet. For instance, all the ten commandments that was sent to the Jews, are also found in the Holy Qur’an, but if we take one of them as an example – ‘Thou shall not kill’. The Jews at the time of Hazrat Moses, may peace be upon him, had been in captivity by the Egyptians and Moses had to make them strong enough to enter the ‘Promised Land’, therefore if they had to kill, then he taught ‘an eye for an eye’ – the law of retaliation. Unfortunately, over the years the Jews became so hard-hearted, that they started disobeying the Prophets and even tried to kill them. When Jesus, may peace be upon him, came, he still followed the same law of Moses – ‘Thou shall not kill‘ but applied a different understanding when they had to kill – ‘offer the other cheek’ – the law of forgiveness and love. Both understandings to this law are not world-wide teachings. You can’t kill everyone – law of retaliation, nor can you forgive everyone – law of forgiveness - otherwise people like Hitler or Saddan Hussain would run amok. The Holy Qur’an still follows the same law ‘Thou shall not kill’ but states that you should apply the appropriate teaching according to the situation i.e. law of retaliation or law of forgiveness. This is why we see that with every law in the Holy Qur’an, the following verse talks about forgiveness.
We therefore understand that Allah spoke to all his prophets, but only to some He revealed a law, to the others it was just guidance and prophecy.