Welcome to the program. One of the features of the holy Qur’an is that it invites the followers of all heavenly religions to come to common principles and constructive dialogue. This is the topic of this episode.

God Almighty addresses the Prophet in ayah 64 of surah Ale Imran, “Say, ‘O People of the Book! Come to a word common between us and you: that we will worship no one but Allah, and that we will not ascribe any partner to Him, and that we will not take each other as lords besides Allah.’ But if they turn away, say, ‘Be witness that we have submitted to Allah.”

Another step that has been taken by Islam to show its goodwill is that it has confirmed the Heavenly Books like the Torah and the Evangel. God in numerous ayahs has introduced the Qur’an as the confirmer of and guardian over the previous Books. For instance, in ayah 47 of surah Nisa, we read, “O you who were given the Book! Believe in what we have sent down confirming what is with you.”

What does this confirming mean? Some people maintain that the holy Qur’an completely confirms the authenticity of the copies of the Torah and the Evangel that existed at the time of the revelation of Qur’an and say that these two Heavenly Scriptures should not be deemed as distorted. But the fact of the matter is that many of the teachings of the holy Qur’an on monotheism, prophethood and resurrection do not comply with the contents of the Torah and the Evangel. Moreover, God has stressed the distortion of the Heavenly Scriptures; hence it doesn’t confirm all of their contents.

In addition to confirming the previous Heavenly Books, the holy Qur’an is a guardian and observer over the Books of the previous Prophets. In view of this, the holy Qur’an mentions their strong points but divulges the distortions. In the beginning of ayah 48 of surah al-Maida, God says, “We have sent down to you the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it of the Book and as a guardian over it.”

The word Mohaimen in this ayah means guardian, dominant and observer. Therefore, the holy Qur’an both confirms the Heavenly Books and observes them as a guardian. To make it clear, it should be said that the holy Qur’an, through its guidelines on monotheism, prophethood, resurrection and so on, proves that the distortions of the Heavenly Scriptures have taken place by perverted hands; and if there are evident contrasts in the teachings of the Torah and the Evangel, they have certainly been carried out by those who had intended to deceive the public and conceal realities. In other words, the verses that celebrate God’s oneness and glorify him from any defect show that the Torah and the Evangel have been distorted to the extent that they liken the Creator of the universe to His creatures. Furthermore, the Qur’an has negated the false issues that have been attributed to the Prophets as they are spotlessly pure from any sin and corruption.

As the holy Qur’an confirms the heavenly Books, God calls on the followers of Prophet Moses and Prophet Jesus to believe in the holy Qur’an as a sign of thankfulness toward the divine grace. God says in ayahs 41 and 42 of surah Baqara, “And believe in that which is with you, and do not be the first ones to defy it, and do not sell My signs for a paltry gain, and be wary of Me. And do not mix the truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth while you know.”

 While the Jewish and Christian scholars knew all the signs about the last Messenger and even pretended to expect the coming of the last Messenger, they concealed the truth after his emergence. That’s why God warns them in ayah 42 of surah Baqara not to mix the truth with falsehood and not to conceal it while they are aware of the truth. In the beginning of ayah 157 of surah Al-A’raf God says even more explicitly, “Those who follow the Apostle, the uninstructed prophet, whose mention they find written in the Torah and the Evangel…”

 In ayah 146 of surah Baqara, too, God states, “Those whom We have given the Book recognize him just as they recognize their sons, but a part of them indeed conceal the truth while they know.”

The Jewish and Christian pseudo-scholars knew the Prophet of Islam very well but they concealed the truth for the material interests of the transient world.

RM/SS