Quick Answer:
Numerous verses in the Quran give witness that the Bible and the Torah possessed signs in regards to the Prophet of Islam (saww) during the time of his advent and these signs could be seen by the Jews and Christians of that era; this was while these books had been altered and distorted even during that time period.
Detailed Answer:
Numerous verses in the Quran give witness that the Bible and the Torah possessed signs in regards to the Prophet of Islam (saww) during the time of his advent and these signs could be seen by the Jews and Christians of that era; this was while these books had been altered and distorted even during that time period. This shows that in spite of the alterations and distortions which took place in these books, whispers of the original Bible and the real Torah still existed to some degree within these two texts. The signs of the Prophet of Islam (saww) in these two texts, as well as other religious texts belonging to these two communities are proof of this and even up until today, some signs can still be found in such books.
For this same reason, numerous verses of the Quran mention how the Quran itself verifies what was revealed in previous books. For example, look at the 41st verse of Surah Baqarah where it says: “And believe in that which I have sent down confirming that which is with you…” In verse 89 and 101 of Surah Baqarah, we read: “…confirming that which is with them…” Again, in verse 48 of Surah Mā’idah we read: “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…”
All of these verses show that the signs which were in these books were one and the same with the signs that were present with the Prophet of Islam (saww). The term Taṣdīq (confirmation) has also been used in other verses to mean conformance and fulfillment as well. For example, in the 105th verse of Surah Ṣāffāt, this term has been used in the following manner: “You have indeed fulfilled the vision…” This means that his actions were in conformance with the dream that he saw. In the 157th verse of Surah A’rāf it is said: “those who follow the Apostle, the uninstructed prophet, whose mention they find written with them in the Torah and the Evangel…” This verse again states that these people would follow apostles whose mention they found in the Torah and the Bible; the des c r i p tion of these prophets was confirmed by these two books.
In any case, the aforementioned verses are simply a practical confirmation of the Quran and the Prophet (saww) as they existed in previous religious texts. Naturally, this is not a confirmation of the validity of the entire contents of the Bible or Torah; in addition, many verses of the Quran speak of the alteration and distortion that had taken place in the aforementioned books. It would be worthwhile at this point to mention how one of the scholars of Christianity became a Muslim and the role of this issue in his conversion. Fakhr al-Islām, the author of the book Anīs al-A’lām, was a notable priest amongst the Christians. He completed his religious education under the guidance of various priests and quickly rose in their ranks. He has explained the amazing story of his conversion in the beginning of his book through the following words: ‘After much research and through extraordinary efforts, I finally found myself with a very high ranking priest who was known for his piety and asceticism; kings of the Catholic sect, as well as other individuals, would refer to him for their religious questions. I studied various Christian sects under his guidance for a period of time. Even though he had many other students, he seemed to have a special liking for me. The keys to his home were at my disposal and he only had kept the key to a storage area with himself… One day an issue came up and he told me to tell the other students that there would be no class at that time. When I went to tell the students, I noticed that they were in the midst of a debate in regards to the meaning of the term Faraqleet [1] in the Syriac language and the term Paracletes in the Greek language… Their debate lengthened and each person had their own opinion…
When the priest returned, he asked what the students had debated about. I explained the debate that the students had engaged in and how it was in regards to the word Faraqleet. The Priest then asked me what opinion I had sided with. I said: I preferred the following opinion… the Priest said: You are not to blame but the reality and truth is contrary to all of these opinions; no one knows this truth except amongst those who stand upon knowledge. Even amongst those who stand upon knowledge, only a small number are aware of this reality. I began to insist that he tell me the real meaning of this word, when the Priest suddenly began to cry. He said: I do not want to refuse you anything…. but great consequences will entail from this knowledge and as soon as anyone finds out, they will kill you! So swear that you will not tell anyone of this meaning… I swore upon all that was holy that I would not divulge this secret.
The Priest then began to talk and he said the following: This name is the name of the prophet of the Muslims and it means Ahmad (saww) and Muhammad (saww). He then gave me the key that he would always keep with himself and said: Open the door to the following chest and bring these two specific books. I went and brought him the books that he had requested. The two books were in Greek and Syriac s c r i p t that had been written before the coming of the Prophet of Islam (saww) and they were written on different pieces of leather. In both texts, the term Farqaleet had been translated as meaning Ahmad (saww) and Muhammad (saww). The Priest said to me: There was no controversy amongst the Christian scholars before the coming of the Prophet (saww) in regards to the meaning of Farqleet; everyone knew that it meant Ahmad and Muhammad. Yet, after his coming, they began to interpret it differently in order to benefit materially and keep their positions intact. After his coming, they came up with other meanings and these meanings were not the intent of the one who compiled the Bible.
It was at this point that I asked the Priest: What do you say in regards to the Christian religion? He replied: It has been abrogated with the coming of the religion of Islam; he repeated this line three times for me. I said to him: During our time, what is the way to salvation and the straight path? He said: It is to be found in following Muhammad (saww). I then asked: Are his followers the people of salvation? He said: Yes, by God (and he repeated this three times). The Priest then began to cry and I also began to cry. After a time, the Priest said: If you wish for the hereafter and for salvation you must accept the religion of truth… and I have always prayed for you but I ask that you give witness on the Day of Judgment that I was internally a Muslim and a follower of the Prophet Muhammad (saww)… there is no doubt that today the religion of God is that of Islam…’[2]
As you can clearly see according to these words, the Jewish and Christian scholars began to interpret this term differently than what it had formerly been known as and they did this for personal gain and benefit.[3]
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