Fourth Article Of Faith – Belief in Revealed Books (Kutub)

It is a matter of Islamic belief that God, in His mercy, has sent prophet after prophet to
lead people forth from darkness to light. The belief in all of God’s revealed books forms
an integral part of Islamic faith.
These divine books commanded justice in everything and exhorted invited men to
repent.
The Quran describes Torah as Furqan (the Discriminator between right and wrong). It
says “We gave Moses and Aaron the Discriminator, and gave them a light (Dhia) and a
Reminder for the righteous (21:48). Furqan means that ideological standard which
enables man to distinguish between Truth and falsehood. Dhia means divine guidance,
which leads a man out of the darkness of the wrong path and puts him in the light of the
straight path. In this way God has arranged for the guidance of man through His
messenger.
But it is possible for God’s guide book to provide guidance in the real sense only when
a man is anxious about his fate in the Hereafter. This anxiety makes him so serious that
he attaches more importance to Truth and righteousness than to any other thing.
The Books Mentioned in the Quran
Of the holy books, four find mention in the Quran: the Sahifa, scrolls given to Abraham;
the Tawrat, the revelations made to Moses; the Zabur, the psalms given to David;
the Injil, the teachings given to Jesus. It is a belief of a Muslim that each of these (as
well every other Books sent by God to His Prophets) was originally a complete
revelation. However, for a variety of reasons, most of these revealed books sent by
God could not be preserved. For instance, the Quran mentions the scriptures given to
Abraham (87:14-19). as Sahifa, but these are no longer in existence and were lost
completely. Others were changed in various ways by human intervention.
Thus these previous scriptures are no longer in their original form. They could best be
described as edited versions of divine revelations, which have been altered from time to
time by editors and commentators. So we can say that those ancient scriptures, which
still exist today, have not been preserved from human interpolations. They have been
tampered with at will by their adherents, who have retained the portions they wanted to
and deleted the portions they disliked. Therefore, these scriptures have lost their
veracity.
The Quran, the last of the divine books, is the only revealed scripture which has been
preserved from human interpolation.
The Quran enshrines these teachings, which were basically the same as were to be
found in previous revealed scriptures. But these scriptures are no longer preserved in
their original state. The Quran has been preserved in its original state; therefore, it is an
eternal guidebook which will never lose its relevance.
A. The Towrah
The term Towrah is simply the Arabic equivalent for the Hebrew Torah, and normally
understood as ‘The Law’ given by God to the Prophet Moses. The Quran gives
abundant testimony to the Towrah, and it is mentioned more than any other revealed
book. Sometimes it is simply called ‘The Law’.

‘We have revealed the Torah having guidance and light. By it, the prophets who
surrendered themselves to God judged the Jews, and so did the rabbis and the divines,
by what they were required to guard of God’s books, and to what they are witnesses.
‘Have no fear of people: fear Me, and do not take a small price for My revelations.
Unbelievers are those who do not judge in accordance with God’s revelations.

‘(In the Torah) we decreed for them a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose,
an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds punishment. But if a man
charitably forbears from retaliation, his remission shall atone for him. Transgressors are
those that do not judge in accordance with God’s revelations.’ (5:44-46).
From this quotation it can be seen that the Quran calling the Towrah a book of
‘guidance and light’ testifies that God had revealed it as the Law for the Jews.
Sometimes in the Quran, the name Towrah refers not only to the books of the Prophet
Moses, but to the entire Hebrew scripture of the Jews, especially in the verses, which
mention the Towrah and Injil together. ‘He has revealed unto you (Muhammad) the
scripture with truth, confirming that which was (revealed) before it, even as He revealed
the Torah and the Injil.’ (3:3).
When the Quran uses the expression ‘People of the Book’, it always means all the
three communities: the Jews, the Christians, and the Muslims: ‘You People of the Book!
Why dispute you about Abraham, when the law (Towrah) and the Injil were not
revealed till after him? Have you no understanding?’ (3:65).
According to the Quran, the Towrah, the book that God revealed to Moses for the
guidance of the Children of Isreal (Bani Israil), did in fact contain guidance and God’s
commands, admonition and a clear explanation of many things of the world, and of
God’s mercy. There are many verses regarding the granting of a book to Moses in
which the Towrah is mentioned although not by name. The tablets (alwah) are also
mentioned and they mean the same scripture:

‘And We ordained for him in the Tablets in all the matters, admonition and explanation
of all things, (and said): ‘Take and hold these with firmness and enjoin thy people to
hold fast by the best of the percepts…’ (7:145).

But when Moses went back to his people with the Law inscribed on the Tablets (7:150)
they had meanwhile turned away from God and the Truth and he became very angry.
He prayed for them and they repented. ‘When the anger of Moses was appeased, he
took up the tablets: in the writing thereon was Guidance and Mercy for such that fear
their Lord’ (7:154).
The Towrah, as originally revealed to Moses, must have been in the Hebrew language.
But there is no copy of the original Book given to Moses extant today. As a matter of
fact, during their long turbulent history, the Jews repeatedly lost their revealed books.
According to the Quran, they also failed to maintain the standards prescribed by their
scriptures. They made it ‘into (separate) sheets for show’ and concealed much of its
content. Therefore differences have arisen among them, as they have distorted and
changed God’s word and its meaning. The Old Testament is considered by today’s
Jews as the Book revealed by God. But it cannot simply be equated with the Towrah
mentioned in the Quran. The reason for this is that the Old Testament contains also the
Zabur, the book of guidance given to the Prophet David. The Zabur is mentioned in the
Quran as a revelation separate from the Towrah.
b. The Zabur
The term Zabur is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew word ‘zimr’, which is usually
translated into English as ‘psalm’. It was the book of revelation given to the Prophet
David or Daud. In the Hebrew and Christian scriptures it is a part of the Old Testament.
David was a prophet, but he was also a great ruler and singer of the divinely inspired
hymns praising God and His creation, which form the Zabur.
In the Quran, the Zabur is mentioned by name only three times:

‘…And to David We gave the Psalms.’ (4:163)

‘And it is your Lord that knows best all beings that are in the heavens and on earth: We
did bestow on some prophets more (and other) gifts than on others: and We gave
David (the gift of) the Psalms.’ (17:55)

‘Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Message (given to Moses): My servants,
the righteous, shall inherit the earth.’ (21:105)
Thus the Quran, and also the traditions, very clearly confirms the Muslim belief in four
heavenly books. The Quran mentions no other such heavenly books, though it
mentions many prophets, some of them by name, and attributes many divine
revelations to them.
David, to whom God revealed the Zabur, was gifted with great eloquence and a
beautiful voice. All gifts were given to the prophets according to the needs of the world
and the times in which they lived. The Psalms were intended to be sung for the worship
of God and the celebration of God’s greatness.
The Psalms are still extant and have been incorporated into the Bible. However, their
present form may possibly be different from the original. Nonetheless, to a great extent,
the Psalms retain their original state.
c. The Injil
The Injil is the revelation given to prophet Isa. The term Injil is derived from a Greek
word, which, when translated into English means ‘gospel’ and it occurs twelve times in
the Quran.
In Muslim belief Isa or Jesus, the son of Mary, is considered to be the prophet
immediately preceding the Prophet of Islam. His birth was miraculous and by the grace
of God he was endowed with a life-giving spirit. Both he and his pious mother, Mary,
are mentioned in the Quran many times.

‘We sent after them Jesus, the son of Mary, and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We
ordained in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy.’ (57:27)
This particular verse of the Quran very clearly states that the Prophet Jesus was given
the real Injil, which stressed the compassion and mercy of God. Most of the time,
whenever mentioned in the Quran, Injil is coupled with the Towrah or the law given to
Moses. But there is always emphasis on the continuity of revelation and its culmination
with the final revelation that is the Quran.

‘It is He Who sent down to you (step by step), the truth, the Book (the Quran),
confirming what went before it: and He sent down the Towrah (of Moses) and the Injil
(of Jesus),’ (3:3)

‘And God will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Towrah and the Gospel.’ (3:48)
The Injil mentioned in the Quran is not exactly what the Christians today consider their
scripture, the Gospel of the Bible. The Injil in fact was the book revealed to the Prophet
Isa himself and it is that book, which is mentioned in the Quran. The Gospel of the
Christians is a compilation made one hundred years after the prophethood of Isa and
was written down in Greek. Besides the Gospels attributed to the four apostles (John,
Luke, Mark, and Matthew), it contains letters of Paul and Peter to the early Christian
communities, as well as other written material. That is why the Quran and the traditions
often refer to the corruption of the original scriptures. All heavenly books were sent by
God for the guidance of mankind and to enable their adherents to judge all issues
according to the divine laws as set forth in these Books.
d. The Quran
The Quran, the Book of God, enshrines teachings, which were basically the same as
were to be found in previously revealed scriptures. But these ancient scriptures are no
longer preserved in their original state. Later additions and deletions have rendered
them unreliable, whereas the Quran, preserved in its original state, is totally reliable.
The Quran has 114 chapters. Its contents in a nutshell are: belief in one God, and
considering oneself answerable to Him; firm belief that the guidance sent by God
through the Prophet Muhammad is the truth and that man’s eternal salvation rests
thereon.
The position of the Quran is not just that it is one of the many revealed scriptures but
that it is the only authentic divine Book. All the other Books, due to human additions
and deletions, have been rendered historically unreliable. When a believer in the
previous revealed scripture turns to the Quran, it does not mean that he is rejecting his
own belief, but rather amounts to his having re-discovered his own faith in an authentic
form.
The Quran is a sacred book sent by the Lord of all creation. It is a book for all human
beings, because it has been sent by that Divine Being who is the God of all of us.
The Quran is no new heavenly scripture. It is only an authentic edition of the previous
heavenly scriptures. In this respect, the Quran is a book for all human beings, of all
nations. It is the expression of God’s mercy for one and for all. It is a complete
message sent by God for every one of us. The Quran is a light of guidance for all the
world just as the sun is the source of light and heat for all the world.
According to the Quran, Islam means submission. The religion of Islam is so named
because it is based on obedience to God. A true believer in Islam is one who
subordinates his thinking to God, who follows God’s dictates in all aspects of his life.
Islam is the religion of the entire universe, for the entire universe and all its parts are
functioning in accordance with the law laid down by God.
Such behaviour is also desired of man. Man should also lead his life as God’s obedient
servant just as the rest of the universe is fully subservient to God. The only difference is
that the universe has submitted to God compulsorily, while man is required to submit to
the will of God by his own choice.
When man adopts Islam, first of all it is his thinking which is affected by Islam, then his
desires, his feelings, his interests, his relations, his love and his hatred. All are coloured
by his obedience to God’s will.
When man, in his daily life comes under God’s command, his behaviour with people
and his dealings are all moulded by the demands of Islam. From inside to outside he
becomes a person devoted to God.
Man, as the Quran tells us, is God’s servant. Indeed, the only proper way for man to
live in this world is to live as the servant of God. Islam, in fact, is another name for this
life of servitude to God. Where the Islamic life is devoted to the service of God, the un-
Islamic life unashamedly flouts the will of God. Islam teaches man to lead an obedient
life and surrender himself completely to the will of God. It is people who do so who will
share God’s blessings in the next world. This is the essence of the teachings of the
Quran

Belief in certain prophets who God chose to relay His message to humans is a required
article of Islamic faith.

"The Prophet (Muhammad) believes in what has been sent down to him from his
Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in God, His Angels, His
Books, and His prophets. (They say,) ‘We make no distinction between one
another of His prophets...’" (Quran 2:285)

God conveys His message and relates His will through human prophets. They form a
link between the earthly beings and the heavens, in the sense that God has picked
them to deliver His message to human beings. There are no other channels to receive
divine communications. It is the system of communication between the Creator and the
created. God does not send angels to every single individual, nor does He open the
skies so people can climb up to receive the message. His way of communication is
through human prophets who receive the message through angels.

To have faith in the prophets (or messengers) is to firmly believe that God chose
morally upright men to bear His message and pass it to humanity. Blessed were those
who followed them, and wretched were those who refused to obey. They faithfully
delivered the message, without hiding, altering, or corrupting it. Rejecting a prophet is
rejecting the One who sent him, and disobeying a prophet is disobeying the One who
commanded to obey him.

God sent to every nation a prophet, mostly from amongst them, to call them to worship
God alone and to shun false gods.

"And ask (O Muhammad) those of Our prophets whom We sent before you: ‘Did
We ever appoint gods to be worshipped besides the Most Merciful (God)?’"
(Quran 43:45)

Muslims believe in those prophets mentioned by name in Islamic sources, such as

Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, David, Solomon, Moses, Jesus, and
Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, to name a few. A
general belief is held in those not mentioned by name, as God says:

"And, indeed We have sent prophets before you (O Muhammad), of some of them
We have related to you their story, and of some We have not related to you their
story..." (Quran 40:78)

Muslims firmly believe the final prophet was the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, and
there will be no prophet or messenger after him.

To appreciate this fact, one must understand that the teachings of the last prophet are
preserved in original language in their primary sources. There is no need for another
prophet. In the case of earlier prophets, their scriptures were lost or their message was
corrupted to the point that truth was hardly distinguishable from falsehood. The
message of the Prophet Muhammad is clear and preserved and will remain so till the
end of time.

The Purpose for Sending Prophets

We can identify the following main reasons for sending prophets:

(1) Guiding humanity from the worship of created beings to the worship of their
Creator, from being in a state of servitude to the creation to the freedom of worshipping
their Lord.

(2) Clarifying to humanity the purpose of creation: worshipping God and obeying His
commands, as well as clarifying that this life is a test for each individual, a test of which
its results will decide the type of life one will lead after death; a life of eternal misery or
eternal bliss. There is no other definite way to find the true purpose of creation.

(3) Showing humanity the right path that will lead them to Paradise and to salvation
from Hellfire.

(4) Establishing proof against humanity by sending prophets, so people will not have
an excuse when they will be questioned on the Day of Judgment. They will not be able
to claim ignorance to the purpose of their creation and life after death.

(5) Uncovering the unseen ‘world’ which exists beyond the normal senses and the
physical universe, such as the knowledge of God, existence of angels, and the reality of
the Day of Judgment.

(6) Providing human beings practical examples to lead moral, righteous, purpose-
driven lives free of doubts and confusion. Innately, human beings admire fellow human
beings, so the best examples of righteousness for humans to imitate are those of God’s
prophets.

(7) Purifying the soul from materialism, sin, and heedlessness.

(8) Conveying to humanity the teachings of God, which is for their own benefit in this
life and in the Hereafter.

Their Message
The single most important message of all prophets to their people was to worship God
alone and none else and to follow His teachings. All of them, Noah, Abraham, Isaac,
Ishmael, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Jesus, Muhammad and others, in addition to
those we do not know - invited people to worship God and shun false gods.

Moses declared: "Hear, O Israel The Lord our God is one Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4).
This was repeated 1500 years later by Jesus, when he said: "The first of all the
commandments is, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.’" (Mark 12:29).

Finally, the call of Muhammad some 600 years later reverberated across the hills of
Mecca:

"And your God is One God: there is no god but He..." (Quran 2:163)

The Holy Quran states this fact clearly:

"And We did not send any Messenger before you (O Muhammad) but We
revealed to him (saying): ‘none has the right to be worshipped but I, so worship
Me.’" (Quran 21:25)

The Message Bearers

God chose the best among humanity to deliver His message. Prophethood is not
earned or acquired like higher education. God chooses whom He pleases for this
purpose.

They were the best in morals and they were mentally and physically fit, protected by
God from falling into cardinal, major sins. They did not err or commit mistakes in
delivering the message. They were over one hundred thousand prophets sent to all
mankind, to all nations and races, in all corners of the world. Some prophets were
superior to others. The best among them were Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and
Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him.

People went to extremes with the prophets. They were rejected and accused of being
sorcerers, madmen, and liars. Others turned them into gods by giving them divine
powers, or declared them to be His children, like what happened to Jesus.

In truth, they were fully human with no divine attributes or power. They were God’s
worshipping slaves. They ate, drank, slept, and lived normal human lives. They did not
have the power to make anyone accept their message or to forgive sins. Their
knowledge of future was limited to what God revealed to them. They had no part in
running the affairs of the universe.

Out of the Infinite Mercy and Love of God, He sent to humanity prophets, guiding them
to that which is the best. He sent them as an example for humanity to follow, and if one
does follow their example, they would live a life in accordance to the Will of God,
earning His Love and Pleasure