Why did God Allow Corruption of the Previous Scriptures?
Why did Allah (swt) allow corruption of the scripture?
It is believed (by Muslims) that the Injeel and Torah have been corrupted/altered by the followers of Christianity and Judaism. I have always wondered why Allah (swt) allowed this to happen -- if He could protect the Qur'an from error, could He not have simply protected the Torah similarly? Why did He *not* protect these scriptures, and finally protected the Qur'an?
Mohammad, USA
Reply
The reason for the protection of a revelation – whether it be the Torah, the Injeel or the Qur’an – seems to be interlinked with the discontinuation of the institution of prophethood, after Muhammad (pbuh). Till the time that the institution of prophethood continued, there was no need to protect the scriptures of the previous prophets. The new or the current prophet was always as reliable and as powerful an authority of God’s laws and His likings as the older ones. Thus, during that phase of the history of man when the institution of prophethood continued, it was the current prophet’s word of mouth, which was the primary source of God’s religion; the books of the previous prophets were no more than a secondary source. Had the institution of prophethood continued even after Muhammad (pbuh), the position of the Qur’an would, obviously, not have been any different.
Thus, in simple terms, the answer to your question is that till the time that the institution of prophethood continued, God protected His message and His guidance to man, through His prophets. There was no need, at that time, to protect the books revealed upon the previous prophets. Later on, when, after Muhammad (pbuh), the institution of prophethood was discontinued for ever, it was now imperative to protect the finally revealed book, for the purpose of protecting His message and His guidance to man, as no further prophet was to be sent for the purpose.
One may, however, ask why has the institution of prophethood been discontinued after Muhammad (pbuh). The answer to this question lies in the understanding of the reasons for the initiation of the institution of prophethood. According to the Qur’an, the reason for which God sent His prophets was to remove all excuses of rejection of the basic truths taught by these prophets (Al-Nisaa 4: 165). Thus, a continual chain of prophets has adorned the history of man. This chain of prophets was, obviously, to continue till the time that the basic objective of the initiation of the institution of prophethood was fully attained, according to the absolute knowledge of God. Finally, with the advent of the prophethood of Muhammad (pbuh), God terminated the institution of prophethood. This clearly implies that, according to the absolute knowledge and wisdom of the Almighty, after the advent of Muhammad (pbuh) – in continuation of all the previous prophets – the stipulated objective of the institution of prophethood was fully attained and, thus, the institution was, finally, sealed.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
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