BELIEF IN THE REVEALED BOOKS

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, in which there is guidance and light. By it the prophets who were obedient to Us judged the Jews, and so did the rabbis and the priests, according to God’s Book which had been entrusted to their care; and to which they were witnesses. Have no fear of man; fear Me, and do not sell My revelations for a paltry sum. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are deniers of truth. We prescribed for them in [the Torah]: 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 a wound for a wound. But, if anyone forgoes it, this shall be for him an expiation. Those who do not judge by what God has sent down are wrongdoers! (5: 44-45). From these verses, it can be seen that the Quran calling the Torah 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: People of the Book, why do you dispute about Abraham when the Torah and Gospel were only sent down after him. Do you not use your reason? (3: 65) According to the Quran, the Towrah, the book that God revealed to Moses for the guidance of the Children of Israel (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: The Quran, the Book of God, enshrines teachings, which were basically the same as were to be found in previously revealed scriptures.