Questioning whether the holy books have been changed
20-4-2005 | IslamWeb
Question:
Is the Holly Book is changed? Do we have any proof in Qur'an about this changing? If it changed why? We all knew it was from God so could be changed by human?
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
It is confirmed by absolute evidences from the Qur'an and the authentic narrations of the Prophet 
that the people of the book-the Jews and Christians-falsified and distorted the Torah and the Gospel; and reality proves this as well.
The evidences from the Qur'an are the following:
Allaah says (which means): {And among those who are Jews are men who displace words from their right places.}[Qur'an 5:13]. Allaah also says (which means): {So woe to those who write the Scripture with their own hands, then say, "This is from Allaah," in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.}[Qur'an 2:79].
Allaah further says (which means): {And indeed, there is among them a party who alter the Scripture with their tongues so you may think it is from the Scripture, but it is not from the Scripture. And they say, "This is from Allaah," but it is not from Allaah. And they speak untruth about Allaah while they know.}[Qur'an 3:78].
In another verse Allaah says (which means): {And from among the Jews, there are avid listeners to falsehood, listening to another people who have not come to you .They distort words beyond their [proper] places [i.e. usages].}[Qur'an 5:41].
Another verse reads: {O People of the Scripture, why do you mix [i.e. confuse] the truth with falsehood and conceal the truth while you know [it]?}[Qur'an3:71].
So all the above verses and other verses from the Qur'an are clear evidences that they have distorted Allaah's Books and falsified them, and they concealed the truth that these books contained and mixed it with falsehood and lies, and then claimed that they were from Allaah and that He revealed them to His Prophets and Messengers.
The greatest evidence that the Torah and the Gospel have been distorted is the obscenity and great sins which they contained which they attribute to the Prophets and Messengers of Allaah, may Allaah exalt their mention; obscenities that even the least pious and the least religious people would consider themselves far above committing them. For instance they claimed that the Prophets Nooh (Noah), Loot (Lot) and Daawood (David), may Allaah exalt their mention, consumed intoxicants and had sexual intercourse with their female non-marriageable relatives, and claimed that these Prophets cheated and were unfaithful; we seek refuge in Allaah from the lies of the people of the book.
For further information about the distortion of the Jews and Christians of the Torah and the Gospel, please refer to the book entitled 'Clarifying the Truth' written by the scholar Rahmatullaah Al-Kiranawi Al-Hindi; you will surely find in it what will comfort your heart.
As regards saying why these books have been distorted, the answer is that the people of the book distorted them in a way to suit their desires and wishes. When the Torah was revealed on Moosaa (Moses) and the Gospel on 'Eesaa, may Allaah exalt their mention, the Jews found in it things that do not suit their desires and wishes so they rejected it and refused to act according to their teachings, so Allaah threatened them with extermination. Allaah raised the mount as a canopy over them and ordered them to act upon all the rulings that He has legislated for them.
Allaah says (which means): {And [recall] when We took your covenant, [O Children of
So when Allaah threatened them, they were frightened and submitted themselves and acted according to it for a period of time, and then started to falsify and change it. The same thing happened to the Gospel, the Christians distorted it in a way to suit the belief of Shirk [associating partners to Allaah] in which the idolatrous rulers of that time practiced.
Concerning how it was possible for humans to alter these books, the answer is that anything that Allaah did not undertake to protect is subject to alteration and distortion according to people's desires and objectives. So Allaah did not undertake to protect those books, but put the responsibility of their protection on the people, but they spoilt them. Allaah says (which means): {…for to them was entrusted the protection Allah's Book.}[Qur'an 5:44]. The wisdom behind it is that it is temporary subjected to the revelation of another Book that will abrogate the previous ones and in which Allaah clarifies the distortions and falsifications that happened to the previous books, that is why these books were not protected.
With regard to the Qur'an, Allaah did not entrust its protection to the people, rather He Himself protects it. Allaah says (which means): {Indeed, it is We who sent down the message [i.e. the Qur’an] and indeed, We will be its guardian.}[Qur'an 15:9]. No one could falsify what Allaah protects, as He is the best Protector, and the Qur'an will be an evidence against all the people until the Day of Judgement. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa: 83344 and 83730.
Allaah knows best.