Short answer
Yes. Belief in God's (﷾) books is part of a Muslim's faith. The Qur'an says God (﷾) gave the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David and the Injil (the Gospel Jesus preached) to Jesus. It calls the Torah and the Injil guidance and light. A Muslim who denies that God (﷾) revealed them is not a Muslim. But these names mean what God (﷾) gave those prophets, not the books that carry the names today. The Torah in print records the death and burial of Moses. The four New Testament Gospels were written decades after Jesus, each "according to" a writer. The Qur'an that praises the revealed books also condemns those who wrote the Book with their own hands. So a Muslim honours the Bible for the revelation still in it. He keeps what the Qur'an confirms and sets aside what contradicts it. The Qur'an came last, so it has the final say.
Full explanation
Belief in the books is part of faith
The Qur'an lists belief in God's (﷾) books together with belief in God (﷾), His angels and His messengers. It says that whoever denies any of them has gone far astray. When the Prophet (ﷺ) was asked what faith is, he gave the same list, His Books included.
“The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. "We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His messengers." And they say: "We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys."”
“O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray.”
Abu Hurayra reports that a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked what faith is. The Prophet answered that faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, the meeting with Him, and the Resurrection. The man was the angel Gabriel, who had come to teach the people their religion.
The books the Qur'an names
The Qur'an says God (﷾) revealed the Torah to Moses and the Injil to Jesus, and calls each of them guidance and light. It says God (﷾) gave David the Psalms, the Zabur. The Torah a Muslim believes in is what God (﷾) gave Moses in his lifetime, before anything was added or taken away. The Injil is the message God (﷾) gave Jesus. Jesus preached it aloud to the people of Israel. The Qur'an presents itself as the last of these books, confirming what came before it.
“It was We who revealed the law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.”
“And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.”
“We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.”
“It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).”
One light in many bulbs
The Qur'an says every messenger was sent in the language of his own people, and names the books given to Moses, David and Jesus. The 20th-century scholar Muhammad Hamidullah explained it with a picture. The prophets are light bulbs and revelation is the electric current. The light comes from God (﷾), and a prophet's mother tongue is only the colour of the bulb. So the Torah, the Psalms, the Injil and the Qur'an came in different languages, but the message was one.
“We sent not a messenger except (to teach) in the language of his (own) people, in order to make (things) clear to them. Now Allah leaves straying those whom He pleases and guides whom He pleases: and He is Exalted in power, full of Wisdom.”
“We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.”
Explains revelation with a metaphor: the prophets are light bulbs and revelation is the electric current; each bulb gives light by its own voltage and colour, and a prophet's mother tongue is the colour of the bulb, while the power comes from God and the prophet is only an intermediary (para. 64). Says there is no trace of the scrolls of Abraham, that the Torah and the Psalter were lost more than once, and that Jesus did not have time to dictate what he preached: his disciples and their successors handed his words down in many versions, of which the Church kept four as its Gospels (para. 147).
Praise and warning in the same Book
The Qur'an praises the revealed books. It also says that some wrote the Book with their own hands and called it God's (﷾) word. It says some twisted the Book with their tongues. It says those who call themselves Christians forgot a good part of the message sent to them. So when the Qur'an names the Torah or the Injil, the context shows whether it means the revelation or what men made of it.
“Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.”
“There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues: (As they read) you would think it is a part of the Book, but it is no part of the Book; and they say, "That is from Allah," but it is not from Allah: It is they who tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it!”
“From those, too, who call themselves Christians, We did take a covenant, but they forgot a good part of the message that was sent them: so we estranged them, with enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment. And soon will Allah show them what it is they have done.”
The Torah of Moses and the Torah in print
The five books in a printed Bible record Moses' death and burial. They add that no one knows his grave "unto this day", words written after his death. Modern biblical scholars hold that these books were combined and edited from several sources over centuries. The prophet Jeremiah had already warned the people of his own day about "the false pen of the scribes".
“So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth–peor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,”
Traces how readers noticed that the five books could not all be Moses' work: in the eleventh century Isaac ibn Yashush pointed out that the Edomite kings of Genesis 36 lived long after Moses, and later scholars noted the account of Moses' death and phrases such as "unto this day". Sets out the view of modern biblical scholarship that the Pentateuch was combined from several earlier sources by later editors, and links Deuteronomy to the "book of the law" found in the Temple in King Josiah's reign (2 Kings 22), in the late seventh century BCE.
““ ‘How do you say, “We are wise, and Yahweh’s law is with us?” But, behold, the false pen of the scribes has made that a lie.”
The Injil of Jesus and the four New Testament Gospels
Mark records that Jesus went about preaching "the gospel", which means good news. It was a message he spoke aloud, decades before any of the four New Testament Gospels was written. The four books that carry the name are accounts about Jesus. They were written in Greek decades later by authors who do not name themselves. Luke says plainly that he compiled his from what others had handed down. Their very titles say "according to" Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,”
A standard textbook. It dates Paul's earliest letters to around 50 CE, Mark to about 65-70, Matthew and Luke to about 80-85, and John to about 90-95, and notes that Jesus spoke Aramaic while the Gospels were written in Greek by authors who do not name themselves. It also says Paul did not know Jesus during Jesus' lifetime and came to faith only after the crucifixion.
| Book | What God (﷾) gave | What carries the name today |
|---|---|---|
| The Torah | Revealed to Moses in his lifetime, guidance and light. | Five books that also record Moses' death and burial. |
| The Injil | The message God (﷾) gave Jesus, which he preached aloud. | Four accounts about Jesus, written in Greek decades later, each “according to” a writer. |
A Muslim keeps what the Qur'an confirms and sets aside what contradicts it.
Many gospels, four kept
Jesus did not write or dictate a book. His words were handed down in many written versions. Early Christians read gospels under the names of Thomas, Peter, Mary, Philip and others. The church kept four and set the rest aside as apocryphal, meaning not accepted as scripture. The first surviving list of exactly the twenty-seven books of today's New Testament comes from 367, more than three centuries after Jesus.
An anthology of early Christian writings left out of the New Testament, in English translation. Among them are gospels under the names of Thomas, Peter, Mary and Philip, and gospels used by Jewish-Christian groups.
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, lists the books he counts as scripture. His New Testament list is the twenty-seven books of today's New Testament, the earliest surviving list of exactly these books and no others.
Explains revelation with a metaphor: the prophets are light bulbs and revelation is the electric current; each bulb gives light by its own voltage and colour, and a prophet's mother tongue is the colour of the bulb, while the power comes from God and the prophet is only an intermediary (para. 64). Says there is no trace of the scrolls of Abraham, that the Torah and the Psalter were lost more than once, and that Jesus did not have time to dictate what he preached: his disciples and their successors handed his words down in many versions, of which the Church kept four as its Gospels (para. 147).
The Injil was like the Qur'an; the four New Testament Gospels are reports about Jesus
Islam keeps two kinds of text apart. The Qur'an is God's (﷾) own words. The hadith are reports of what the Prophet (ﷺ) said and did, handed down by his companions and tested report by report. In those terms, the Injil was like the Qur'an: the words God gave to Jesus. The four New Testament Gospels are reports about Jesus, gathered by his followers and their successors. A hadith names the people who passed it on, so each report can be tested. Luke says he drew on what others had handed down. No saying in the four names those who passed it on, so none can be tested that way. The Injil has not survived as a book of its own. What remains of it survives inside the four New Testament Gospels, mixed with the words of those who compiled them.
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus,”
A standard textbook. It dates Paul's earliest letters to around 50 CE, Mark to about 65-70, Matthew and Luke to about 80-85, and John to about 90-95, and notes that Jesus spoke Aramaic while the Gospels were written in Greek by authors who do not name themselves. It also says Paul did not know Jesus during Jesus' lifetime and came to faith only after the crucifixion.
Explains revelation with a metaphor: the prophets are light bulbs and revelation is the electric current; each bulb gives light by its own voltage and colour, and a prophet's mother tongue is the colour of the bulb, while the power comes from God and the prophet is only an intermediary (para. 64). Says there is no trace of the scrolls of Abraham, that the Torah and the Psalter were lost more than once, and that Jesus did not have time to dictate what he preached: his disciples and their successors handed his words down in many versions, of which the Church kept four as its Gospels (para. 147).
Which scripture has the final say
Jewish tradition holds that prophecy ended around 400 BC, so no new scripture could come after it. Josephus, a Jewish historian of the first century, wrote that there had been no proper succession of prophets since the Persian king Artaxerxes. So later Jewish books never had the same authority. Christians hold that prophecy went on, and that the New Testament is inspired too. Islam holds that it went on until Muhammad (ﷺ), whom the Qur'an calls the Seal of the Prophets. Because he was the last prophet, the revelation given to him supersedes the earlier books, meaning it takes over from them. Where the earlier laws differ, the Qur'an's law replaces them. Where today's books differ from it on belief, the Qur'an is the measure. The earlier books prepare the way for Islam; they do not only come before it.
Josephus lists the books the Jews hold sacred and says that the prophets after Moses wrote down the history of their times up to the reign of Artaxerxes of Persia. Jewish history has been written since then, he says, but it is not held in the same esteem, because there has been no exact succession of prophets since that time.
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.”
“To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;”
How a Muslim holds the Bible
The Qur'an calls itself a guardian, muhaymin, over the scripture before it. Where the Bible agrees with it, as on the oneness of God (﷾), the prophets and the judgement, a Muslim hears the old revelation still speaking. Where it contradicts the Qur'an, he takes that as the work of men. On what he cannot check, the Prophet (ﷺ) told Muslims neither to believe nor to deny it. Instead they are to say: we believe in Allah (﷾) and in what was revealed to us.
“To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;”
Abu Hurayra reports that the People of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. The Prophet (ﷺ) told the Muslims neither to believe them nor to call them liars, but to say: we believe in Allah and in what was revealed to us (Qur'an 2:136).
Muslims do not hate Jesus or the Bible
A Muslim must love Jesus. The Qur'an calls him a Word from God (﷾), held in honour in this world and the next. A person cannot be a Muslim without believing in his virgin birth and his miracles, done by God's (﷾) permission. When Muslims criticise the Bible, they are defending Jesus and God's (﷾) word against what men added to it. The Qur'an condemns those who write the Book with their own hands and say "This is from Allah". Muslims reject the Trinity and the atonement because they did not come from Jesus. On the Last Day, the Qur'an says, Jesus will deny ever telling people to worship him.
“Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah;”
“She said: "O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?" He said: "Even so: Allah createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it, 'Be,' and it is!”
“"And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): "'I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by Allah's leave: And I heal those born blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by Allah's leave; and I declare to you what ye eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;”
“Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.”
“And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. "Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.”
Verse by verse
Qur'an 5:46 — Surat al-Ma'ida (The Table), verse 46
“And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah.”
Cited for
Christians argue that the Qur'an calls the Injil guidance and light, so it confirms the New Testament Gospels Christians read.
The response
The verse speaks of the Injil God (﷾) sent to Jesus. The same Qur'an also speaks of the scripture in people's hands in its own day. It says some wrote the Book with their own hands, and that Christians forgot a good part of the message. So it praises the revelation and warns about the copies. Two verses are often quoted to send Muslims to the Bible, 5:47 and 5:68. They are answered on the page on whether Muslims must follow the Bible.
Where it lands — The Qur'an's praise is for what God (﷾) gave Jesus, so it cannot be read as approving the four New Testament Gospels as they stand.
Perspectives
Mainstream Christian
The Old and New Testaments are the inspired word of God. The five books of Moses are the Torah, and the four Gospels are the Gospel of Jesus, faithfully handed down.
The Qur'an calls the Torah and the Injil guidance and light. So it must be affirming the Bible that Jews and Christians held in the seventh century.
Rebuttal
The Qur'an praises the Torah and the Injil as God (﷾) gave them to Moses and Jesus. But the same Qur'an says some wrote the Book with their own hands. It also says Christians forgot a good part of the message. So its command to judge by what God (﷾) revealed in it (5:47) means the revelation that survives. It does not mean every copied word.
The Islamic perspective
A Muslim must believe that God (﷾) revealed the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David and the Injil to Jesus. He is not asked to take today's Bible as those revelations. He honours what survives of them and measures it by the Qur'an, the last Book, which was kept.
The Qur'an makes belief in God's (﷾) revealed books part of faith, and calls denial of them going far astray.
Asked what faith is, the Prophet (ﷺ) listed belief in God's (﷾) Books.
The Qur'an names the Torah, the Psalms and the Injil as books God (﷾) gave to Moses, David and Jesus.
The Pentateuch (the five books of Moses) records Moses' death and says his grave is unknown "unto this day". So it is not all as Moses received it.
The four New Testament Gospels are accounts about Jesus written decades after him, not the message he was given.
The Qur'an condemns those who wrote the Book with their own hands and said it was from God (﷾).
Every messenger brought one message in his own people's language. The prophet is the bulb, and the light is God's (﷾).
The lost Injil was like the Qur'an, God's (﷾) own words. The four New Testament Gospels are reports about Jesus handed down by others, with no chain of narrators to test, unlike the hadith.
Early Christians read many gospels, and the church kept only four.
Muslims must love and honour Jesus; their criticism of the Bible defends him against what was added in his name.
Jewish tradition held that prophecy had ended after Artaxerxes, with no exact succession of prophets. So no new scripture could follow.
Muhammad (ﷺ) is the last prophet. So the revelation given to him supersedes the earlier books, and whatever in them disagrees with the Qur'an gives way to it.
The Qur'an stands as guardian over earlier scripture. What agrees with it is kept, and what contradicts it is set aside.