Spotlight On Islam

The Qur’an Confirms and Affirms the Previous Scriptures Part 1

A Logical and Textual Analysis

Introduction: The Islamic Dilemma in Focus

For over 1,400 years, the Qur’an has been revered by Muslims as the literal, perfect, and final word of God. Yet when we strip away tradition and let the Qur’an speak for itself, an unavoidable contradiction emerges.

The Qur’an explicitly confirms the divine origin, preservation, and authority of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospel. At the same time, it denies doctrines central to both scriptures—such as the crucifixion of Jesus, salvation through His death, and His divine nature.

This creates what scholars and critics alike call the Islamic Dilemma:

If the Torah and Gospel are preserved (as the Qur’an insists), then Islam collapses because those scriptures contradict the Qur’an.
If the Torah and Gospel are corrupted (as Muslim scholars claim), then Islam collapses because the Qur’an is wrong to affirm their preservation.

Either way, the Qur’an undercuts itself. And once the foundation crumbles, the superstructure of Islam has no ground to stand on.

1. The Qur’an’s Direct Testimony

To avoid speculation, we begin with the Qur’an itself.

1.1 The Qur’an Affirms the Torah and Gospel

هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَأَنْزَلَ التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ
“He has revealed to you the Book with truth, confirming what was before it; and He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.”
— Qur’an 3:3

Here the Qur’an explicitly states that God Himself revealed the Torah and the Gospel. They are not dismissed as later fabrications but affirmed as divine revelation.

1.2 The Qur’an Declares the Scriptures Preserved

وَتَمَّتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقًا وَعَدْلًا لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ
“The word of your Lord is perfected in truth and justice. None can change His words, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.”
— Qur’an 6:115

وَاتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ كِتَابِ رَبِّكَ لَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ
“Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord; none can alter His words.”
— Qur’an 18:27

If “none can change God’s words,” then logically the Torah and Gospel—described as God’s words—cannot have been corrupted.

1.3 The Qur’an Commands Jews and Christians to Judge by Their Scriptures

وَلْيَحْكُمْ أَهْلُ الْإِنجِيلِ بِمَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ
“Let the people of the Gospel judge by what God has revealed therein.”
— Qur’an 5:47

قُلْ يَا أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ لَسْتُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ حَتَّى تُقِيمُوا التَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنجِيلَ وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكُمْ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ
“Say: O People of the Book, you are on nothing until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel and what has been revealed to you from your Lord.”
— Qur’an 5:68

These verses make no sense if the Torah and Gospel were lost or corrupted. A corrupted text cannot be a standard of judgment.

1.4 The Qur’an Directs Muhammad to Consult the People of the Book

فَإِنْ كُنْتَ فِي شَكٍّ مِمَّا أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ فَاسْأَلِ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَءُونَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ
“If you are in doubt about what We have revealed to you, ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you.”
— Qur’an 10:94

If previous scriptures had been corrupted, why would God instruct Muhammad to consult their readers for confirmation?

2. The Islamic Dilemma in Syllogism

The Qur’an’s claims can be expressed in logical form:

Premise 1: The Qur’an affirms the divine origin, preservation, and authority of the Torah and Gospel.
Premise 2: Either Jews and Christians still possess these scriptures in their preserved form, or they do not.
Premise 3a: If they do, Islam is false because these scriptures contradict the Qur’an.
Premise 3b: If they do not, Islam is false because the Qur’an affirms that they do.
Conclusion: Either way, the Qur’an’s claims are self-contradictory, and Islam’s truth claims collapse.

3. Historical Evidence of Torah and Gospel Preservation

The Qur’an’s affirmation of prior scriptures must be measured against historical reality.

3.1 The Torah

By the 7th century, the Torah existed in:

The Masoretic Hebrew text (already stabilized by Jewish scribes).
The Septuagint Greek translation (widely used in the Mediterranean).
The Dead Sea Scrolls (1st century BCE to 1st century CE), which match today’s Hebrew Bible with remarkable accuracy.

The evidence is overwhelming: the Torah available in Muhammad’s time is the same as the Torah we have today.

3.2 The Gospel

By the 7th century, complete copies of the New Testament existed in major codices:

Codex Vaticanus (c. 325–350 CE).
Codex Sinaiticus (c. 330–360 CE).
Codex Alexandrinus (c. 400 CE).

These contain the same Gospels Christians read today. No evidence suggests the Gospel was altered in the centuries leading up to Islam.

3.3 Implication

If the Qur’an is correct that the Torah and Gospel were preserved, then the scriptures Muslims dismiss today are exactly what the Qur’an confirmed in the 7th century.

4. Contradictions Between Qur’an and Bible

But here lies the fatal flaw. The Bible and Qur’an make irreconcilable claims:

Jesus’ crucifixion:
- Bible: Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again (Mark 15–16; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
- Qur’an: “They did not kill him, nor crucify him, but it was made to appear so” (Q 4:157).
Jesus’ identity:
- Bible: Jesus is the divine Son of God (John 1:1–14; Colossians 2:9).
- Qur’an: Jesus is only a prophet, not divine (Q 5:72; Q 4:171).
Salvation:
- Bible: Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ’s sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8–9).
- Qur’an: Salvation depends on deeds and submission to Allah (Q 23:102–103).

Both cannot be true.

5. Muslim Counter-Arguments Refuted

5.1 Claim: The Bible was corrupted (tahrif).

Refutation: The Qur’an itself denies this by affirming the preservation of God’s words (Q 6:115; Q 18:27).

5.2 Claim: The Qur’an refers to a lost “original Injil.”

Refutation: No historical evidence exists for such a text. Every manuscript of the 1st–7th centuries contains the same canonical Gospels.

5.3 Claim: Corruption is in meaning, not text.

Refutation: This is special pleading. If meaning alone was corrupted, why would the Qur’an command Jews and Christians to judge by their scriptures?

6. The Qur’an’s Self-Collapse

The Qur’an stands or falls on its own words. By affirming the Torah and Gospel while contradicting their content, it destroys itself.

Accept the Qur’an literally → the Bible is true → the Qur’an is false.
Deny the Bible’s preservation → the Qur’an is false for affirming it.

In logic, this is called a self-referential contradiction: a claim that invalidates itself.

7. Qur’an vs. Scholars: The Fork in the Road

The most devastating dimension of the dilemma is the gulf between the Qur’an and Islamic scholarship.

The Qur’an’s Position: The Torah and Gospel are God’s words, preserved, authoritative, and valid for judgment.
The Scholars’ Position: The Torah and Gospel are corrupted, altered, or lost.

Both cannot be true. Muslims face two choices:

Believe the Qur’an literally.
- Then the Torah and Gospel are valid.
- But they contradict the Qur’an → the Qur’an is false.
Follow the scholars against the Qur’an.
- Then the Torah and Gospel are corrupted.
- But the Qur’an is false for affirming them.

Either way, Islam collapses under its own weight.

8. Evidence vs. Apologetics

Apologetics appeals to tradition, reinterpretation, and special pleading. Evidence appeals to manuscripts, logic, and consistency.

Evidence shows: The Torah and Gospel were preserved before, during, and after Muhammad’s time.
Logic shows: The Qur’an contradicts both itself and those scriptures.
Conclusion follows: The Qur’an cannot be the perfect, eternal word of God.

Conclusion: No Escape from the Dilemma

The Qur’an’s own testimony leaves no room for escape. It affirms the very scriptures that refute its message. The dilemma is airtight:

If the Torah and Gospel are preserved, the Qur’an is false.
If the Torah and Gospel are corrupted, the Qur’an is false.

Either way, the Qur’an defeats itself.

Disclaimer

This post critiques Islam as an ideology, doctrine, and historical system—not Muslims as individuals. Every human being deserves respect and dignity. Beliefs, however, are not entitled to immunity from critique.

Bibliography (selected)

Aland, K., & Aland, B. The Text of the New Testament. Eerdmans, 1995.
Metzger, B. The Text of the New Testament: Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration. Oxford, 2005.
Tov, E. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Fortress, 2012.
Dead Sea Scrolls, ed. Florentino García Martínez. Brill, 1997.
Codex Sinaiticus Project. codexsinaiticus.org.
Qur’an (Arabic text and standard translations).