The Five Ways the Ahlul Kitab Corrupted the Scriptures

Deleted L · Mar 7, 2022

The Five Ways the Ahlul Kitab Corrupted the Scriptures

By Bassam Zawadi

Ibnul Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, in his book Hidayat al-Hiyara, mentioned five different ways the Ahlul Kitab corrupted the scriptures:

1) Mixing of truth and falsehood in a manner by which the truth cannot be identified (لَبْسُ الحَقِّ بِالباطِلِ)

2) Hiding something important from the truth out of spite and hatred (كِتْمانُ الحَقِّ)

3) Hiding something from the truth out of self-interest (إخفاء الحق)

4) Corruption of the meaning and text of the previous revelations (تَحْرِيفُ الكَلِمِ عَنْ مَواضِعِهِ، وهُوَ نَوْعانِ: تَحْرِيفُ لَفْظِهِ، وتَحْرِيفُ مَعْناهُ)

5) Distorting words from their proper usages with their tongues (لَيُّ اللِّسانِ بِهِ لِيَلْتَبِسَ عَلى السّامِعِ اللَّفْظُ المُنَزَّلُ بِغَيْرِهِ)

Examples of number 1 would be the several stories we find in the Bible, especially concerning the stories of the prophets where many false statements and actions were attributed to them.

An example of number 2 would be their denial of the prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the prophecies of him mentioned in their scriptures.

An example of number 3 would be hiding the ruling of stoning the adulterer from the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions.

There are multiple examples of number 4 which could be seen until today, and a lot of them would be related to the prophecies of Muhammad (peace be upon him) in their scripture.

An example of number 5 is highlighted in Surah 4, Ayah 46.

Further Reading

Musa Mahmoud Taha Sa’eed, Kashf al-Qur’an al-Kareem li-Inhirafaat Ahlul-Kitab wa-Ibtaaluha, pp. 57-73 [For Arabic Readers]