Quran Garden

Session 325

Chapter 3

Verses 3 & 4

a continuation

He has revealed the Book to you with truth, confirming what was there before it. And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel earlier as a guide for people.  And He has sent down the criterion.  Those who deny God’s revelations will suffer severe torment: God is Almighty and capable of retribution. (Chapter 3, Verses 3 & 4)

When Allah speaks about the Quran, He says: “confirming what was there before it.”  Here you may ask: Is Islam confirming Christianity and Judaism? We answer that every heavenly religion confirms the core issue of creed: ‘There is no God but God.’  Heavenly religions may differ in matters of social and economic teachings, but never in creed.  Each message was sent to address certain societal ills to certain peoples at certain periods of time.  As for creed, it never changes.  God says:

In matters of faith, He has laid down for you the same commandment that He gave Noah, which We have revealed to you and which We enjoined on Abraham and Moses and Jesus (from 42:13)

And in another verse, God relays the words of Prophet Jesus to his people, the children of Israel:

I have come to confirm the truth of the Torah which preceded me, and to make some things lawful to you, which used to be forbidden. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. Be mindful of God, obey me (03:50)

Islam, the final message, holds within it the exact creed of all the previous heavenly messages, but its social and economic teachings are for all people till the end of time. 

The word ‘confirming’ is translated from the Arabic origin ‘Mussadeqan مُصَدِّقًا’ from the root ‘Sa Da Qa.’ It means ‘to match the reality,’ or what we call: the truth.  If the news does not match reality, we call it a lie.      

We had given earlier the example of a car accident that occurred right in front of you.  No matter how many times you are asked about the accident, your answer would be the same because you are telling the truth as it occurred in front of you.  But if the accident were a lie, then your story would change with time.  You would forget some details that you told a month ago, and when you tell the story a third time, it would be different again.  Isn’t that the same technique investigators use to catch crooks and criminals? They ask a suspect on several occasions about the details of a crime or event.  A person with an ever-changing story is a liar.  The truth never changes.  Thus, we always hear the adage: “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.”  God says: ‘He has revealed the Book to you with truth, confirming what was there before it.  And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel earlier as a guide for people.’

Here, we should pause and answer some critics of the Quran.  A few pointed to verses such as ‘We have sent it down as an Arabic Quran so that you may understand’ (12:2) then complained that the Quran contains many words that are not of Arabic origin.  For example, ‘Torah’ is a Hebrew word, and ‘Bible’ is word of Syriac and Greek origins.  We answer that such words are actual names of these books in their original language.  They are the names the Arabs used to refer to these books.  Thus, they became part of the language of the Arabs at the time.  For example, in the modern era, the word ‘computer’ has been introduced into Arabic.  It is used by Arabs in everyday life, and because it has become so popular, it has become a part of the language.

Likewise, just because the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language does not mean that every word it contains has to be of pure Arabic origin.  It means that the Quran was revealed in the language Arabs used at the time.  God says: We have sent it down as an Arabic Quran so that you may understand (12:2)

The verse continues: ‘He sent down the Torah and the Gospel earlier as a guide for people.’  Who are the people referred to in the verse? No doubt they are the people who lived at the time when these books were revealed.  If the Qur'an had come to confirm the authenticity of the Torah and the Gospel, then can’t we also use these books as guides? Yes, but only what the Quran has authenticated; Only the parts of the scriptures that have been reaffirmed by the Quran hold true to us.  Thus, the phrase ‘as a guide for people’ means as a guide to those who lived at the time of the revelation of these books; and as a guide to us only through the parts explicitly confirmed in the Quran.  God says: ‘And He has sent down the criterion,’ referring to the Quran as the standard by which to judge and separate the truth from falsehood.   

The use of the word ‘criterion’ also indicates the presence of a struggle between two parties.  Allah assigned you a difficult mission, but He provided you with the best tool to undertake this mission: the Nobel Quran.  It is the best tool to differentiate between guidance and misguidance, right and wrong, misery and happiness, integrity and corruption.  The ‘criterion’ –translated from the Arabic Al Furqan- is the standard by which you can measure and distinguishes between good and evil.  Evil will always have its supporters, and God wants you to be among those who defend the truth. 

It was natural for the verse to end with: ‘Those who deny God’s revelations will suffer severe torment: God is Almighty and capable of retribution.’  Since the Quran is the criterion clarifying truth and falsehood, those who follow it are the forces of good.  Likewise, those who ignore its teachings are the forces of evil.  Allah gives us the foregone conclusion of this struggle: ‘Those who deny God’s revelations will suffer severe torment.’ 

When it comes to punishment, always measure its severity according to the strength of the punisher.  For example, if I tell you that my 2-year old son is angry and coming to hit you, you would feel differently than if I told you that the world heavyweight champion boxer is angry and coming to hit you.  How about if the punisher is the Almighty?  It is an unbearable, inescapable torment.  ‘God is Almighty and capable of retribution.’