Question:. I heard a Maulana
saying that it is Biddat to quote the Bible to do Daw’ah to the Ahle-Kitab
(People of the Book; i.e. the Jews and the Christians).
Answer:. Although majority of the
Muslim Scholars find nothing wrong in the act of quoting the scriptures of
Ahle-Kitaab (People of the Book; i.e. the Jews and the Christians) for the
purpose of Daw’ah, there are some Muslims who harbour a misconception that it
is wrong to do so. Some of the Scholars among them state that ‘those Muslims
who quote the Bible are doing Bid’ah’. It will be pertinent to know the
relevance of the evidence provided by these people to substantiate their claim.
The only Hadith that is very often quoted by them is as follows:
“Narrated Jabir Ibn Abdullah :
Umar ibn al-Khattab brought to Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) a copy of
the Torah and said: ‘Allah’s Messenger, this is a copy of the Torah’. He
(Allah’s Messenger) kept quiet and he (Umar) began to read it. The colour of
the face of Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) underwent a change, whereupon
Abu Bakr said: “Would that your mother mourn you, don’t you see the face of
Allah’s Messenger?’ Umar saw the face of Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) and said: ‘I
seek refuge with Allah from the wrath of Allah and the wrath of His Messenger.
We are well pleased with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with
Muhammad as Prophet’. Whereupon Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) said : ‘By Him in
Whose hand is the life of Muhammad, even if Moses were to appear before you and
you were to follow him, leaving me aside, you would certainly stray into error;
for if (Moses) were alive (now), and he found my prophetical ministry, he would
have definitely followed me’.
(Sunan Ad-Darimi, Vol. 1, Hadith No. 435)
Based on the Hadith quoted above, some scholars insist that it is forbidden for
the Muslims to quote the Bible, regardless of the purpose behind quoting it
since the Prophet (pbuh) expressed his displeasure when Umar (R.A.) read the
Torah. However, here the objection of the prophet (pbuh) was mainly on reading
the Torah for guidance, as can be understood by Umar’s prompt reafiirmation and
satisfaction with Allah as lord, with Islam as religion and with Muhammad
(pbuh) as messenger. The Prophet’s (pbuh) remark further clarifies that even if
Moses was alive, he would have definitely followed him, meaning Moses (pbuh)
too would have followed the Qur’an and the teachings of Muhammad (pbuh). Thus
those Muslim Da’ees who quote the Old Testament or the New Testament of the
Bible for the purpose of Daw’ah do not quote it with the intention of following
them or seeking guidance from them, because the ultimate and the best of the
guidance is found in the last and the final testament, the Glorious Qur’an and
the authentic Ahadith. Says Allah in the Qur’an:
“This day have I perfected your religion for you completed my favour upon
you and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” (Al-Qur’an 5:3)
With regards to quoting the Bible for the purpose of Daw’ah, the authentic sources
of knowledge of Islam indicate beyond any doubt that it is permissible for the
Muslims to do so.
Let us first analyse the following verse of the Qur’an :
Say : “O people of the book! Come to common terms as between us and you:
that we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with Him; that we
erect not from among ourselves Lords and patrons other than Allah.” If then
they turn back say: “Bear witness that we (atleast) are Muslims (bowing to
Allah’s will).”
In the verse quoted above, Allah instructs Muslims to invite the Ahle-Kitab
to common terms, with the first term being the oneness of Allah. How will a
Muslim get to common terms without knowing the terms of the faith of
Ahle-Kitab? It is either through studying their scriptures, or is it to be
presumed that all Muslims are well versed with their term ? If a person tries
to know the common terms just by looking at the followers of Christianity, he
will be in a dilemma as to what the common terms are, because majority of the
Christians believe in many diverse concepts, several of which are contrary to
the teaching of the Bible.
Let us analyse some more verses of the Qur’an :
“ All food was lawful to the children of Israel except what Israel made
unlawful for itself before the Law of Moses was revealed. Say: “Bring you the
Law (Torah) and study it if you be men of truth.” (Al Qur’an 3:93)
Allah also says : And they (the jews and the Christians) say: “None shall
enter paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian”. Those are their (vain)
desires. Say :” Produce your proof if you are truthful.” (Al-Qur’an 2:111)
In the verse Quoted above Allah (swt) commands us to demand for proof for
the claims of the Jews and the Christians. And they have produced the only
proof they have – i.e. the Bible, in over two thousand different languages of
the world. Are we going to swallow their ‘proof’ hook, line and sinker? It is
presupposed that when Allah commands us to demand for proof, that we would
analyse the proof, once it is produced. Otherwise it makes no sense to demand
proof.
The following Hadith from Sahih Al Bukhari further substantiates that it is
permissible to quote the scriptures of the Ahle-Kitab:
Narrated Abdullah bin Amr
The Prophet said, “Convey (my teachings) to the people even if it were a
single sentence, and tell others the stories of Bani Israel, for it is not
sinful to do so. And whoever tells a lie on me intentionally, will surely take
his place in the (Hell) Fire.”
(Sahih Al Bukhari, Vol. 4, Hadith no. 3461)
There are some scholars who interprets this Hadith by saying that the
permission to quote the stories of Bani Israel and that this Hadith refers to
the stories mentioned in the Qur’an, and not in the Scriptures of Ahle-Kitab.
However, we should understand the Hadith according to the understanding of the
narrator of the Hadith, Abdullah bin Amr (R.A.), the companion of the Prophet
(pbuh), because the narrator’s understanding would be far more accurate than
the different understanding of all the modern interpreters put together.
Ibn Kathir comments on this Hadith as follows: “This Hadith from ‘Abdullah
bin Amr was collected by Al-Bukhari (Fath Al Bari 6:572). This is why when
‘Abdullah bin Amr’ had possession of two books from the people of the
scriptures on the day (battle) of Yarmuk , he used to narrate what was in them,
because of what he understood of the hadith that allowed this practice.”
(Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged, Vol. 1, page no. 31)
The Hadith quoted above should be proof enough even for the most skeptics
among those who object to quoting the Bible for the purpose of Daw’ah.
Following is the translation of the words of Shaykhul-Islam Ibn-Taymiyyah
taken from ‘Majmu’atul-Fatawa’, Vol. 7, Part no. 13, paged 196-197, as well as
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, abridged, Vol. 1, page no. 31: “Yet, the Israelite accounts
and stories should only be used as supporting evidence, not as evidence
themselves. There are three types of these accounts and tales; a kind that we
are sure is authentic because we have in our religion something that testifies
to its truth. The second type is what we know to be false based on what we
have. The third is of neither type. Hence we neither affirm nor deny this type,
and we allowed to narrate it because of the Hadith that we mentioned…..”
Let us analyse the following Hadith :
Narrated Ibn Umar
A Jew and a Jewess were brought to Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) on a charge of
committing an illegal sexual intercourse. The Prophet (pbuh) asked them. “What
is the legal punishment (for this sin) in your book (Torah)?” They replied, “Our
priests have innovated the punishment of blackening the faces with charcoal and
Tajbiya.” Abdullah bin Salam said, “O Allah’s Messenger, tell them to bring the
Torah.” The Torah was brought, and then one of the jews put his hand over the
Divine Verse of the Rajam (stoning to death) and started reading what preceded
and what followed it. On that, Ibn Salam said to the jew, “Lift your hand.”
Behold ! The Divine Verse of the Rajam was under his hand. So Allah’s Messenger
ordered that the two (sinners) be stoned to death, and they were stoned. Ibn
‘Umar added: so both of them were stoned at the Balat and I saw the jew
sheltering the Jewess.
(Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 8, Hadith No. 6819)
From the Hadith quoted above, we realize that the Prophet (pbuh) punished
the jew and the jewess according to the law of Torah since the law was going in
accordance with the law of the Qur’an. Here the intention of the Prophet (pbuh)
was not to follow the Torah but to implement from it what was conciliating with
the Qur’an, i.e. the punishment for adultery. Similarly the easiest way to
prove a point to a person who believes in the Bible is to make reference to the
Bible. For example, the Bible says in the Gospel of Mark 12:29 “Hear, O Israel;
The Lord of our God is one Lord”. By making a Christian believe in one God
through this verse, we also make him believe in the first verse of Surah
Al-Ikhlas, chapter 112 of the Qur’an says: “He is Allah the One and Only”. This
would help negate the concept of Trinity from his mind. Thus we follow the
instructions of Allah as mentioned in the verse quoted above from Al-Qur’an
3:64, which says: ‘Say ” O people of the Book! Come to common terms as between
us and you: that we worship none but Allah….”
Thus it can be concluded that it is permissible for the Muslims to quote
Bible for the purpose of Daw’ah and all those who object to it should ponder
over the evidence provided by us. And Allah Knows the Best.
