Falsification of the Gospel

Although the main criticism of the Book's falsification is about the Jews, this does not mean that the Gospels have not been falsificated. It is understood from some signs and indirect expressions in the Qur'an that Christians falsificated the Gospel. In the verses, it is stated that although Allah obtained a promise from those who declared that they were Christians, they did not keep their word and forgot some of the truths they were taught, and for this reason, an endless enmity and hatred arose between them. 

The Gospel writers replaced the belief of tawhid with the trinity, and the fact that Prophet Isa was a human prophet chosen from among people with the belief that he was an embodied god. The Qur'an states that these beliefs are batil and have no basis based on reason and revelation. (Ma'idah, 5/13-14; 75, 116) Therefore, there are fundamental differences in common issues between the Qur'an and the existing Gospels. It is not possible for Islam to accept the basic Christian beliefs in the Gospels, such as the deity of Prophet Isa, the belief in the trinity, and the death of Prophet Isa by crucifixion in order to atone for the sins of people. These points, which are contrary to the Qur'an, show that falsification has taken place. 

Christians accept that Prophet Isa did not write or have anyone else write any books. Therefore, the Gospels written after him were written without the supervision and control of Prophet Isa. The writers of Gospels did not personally see the events they describe. They described the tradition handed down from generation to generation at least half a century after Prophet Isa. Moreover, these Gospels, written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John long after Prophet Isa's death, were written in Aramaic, the language of Prophet Isa. However, the oldest of the Gospels today is in Greek. Believers of Christianity base the authenticity of the Gospels on the concept of inspiration. According to the belief in question, those who wrote the Gospels wrote their works under the supervision of the Holy Spirit, and these Gospels gained authenticity thanks to the influence of the Holy Spirit. However, according to Islam, the claim that it was written by inspiration does not make a book holy or authentic. Therefore, the existing Gospels do not have the feature of being the true Gospel. As a matter of fact, researches reveal that none of the Gospels, including Matthew and Mark, which are considered to be the oldest, were written by the apostles. Therefore, like the Torah, the Gospels are also falsificated books. 

Catholic exegetes have argued that the four Gospels are the work of the spirit of truth that does not deceive or contradict, expressing the truth even in details. However, there are contradictions among the Gospels that cannot be easily explained. For example, the names and numbers given in the Gospels of Matthew, 1/1-17 and Luke, 3/23-38 about the lineage of Prophet Isa contradict with each other. When Prophet Isa left Jericho, two blind people according to Matthew (20/30) and one blind person according to Mark (10/46) appealed him for his eyes to be opened. According to Matthew (4/12-17) and Mark (1/14-15), Prophet Isa started his mission after Prophet Yahya (John) was imprisoned. According to John (3/22-26), Prophet Isa started his mission before Prophet Yahya was imprisoned.  In addition, in different copies, there are various statements regarding the identity of Prophet Isa that he is the son of Prophet Adam, Prophet Dawud, Prophet Yusuf (Joseph), and God. Likewise, opinions differ on whether the Gospel should be attributed to Allah (swt) or Prophet Isa. 

Muslims believe that a book called the Gospel (Injil) was sent down to Prophet Isa by Allah (swt). However, the texts in the Bible today, consisting of copies such as Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, are not the original Gospel revealed to Prophet Isa. The Gospel does not exist in its authentic form today. Muslims adopt the parts of the Gospels that are suitable for the Qur'an and authentic hadiths, and reject the contrary ones. For matters that are not mentioned in the verses and hadiths and that do not contradict the basic principles, they act according to the following advice of the Prophet Muhammad (saw): “You neither acknowledge nor deny the People of the Book. (However) say that we believe in what revealed to us, and what revealed to you.” (Bukhari, I'tisam, 25)