MY REBUTTAL TO THE 
DECEPTION AND FALSEHOOD
PROPAGATED BY 
THE  CHRISTIAN WEB SITE
 http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/bible.htm

IMPORTANT ADDITIONS
January 30 and February 2, 2003
You will find at the end, responses to my rebuttal from Silas and Sam Shamoun - a colleague of Silas, and also my refutations to those responses.



Under the article entitled
MUHAMMAD AND THE BIBLE
by Silas

You shall discover the following sub-titles 

PART 1     THE BIBLE IS TRUE ACCORDING TO ISLAM
PART 2     WHAT SCRIPTURES WERE AVAILABLE IN THE HIJAZ?
PART 3     MUHAMMAD AND THE BIBLE 
PART 4     MUHAMMAD AND THE BIBLE


FALSEHOOD AND DECEPTION

        The word "BIBLE" and/or the phrase "THE HOLY BIBLE" or their Arabic equivalents did not appear in the Qur'an that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to recite in his days. Neither do they appear in the copies of the Qur'an that the Muslims do recite today. Furthermore, if one was to do the key-word search for the words BIBLE, OLD TESTAMENT or NEW TESTAMENT within the majority of the translated ENGLISH TEXTS of the Glorious Qur'an, the results would be ZERO. In other words, these words or phrases DO NOT appear in these translated texts of the Qur'an. To claim that the author of this article - Silas, (which could be a pen name) who uses the following sub-heading, was in reality not aware of the above mentioned facts, is to say that the author's work could not be relied upon. To say otherwise, would be to admit that Silas is the master of DECEPTION.

The noteworthy sub-heading to be found within the article by Silas:
C.      THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE


WHAT IS MENTIONED IN THE QUR'AN?

The Book of Abraham
In the Qur'an (87 : 19), there appears the mention of "The Book of Abraham".
This "Book of Abraham" does not appear at all within the 66 Books of the Protestant Bible nor within the 73 Books of the Catholic Bible, in circulation today.

The Book of Moses
In the Qur'an (5: 44), it is recorded that Allah (S.W.T.) had Himself Revealed / Bestowed "The Taurat" on Moses (peace be upon him), and therein was the Guidance and the Light. By its Standard the Jews were judged by their Prophets.

It is absolutely incorrect or rather a folly to claim that "The Taurat" refers to the collection of the 39 Books of "The Old Testament". It is an indisputable fact that this entire collection of 39 Books was not Revealed to Prophet Moses. Similarly, it is ALSO incorrect to assert that the First Five Books of the Old Testaments called "The Pentateuch" (lit. "The Five Books"), which are often erroneously declared as the "Five Books of Moses", were Revealed to Prophet Moses. The Bible Scholars (mostly Christians and Jews), who have examined The Pentateuch (Five Books attributed to Moses), have discovered four or more main sources underlying them.
Here are the Four Recognized Main Contributors or the Main Source Documents.

1. J = Yahwistic Text. Written by the authors in the time of 
           David or Solomon.
2. E= Elohistic Text. Written by the author after the disruption of 
         the old Solomonic Kingdom.
3. D= The work of Deuteronomists. The Text was written in the last
         quarter of the 7th and the first quarter of the 6th centuries BCE
4. P= The Priestly Accounts. Written after the Babylonian exile
         (586-538 B.C.E.).

Note: In the First Four Books of Moses, the Priestly Writers used both 
           the "J" and the "E" Texts and also rewrote some materials. The proof 
           of this is to be found in the textual differences or disagreements that are 
           found between the REPEATED TWIN NARRATIONS, e.g. The 
           Sequences of the Two Descriptions of the Creation Story in the Genesis.
           (cf. the first story in Genesis 1: 21-31 and the second in Genesis 2: 4-23).

Below is the irrefutable proof that Prophet Moses did not write or dictate "The Pentateuch". The following historical account that appears in the end part of "The Pentateuch" and records what did transpire after the death of Moses could neither be qualified as Revealed by Allah Himself to Prophet Moses nor as The Book written or dictated by Moses nor as The text written during the lifetime of Moses.

As seen earlier, the Qur'anic Term "The Taurat" refers specifically to the Revealed Transcript by Allah Himself to His Prophet Moses and within this Revealed Transcript was "The Guidance and the Light." A Muslim is asked in the Qur'an to believe in this "Taurat" and not in everything that is identified or published as "The Books of Moses" in the Bible. Here are two eye-opening passages from "The Fifth Book of Moses" which is known as "Deuteronomy":

"Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended"   Deuteronomy 34: 7-8

"Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face."  Deuteronomy 34: 10

The above text upholds the theory of Priestly and other Sources in The Pentateuch.
The above text can be qualified as the history of Moses written by the historians.
But certainly cannot be declared or qualified as; "The true Taurat that was revealed or bestowed upon Prophet Moses by the Almighty Allah".

The Injeel/Gospel bestowed on Jesus Christ
In the Qur'an (5: 46), it is recorded that Allah (S.W.T.) had Himself bestowed "The Injeel / Gospel" on Jesus, the son of Mary (peace be upon him), and therein was the Guidance and the Light and the confirmation of the Taurat that came earlier and admonition for those who fear Allah. It is very important to differentiate between "The Gospel"  bestowed on Jesus by Allah and "The Gospels" according to the Four Apostles of Jesus that are included in The Bible under The New Testament. The first one is "The Gospel (Good News) of God" preached by Jesus Christ himself. The second one is "The Good News of Jesus" written by the four Apostles. Understanding of this fundamental difference is equally important for the Muslims as well as the Christians, as such I have written a separate article on this subject. I strongly suggest you to visit  http://www.mostmerciful.com/kofgg.htm. The article goes at length explaining what the Qur'an has attested as "The Injeel / Gospel". In the Gospel according to Mark (1: 14), the apostle confirms that Jesus, after his stay of forty days in the wilderness; "came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God". Jesus spoke of "the Kingdom of God". Jesus asked the people to "believe in The Gospel / Injeel (good news)" that he was preaching to them. 

The Book given to David
In the Qur'an (17: 55), it is revealed that Allah (S.W.T.) had Himself given "The Zabur" (The Psalms) to Prophet David (peace be upon him). In the Old Testament of the Bible, there are Five Books of Psalms comprising of 150 Psalms. Out of these 150, a total of 73 Psalms are ascribed to Prophet David; 51 to anonymous writers, 12 to Asaph or his descendants; 9 to the sons of Korah (temple assistants); 2 to King Solomon and one each to Heman, Ethan (a musician) and Prophet Moses.

The Books sent to the earlier Prophets
The Glorious Qur'an reveals:

Say ye: "We believe in Allah and the revelation given to us and to Abraham, Ismai'l, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes and that given to Moses and Jesus and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord we make no difference between one and another of them and we bow to Allah (in Islam)."  2: 136 Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali
In the Bible there are no books written by or ascribed to the prophets 
Abraham (Ibrahim), Ishmael (Isma'il), Isaac (Is-haq) and/or Jacob (Ya'qub).

IS THE "THE TRUTH" OR "ANOTHER DECEIT" BY SILAS?

In his article under the rebuttal, Silas writes the following:

Many Muslims today say the Bible is corrupted.  But there is nothing in the Quran that supports this.  There is not one word in the Quran that teaches that the Scriptures of the Jews and Christians have been perverted by man.  Instead, the opposite is true.  The Quran supports the Bible.
             Isn't it interesting that the Muslims' Quran has nothing to say about the corruption of the Scriptures of the largest religion on earth? 
READ THE QUR'ANIC VERSES AND YOU BE THE JUDGE...
Allah did aforetime take a Covenant from the Children of Israel and We appointed twelve captains among them and Allah said: "I am with you: if ye (but) establish regular prayers practice regular charity believe in My apostles honor and assist them and loan to Allah a beautiful loan verily I will wipe out from you your evils and admit you to gardens with rivers flowing beneath; but if any of you after this resisteth faith he hath truly wandered from the path of rectitude."  5: 12

But because of their breach of their Covenant We cursed them and made their hearts grow hard: they change the words from their (right) places and forget a good part of the Message that was sent them nor wilt thou cease to find them barring a few ever bent on (new) deceits: but forgive them and overlook (their misdeeds): for Allah loveth those who are kind.   Glorious Qur'an 5: 13 Translation by Yusuf Ali

The changing of "the words from their (right) places" within "the Message that was sent them", is NOT considered "the corruption of the Scriptures" by Silas!!!
We certainly gave the Book to Moses but differences arose therein: had it not been that a Word had gone forth before from thy Lord the matter would have been decided between them: but they are in suspicious doubt concerning it. Glorious Qur'an  11: 110

Commentaries #1613 and # 1614 by translator Yusuf Ali to 11: 110: 
# 1613    Cf. x. 19. Previous revelations are not to be denied or dishonoured because those who nominally go by them have corrupted and deprived them of spiritual value by their vain controversies and disputes. It was possible to settle such disputes under the flag, as it were, of the old Revelations, but Allah's Plan was to revive and rejuvenate His Message through Islam, amongst a newer and younger people, unhampered by the burden of age long prejudices. 
# 1614     Cf. xi. 62. There is always in human affairs the conflict between the old and the new, -the worn-out system of our ancestors, and the fresh living spring of Allah's inspiration fitting in with new times and new surroundings. The advocates of the former look upon this latter not only with intellectual doubt but with moral suspicion, as did the People of the Book upon Islam, with its fresh outlook and vigorous realistic way of looking at things. 

The Ark of the Covenant
The so called Fifth Book of Moses - Deuteronomy, records that Prophet Moses made an Ark of acacia wood and cut two tablets of stone like the ones he had received on the mountain, while God spoke to him. As God had commanded him to do, Moses put these two tablets containing the Original Message from God into the Ark (see Deut. 10: 1-5). Later, the contents of the original Ark were transferred and sealed into another Ark of wood and gold made by Bezalel of the tribe of Judah. This Ark served as a holy archive for the safe keeping of the sacred testimonies, reminders and messages. It also contained a golden jar having the manna and the rod of high priest Aaron. Before Moses died, he gave a copy of the "Book of Law" to the Levitical priests with instructions to place that copy not within the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, but place it beside the sacred Ark.  Moses added; 
"...let it remain there as a witness against you. For I know well how rebellious and stubborn you are. If you already have been so rebellious towards the Lord while I am still alive among you, how much more after my death!" (Deut. 31: 26-28). 
This Ark of the Covenant was brought by King David to Jerusalem. Today, the researchers like Mike Sanders believe that the Ark was probably destroyed by Ramesses III. The original Message of God that was bestowed upon Moses and written by Moses himself and placed by him in the Ark is no where to be found. 


IMPORTANT ADDITIONS
RESPONSES FROM SILAS AND SAM SHAMOUN
MY REFUTATIONS TO THOSE RESPONSES

   The combined responses from Silas (the original author) and Sam Shamoun (a colleague of Silas), is an article twenty-seven pages long and is divided into two parts. Since much of it is either irrelevant or deviates from the ORIGINAL CLAIM made by Silas that is under rebuttal, I am only reproducing the essential and related excerpts. Silas has claimed; "THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE". To this false claim I have rightly called a deception. Silas has now invited his "esteemed" colleague - Sam Shamoun, to play around with the well established and distinctly defined terminology "THE BIBLE" and to manipulate the  ORIGINAL CLAIM. It is often, within the Divine Plan of Allah, to expose the deceit from the writings of those who wish to propagate falsehood in His name. The seekers of Truth may be elated to read how Sam Shamoun contradicts his colleague. After reading my refutations, if someone feels the need to read the entire lengthy response, the URLs for both the parts are given at the end. 

Silas writes: My esteemed colleague, Mr. Sam Shamoun, had already written an analysis of Meherally's "rebuttal." I have only added a few comments to his work. Hence the reader may see our work switch back and forth from first person to second, to third. It should not be difficult for the informed reader.

Sam: I choose to call Meherally's response a deception for several reasons. First in order to call our readers' attention to Meherally's ad hominem slurs. Do note that Meherally begins his article with the bold claim that Silas' article is a falsehood and a deception. This is presumably done in order to poison the minds of Meherally's readers from seriously considering Silas' arguments. Yet, all Meherally has managed to do throughout his article is to expose his shoddy scholarship. As I shall shortly demonstrate the only one who is promoting falsehood and lies is Meherally.

Instead of attacking a person's character and/or using cheap polemical tricks, Meherally needs to show respect to those whom he opposes. His attacks do nothing to help his case but only expose his immature and unprofessional attitude.
(The change of typeface to bold, is mine).

Meherally: I did call the article written by Silas a deception, because the well established and distinctly defined terms BIBLE or THE HOLY BIBLE do not appear in the Qur'an. Even this twenty-seven page article has not been able to substantiate that which is non-existent. Earlier, I have already enumerated that which has been Revealed by Allah (s.w.t.) in His Book. If, Sam considers my calling Sisal's article a deception to be "ad hominem slurs", what does he consider his opening remark that reads: "I choose to call Meherally's response a deception"

Silas/Sam have quoted the following passage from my rebuttal

The word "BIBLE" and/or the phrase "THE HOLY BIBLE" or their Arabic equivalents did not appear in the Qur'an that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to recite in his days. Neither do they appear in the copies of the Qur'an that the Muslims do recite today. Furthermore, if one was to do the key-word search for the words BIBLE, OLD TESTAMENT or NEW TESTAMENT within the majority of the translated ENGLISH TEXTS of the Glorious Qur'an, the results would be ZERO. In other words, these words or phrases DO NOT appear in these translated texts of the Qur'an. To claim that the author of this article - Silas, (which could be a pen name) who uses the following sub-heading, was in reality not aware of the above mentioned facts, is to say that the author's work could not be relied upon. To say otherwise, would be to admit that Silas is the master of DECEPTION.

The noteworthy sub-heading to be found within the article by Silas: 
C. THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE 

Silas:  Meherally's thrust here is that since the word "Bible" is not found in English translations of the Quran, then my assertion "THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE", is false.

At this point, I need to say to Meherally, "Meherally! Before you ‘rebut’ anything, please read all of it!!! Otherwise you appear to be a barking dog or a braying donkey." If Meherally would have bothered to read all of my article, he would have found where I address his question. Meherally is not the first person to make such an objection. Consequently, I specifically addressed this in Section D, Muslim objection #2. So much time would be saved if people bothered to read, and then be able to understand what they read.
(The change of typeface to bold, is mine).

Meherally: If Silas had indeed addressed this question earlier, as he claims so vehemently, why has Silas not reproduced that text here and made the short end of this dialogue? Why has Silas invited an "esteemed writer" his aid? And, why this helper has written such a LENGTHY RESPONSE to prove that which has already been proven by Silas? The readers will find out, once they finish reading my entire response (part of which is yet under editing and typing) how baseless is the claim: "THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE".  Surprisingly, Silas has completely overlooked and disregarded the advise given by his "esteemed colleague" of showing respect to those whom you oppose and introduced disrespectful and derogatory phrases as "a barking dog" and "a braying donkey". I wish to invite the attention of Silas - a follower of Jesus, to the following warning by Christ; "...and if you say, 'You Ra'cah', (a derogatory personal remark to another person), you will be liable to the fire of Hell." Matthew  5 : 22.

Sam:
Further, Meherally has evidently not even bothered to thoroughly read the Quran. The claim that "Bible", "Holy Bible" or their Arabic equivalents do not appear in the Quran is blatantly false. The term Bible comes from the Greek word Biblos, and simply means "Book." Instead of expecting to find Bible in the Arabic Quran we should see if whether the Quran refers to the Holy Bible by its Arabic equivalent, namely Kitab meaning Book. This is precisely what we find the Quran calling the previous revelation:
(The change of typeface to bold, is mine).

Meherally:  Please make a note that Sam has claimed; the term BIBLE simply means "BOOK" (singular). Now examine what his colleague Silas has claimed for the same term BIBLE. Here is an excerpt from the original writings by Silas:

Yet, if one were to trace the word Bible back to the Greek, 
one would discover that the word itself comes from the term biblia, meaning "books." 
(The change of ink color to Red and the typeface, are mine). 
Silas had argued in his original article that the word BIBLE means "books". However, the Arabic word "KITAB" -- that appeared in the Qur'anic Verse that Silas had quoted underneath --  was in its SINGULAR form. So, he now attempts to change that form Plural to Singular by introducing one more falsehood, as you will soon discover. On the other hand, Sam Shamoun simply changed the Greek word for the BIBLE to its singular form and then make it tally it with the Qur'anic term "KITAB". An ingenious method of changing the form of the crucial word in Greek, and then try to prove: "THE BIBLE"  =  "THE BOOK"  =  "THE KITAB". 
A helper invited by Silas to help, proves that Silas was wrong in his derivation.

However, the Encyclopedia Britannia ( 1953) records; The English word "Bible" is derived through Mediaeval Latin from the Greek, which simply means "the books." The above published prestigious record proves Sam to be wrong and thus his attempt falls flat on its face unless Sam claims to be more knowledgeable!!!

Silas continues:
Hence, in time the collection became classified as the Book due to the fact that although the Bible consisted of 66 individual writings, the author was one, the Holy Spirit, having one unifying theme: the advent of God's Messiah-Deliverer.  Not surprisingly, we find the Quran mentioning the Book (Arabic- al-Kitab) of the Jews and Christians:

Meherally:
Silas is shy of using the common term "individual books", and hence he prefers to write "individual writings", just a casual observation. Silas and Sam both belong to the "Protestant" Denomination of Christianity that follows a BIBLE with 66 Books. Have they ruled out all other BIBLES, including the famous Catholic Bible, which has 73 individual books? Who was the author of those Seven individual books? IF, the same "one" - the Holy Spirit, why reject them? IF not, how do you know for sure the 66 books that you read have no such spurious Book or Books? The history records that the Protestant Sect came into existence nearly eight centuries after the QUR'AN WAS REVEALED, when it separated from the Roman Catholic Church. Which BIBLE was the one that was being read during that long period of eight centuries?  My next question for Silas and Sam is; WHICH SPECIFIC BIBLES, that the Jews and Christians read today, are for sure have been attested by the QUR'AN with the Revealed Arabic term "KITAB", and which have been for sure rejected??? 
Let me refresh the claim: "THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE".

Silas has claimed; "the author was one, the Holy Spirit." (see above). Again, a falsehood. The following text from the BIBLE exposes and demonstrate that to be a blatant falsehood. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians (one of the "66 Books" of the Bible), Paul admits in the opening verse, he is the author of this entire Letter. And, what he has written in verse 25 and 26 is "his" own opinion : 

"Now concerning virgins, I have no command of the Lord, but I give my opinion as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is well for you to remain as you are."
    1 Corinthians 7 :25 - 26. 
Please visit again. Insha'Allah, more serious refutations will be added. 

Further 2nd Addition on February 2nd 2003

A typo error: 
In the earlier page, a sentence that read: 
IF, the same "one" - the Holy Spirit, was reject them?" 
has now been corrected to read:
IF, the same "one" - the Holy Spirit, why reject them?"
My apologies.
------
Here are further Refutations as promised:

The following is a text reproduced from my earlier Rebuttal:
The Book of Moses
In the Qur'an (5: 44), it is recorded that Allah (S.W.T.) had Himself Revealed / Bestowed "The Taurat" on Moses (peace be upon him), and therein was the Guidance and the Light. By its Standard the Jews were judged by their Prophets. 

It is absolutely incorrect or rather a folly to claim that "The Taurat" refers to the collection of the 39 Books of "The Old Testament". It is an indisputable fact that this entire collection of 39 Books was not Revealed to Prophet Moses. Similarly, it is ALSO incorrect to assert that the First Five Books of the Old Testaments called "The Pentateuch" (lit. "The Five Books"), which are often erroneously declared as the "Five Books of Moses", were Revealed to Prophet Moses. 
Some text has been deleted. 
The entire text does appear in the earlier portion. Please continue reading...

Below is the irrefutable proof that Prophet Moses did not write or dictate "The Pentateuch". The following historical account that appears in the end part of "The Pentateuch" and records what did transpire after the death of Moses could neither be qualified as Revealed by Allah Himself to Prophet Moses nor as The Book written or dictated by Moses nor as The text written during the lifetime of Moses.

As seen earlier, the Qur'anic Term "The Taurat" refers specifically to the Revealed Transcript by Allah Himself to His Prophet Moses and within this Revealed Transcript was "The Guidance and the Light." A Muslim is asked in the Qur'an to believe in this "Taurat" and not in everything that is identified or published as "The Books of Moses" in the Bible. Here are two eye-opening passages from "The Fifth Book of Moses" which is known as "Deuteronomy": 

"Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended"
Deuteronomy 34: 7-8 

"Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face." Deuteronomy 34: 10

The above text upholds the theory of Priestly and other Sources in The Pentateuch. 
The above text can be qualified as the history of Moses written by the historians. 
But certainly cannot be declared or qualified as; "The true Taurat that was revealed or bestowed upon Prophet Moses by the Almighty Allah".

-- The end of reproduction -- 

Sam's response to the above:

Fourth, Meherally thinks that Deuteronomy 34 somehow refutes Mosaic authorship. Yet this only exposes Meherally's hypocrisy. Meherally claims and believes that Deuteronomy contains two prophecies about Muhammad, Deuteronomy 18:15-18, 33:2:

8. Finally, several millenniums before Christ Jesus spoke for the coming of "another paraclete", the making of ISLAM as a Great Nation was already in GOD'S MASTER PLAN and foretold in the Holy Bible. God the Almighty had declared His Master Plan to His prophets Abraham, MOSES, Solomon, Isaiah and Habakkuk. Here are few verses from the Old and New Testaments. Genesis 17: 20; 21: 13-17-18; DEUTERONOMY 18: 15-18 AND IN PARTICULAR 33:2; Songs of Solomon 5: 10 to 16; Isaiah 42: 9 to 17 and Habakkuk 3: 3. 
John 14: 16/26; 15: 26; 16: 7 to 15; 1 John 2: 1 and 1 John 4: 6.  (  Source )

And:

Nearly TWENTY CENTURIES before the birth of prophet Muhammad AND A SHORT WHILE BEFORE HIS OWN DEATH, PROPHET MOSES speaking on the subject of the Holy One from mount Paran, said to his people: (Source )

If Meherally believes that Moses predicted the coming of his prophet twenty centuries before Muhammad's birth, then on what basis does Meherally use Deuteronomy 34 to reject Mosaic authorship? It seems to have never occurred to Meherally that just as it was possible for God to reveal to Moses the advent of a prophet that came thousands of years later, God was also able to reveal to Moses the manner of his death and have him record it for future generations!

Fifth, since Meherally accepts the Documentary Hypothesis and since this hypothesis rejects Mosaic authorship for the great bulk of the Pentateuch, how then does Meherally know that Deuteronomy 18 and 33 are genuine prophecies by Moses? On what basis does he accept Deuteronomy 18 and 33 as genuine while rejecting chapter 34?

Interestingly, Meherally contradicts himself since elsewhere he calls Deuteronomy "the fifth book of Moses":

The Message that Jesus had brought was the same as declared IN THE FIFTH BOOK OF MOSES, called Deuteronomy, which is: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God..." (  Source   )

So which is it? Is Deuteronomy the fifth book of Moses or not? Meherally seemingly wants to have his cake and eat it too and yet he can't have it both ways. Sadly, such shoddy scholarship and deceptive methodology is a common feature of Meherally's articles. 
(The underlines are mine.)
--- end of Sam's respose --

Meherally:

Please read carefully the opening sentence from Sam's response. It reads:
Fourth, Meherally thinks that Deuteronomy 34 somehow refutes Mosaic authorship.

I have for sure refuted the MOSAIC authorship for CHAPTER NUMBER 34,  which happens to be the LAST CHAPTER of that Book. To uphold and support my refutation I have also quoted VERSES 7 - 8 and Verse 10 from Chapter 34.

Now, please read once again the above quoted misleading Response of Sam.
He refers to my OTHER WORKS as the Source Documents, that deal with CHAPTERS 18 and 33 of Deuteronomy. Sam, the "esteemed writer" boasts that he has EXPOSED "Meherally's hypocrisy". Need I spell out what has been in reality exposed from the above Response of Sam, who has not quoted anything from chapter 34? Sam, should read again my Sources and demonstrate where have I rejected the entire Book of Deuteronomy to prove "Meherally's hypocrisy". Let me, repeat what I had written earlier: "It is often, within the Divine Plan of Allah, to expose the deceit from the writings of those who wish to propagate falsehood in His name." Sam writes in his response and I quote:

If Meherally believes that Moses predicted the coming of his prophet twenty centuries before Muhammad's birth, then on what basis does Meherally use Deuteronomy 34 to reject Mosaic authorship? It seems to have never occurred to Meherally that just as it was possible for God to reveal to Moses the advent of a prophet that came thousands of years later, God was also able to reveal to Moses the manner of his death and have him record it for future generations!
(The underlines are mine.)

Sam is trying to change the text of a post Moses Historical Record into a Prophecy. Once again this ingenious scheme falls flat on its face, before the following quote. 
Here is a text copied from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (NRSV) of the Bible, that appears under the subheading of VITAL STATISTIC: 

DEUTERONOMY

AUTHOR:
Moses (except for the final summary which was probably written by 
Joshua after Moses' death).

Note:  Joshua the son of Nun is the author of the next Book in the O/T. 

I have a suggestion for Sam, Silas and his Organization: 
Write to the Editors of NRSV and ask them to amend what they have written...

Here is another passage from Sam's Response:
Interestingly, Meherally contradicts himself since elsewhere he calls Deuteronomy "the fifth book of Moses":

Meherally:

Is Sam trying to tell his readers that he has never opened the famous King James Version of the Bible and read the headings of the Books of the Old Testament? 
In K.J.V. the title for the first book of the Old Testament reads: 
The First Book of Moses, called GENESIS.
And, this style is maintained by K.J.V. for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and the 5th Book. 
The title for the fifth book of the Old Testament reads: 
The Fifth Book of Moses, called DEUTERONOMY.

In the Glorious Qur'an the Chapter (Sura) Number 69 is called Al-Haqqa meaning THE REALITY. If Sam was to call that Chapter "The Reality", can anyone claim that Sam has acknowledged that Chapter to be THE REALITY (The Truth)?

Sam makes a very serious erroneous claim below and then goes on to make the unwarranted serious remarks for the Glorious Qur'an:

Finally and even more amazingly, it might come as a complete shock to our readers to find that the Quran never actually says that the Taurat was given to Moses. Instead, the Quran says that Allah gave Moses the Book. This means that the only way for Meherally to know whether the Taurat was given to Moses IS BY TURNING TO THE HOLY BIBLE! Otherwise, Meherally can never prove from the Quran itself that the Taurat was given to Moses. This is another indication that the Quran is an incomplete and incoherent record.
(The under lines and the color changes, are mine)

Meherally:

Insha'Allah, God Willing, I am about to EXPOSE Sam that will not only SHOCK the readers, but will DISCREDIT him, once and for all the times. What Sam has claimed is a FALSEHOOD, that none can deny after reading the following verse that speaks of "AT-TAWRAAT" being revealed to Moses. After reading the following translations and the transliteration Sam should sincerely lament and apologize for having written the following falsehood for THE QUR'AN, I quote:
This is another indication that the Quran is an incomplete and incoherent record.

Here are the translations and transliteration of Verse 5: 44:

Lo! We did reveal the Torah, wherein is guidance and a light, by which the Prophets who surrendered (unto Allah) judged the Jews, and the rabbis and the priests (judged) by such of Allah's Scripture as they were bidden to observe, and thereunto were they witnesses. So fear not mankind, but fear Me. And barter not My revelations for a little gain. Whoso judgeth not by that which Allah hath revealed: such are disbelievers.  Translation by M. M. Pickthall

It was We who revealed the law (to Moses); therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews by the Prophet who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah's will by the Rabbis and the doctors of Law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah's Book and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men but fear Me and sell not My Signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by 
(the light of) what Allah hath revealed they are (no better than) unbelievers.
Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Indeed We revealed the Taurat to Moses, in which there is guidance and light: By its laws, all the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged those who call themselves Jews and so did the rabbis and jurists of law. They were entrusted the protection of Allah's Book and they themselves were witnesses. Have no fear of people; fear Me, and do not sell My revelations for a petty price: those who do not judge by the law which Allah has revealed, are indeed kafirs (unbelievers). 
Translation by F. Malik

'in(na) -naa anzalnaa at- tawraah fe -haa huda(n) wa- nor yah.kum bi- -haa an- nabeyon 'alladhena aslamo li- 'alladhena haado wa- ar- rabbaaneyon wa- al- ah.baar bi- maa istuh.fiz.o min kitaab 'allaah wa- kaano calay -hi shuhadaa' fa- laa takhshaw an- naas wa- ikhshaw -ni wa- laa tashtaro bi- 'aayaat -e thaman(an) qalel(an) wa- man lam yah.kum bi- maa anzala 'allaah fa- 'olaa'ika hum al- kaafiron.
Transliteration of Verse 5: 44

Here is the greatest shock: 
I had made a reference to this verse number 5: 44 in the very opening of my Rebuttal's Sub-heading The Book of Moses. Sam did not bother to open the Qur'an and read that verse before making the accusations.
I could, but I do not wish to repeat what Silas wrote to me about the dogs and donkeys. He may read it himself, since that applies to him. 

THE GOSPELS:
Here is an excerpt from the Encyclopedia Britannia 1953, under the Title BIBLE, Heading  NEW TESTAMENT, Sub-heading TEXTUAL CRITICISM Vol. 3, page 51. This passage gives several examples to demonstrate that the interpolations within the Gospels are INTENTIONAL. The Gospels that Christians are reading today have materials from the external sources and hence are corrupted.

In the Gospels, on the other hand, the characteristic variations are intentional, such as the addition or insertion of whole passages, some of which must certainly have been supplied from an external source. The longest is the whole story of the Woman taken in Adultery, inserted between John vii. 52 and viii. 12; others are a long insertion after Matt. xx. 28 (61 words), the saying about the Face of the Sky in Matt. xvi. 2-3 (31 words), the story of the Angel and the Bloody Sweat in Luke xxii. 43-44 (26 words), and many other shorter passages. No satisfactory paleographical explanation has ever been found for these variants; they are evidently made on purpose, by persons who had new matter to insert into the text and felt themselves at liberty to do so. The fact of the occurrence of these longer Interpolations (as they are usually called) prepares us to find that very many of the shorter variants are of the same nature, i.e., that they did not arise through scribal errors but by intentional efforts to improve or enrich the original. 
Further 3rd Addition on February 6th 2003

Meherally:
DEUTERONOMY
Sam wrote in his rebuttal:

 It seems to have never occurred to Meherally that just as it was possible for God to reveal to Moses the advent of a prophet that came thousands of years later, God was also able to reveal to Moses the manner of his death and have him record it for future generations!

In my earlier response I had quoted the Vital Statistics for the Book of Deuteronomy, from the NEW REVISED STANDARD VERSION (NRSV). This Vital Statistics, written by the editors of the Bible acknowledged that Joshua was probably the author of that historical record and it was recorded after the death of Moses. In case Sam Shamoun refuses to accept that Vital Statistic here is my alternate response from the Biblical Texts. It seems that Sam has either not read the specific wordings and the language of these prophecies for the advent of a FUTURE PROPHET that are recorded in CHAPTER 18 and compared them with the wordings and the language of the PAST EVENTS that are recorded in CHAPTER 34. Or, Sam is fully aware of those obvious and glaring differences and is intentionally responding with "esteemed" style of pretentious hollow arguments.  

The opening words of Prophecy No. 1 recorded in Deut. 18: 15 reads: 
"The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me...." 

The opening words of Prophecy No. 2 recorded in Deut. 18: 18 reads:
"I will raise up from them a prophet like you from among their own people, I will put my words in the mouth of that prophet..."

These prophecies REVEAL the Future Events in their Future Tenses.

Now compare the wordings and language of the following records in Deut. 34: 5 - 8
"Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab...
"He was buried in a valley in the land of Moab..." 
"The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; then the period of mourning for Moses was ended.

These historical events are all RECORDED in their Past Tenses.
It is unfortunate that some people argue for the sake of arguing and they never LEARN THE TRUTH... Jesus rightly said: "The Truth shall make you free...".

THE AUTHOR WAS ONE, THE HOLY SPIRIT

Silas wrote:
Hence, in time the collection became classified as the Book due to the fact that although the Bible consisted of 66 individual writings, the author was one, the Holy Spirit, having one unifying theme:

Please read the following TEXT from the 'Book of Isaiah', one of the 66 Books. 
The reproductions are from a Bible CD and the Version is the King James Version:

(KJV) Isa 61:1   The Spirit of the Lord God {is} upon me; because
 the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to {them that are} bound;

(KJV) Isa 61:2   To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Apostle Luke records that Jesus went into a synagogue in Nazareth. He was given the Scroll of the prophet Isaiah to read. Jesus unrolled the Scroll and read. Please compare the following TEXT from the 'Gospel of Luke, one of the 66 Books. 
(KJV) Lk 4:18     The Spirit of the Lord {is} upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

(KJV) Lk 4:19     To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

One would EXPECT, Luke to QUOTE here what we had read earlier from the "Book of Isaiah". But, he ADDED his own text and thus corrupted the Book. 

Here are two serious question for Silas:
IF the author was ONE, the Holy Spirit for all the 66 Books, then why the TWO TEXTS do not tally LINE FOR LINE and WORD FOR WORD? Who wrote the ADDITIONAL LINE that reads "and recovering of sight to the blind"

IF Silas is NOT YET READY to change his statement then Silas should disown the 'Doctrine of Trinity' the foundation of his Christianity. This Innovated Doctrine teaches that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are ONE. Did God Err???

Silas claims: "THE QURAN STATES THAT THE BIBLE IS TRUE".

By the Grace of Allah, it has been established WITHOUT ANY DOUBT: 
"THE BIBLE ESTABLISHES THAT ALL ITS BOOKS ARE NOT TRUE".

Those interested in reading more on the Innovated 'Doctrine of Trinity' may click:
      http://www.mostmerciful.com/trinity.htm 

I close with a verse from the Glorious Qur'an:
Then in their wake We followed them up with (others of) Our apostles: We sent after them Jesus the son of Mary and bestowed on him the Gospel; and We ordained in the hearts of those who followed him Compassion and Mercy. But the 
monasticism which they invented for themselves We did not prescribe for them: (We commanded) only the seeking for the Good pleasure of Allah; but that they did not foster as they should have done. Yet We bestowed on those among them 
who believed their (due) reward but many of them are rebellious transgressors.
Chapter 57, Verse 27

Those interested in reading more on the Gospel bestowed on Jesus, may click:
   http://www.mostmerciful.com/kofgg.htm 

Here are the two URLs of Sam's response:
 http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Meherally/bible.htm
 http://www.answering-islam.org/Responses/Meherally/bible2.htm

Since the above responses deal mostly with the re-narrated Hadeeths and the works of Ibn Kathir, I suggest the readers to read my two articles on the subjects:
 http://www.mostmerciful.com/hadithbook-sectionone.htm  
(Myths & Realities of Hadeeths)
 http://www.mostmerciful.com/bukhari--munkar-e-hadeeth.htm (Please read the end part. It speaks of what has been discovered within the Ibn Kathir's commentaries).

Akbarally Meherally   February 6,  2003



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