Praise to Allah1

, the cherisher and sustainer of the worlds,
and may peace and blessings be upon all of His messengers.
In every age and generation there will be honest people who are
looking for the true guidance. Allah (S.W.) had sent his messengers
with signs, light, and true guidance. “It was We who revealed the
law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light.” (Holy Quran,
Surah 5. Al-Ma'ida – 44) “And in their footsteps We sent Jesus
the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him:
We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and
confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance
and an admonition to those who fear Allah.” (Holy Quran, Surah
5. Al-Ma'ida – 46)
The Holy Quran, the final divine book, then was revealed to reveal
the light and the true guidance. “O people of the Book! There hath
come to you our Messenger, revealing to you much that ye used
to hide in the Book, and passing over much (that is now
unnecessary). There hath come to you from Allah a (new) light
and a perspicuous Book,- Wherewith Allah guides all who seek
1
- Muslims prefer using the name “Allah”, which is one of many other beautiful names and it is God
Almighty’s greatest name, instead of the English word “God”. The word “Allah” is pure and unique
unlike the English word “God”, which can be used in many forms. If we add ‘s’ to the word “God” it
becomes “Gods”, that is a plural of God. Allah is one and singular, there is no plural of Allah. If we add
‘dess’ to the word ‘God’, it becomes ‘Goddess’, that is a female God. There is nothing like male Allah or
female Allah. (taken from: “The Concept of God in Major Religions”, Dr. Zakir Abdul Kareem, pp 18)
(Added by the translator)
2
- Muslims do not mention the name of Allah without glorification. The letters “S.W” is an abbreviation
of the two Arabic words “Sobhanahu Wataala”, which means, “Glory to Him! He is high above all”
(Holy Quran 17:43). The English meaning of these two words is from the “Meaning of the Holy Quran by
Abdullah Yusof Ali”. (Added by the translator)

IS THE OLD TESTAMENT GOD’S WORD?

His good pleasure to ways of peace and safety, and leads them
out of darkness, by His will, unto the light,- guides them to a
path that is straight.” (Holy Quran, Surah 5. Al-Ma'ida – 15 -16)
However, the previous books of Allah (S.W.) that revealed to
prophets were lost due to the circumstances of writing and the way of
conservation, and they were subject to distortion and loss. Thus,
people went astray from the guidance and the right path, and people
used other books that attributed to Allah (S.W.).
These books do not contain – except slightly - the true guidance and
light. These written books contain and conclude the weakness of the
human beings and their ignorance. They are full of contradictions,
and issues, which no sane or wise person would accept their
attribution to Allah (S.W.). This does not mean that these books are
lack of the true guidance completely, but, as I mentioned, they were
subject to alteration and human contradiction.
This is the Muslims’ belief of the previous books. Muslims believe in
the books that Allah (S.W.) had revealed to his prophets, but they do
not accept that the Old Testament is Allah’s (S.W.) word, even
though it contains some of His revelation and guidance.
However, Christians and Jews believe that these books (The books
of the Old Testament) are divine, and consider them the word of
Allah (S.W.) that He revealed to His prophets and the Jews read and
%0 kept throughout their long history.
With this significant difference between the two teams, I propose the
question, “Is the Old Testament Allah’s (S.W.) word?”, which I will try
to answer in this book of this series, and present it to those who are
searching for the true guidance among the people of the book
(Christians and Jews).

 A look at what JudeoChristian scholars say about the authenticity and preservation of the Old Testament.