Gospel In Islam
Gospel in Islam called Injil (إنجيل, Injeel) is the Arabic name for the Gospel of Jesus (Isa). This Injil is described by the Qur’an as one of the four Islamic holy books which were revealed by God, the others being the Zabur (possibly the Psalms), the Tawrat (the Torah), and the Qur’an itself. The word Injil is also used in the Quran, the Hadith and early Muslim documents to refer to both a book and revelations made by God to Jesus.
Etymology
The Arabic word Injil (إنجيل) as found in Islamic texts, and now used also by Muslim non-Arabs and Arab non-Muslims, is derived from the Syriac Aramaic word awongaleeyoon found in the Peshitta (Syriac translation of the Bible), which in turn derives from the Greek word euangelion (Εὐαγγέλιον) of the original Greek language New Testament, where it means “good news” (from Greek “Εὐ αγγέλιον”; Old English “gōdspel”; Modern English “gospel”, or “evangel” as an archaism, cf. e.g. Spanish “evangelio”) The word Injil occurs twelve times in the Quran.
Identification
Muslim scholars have resisted identifying the Injil with the New Testament Gospels. Some have suggested the Injil may be the Gospel of Barnabas or the Gospel of Thomas. More commonly, Muslim scholars have argued that the Injil refers to a text now lost or hopelessly corrupted. For example, Abdullah Yusuf Ali wrote:
The Injil (Greek, Evangel equals Gospel) spoken of by the Qur’an is not the New Testament. It is not the four Gospels now received as canonical. It is the single Gospel which, Islam teaches, was revealed to Jesus, and which he taught. Fragments of it survive in the received canonical Gospels and in some others, of which traces survive (e.g., the Gospel of Childhood or the Nativity, the Gospel of St.Barnabas, etc.).”
The following verse is often interpreted as implying that the Injil is preserved, but instead many Muslim scholars interpret it as Allah warning the Christians not to enforce the law contrary to the law sent by Allah:
And We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow in their footsteps, confirming that which was (revealed) before him in the Torah, and We bestowed on him the Gospel [Injil] wherein is guidance and a light, confirming that which was (revealed) before it in the Torah ] – a guidance and an admonition unto those who ward off (evil). Let the People of the Gospel [Injil] judge by that which Allah hath revealed therein….”.
— Quran, sura 5 (Al-Ma’ida), ayah 46, 47a
Scholars such as Gabriel Said Reynolds have maintained Injil refers specifically to the Gospel of the New Testament in the possession of the Christians being addressed in such passages, which is none other than the Gospels of the Bible as known today and in copies that predate the lifetime of Muhammad.
Nature
Regardless of the scholarly disagreement, Muslims commonly believe that Injil refers to a true Gospel, bestowed upon Jesus by God. Many Muslims believe that the Injil was revealed by God to Jesus in a manner comparable to the way the Quran was revealed to Muhammad; as presumed from passages in the Quran stating the gospel was a received message, such as (tr. Pickthall):
Then We caused Our messengers to follow in their footsteps; and We caused Jesus, son of Mary, to follow, and gave him the Gospel, and placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him.”
— Quran, sura 57 (Al-Hadid), ayah 27
Muslims reject that Jesus or any other person wrote the Injil, instead crediting its authorship to God. Many Muslim scholars continue to believe that the Biblical Gospel has undergone alteration, that the words and the meaning of the words have been distorted, with some passages suppressed and others added. A key Islamic principle of oneness (Tawhid) and wholeness of God’s divinity means that in their view it is impossible for Jesus to be God incarnate or the Son of God, and claims to the contrary within the Biblical Gospels must be due to later additions. Nevertheless, the Bible has been used by Muslims as a historical source. It is said in the Quran (interpretation of the meaning):
(O Muslims) do you still fancy that they will believe you, although a group of them used to hear the word of Allah, and then, having understood it, used to distort it knowingly?
— Quran, surah 2 (Al-Baqarah), ayah 75
So woe to those who write the “scripture” with their own hands, then say, “This is from Allah,” in order to exchange it for a small price. Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for what they earn.
— Quran, surah 2 (Al-Baqarah), ayah 79
They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three.” And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.
— Quran, sura 5 (Al-Ma’ida), ayah 73
According to a hadith collected by al-Bukhari:
The people of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and then explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said (to the Muslims). “Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, ‘We believe in Allah and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.’ ”
— Sahih al-Bukhari Book 96, Hadith 89
Adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia