Distorting the Gospels Fatwa No: 2105
- Fatwa Date:4-5-2011
Christians claim that the Gospel was not distorted and that the differences between the Gospels are the different ways of interpreting them just like the difference between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Please advise.
All perfect praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His Slave and Messenger.
Anyone who studies the four Gospels will find substantial differences and numerous errors indicating that they are certainly not revelation from Allaah The Almighty. Al-Hindi, the prominent scholar points out that there are one hundred and twenty-five differences and contradictions in the Gospels and a hundred and ten mistakes. Moreover, he points out forty-five evident syntactic additions, and twenty-five evident syntactic omissions.
1. They differ on the ancestry of their worshipped god, the Messiah. Matthew says that Jesus is related to Yoosuf (Joseph), the son of Ya‘qoob (Jacob) and traced his origin back to Sulaymaan (Solomon), the son of Daawood (David), may Allaah exalt their mention. However, Luke traces his origin back to Yoosuf (Joseph), the son of Hali and that his kinship ends up with Nathan, the son of Daawood (David), may Allaah exalt their mention.
2. Matthew says that there are twenty-seven forefathers of Jesus, back to Dawood (David) while Luke maintains that they are forty-two.
In addition to these differences, there are mistakes that should never exist in a divinely revealed book, such as when they attribute ‘Eesa to Joseph, the carpenter, the fiancé of Maryam, may Allaah exalt her mention. This supports the slanders leveled by the Jews against Mariam, may Allaah exalt her mention. The Christians should have traced his origin back to Maryam alone, may Allaah exalt her mention. How can Matthew be infallible and "inspired" when he does not know the ancestors of ‘Eesa and forgets to mention fifteen of his ancestors?
In addition, they differed in identifying the names of the disciples of ‘Eesaa . Matthew and Luke mentioned Labbeus who was called Thaddeus, then it was replaced with Judas, the brother of Jacob. Is it possible that a book that is revealed from Allaah The Almighty would not correctly name the disciples?
Another apparent mistake is what was said by Matthew in his Gospel after the alleged Crucifixion: "And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. 31 The earth quaked, rocks were split, fifty-two tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many."
3. If such a great miracle had happened, it would have been narrated by people who would have been keen on relating it. However, it was not known to Luke, Mark and John in spite of the fact that they were keen on narrating minor unimportant details. This proves that it is a fabricated story.
4. Matthew said that the Day of Judgment would come at the time of the people who were Christ's contemporaries and said that Christ had said that the Son of Man (by which they mean the son of the Lord) would come in the glory of his Father with angels and every one would be either punished or rewarded according to his deeds, and that there would be some people who would not die until they had seen the Son of Man coming in his glory. They added that they would not go into all the cities of Israel until the Son of Man had come. No divine scripture would include such a mistake. Twenty centuries have passed, yet this prophecy has not come true.
5. It was mentioned in Luke (130) that Allaah The Almighty would give Christ the throne of Daawood (David) his father, and that he would be the king of Ya‘qoob’s family forever. This is a fatal mistake as Christ was neither a king of the Jews nor of the family of Ya‘qoob . Would the promise of Allaah The Almighty not be fulfilled? This and other evidence definitely shows that these gospels are not the Gospel that Allaah The Almighty revealed to Eesaa . They are no more than an effort from the students of Christ to write his biography. It is far from being infallible or inspired.
Allaah Knows best.