The True Meaning of Al-Injīl in The Qur’an

Introduction

Al-Injīl, with its many Arabic translations, is considered one of the divine books related to Christ Jesus (pbuh). It is usually presented in twenty-seven books, in one volume, printed and published under the title al-Injīl. Mainstream Muslims believe that these versions of al-Injīl contain some of the truth that the Qur’ān has approved, but also some fabrications, and that the original material/physical book of al-Injīl, which was revealed to the Messiah (pbuh), has been lost. In the end, they do not believe that al-Injīl is reliable.

This article will discuss these beliefs through the Qur’ān, the most reliable book for Muslims. Is the Qur’ān’s position on the Bible positive? Does the Qur’ān confirm al-Injīl? Or does it abrogate it?

If the Qur’ān in the seventh century authenticated al-Injīl, as will be shown in the article, what version was it referring to? Finally, this article will show three Islamic approaches in which the al-Injīl can be presented in Arabic, and which one is the most reliable.

The Qur’ānic Background

After Adam (pbuh) was expelled from Paradise, God promised to send guidance: “We (Allāh) said, Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance—there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve” (Qur’ān 2.38). God sent this guidance through messengers and books: “And We have already sent Noah and Abraham and placed in their descendants’ prophethood and scripture” (Q 57.26). Thus, God chose prophets throughout human history and gave them the scriptures to share with others. He chose Adam (pbuh), Noah (pbuh), the family of Abraham (pbuh) (to whom He gave the scriptures [Q 87.19]), and the family of ‘Imran’ over the world (Q 3.33). He also chose the Children of Israel (Q 44.32), sent Moses (pbuh) and gave him the Torah al-Tawrah (Q 2.53, 87; 6.154; 11.110; 17.2), and gave the Psalms al-Zabur to David (pbuh) (Q 4.163; 17.55). Then the Messiah (pbuh), who confirmed and fulfilled the Torah, came with the Gospel al-Injīl (Q 3.50; 5.45; 61.6). Then the Qur’an affirmed all of the preceding books: “He (Allāh) has sent down upon you, (O Muhammad), the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel” (Q 3.3). (See also 2.41, 89, 91, 101; 4.47; 5.48; 6.92; 35.31; 46.12). The Qur’an called the Jews and Christians ‘People of the Book’ ahla al-kitāb (31 times) and ‘People of the Reminder’ ahla al-dhikr (twice: Q 16.43; 21.7).

At the time of the revelation of the Qur’ān, when the Jews and Christians were present, the Torah al-Tawrah and the Gospel al-Injīl were in their hands. Q 5.43 states: “But how is it that they [the Jews] come to you for judgment while they have the Torah, in which is the judgment of Allāh? Then they turn away, [even] after that; but those are not [in fact] believers.” And “let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allāh has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what Allāh has revealed—then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient” (Q 5.47). The Qur’ān considers the al-Tawrah and al-Injīl as guidance and light (Q 5.44, 46) and instruction for the righteous (Q 5.46). So, the Qur’ān is not the abrogation of previous books but their confirmation and protection (Q 5.48). The Qur’ān also speaks about the process of guarding the books, including the al-Injīl. In Q 5.44, the rabbis and priests were to preserve Torah. In Q 5.48, there is a reference to ‘the book’ preserving the truth, and confirming prior revelation (waḥy), and so Muhammad (pbuh) was encouraged to judge between what Jews of his day were saying to him; he was to judge or discern using what had been previously revealed in the earlier revelations/books (i.e., al-Tawrah, al-Zabur, and al-Injīl). This confirms the reliability of al-Injīl. In Q 5.43, Muhammad (pbuh) is told that the Jews have enough in the Torah and do not need to ask him to judge or decide; meanwhile, Christians have enough in the al-Injīl to enable them to judge by it (Q 5.47).

Furthermore, the Qur’ān gave the People of the Book authority, for Muhammad (pbuh) is told: “So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters” (Q 10.94). Hence, this verse instructs Muhammad (pbuh) himself, if he has questions or doubts about the Qur’ān, to consult with the people who have the previous books. This indicates that the books were present, that there were faithful interpreters at that time, and that the books had not been corrupted.

On the other hand, the Qur’ān distinguished between the Books themselves which are credible and the People of the Book, for they are not the same: “They are not [all] the same; among the People of the Scripture is a community standing [in obedience], reciting the verses of Allāh during periods of the night and prostrating [in prayer]” (Q 3.113). So, some of them were misusing, misunderstanding, and misrepresenting the meaning of the words of the books, but this does not mean that the purpose and words of the Holy Books were flawed.

The Qur’ān indicates that at the time of Muhammad (pbuh), Jews and Christians had their book “in their hands” and that the previous books were misused or misinterpreted, at the level of interpretation ta’wīl.^[1] Also, the Qur’an levels accusations against some of the People of the Book—especially the Jews, for they forgot a portion of that of which they were reminded (Q 5.13, 14), or threw the book away behind their backs (Q 3.187), or concealed portions (Q 5.15; 6.91), or misquoted their books (Q 4.46; 5.15, 41), or changed tabdīl the God’s commands (Q 2.59; 7.162), Furthermore, some of them wrote ‘scripture’ with their own hands, and then said, “This is from God” (Q 2.79). They also altered the Scripture with their tongues so that others would think it was from the Scripture (Q 3.78). However, this does not bring into question the nature of the books as a revelation, tanzīl, and they were not affected by alteration, tabdīl.

The Majority Muslim View of al-Injīl

This was the Qur’ān’s position, but the majority Muslim opinion is that the New Testament Gospels are textually corrupted and are not the real Gospel, al-Injīl, although they believe that, as with the other heavenly books, Jesus Christ (pbuh) received the Gospel message al-Injīl from God. However, we must be aware that he did not write it down, nor did he instruct his disciples to write anything down during his lifetime. Unlike the Torah of Moses (pbuh) (Q 7:145) and the Qur’an of Muhammad (pbuh).^[2] The Gospel that Jesus (pbuh) received was not a verbatim dictation; rather, it was his spoken message or inspired teaching. Whatever he said was the Gospel, whether he said it in Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, Hebrew, or possibly Latin. It was a revelation (waḥy) that is described by the Qur’an as guidance, light, a confirmation of the Torah, and an admonition for the pious. Thus, being the very embodiment of the divine communication, Jesus (pbuh) is honorifically called ‘the Word of God’ kalimat Allāh. So, Jesus Christ (pbuh) was given divine revelation (waḥy), which was sent down to him (tanzīl), word for word in Syriac/Aramaic (see John 12:49).

Moreover, for most Muslims, there is an additional assumption that the original al-Injīl was a single book that was subsequently irretrievably lost.^[3] Then, decades later, four pseudo-gospels were written, eventually called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which somehow contain elements of the true Gospel, but also contain fabricated narrations and theological heresies (Ataie 2016, 5).

The Christian View of al-Injīl

The common Christian understanding is twofold: all the books of the New Testament are referred to as al-Injīl in Muslim contexts, the four Gospels are called al-Anājīl, and often Christians use al-Injīl to mean the summary of the good news (Jesus died for sin, rose from the dead, etc.). The latter usage, al-Injīl /good news as the message, is the way the writers of the books in the New Testament use the word good news ‘evangelion.’

Christians use al-Injīl variously to refer to (1) the New Testament (comprised of twenty-seven books), (2) the four al-Anājīl (the so-called Gospels), and (3) a message known as ‘the Gospel.’ Hence, al-Injīl can be understood narrowly as the four gospels that Jesus (pbuh) preached or more widely of the New Testament teaching in the life of Jesus (pbuh) which was recorded (tasjīl) by his followers, or much more widely as the good news of the Messiah in the scriptures in general. We can see this in Q 7.157:

Those who follow the Messenger, the 'ummiyya prophet [the one whose parentage is attributed to his mother, i.e., Jesus, son of Mary],^[4] whom they find written in what they have of the Torah and the Gospel,^[5] who enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong and makes lawful for them the good things and prohibits for them the evil and relieves them of their burden and the shackles which were upon them. So they who have believed in him, honored him, supported him, and followed the light which was sent down with him—it is those who will be the successful.

Al-Injīl in the Context of Arabia

The use of the term al-Injīl as a reference to the Gospel was dominant in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the Qur’ān’s revelation, as the Qur’ānic discourse employed the language code of the people in accordance with their level of knowledge at that time. “And We [Allāh] did not send any messenger except [speaking] in the language of his people to state clearly for them, and Allāh sends astray [thereby] whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise” (Q 14.4). “And thus We have revealed it as an Arabic legislation” (Q 13.37). Thus, the Qur’ān transmitted the dominantly used word, not the original Hebrew word. For this same reason, it translated the name Eliyahu as Elias, and for Jesus, it used 'Isā, which came from the Greek Ἰησοῦς Iesous written as a nomen sacrum in a commonly abbreviated manner (i.e., I̅C̅ with a line over it, which might have been pronounced Ee-sa) (Kashouh 2021, 18). The Qur’ān likewise utilized al-Nasārā (from ‘Nazarene’) to refer to the Christians (Acts 24:5).

The Qur’ān calls the Gospel, al-Injīl. الإنجيل is an Arabicized form of the Greek εὐαγγέλιον euangelion, which means Good News, tidings of welcome events. Whether al-Injīl entered Arabic from Syriac or Ethiopic has been debated. However, the Ethiopic wangēl has a long vowel, similar to Injīl, which suggests that the word was introduced by Abyssinian Christians and was likely in widespread use in Arabia before Muhammad’s time (Jeffery 1938, 72).

Thus, the word Injīl did not originate from Arabic; it is a foreign name, though according to al-Thaʿlabī (1035 AD), al-Injīl is an Arabic word which means “generosity, from which the boy was named a son because of his coming out” (al-Thaʿlabī 2002, 3:8). I can see this meaning in John 16:28 where Jesus ‘Isa’ (pbuh) said: “I came from the Father into the world.” Al-Baghawi (1122 AD) suggested that Injīl was so called because God Almighty brought out by it those who study the truth, or it is from the (n-j-l), which is the widening of the eye. It was so-called because it was revealed to them as a facilitator and a light (al-Baghawī 1997, 2:6). I can see this meaning in Q 3.50: “And [I, ‘Isa’ have come] confirming what was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you.” But (al-Bayḍāwī 1998, 2:5) said that this is inaccurate because it is a foreign word (al-Bayḍāwī 1998, 2:5). Al-Baghawī indicated that Injīl in Syriac is Anqliun, meaning the crown (al-Baghawī 1997, 2:6).

The word al-Injīl appears in twelve verses (Q 3.3,48,65; 5.46,47,66,68,110; 7.157; 9.111; 48.29; 57.27). In nine of them, it occurs in conjunction with the mention of al-Tawrah, as a scripture sent down by God; the Torah and the Gospel appear to comprise the scripture al-kitāb that the Qur’ān says God taught to Jesus (pbuh) (Q 3.48). Twice the Qur’ān says explicitly that God brought Jesus (pbuh) the Gospel (Q 5.46; 57.27) (Griffith 2002, 342).

When the Qur’ān mentions the single ‘book’ given to Jesus (pbuh), it is not referring to a ‘material’ book or physical book. For example, Jesus (pbuh) spoke in the cradle: “God has given me the book” (Q 19.30). Yet there was no physical ‘book’ in his hand, while God gave to Moses (pbuh) the tablets alwāh (Q 7.145,150,154). This raises the possibility that al-Injīl mentioned by the Qur’ān was a future book, which may then be the book that resulted from the work of the collectors. Al-Farāhī (1930 AD) confirmed: “Al-Injīl does not mean a book revealed to Jesus (pbuh), rather it is good news about the Kingdom of God” (al-Farāhī 2008, 341).

Regarding the Qur’ān, tasjīl refers to the written record of what was recited by Muhammad (pbuh). What he received and spoke was written down. Muslims believe that only the Qur’ān is still with us in that physical sense. The Torah was revealed directly by God (Q 4.164) without the mediation of an angel, while Jesus (pbuh) himself is the word of God (Q 3.39,45; 4.171). In this case, we understand that the al-Injīl is the message that was given to Jesus (pbuh), which he delivered and which is reported/narrated/collected in the four works or books which Christians call the Gospels. However, we do not call those Anājīl. The Qur’ān states that Jesus (pbuh) himself is a word from God. So we understand that there is a sense in which the things Jesus (pbuh) did, especially the miracles and signs he performed by the power of God, are also part of the message that he was given which is narrated in these collections that depend on the witnesses shāhidīn. Q 5.111 says: “And [remember] when I inspired the disciples, 'Believe in Me and in My messenger Jesus.” They said, “We have believed, so bear witness that indeed we are Muslims [in submission to Allāh].” In this verse, the disciples (ḥawāriyyūn) of Jesus (pbuh) are given waḥy (revelation/inspiration), which provides them with insight into him so that they believe, and then they bear witness (shāhidīn). The four collections narrate that witness, and thus they are reliable. They give the true meaning of what Jesus (pbuh) said and did because his followers were given waḥy to have insight into it all.

What exactly did the gospels look like in seventh-century Arabia? According to Sydney Griffith, Tatian’s (d.173 CE) Syriac gospel harmony, known as the Diatessaron (literally ‘through four’) or what Bruce calls ‘the Fourfold Gospel’ (Bruce 1988, 124), was the most popular form of the Gospel extant in Arabia during the Qur’ān’s milieu (Griffith 2013, 141).

The Muslim historians tell us that a Christian proselyte and cousin of Hadīja bint al-Huwaylid (the first wife of Muhammad [pbuh] in Mecca) named Waraqah b. Nawfal used to read al-Injīl in Arabic, as well as write it from al-Injīl in Hebrew/Syriac (al-Bukhārī 1997, 1:4). What exactly was he reading and writing?

Waraqah was reading and translating the canonical gospels from Syriac into Arabic, specifically using at least portions of Tatian’s Diatessaron. This may actually be why the Qur’ān refers to the Gospel as al-Injīl in the singular, rather than al-Anājīl, in the broken plural. The Diatessaron was a single composite narrative known as the Ewangeliyon Damhallte in Syriac, or “Gospel of the Mixed.” The oldest extant complete copy of the Diatessaron is in Arabic, penned by the Baghdadi Christian polymath Abū al-Faraj 'Abd Allāh b. al-Ṭayyib (d. 1043 CE) (Ataie 2016, 7).

At times, the Qur’ān refers to an actual text of al-Injīl in the singular that was available to the Christians living in the Hijaz in the seventh century CE. We have already identified this text as being, most likely, Tatian’s Syriac gospel harmony known as the Diatessaron. At one point, the Qur’ān says: “Let the People of the Gospel judge by what God has revealed therein” (Q 5.47,68), “And let the People of al-Injīl judge by what God has revealed therein. And whoever does not judge by what God has revealed - then it is those who are the defiantly disobedient” (Q 5.47). So, if the true Gospel at the time of this verse was lost or hopelessly corrupted, then why would God command the Christians to take judgments from a lost or corrupted text? Why would God refer to the Christians as People of the Gospel (ahl al-Injīl) if they do not have the actual Gospel (Ataie 2016, 11)?

It is also important to remember that Jesus (pbuh) spoke in Aramaic, but the words of Jesus (pbuh) in the four books Christians call the Gospels are almost 100% in Greek. That means what we have in these collections are translations of what Jesus (pbuh) said, as well as much of what was said to him. Furthermore, every attempt to translate these texts, which are also translations, will also involve the hard work of interpretation (tafsīr) to understand what these texts mean and what the message given to Jesus (pbuh) meant. Thus, when we see the Greek text, we understand that these four give us an inspired interpretation of the original things Jesus said and did, and that is what we mean by al-Injīl.

To clarify further, no one can say these four collections were dictated word by word by God. We believe, based on the texts themselves, that these texts are inspired, that God gave Jesus the word of God (pbuh) permission and authority for all that he spoke and did, and that God inspired the ‘collectors’ to make their collections.

Islamic Approaches for Explaining al-Injīl

Three possible approaches for explaining al-Injīl are as follows.

Al-Sīra or Sīra an-Nabawiyyah – Prophetic Biography Approach

The word sīra or sīrat ‘سيرة’ comes from the verb sāra, which means to travel or to be on a journey. The sīra reports were written using an imprecise form of isnād, or what modern historians refer to as the “collective isnād” or “combined reports.” The use of collective isnād meant that a report could be related on the authority of multiple persons without distinguishing the words of one person from those of another. This lack of precision led some hadith scholars to take any report that used a collective isnād to be lacking in authenticity. Thus, viewing al-Injīl as a prophetic biography would make it less authentic and authoritative.

Al-Muṣannaf Like al-Ḥadīth Approach

Another way to present al-Injīl to Muslim communities is to use the terminology muṣannaf, an Arabic term meaning ‘collections,’ and muṣannif meaning ‘collectors,’ to refer to the four collections of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We can refer to these four as collections, muṣannaf, of what God revealed waḥy through Jesus (pbuh). They are collections of what has been narrated by and about Jesus (pbuh) (and which is distinct from word-by-word dictation). We should also fully affirm that the writers/collectors muṣannif were inspired by God in this task (Q 5.111). We see in the opening words of the collection that Christians know of as “Luke’s Gospel” that by Luke’s own description, he refers to collecting things that were “narrated” to him and to others. He conducted the investigation with care and detail. Luke does not claim inspiration, but we believe he did his work through God’s inspiration (ilhām). So, al-Injīl in this case will be like al-Ḥadīth, which are the transmitted reports with isnāds (chains of transmission) about what Muhammad (pbuh) said and did by his companions. These are considered a divine revelation for the vast majority of Muslims.

After the departure of Christ (pbuh), the Gospel teaching that he brought was preserved among his faithful and still nascent messianic community through oral transmission. However, as time passed and history witnessed a proliferation of counterfeit writings claiming to represent the authentic teachings of Jesus (pbuh), God inspired a quartet of Jesus’ earliest followers to write individual gospels that accurately captured the essence of Jesus’ message to the world. This is indicated by the aforementioned Qur’ānic statement in Q 5.111. These apostolic writings can be literarily classified as paraphrastic, although much of Jesus’ (pbuh) prophetic statements (waḥy) are also found among them. Jesus (pbuh) himself predicted that the Holy Spirit, i.e., the Spirit of Truth or Paraclete (Helper), would ‘remind’ the writers of what Jesus said and did. These gospels are a type of ḥadīth literature, rather than something like a Qur’ānic text. Thus, there can be no expectation of total textual inerrancy (Ataie 2016, 9).

Al-Qirā’at Approach

During the Muhammad (pbuh) period, there were various readings of the Qur’ān. The Companions were taught these readings directly from the Prophet and then passed them on to their people and Successors.

The validity of the differences in the Qirā’āt is shown by the narrative of 'Umar, who said:

I heard Hishām ibn Ḥakīm reciting Sūrat al-Furqān in a manner different from that in which I used to recite it and the way in which the Messenger of Allāh taught me to recite it. I was about to argue with him whilst he was praying, but I waited until he finished his prayer, and then I tied his garment around his neck and seized him by it and brought him to the Messenger of Allāh and said, “O Messenger of Allāh, I heard this man reciting Sūrat al-Furqān in a way different from the way you taught it to me.” The Messenger of Allāh said to him, “Recite it,” and he recited it as I had heard him recite it. The Messenger of Allāh said, “It was revealed like this.” Then he said to me, “Recite it,” so I recited it, and he said, “It was revealed like this.” This Qur’ān has been revealed in seven different ways, so recite it in the way that is easiest for you. (al-Bukhārī 1997, 9:159)

The last part of this ḥadīth was repeated by other Companions as well. The Qirā’āt were transmitted by the Companions and the Successors who memorized the Qur’ān. During the time of the Successors and their followers, there were famous individuals who became renowned scholars of the Qur’ān in Muslim lands.

In conclusion, all the recitations are valid and transmitted through mutawātir chains.^[6] This is proof of the preservation and miraculous nature of the Qur’ān. The variations do not contradict each other but rather complement one another. There are seven mutawātir Qirā’āt and three mashhūr (well-known, famous) ones. To facilitate understanding, two terms need to be defined:

1. al-Qirā’a. This is the way an Imām/Qārī’, from the 10 Imāms, read and pronounced the Quran based on what he received through transmitted chains that ended with Muhammad (pbuh).

2. Riwāya. This refers to what is attributed to those who narrated about/from any imām of the ten imāms of how to read the Qur’ānic word.

Each imām of each qirā’ā has two rāwīs/narrators. Each chose a certain way of reading the qirā’ā of that imām. The riwāya is named after the narrator. For example, the riwāya of Ḥafṣ 'an 'Āṣim or that of Shu’bah 'an 'Āṣim (Elibyari 2019, 21). Both Ḥafṣ and Shu’bah are the two rāwīs/narrators of imām 'Āṣim.

This approach considers the four collections not as different ‘books’ containing the al-Injīl (Jesus’ original revealed words/actions), but similar to al-Qirā’at, the various readings of the Qur’ān. It presents the four collections as four Qirā’at of the one al-Injīl (Qirā’a of Matthew, Qirā’a of Mark, Qirā’a of Luke, and Qirā’a of John).

With the narration of Ḥafṣ 'an 'Āṣim, Ḥafṣ is al-Rāwī, and 'Āṣim is al-Qārī, which is considered as al-Qirā’a of the Qur’an. Similarly, with this approach, we believe Luke as al-Qārī, who received al-Qirā’a from him who handed down the narrative that was transmitted through a chain of eyewitnesses and servants of Christ.

Conclusion

The Qur’ān presents the Gospels with the title al-Injīl, which is familiar to people in the Arabian Peninsula. In its origin, it means good news, and this news was written, with some of it also being known and transmitted orally. The Qur’ān endorses much good news and is silent about others because people are aware of them. It also refers the reader of the Qur’ān to Christians and their books to learn more and gather further details. Calling them the People of the Book and the People of the Reminder, they have the written al-Injīl in their hands.

The Qur’ān confirms that Christ did not receive a tablet book, but rather he himself is the Word of God. The Qur’ān confirms that the al-Injīl, as a single book, means the good news about Christ in the books of the ancients and what the Apostles recorded about his life, work, and death. The text of al-Injīl is not distorted, but the distortion of al-Injīl refers to the unrighteous conduct of some monks who devour the wealth of mankind in falsehood and hinder them from the way of God (Q 9.34).

The Qur’ān and codicology confirm that al-Injīl existed in the time of Muhammad (6-7 Century AD). Whether written in script or transmitted orally, al-Injīl is still reliable.

The al-Injīl has been subjected to several translations throughout the centuries, and it has been presented to the Arabs in three distinct ways.

1. As a biography of Christ, which the Revelation recorded by the apostles.

2. As parallel to the hadith of Muhammad (pbuh). Note that the hadith is considered as a revelation, but it is less reliable than the Qur’ān.

3. As a revelation for the apostles with different readings and aspects of the recordings. These variations do not contradict each other, but rather complement one another.

The most reliable approach is to consider the four Gospels as four inspired Qirā’at in one book. Presenting it as a revealed Hadith is less reliable than considering it as a Qirā’at. The least preferable is to present al-Injīl as a biography.