ImYour Huckleberry on Nostr: The Islamic Dilemma The Qur’an presents itself as confirming the revelations that ...

The Islamic Dilemma
The Qur’an presents itself as confirming the revelations that came before it. In particular, it says that God gave Jesus the Gospel, “in which was guidance and light,” and then commands the People of the Gospel:

“Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.”
— Qur’an 5:46–47
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Quran.com

The Qur’an then says to Muhammad:

“We have revealed to you the Book in truth, confirming that which preceded it of the Scripture.”
— Qur’an 5:48
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Quran.com

So the question is: What Gospel was available when Muhammad received the Qur’an?

The Christian Scriptures available before and during the rise of Islam proclaim that Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again:

“Christ died for our sins… he was buried… he was raised on the third day.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:3–4
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Bible Gateway

Paul presents this as the Gospel he received and passed on to the Christians at Corinth.
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Bible Gateway

But the Qur’an gives the opposite account:

“They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but it was made to appear so to them.”
— Qur’an 4:157
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Quran.com

And immediately afterward:

“Rather, Allah raised him to Himself.”
— Qur’an 4:158
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Quran.com

There is therefore a fundamental contradiction:

The Gospel says Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.
The Qur’an says Jesus was not crucified.

Now consider the possible explanation that the Gospel had been corrupted.

The Qur’an certainly accuses some people of distorting revelation. For example:

“A party of them used to hear the words of Allah and then distort the Torah after they had understood it.”
— Qur’an 2:75
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Quran.com

And:

“Woe to those who write the ‘scripture’ with their own hands, then say, ‘This is from Allah.’”
— Qur’an 2:79
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Quran.com

But notice the problem: the Qur’an does not simply tell Christians, “Your Gospel has been completely corrupted, so disregard it.” Instead, Qur’an 5:47 tells the People of the Gospel to judge by what Allah revealed therein, while 5:48 calls the Qur’an a confirmation of the earlier Scripture.
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Quran.com

So the question becomes unavoidable:

If the Gospel was reliable enough for Qur’an 5:47 to tell Christians to judge by it, why does the Qur’an contradict its central account of Jesus' crucifixion?
But if the response is:

“The Gospel had already been corrupted before Muhammad,”

then we have to explain why the Qur’an speaks of the Gospel as containing “guidance and light” and instructs its recipients to judge by what God revealed in it.
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Quran.com

And there is an additional problem from the Christian Scriptures.

Paul explicitly warns:

“Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!”
— Galatians 1:8
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Bible Gateway

Muhammad's revelation is traditionally understood in Islam to have come through the angel Gabriel. Yet the message concerning Jesus' crucifixion differs fundamentally from the Gospel Paul says he received and proclaimed.

Thus the Christian case is:

Either the Gospel available before Islam was substantially trustworthy, in which case the Qur’an contradicts it concerning the crucifixion of Jesus; or the Gospel had already become corrupted, in which case Qur’an 5:46–47 raises the question of why God would direct the People of the Gospel to judge by a corrupted revelation.

Either way, Islam has a serious problem explaining the relationship between the Qur’an and the Gospel that preceded it.

That is the Islamic Dilemma