INVESTIGATING ISLAM

Islam's Doctrinal Implosion

When a Religion Accuses Its Own Scriptures of Corruption

“If Allah revealed the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel—why does Islam accuse them of being corrupted?”

It’s one of the biggest theological escape hatches in Islamic apologetics: “The Bible has been changed.” Muslims are taught that the Qur’an is the final, uncorrupted revelation from God, while previous books—namely the Torah, Zabur (Psalms), and Injil (Gospel)—have been tampered with or lost over time. This convenient claim is used to dismiss contradictions between the Qur’an and earlier scriptures, justify theological differences, and invalidate Christianity and Judaism in one sweep.

But here’s the problem: those previous scriptures are Islamic.

That’s not a Christian or Jewish claim—it’s the Qur’an’s. According to Islam’s own theology, the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were revealed by Allah Himself, just like the Qur’an. So when Muslims say “those books are corrupted,” they’re not attacking Christianity or Judaism—they’re accusing their own God of failing to preserve His revelations.

Let’s take a deep dive into this explosive contradiction—and what it means for Islam’s credibility.

I. The Qur’an Clearly Declares the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel as Divine Revelations

Contrary to modern Muslim polemics, the Qur’an doesn’t treat the Torah or Gospel as foreign or unreliable documents. It claims they were sent down by Allah:

Surah 3:3 – “He has revealed the Book to you [Muhammad] in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.”
Surah 5:44 – “Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light.”
Surah 5:46 – “We sent Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming the Torah before him. And We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light.”
Surah 17:55 – “And We gave to David the Zabur [Psalms].”

In Islam’s framework, these books were not written by men claiming divine inspiration. They were authentic revelations, part of the same prophetic tradition Islam claims to continue.

So when Islam teaches that these books were altered, it’s not rejecting foreign texts. It’s undermining its own lineage of revelation.

II. The Logical Collapse: Allah’s Books... Tampered With?

Here’s where the contradiction detonates.

If the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel were revealed by Allah, then:

They are Islamic scripture, by definition.
Corrupting them means altering the word of Allah.
Losing them means Allah failed to preserve His own revelations.

This raises a fundamental question:
Can an all-powerful, all-wise deity fail to preserve His own books?

If yes, then divine preservation is a myth.
If no, then the corruption claim is false.

There is no third option.

And it gets worse: the Qur’an says clearly that Allah’s words cannot be changed:

Surah 6:115 – “None can change His words. He is the Hearing, the Knowing.”
Surah 18:27 – “Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. None can change His words…”

These verses don’t say “none can change the Qur’an.” They say none can change His words—period. That includes the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel.

So when Muslims say the Bible was changed, they’re claiming that Allah’s words were changed—which directly contradicts the Qur’an.

III. The Qur’an Commands Jews and Christians to Follow Their Scriptures

The Qur’an doesn’t just mention these books—it tells their recipients to follow them.

Surah 5:43 – “But why do they come to you for judgment while they have the Torah, in which is Allah’s judgment?”
Surah 5:47 – “Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it.”
Surah 10:94 – “If you are in doubt about what We have revealed to you, ask those who read the Book before you.”

Let’s pause on that last one.

Allah is addressing Muhammad, and telling him to consult the People of the Book (i.e., Jews and Christians) if he has doubts about his revelation. That only makes sense if their scriptures are still trustworthy at the time.

If the Bible had already been corrupted by then, why would Allah direct his prophet to ask them for confirmation?

You can’t have it both ways. Either:

The previous books were preserved, and the Qur’an must align with them, or
They were corrupted, in which case the Qur’an shouldn’t rely on them or confirm them.

But the Qur’an claims to do both—confirming books it also contradicts. That’s not divine consistency. That’s theological schizophrenia.

IV. The "Corruption" Verses Don’t Say What Apologists Claim

Muslim apologists often point to a few verses to support the idea of scriptural corruption. Let’s examine them:

Surah 2:75 – “A group of them heard the word of Allah and then altered it after understanding it.”
Surah 3:78 – “There is among them a group who distort the Book with their tongues…”
Surah 5:13 – “They distorted the words from their [proper] usages…”

At first glance, this sounds like textual corruption. But read closely:

The focus is on oral distortion, not rewriting texts.
Phrases like “with their tongues” suggest interpretation or misrepresentation, not manuscript tampering.
None of these verses say the actual books themselves were changed.

In fact, the Qur’an continues to refer to these same books as containing guidance and light—even after these accusations.

So what’s really happening here?

The Qur’an criticizes some people for twisting or misusing the scriptures—but it never states that the Torah, Gospel, or Psalms were physically rewritten or lost.

V. The Real Reason for the Corruption Claim: Damage Control

So where did the idea come from that the earlier scriptures were corrupted?

Simple: it was an act of theological damage control.

As Islam spread, it came into increasing contact with Jews and Christians—people who already had their scriptures, and could compare them directly with the Qur’an.

The results weren’t good for Islam.

The Qur’an claims Jesus wasn’t crucified—contradicting all four Gospels and historical consensus.
It says Haman was an advisor to Pharaoh—not a Persian official 1,000 years later.
It confuses Mary, the mother of Jesus, with Miriam, the sister of Aaron.
It rewrites prophetic lineages and mixes historical timelines.

Faced with these glaring inconsistencies, early Muslims had two options:

Admit the Qur’an contradicts earlier revelations, or
Claim those revelations were changed.

They chose option two—and built an entire doctrine of “taḥrīf” (corruption) to protect the Qur’an.

But that “solution” only creates a bigger problem: it undermines Allah’s own revelation history.

VI. The Historical Record Destroys the Corruption Myth

Even if the Qur’an never explicitly stated textual corruption, maybe it still happened, right?

Wrong.

The manuscript evidence shows the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel have been preserved:

The Dead Sea Scrolls (2nd century BCE) contain parts of the Torah and Psalms virtually identical to today’s Hebrew Bible.
The Septuagint (3rd–2nd century BCE) preserves the Torah and Prophets in Greek.
New Testament manuscripts from the 1st and 2nd centuries CE match today’s Gospels with stunning accuracy.
No lost Injil or unknown Torah ever surfaced in Islamic lands—not even during the height of the Islamic empire.

If corruption took place, where’s the evidence?

No ancient text shows a version of the Gospel or Torah that supports the Qur’an’s altered narratives. If anything, history shows the Qur’an stands alone in its revisions—not the earlier books.

VII. The Final Blow: A Self-Defeating Theology

Let’s step back and look at what Islam is really claiming:

Allah revealed previous books.
Allah said His words cannot be changed.
But those books were changed.
So Allah either failed to protect His words—or lied about preserving them.
Therefore, we must believe the Qur’an… which was written after the books it contradicts.

This is a theological black hole.

If you say the earlier books were corrupted, you make Allah a failed protector of His own revelations.

If you say they weren’t corrupted, you admit that the Qur’an contradicts them—and therefore cannot be from the same source.

Either way, the divine claim collapses.

VIII. Conclusion: When a Religion Undermines Its Own Foundations

Muslims are often told to reject the Bible because it's been changed. But few realize what that actually means: Islam is accusing its own God of failing.

The Torah, Psalms, and Gospel are not external threats—they are part of Islam’s own scriptural lineage. To call them corrupt is to shoot holes in Islam’s own timeline. To reject them is to reject Islam’s foundation.

You can’t have a religion that both honors and dishonors its own past. You can’t call a book divine and then dismiss it. And you can’t claim to follow a God who keeps breaking His own promises.

💥 Call to Action: Read the Books Yourself

Don’t rely on second-hand claims.

Read the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel.
Read the Qur’an.
Compare them side by side.
Ask yourself: Which book is consistent? Which one rewrites? Which one contradicts?

And then ask the most important question:

“If Allah couldn’t protect His first three books, why should I trust His fourth?”