Belief in Divine Books

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ آمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِيَ أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللّهِ وَمَلاَئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلاَلاً بَعِيدًا (136:4)

Believers! Have faith in God and His Messenger, in the Book He has revealed to His Messenger, and also in the Book He has previously revealed and [remember that] he who denies God, His Angels, His Books and His Prophets and the Last Day has strayed far. (4:136)

Just as the Almighty has sent prophets to guide mankind, similarly He has revealed His Books to these prophets for this purpose. The purpose of these Books is that people have with them the written guidance of God in His very words so that they can judge between what is right and what is wrong through these Books and are able to resolve their differences through them, and in this manner they are able to adhere to the truth regarding their religion. The Qur’an says:

وَأَنزَلَ مَعَهُمْ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ فِيمَا اخْتَلَفُوا فِيهِ (2 : 213)

And with these [prophets], He sent down His Book as the decisivetruth so that it may settle these differences between people. (2:213)

وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ النَّاسُ بِالْقِسْطِ (25:57)

And with these [messengers], We sent down Our Book which is the Judge [between the right and the wrong] so that [through it] people are able to adhere to justice [regarding religion]. (57:25)

At this point of time, the anthology of books found in the Bible shows that apparently these Books were given to each and every prophet in some form or the other. Just as the Qur’an (87:19) mentions the Torah and the Gospel, it also refers to the scripture of Abraham (sws). The above quoted verses (2:213; 57:25) also corroborate this premise. All these Books are Books of God. Thus the Qur’an requires of the Muslims to broadly profess faith in these Books without any discrimination. Out of these, however, four Books occupy exceptional importance: The Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, the Qur’an. The following paragraphs introduce these Books.