The Quran Answers False Assessments of the Quran: The Assumption That the Qur'an is a Copy or Imitation of Other Holy Books

The Qur'an is the only divine book that God has sent to all of mankind as a warning as well as guidance, and is valid until the Day of Judgment. Mankind has altered the other holy books that were sent before the Qur'an. However, God has protected the Qur'an. This fact is mentioned in verse 9 of Surat al-Hijr "It is We Who have sent down the Reminder and We Who will preserve it."

Another of the unsound claims widely spread by the unwise is that the Prophet Muhammad was inspired by the Bible (the Torah and the Gospel) and afterwards wrote the Qur'an. At the root of this totally imaginary and baseless claim lie some similarities that exist between the Qur'an and the Bible.

It is quite natural for such similarities to exist because, ultimately (if we were to remove the altered parts of the Torah and the Gospel) they all contain the words of God and their message is one and the same. The main subjects, such as the presence of God, His oneness, His attributes, belief in the Hereafter, the characteristics of believers, hypocrites and those who deny Him, the lives of previous nations, guidance, prohibitions, and moral values, are universal facts and will stay unaltered throughout time. Consequently, it is no surprise that these topics mentioned in the previous holy books are similar and parallel to those in the Qur'an. Actually, there is no claim in the Qur'an that Islam is a very distinct religion. The similarities are stated in the Qur'anic verses as well:

What is in the heavens and in the earth belongs to God. We have instructed those given the Book before you and you yourselves, to have fear of God. (Surat anNisa': 131) What's more, it is stated in the Qur'an that it confirms the original, unaltered Torah and the Gospel:

The quality of confirming its predecessors is not unique to the Qur'an, but has been given to all the divine books. The Gospel that was sent to the Prophet Jesus confirmed its predecessor the Torah that was revealed to the Prophet Moses. This reality is stated in the Qur'an: And We sent Jesus son of Maryam following in their footsteps, confirming the Torah that came before him.

We gave him the Gospel containing guidance and light, confirming the Torah that came before it, and as guidance and admonition for those who do their duty.

(Surat al-Ma'idah: 46)

This is a law of God and of course applies to the Qur'an as well. Some of the subjects in common with the other divine books have been mentioned in the Qur'an. The beginning of Hajj (Pilgrimage) with the Prophet Abraham in verses 26 and 27 of Surat al-Hajj, the existence of obligatory daily prayers and giving alms before the time of our Prophet in verses 72 and 73 of Surat al-Anbiya', and the good behavior asked of all the messengers in verse 51 of Surat alMu'minun all reflect these common points.

And in addition to that We gave him Isaac and Jacob and made both of them true believers. We made them leaders, guiding by Our command, and revealed to them how to do good actions and establish prayer and pay alms, and they worshipped Us. (Surat alAnbiya': 72-73) Messengers, eat of the good things and act rightly. I most certainly know what you do." (Surat alMu'minun: 51) We may conclude that there are similar beliefs between the Qur'an and the other divine books, and that this is not only natural but logical. Therefore, the presence of these similarities does not in any way show that our Prophet wrote the Qur'an. In fact, quite the opposite; it further emphasizes the truth that the books of all Divine religions come from one source, God. This is a reality stated by the Qur'an and confirmed by reason as well as logic. God has revealed in His verses that the Qur'an is the book of truth sent by Him and the condition of those who do not believe in this truth.

And this Qur'an is not such as could ever be invented in despite of God; but it is a confirmation of that which was before it and an exposition of that which is decreed for mankind - This Qur'an could never have been devised by any besides God. Rather it is confirmation of what came before it and an elucidation of the Book which contains no doubt from the Lord of all the worlds. Do they say, 'He has invented it'? Say: 'Then produce a chapter like it and call on anyone you can besides God if you are telling the truth.' No, the fact is that they have denied something which their knowledge does not embrace and the meaning of which has not yet reached them.

Moreover, there is another dimension to this subject. The Prophet Muhammad was not someone who collected information and researched either the Torah or the Gospel in his lifetime. The Prophet's fellow tribesmen closely witnessed the fact that he never actually read, wrote, worked on or researched any of these books. No one ever had any doubt concerning this point. Furthermore, this characteristic of the Prophet that was so well known by the disbelievers was used in the Qur'an as evidence against them:

The term "Ummi", which refers to a person who has no knowledge of the previous divine books and is not a member of these religions, is used in the Qur'an for the Prophet Muhammad to emphasize his attribute. The verse is:

Those who follow the Messenger, the Ummi, whom they find written down with them in the Torah and the Gospel...." (Surat al-A'raf: 157)

The context in which the term "Ummi" is used to refer to those who are not Christians or Jews can be seen in the verse:

As we can deduce from this verse, the term "Ummi" is used to refer to people other than those who have been sent books. So it becomes clear that the term is not used in the Qur'an with its classical form to imply the "illiterate".