A Brother asked this question: “As-Salamu `alaykum. I would like you to shed light on verse 27 in Surat Al-Hadeed. Did Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) write parts of the Gospel? Was Jesus illiterate? Was the Gospel or part of it dictated by Jesus to any of his disciples, like the Quran? I think that the disciples wrote the whole Bible after the ascension of Jesus to heaven. But, what does it mean in the Quran by the verse “…and gave him the Ingeel”?“
ANSWER
Wa Alaikom Assalam, Brother,
Allah sent down many Divine Books to His Messengers to lead mankind to the path of truth, and guide them to worship Him and shun polytheism and vice.
Allah revealed the Scriptures to Abraham, the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, the Gospels to Jesus, and the Quran to Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them all). All Prophets starting from Adam and ending with Muhammad (Peace be upon them all) came with the same religion, which is Islam. Teaching people that Allah is the only creator, the one who exists without a place, the one who doesn’t need anything, neither heaven nor throne nor place or time.
Some of those Divine Books were revealed in the form of scriptures such as the Torah.
And some were revealed in the form of admonitions and advice, such as the Gospel.
It stands to reason that Jesus (peace be upon him) was not illiterate. He was highly educated and well-read. However, he used to communicate his teachings to his disciples in the form of oral form rather than written form. The disciples, in turn, used to remember what Jesus taught them by heart.
When Jesus ascended to heaven, all his advice and teachings were known to his disciples. Unfortunately, they were not good at memorising, and not all were able to comprehend Jesus’ teachings. Most probably, this was the main reason behind the distortions that took place following Jesus’ ascension.
Moreover, the Roman Empire and the Jews were brutal opponents of Christians at that time. They mercilessly killed Christians, causing a detrimental effect on the recording of the Gospel, as most of those who memorised it were tortured and killed.
As for compiling the Gospel and classifying it in volumes, the oldest known version came into being 80 years after the ascension of Jesus.
This means that three generations do not know anything about the Gospel being in a written form. Also, none of the disciples or their successors attempted to compile the teachings of Jesus in written form. This may serve as a primary cause behind the noticeable distortions.
Instead of concentrating on the Oneness of Allah and following in the footsteps of Allah’s Prophets and Messengers, the founder of the Pauline Church, St. Paul (Saul), began to preach the concept of the Trinity and hence moved far from the original Gospel.
Such distortions have dramatically led to decay and incomprehension in the teachings of Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him).
It is clear that Allah sent down the Gospel to Jesus, but his disciples did not take an active role in preserving it as Muslims did with the Quran, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who ordered Muslims to write it down. It was dictated under his supervision.
Considering all this, we thank Allah Almighty that He has guided the Muslim Ummah to preserve the Ever-Glorious Quran.
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