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The Injil (Arabic إنجيل (or Injeel) is one of the five Islamic Holy Books the Qur'an records as revealed by God, the others being the Suhuf Ibrahim, Zabur, Tawrat and Qur'an.
The word Injil is derived from Greek word Ευαγγέλιον (evangelion).
Muslims generally believe the Gospel or the New Testament to have been corrupted over time. Some also hold the view that the Injil is a lost book, different from the New Testament which was either written by the apostles or people connected to them.
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In the Qur'an
The word Injil occurs twelve times in the Qur'an (3:2, 3:43, 3:58; 5:50-51, 5:70, 5:72, 5:110; 7:156; 9:112; 48:29; 57:27) and refers to the revelation transmitted by Isa (Jesus). The word does not mean the Biblical scripture possessed and read by the Christian contemporaries of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad (5:65-68; 7:156) known as the four Gospels or any of the Christian New Testament. Although the Qu'ran refers to the message of Isa, the contents of the revelation contained in the Qur'anic Injil is not specified in the Qur'anic text. In Qur'an, the Injil is instruction for the righteous; Qur'an 5:46: "And We sent in their footsteps Jesus the son of Mary, authenticating what was present with him of the Torah. And We gave him the Injil, in it is guidance and light, and to authenticate what is present with him of the Torah, and a guidance and lesson for the righteous."
Difference from the Gospels
Muslim scholars generally dispute that Injil refers to either the entire New Testament or the four Gospels. Others believe the Injil was not a physical book, but simply a set of teachings. The word Injil is used in the Qur'an, the Hadith and early Muslim documents to refer specifically to the revelations made by God to Isa (Jesus), and is used by both Muslims and some Arabic-speaking Christians today.
Accuracy and authority
The majority of Muslim scholars[who?] believe that the Injil has undergone tahrif, that words and the meaning of the words have been distorted, with some passages suppressed and others added. The Islamic principle of the oneness and wholeness of God's divinity (tawhid) means that in their view it is impossible for Jesus to be God incarnate or the Son of God, and that the worship of Jesus by Christians is due to corruption in the Christian texts.
Disputed areas of text within the Injil include references where Jesus is called the Son of God by his followers and the events that occurred after Jesus' death. The majority of Muslims believe that instead of Jesus dying on the cross and then being resurrected, he was never crucified, but ascended into heaven.
Although parts of the Injil are generally believed to have been corrupted over time, the original Injil is, nonetheless, a revelation from God to Jesus in the eyes of Muslims. It is therefore treated as such, and belief in it is necessary, as is prescribed by one of the six Islamic articles of faith.
Many Muslims still believe that, of the books (al-kutub) sent by God, only the Qur’an remains undistorted and protected from tahrif. God took upon Himself the preservation of the Qur'an, unlike the Tawrat, Zabur and Injil. [1]. The Qur'an is considered to be only flawless scripture still existing, with the Scrolls of Abraham being lost.[2] [3],
See also
- Gospels
- Biblical narratives and the Qur'an
- Christianity and Islam
- Islamic view of the Bible
- List of Christian terms in Arabic
- Islamic view of Jesus
- Suhuf Ibrahim
- Zabur
- Tawrat
- Qur'an
- Islamic holy books
External links
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