The Christian Argument: The Quran’s Confirmation Means There Cannot Be Any Distortion
Christians argued that the Quran’s confirmation of the Torah and Gospel proves these books were unaltered. When it was suggested that the distortion could have occurred after the Quran’s confirmation, they dismissed the idea, saying it would be just as invalid for Muslims to claim the Christians distorted their texts after the fact, as it would be for Christians to say the same about Muslims. Their argument assumes that the Quran affirms the current versions of the Torah and Gospel in their hands.
Ibn Taymiyyah’s Refutation: Two False Premises
First Premise: The Prophet Affirmed Their Current Scriptures Without Accusation
He explains that this is patently false. The Prophet never confirmed that the texts in the hands of the Jews and Christians were preserved in their wording and meaning. On the contrary, it is mass-transmitted (mutawatir) that he accused them of distortion (tahrif), particularly in meaning. The internal contradictions, disagreements between sects, and changes in law and theology within Christianity and Judaism prove this distortion.
Ibn Taymiyyah says that belief in a revealed book requires both affirming its reports and obeying its commands.
But Jews and Christians have altered both. Their sectarian councils like Nicaea and Chalcedon condemned each other for abandoning parts of the scriptures. Each sect accuses others of rejecting parts of revelation or failing to uphold the laws. These mutual accusations are evidence of widespread alteration.
Logical Absurdities in Christian Theology
He then critiques the absurdities that arose from these distortions, such as the Christian belief that all humanity was imprisoned in Hell because of Adam’s sin until Jesus was crucified. Ibn Taymiyyah shows how this contradicts both scripture and sound reason:
- Allah forgave Adam and chose him (Ta Ha: 122).
- Prophets like Ibrahim, Musa, and Nuh who held high status could not have been imprisoned for Adam’s sin.
- The claim that Satan had control over them until Jesus’s crucifixion contradicts Allah’s justice, power, and support for His messengers.
- If Jesus was sinless and others were not, that still does not justify freeing them through his crucifixion.
- The idea that Allah “tricked” Satan through Jesus’s human form is blasphemous and irrational.
Second Premise: Muslims Believe Distortion Happened Only After the Quran
The second flawed premise is the assumption that Muslims believe all versions of the scriptures were altered after the Prophet’s mission. Ibn Taymiyyah clarifies:
- Muslims differ on whether the wording of all copies was changed.
- Most agree that distortion happened in meaning and interpretation, with some also affirming verbal alteration either before or after the Prophet.
- Muslims do not claim every copy of the Torah and Gospel across the world was altered, only that widespread distortion occurred in interpretation, additions, omissions, and selective reading.
Distortion in Law and Theology
He says that the Torah and Gospel include two main categories: reports and rulings. Christians altered both. While the Torah may still contain some of Allah’s rulings, it is clear that major theological errors entered their religion, such as:
- Attributing sin to Adam that affects all humanity.
- Claiming Jesus’s crucifixion ransomed mankind.
- Depending on sayings of non-prophets for core beliefs.
Ibn Taymiyyah points out that even if the current books contain some truth, they were altered in ways the Quran did not affirm.
The Quran Judges Over All Previous Books
He quotes many verses like (e.g. al-Ma’ida: 48) showing that the Quran is a guardian (muhaimin) over previous scriptures confirming what is true and exposing what is false. The Quran is the final, preserved standard by which all other texts are judged.
He also explains different scholarly views on verses like “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it” (al-Ma’ida: 47):
- Some read it as a past command intended for those who had not yet received the Quran.
- Others said it still applies, but only to the unaltered content, including what commands belief in Muhammad.
- All agree it cannot be used to justify rejecting Muhammad, since the Torah and Gospel themselves contain prophecies commanding belief in him (al-A‘raf: 157).
Proof of Distortion: The Stoning Incident
He quotes the well-known hadith of the stoning of the Jewish adulterers. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked what was in the Torah. The Jews tried to conceal the verse of stoning. When exposed, it proved they were hiding parts of their own book clear proof of tahrif. Click Here For The Full Hadith
Final Point: The Quran Is Preserved; Their Books Are Not
Ibn Taymiyyah concludes that the Quran is preserved through mass transmission, both in wording and meaning. The Torah and Gospel, however, have never had this level of preservation. Christians and Jews themselves cannot claim perfect agreement among all their copies.
Minor differences between manuscripts are well known. Therefore, their claim that the Quran affirms their current books is baseless.
The Quran only affirms what was originally revealed not what was altered after.
The Christians’ Argument That the Scriptures Were Not Changed
The narrator from them said: I said to them, “If someone were to say, perhaps the alteration and distortion happened after this statement (of confirmation)?” They replied, “We are amazed at these people with all their knowledge, intelligence, and understanding how can they argue with us using this kind of claim?
For we too, when we argue with them using the same type of statement, saying: ‘The book in their hands today has been altered and changed and they wrote in it whatever they wanted and desired,’ would they accept that from us?” The narrator said: I replied to them, “This is something no one could allow or say, and no one could ever shift it to a different chapter.” (The summary of their doubt is: the distortion and alteration might have occurred after the Quran confirmed their scripture.)
The Response: Refuting the Two False Premises Their Claim Is Built Upon
The answer is that this Christian who posed a question supposedly from the Muslims and then answered it from the side of the Christian scholars built his response upon two false premises:
First False Premise: That the Prophet affirmed what they had and denied the possibility of any accusations, alterations, or distortions in the books currently in their hands. What they intend by this argument cannot stand unless it is assumed that he denied distortion of both the wording and the meaning which is something every sane person knows the Prophet did not do. In fact, the reports from him are mass-transmitted (mutawatir) indicating the opposite.
They too and every rational person know that in their interpretation of these books, there are contradictions and confusion among the Christian sects, and between Christians and Jews, which proves that much of it has been altered and distorted. This also happened in the changing of the laws of these scriptures. For the scriptures consist of two foundations: information and commands. Faith in them is not complete unless one affirms what they report and obeys what they command.
But the People of the Book deny many things those books report and they do not enforce obedience in many things those books commanded. (What was between the stars was missing in some manuscripts and added from others.) Each sect among them testifies against the others about the same.
The Christian Councils and Mutual Accusations of Heresy
The Christians have seven famous councils among them. (The councils are divided according to size, authority, and influence into three types: universal (ecumenical), sectarian (specific to a denomination), and regional (specific to a location). The most important are the universal ones. Scholars have said there were twenty from the early centuries of Christianity until 1869 CE. The first was the Council of Nicaea (325 CE near Istanbul), the greatest of them. The second was the First Council of Constantinople (381 CE), which declared the divinity of the Holy Spirit. The third was the First Council of Ephesus (431 CE near Tarsus), declaring the union of divine and human in Christ. The fourth was the Council of Chalcedon (451 CE), which affirmed two separate natures in Christ. See Marasid al-Ittila, 1/478.)
In each council, they excommunicated a large [and or many] sect and declared them disbelievers, accusing them of denying parts of the scriptures and not enforcing parts of their laws. And those sects accused the others similarly. Their three main sects the Nestorians, Melkites, and Jacobites each anathematise the others and testify that they deny some of the prophetic statements and do not uphold the laws contained in them. Their disputes even extend to matters like tawhid and prophethood. Each group claims that the Messiah came with what they hold. But the Messiah (peace be upon him) and all the prophets are free of those who divided their religion and became sects, and are free of those who say things about Allah without truth or knowledge. They are free of every false claim said about Allah even if the one saying it was mistaken and did not deliberately lie.
Widespread Alteration and Fabrication in Their Religion
Their beliefs contain so many types of this falsehood that fully describing them would take a long time, and that has been detailed elsewhere.
(The rest of the Christian councils include: the Second Council of Constantinople (553 CE), the Third (680 CE), the Fourth (754 CE), and others until the twentieth council in 1869 in Rome, which declared the Pope infallible. The author discusses the councils further in the third volume. See: Ibn al-Qayyim’s Ighathat al-Lahfan 2/271–284, Abu Zahra’s Lectures on Christianity pp. 141–175, the series Comparative Religion: Christianity pp. 194–1200, Kanz al-Nafa’is fi Ittihad al-Kana’is, p. 108, and Intolerance and Tolerance by al-Ghazali, p. 69 onwards.)
Widespread Agreement on the Existence of Distortion
And once you know that all the sects among Muslims, Jews, and Christians acknowledge that distortion and alteration occurred in the meanings, interpretations, and laws of these books, then that is enough. Ever since the sending of Muhammad (peace be upon him), everyone who does not believe in him is a disbeliever unlike the Christians before his coming, among whom there were still some who followed the religion of the Messiah. Even though some Muslims altered the religion, the majority opposed them, and there continues to be a visible group upon the truth, unharmed by those who oppose or abandon them until the Hour. As for the Christians, they all disbelieved, just as the Jews disbelieved by rejecting the Messiah.
Muslims prove with many arguments that the meanings of the Torah, Gospel, Psalms, and the other prophetic revelations have been altered and that they invented a law not brought by the Messiah or any prophet, nor could any sane person accept it. For example, their claim that all of the children of Adam including the prophets and messengers were imprisoned in Hell under Satan’s control because their father Adam ate from the tree, and that they were only saved when the Messiah was crucified.
(The crucifixion of the Messiah as claimed by Christians is one of their core beliefs after the Trinity. They claim that the world was under the curse of sin due to Adam’s transgression, and that God sent His only Son to be crucified as a ransom for this sin. This is found in Mark 10:45, Luke 19:10, and other gospels and in Paul’s epistles like Romans 3:23 onward.)
Logical and Scriptural Refutation of the Crucifixion Doctrine
If someone transmitted such a statement from a prophet, we would certainly know it is a lie. So how, then, when this is not even claimed to be from a prophet? Rather, it is taken from leaders whose statements are not binding. Much of their religion is based on the sayings of non-prophets.
So if we know it is a lie when attributed to the prophets, what of when it is not attributed to them at all? For the prophets (peace be upon them) inform people of what lies beyond human understanding not what is already known to be clearly false. They tell us things that the intellect may find difficult, not things that are impossible or absurd. And Adam, even though he ate from the tree, Allah forgave him, chose him, and guided him.
Allah said: “Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred, then his Lord chose him, turned to him in forgiveness, and guided him.” (Ta Ha: 121–122)
And He said: “Then Adam received words from his Lord, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” (al-Baqara: 37)
There is nothing in the books of the People of the Book denying his repentance. At most, some of them say: “We do not know if he repented,” or, “We do not have his repentance.” But the absence of knowledge is not proof of absence. The absence of something in one of God’s books does not mean it cannot be in another.
The Torah contains things not in the Gospel, and vice versa. The Quran includes what is not in either. If the Quran were equal or lesser than the previous scriptures, it would still be possible for it to contain what they do not. So what if it is superior, more complete, and contains greater knowledge?
Allah said: “Allah has sent down the best speech a consistent Book with repetition…” (az-Zumar: 23)
And He said: “We narrate to you the best of stories through what We have revealed to you in this Quran.” (Yusuf: 3)
And He said: “We sent down to you the Book with the truth, confirming what is between its hands and as a guardian over it…” (al-Ma’ida: 48)
Absurdity of the Notion that the Prophets Were Imprisoned by Satan
Whether or not Adam repented, how could it be acceptable to believe that Allah’s messengers who are better than him were imprisoned by Satan in Hell due to his sin? Ibrahim, the close friend of Allah, whose father was a disbeliever. Allah did not punish him for his father’s sin. So how can he be in Hell because of his most distant ancestor Adam’s sin, especially when he was a prophet?
And Nuh (peace be upon him), who spent nearly a thousand years calling people to worship Allah alone, whose call led to the destruction of the disbelievers and whose descendants survived how can he be imprisoned in Hell for Adam’s sin?
And Musa (peace be upon him), whom Allah spoke to directly, and for whom miracles were shown that were not granted to the Messiah he killed a man without being commanded to do so, but Allah forgave him. He has such a high status with Allah, it cannot even be measured. So how could he be in Hell, imprisoned by Satan?
What connection is there between crucifixion one of the gravest sins, whether it was actually the Messiah or someone else and the supposed freeing of others from Satan? If Satan was oppressing Adam’s descendants, that is injustice. But Allah is able to prevent that, and to punish Satan. So why delay rescuing them until the time of the Messiah? Allah is the ally, helper, and supporter of the believers and they were His messengers, whom He supported against their enemies and destroyed those enemies, who were the troops of Satan. How could He not protect them after death and allow Satan to imprison their souls in Hell?
Even if Satan had such power, how could he be allowed to imprison Allah’s friends after death, after their obligation had ended and they deserved reward and paradise? If they say, “The Lord could not save them except by tricking Satan by hiding Himself in the form of Jesus” as they claim this is not only major disbelief and attributing incapacity to Allah, it also shows gross ignorance, as they claim Allah tricked Satan to trap him in justice, just like Satan tricked Adam with the serpent.
They say the human form (of Jesus) never sinned, unlike others. So when Satan tried to take his soul to imprison it in Hell like he did with others who had sinned, Allah took Satan instead and freed Adam’s descendants.
This is attributing ignorance, weakness, and injustice to Allah. For if Allah gave Satan the power to imprison the children of Adam, then there is no difference between the human form of the Messiah and others they are all children of Adam. And if the Messiah’s human form had the right to resist Satan, they still claim he entered Hell and removed Adam’s descendants from it.
But if Satan had the right to imprison them for their sins, then it is unjust to free them simply because the Messiah was sinless. And if they were oppressed, then justice required freeing them before the crucifixion. So the Messiah being sinless has nothing to do with others being saved. If they say Allah could not save them before the crucifixion, then He was even more incapable after it.
Second False Premise: Misrepresenting What Muslims Actually Say About Distortion
The second false premise in their supposed question from the Muslims and their answer to it is their assumption that Muslims claim the wording of all versions of the current scriptures was altered after the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
But Muslims do not say that. Some may say: some wordings of some copies were altered after the Prophet’s time. The majority who say that the wordings were altered some say this happened before the Prophet’s time, some say after, and some allow both. But none say that the wordings of all copies throughout the East and West were changed as this narrator falsely claimed.
However, the scholars of Islam and the scholars of the People of the Book agree that there was distortion in meanings and interpretation. Even if each group claims the other did the distorting.
(As for the wording itself, some Muslim scholars said it was not altered, and this is also a view held by some among the People of the Book. But many Muslim scholars and many of their own scholars held that some wordings were indeed altered. Distortion in the scriptures of the Jews and Christians occurs in three forms:
- Verbal distortion by changing the wording of the Torah and Gospel.
- Additions in the text of the Torah and Gospel.
- Omissions from the texts.
They mix truth with falsehood so that the two cannot be distinguished. Sometimes they hide the truth, sometimes they twist their tongues when reading so people think it is scripture when it is not, and sometimes they move words from their place either in the wording or meaning. Sometimes they remove the original word and replace it with another that can have more than one meaning the original one and one that suits their interpretation.
Example: In Deuteronomy 18:18: “I will raise for them a prophet from among their brethren.” They removed the word “their brethren” and replaced it with “from among them,” which could mean a prophet from the children of Ishmael (the brethren of Israel) or from among the Israelites themselves.
Allah said the truth: “…and Allah knows best your enemies, and sufficient is Allah as a protector and sufficient is Allah as a helper. Among the Jews are those who distort words from their proper places…” (an-Nisa: 45–46) (See: Rahmat Allah al-Hindi’s Izhar al-Haqq, p. 206 onward, for many examples of distortion. This issue is discussed in detail in the second part of al-Jawab al-Sahih. Also see: Ibn al-Qayyim’s Hidayat al-Hayara, ed. Dr. al-Qass, p. 105; Maqami‘ Hamamat al-Sulban by al-Khazraji, ed. Dr. Muhammad Shamah, p. 109 and p. 260; The Messiah in Christian Sources by Ahmad Abdul Wahhab, p. 77; and Shifa al-Ghalil by al-Juwayni, which is entirely on this topic and very beneficial, ed. Dr. al-Saffa, Dar al-Shabab, Egypt.)
Some Truth Remains in Their Scripture
The correct view is that the Torah they now possess still contains some of Allah’s rulings, even though some of its wording has been altered. As Allah said:
“O Messenger, do not be saddened by those who hasten into disbelief from those who say, ‘We believe’ with their mouths but their hearts do not believe, and from among the Jews who listen to lies and to others who have not come to you. They distort the words…” (al-Ma’ida: 41)
The Torah After the Babylonian Exile and the Gospel in the Time of the Prophet
Allah said: “How can they make you their judge while they have the Torah, in which is Allah’s judgment?” (al-Ma’ida: 43)
This shows that the Torah which existed after the destruction of Bayt al-Maqdis, after the coming of Bukhtanassar (Nebuchadnezzar), after the appearance of the Messiah, and after the sending of Muhammad (peace be upon him), still contained Allah’s ruling.
And the Torah that was with the Jews of Madinah in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) even if it is said that some of its words were altered after his sending this cannot be said about every copy in the world, because we do not know that, and in fact it is impossible. It is possible that many copies were altered and those changes spread among followers until only the altered versions remained among many people.
Still, many copies of the Torah and the Gospel agree for the most part and differ only slightly in wording. Changing the wording of a few copies after the Prophet’s mission is possible, and no one can be certain it didn’t happen. Nor can any Jew or Christian claim that every copy of the two books across the world agrees in wording, because there is no way to know that.
Minor differences in wording are present in many of their copies, just as different versions of some hadith collections differ in wording. This is different from the Quran, the words were preserved in hearts and passed on through mass transmission not reliant on being preserved in writing. Allah said: “We have certainly sent down the Reminder, and We will surely preserve it.” (al-Hijr: 9)
The Jews, before the Prophet and during his time and after him, were spread across the world, and they had many copies of the Torah. The same with the Christians they had many copies of the Torah. It was not possible for anyone to gather all those copies and change them. If that were possible, it would have been a major event, widely reported.
As for the Gospel, Allah said: “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed in it…” (al-Ma’ida: 47)
This shows that in that Gospel, there was a ruling revealed by Allah. But rulings are in the category of commands and prohibitions. That does not prevent the possibility that the alteration happened in the category of reports. That is where wording was changed. As for the rulings in the Torah, hardly anyone claims their wording was altered.
Some scholars said that Allah’s statement, “Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah revealed in it,” is a command directed to those who were still following the religion of the Messiah before it was abrogated and changed not those who came after the mission of Muhammad (peace be upon him).
This fits well with the recitation of Hamza, who read: “wa-li-yaḥkuma ahl al-Injil…” with a kasra on the “lam,” making it a “lam of purpose.” (Hamza ibn Habib al-Zayyat, one of the seven famous reciters, born in 80 AH and died in 156 or 158 AH. Scholars agreed on the authenticity of his reading and rejected criticism of it. See: Mizan al-I‘tidal 1/905, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib 3/127, al-Tabsirah fi al-Qira’at al-Sab‘ p. 114, and al-A‘lam by al-Zarkali 2/277.)
Allah said: “And We followed them up with ‘Isa son of Mary, confirming what came before him of the Torah, and We gave him the Gospel in which is guidance and light, and confirmation of what came before it of the Torah, and guidance and an admonition for the muttaqin. So let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah revealed in it…” (al-Ma’ida: 46–47)
So if the recitation is “wa-li-yaḥkuma” (with kasra), the meaning becomes: “We gave him the Gospel… so that the people of the Gospel would judge by what Allah revealed in it.” This affirms judging by the true Gospel, not necessarily the Gospel that existed in the Prophet’s time.
As for the mainstream recitation “wa’l-yaḥkum” (with sukun), it is a direct command. Some scholars said this is a command to those who still had the true Gospel to judge by what was in it, and so Allah’s command applies to those before the Prophet’s mission. Others said there is no need for this interpretation, since the Gospel is like the Torah. Allah said:
“O Messenger, let not those who hasten into disbelief grieve you from among those who say, ‘We believe’ with their mouths while their hearts do not believe, and from the Jews who listen to lies and listen to others who have not come to you they distort the words from their places…” (al-Ma’ida: 41)
Allah also said: “How can they make you their judge while they have the Torah, in which is Allah’s ruling, then they turn away after that and they are not believers. Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in it is guidance and light the prophets who submitted judged by it for the Jews, as did the scholars and rabbis, for they were entrusted with the Book of Allah and were witnesses over it. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. Whoever does not judge by what Allah revealed they are the disbelievers…” (al-Ma’ida: 43–44)
So this clearly shows that those Jews who came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) for judgment had the Torah, in which was Allah’s ruling, but they turned away from it.
Then Allah said after that “…Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah revealed in it…” (al-Ma’ida: 47)
This lam is for commanding (lam al-amr). It is a command from Allah revealed on the tongue of Muhammad (peace be upon him). A command cannot be directed to someone who died before it was spoken. It is only directed to those who are alive when Allah gives the command.
This shows that it was a command to those alive then to judge by what Allah revealed in the Gospel and Allah revealed in the Gospel the command to follow Muhammad (peace be upon him), just as He did in the Torah.
So they are to judge by what Allah revealed in the Gospel that was not abrogated by Muhammad (peace be upon him), just as the people of the Torah were to judge by what was not abrogated by the Messiah (peace be upon him). And whatever the Messiah abrogated, they were commanded to follow him in that. And they were commanded in the Gospel to follow Muhammad (peace be upon him).
So anyone from the People of the Book who, after the sending of Muhammad (peace be upon him), judged by what Allah revealed in the Torah and the Gospel did not judge contrary to what Muhammad (peace be upon him) brought because they were already commanded in the Torah and the Gospel to follow him, as Allah said:
“Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel…” (al-A‘raf: 157)
And He said: “We sent down to you the Book with the truth, confirming what came before it of the Book and as a guardian over it. So judge between them by what Allah has revealed, and do not follow their desires away from what has come to you of the truth.” (al-Ma’ida: 48)
He made the Quran a guardian (muhaimin) over the previous scripture and muhaymin means a witness, a judge, a trustworthy authority. It judges what remains valid of them, affirms what is true, and abrogates what was abrogated. That’s why Allah said: “To each of you We have appointed a law and a approach…” (al-Ma’ida: 48)
This is also established in the Sahihayn, Sunan, and Musnads. In the two Sahihs, from the hadith of Abdullah ibn Umar, who said:
The Jews came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and told him that a man and a woman among them had committed adultery. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “What do you find in the Torah about stoning?” They said: “We expose them and flog them.” Abdullah ibn Salam said: “You lie! The Torah contains stoning.”
They brought the Torah and opened it. One of them placed his hand over the verse of stoning and read what came before and after it. Abdullah ibn Salam said: “Lift your hand!” He lifted it, and there was the verse of stoning. They said: “Muhammad has spoken the truth.” So the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered that the man and woman be stoned. (Reported by al-Bukhari in the Book of Hudud, under “Rulings for Ahl al-Dhimma” 8/30: “He stoned them, and I saw the man shielding the woman from the stones,” and also in the Book of Hudud, under “Stoning in the courtyard” 8/22; Muslim in the Book of Hudud, under “Stoning Jews and others in adultery” 3/1326, hadith 1699; Abu Dawud in Hudud, under “Stoning the Jews,” 4/593, hadith 4446; al-Tirmidhi, summarised, in Hudud, under “Ruling on stoning Ahl al-Kitab” 4/43, hadith 1436; Ibn Majah in Hudud, under “Stoning a Jew and Jewess” 2/854, hadith 2556; Malik in Hudud, under “What was reported about stoning,” 2/819; Ahmad in his Musnad 5/2, 62; and al-Darimi in Hudud, under “Judging between Ahl al-Kitab” 2/178.)
In another narration, al-Bukhari reported from Abdullah ibn Umar:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was brought a Jewish man and woman who had committed adultery. He went to the Jews and said: “What do you find in the Torah for one who commits adultery?” They said: “We blacken their faces and parade them.” He said: “Bring the Torah and read it if you are truthful.” They brought it and read it until they passed the verse of stoning. The young man reading it placed his hand over the verse of stoning and read what came before and after.
Abdullah ibn Salam, who was with the Prophet, said: “Tell him to lift his hand.” He did, and under it was the verse of stoning. They said: “It is true, there is the verse of stoning but we conceal it among ourselves. Our leaders invented the practice of blackening faces and flogging instead.” The Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered that the two be stoned (Also reported by Muslim from al-Bara’ ibn Azib: A Jew being flogged and blackened passed by the Prophet. He asked them: “Is this what you find in your book?” They said: “Yes.” The Prophet summoned one of their scholars and said: “I ask you by Allah who revealed the Torah to Musa do you find this as the ruling?” He said: “No, and had you not asked me by that, I would not have told you. We find stoning, but when it became common among our nobles, we would pardon them, and punish the weak. So we agreed on flogging and blackening.”)
Jawab Al Sahih (2/410-430)
