In this article I will summarise Ibn Al Qayyim’s words in Hidāyat al Ḥayārā where he brings many reasons as to why the torah is corrupt then I will be showing his words in Ighathat al Lahfan where he is often misunderstood to believe the Torah is preserved, and I will harmonise the texts.

Summary of His Words In Hidāyat al Ḥayārā

There are two positions.

• One is that the words of the Torah and the Gospel were not altered at all.
• The other holds that many of their words were altered and changed.

The stronger position is the second.

Those who denied the prophethood of the Messiah عليه السلام and accused him and his mother with serious false claims would be even more driven to hide the description of Muhammad ﷺ and the basharah (glad tidings) of his coming. Yet they were not able to conceal all of it, because those glad tidings were numerous and widespread, so what remained exposed their concealment.

Their Own Admission Of Alteration

Further proof is taken from their own admissions. The Torah remained with the chief Aaronic priest during the kingdom of the Children of Israel. The Jews admit that 70 priests agreed to change 13 letters of the Torah.

They also admit that the Samaritans altered places in it, added to it, and removed from it, while the Samaritans make the same claim against them. Once alteration in even one place is admitted, the claim of complete preservation falls.

What Is Found In The Torah They Possess

The Torah in their hands contains tahrif (distortion), tabdil (replacement), and material that cannot be attributed to the Prophets. The Torah sent down to Musa عليه السلام is free from all of that. Proof is taken from what is found in their own text, such as the claim that Lut عليه السلام had relations with his two daughters and fathered from them (Genesis 19:30–38),

the claim that Harun عليه السلام made the calf that the Israelites worshipped (Exodus 32:4),

the wording that Ishaq عليه السلام was the firstborn in the command of sacrifice (Genesis 22:2),

the claim that Allah regretted creating mankind (Genesis 6:5–7),

and the claim that Allah wrestled with Yaʿqub عليه السلام (Genesis 32:24–30).

These things are impossible to ascribe to Allah and His Prophets, so they cannot be from the revealed Torah.

Qur’an Verses Mentioned In Refutation

The Qur’an is then brought as decisive refutation. The claim that weariness touched Allah is answered by (Qaf: 38). Their words, “Allah is poor and we are rich,” are answered by (Ali ʿImran: 181). Their words, “The hand of Allah is chained,” are answered by (Al Ma’idah: 64).

Their claim that they would only believe a messenger who brought a sacrifice consumed by fire is answered by (Ali ʿImran: 183). Their claim that the Fire would only touch them for a few days is answered by (Al Baqarah: 80). So falsehood entered their speech about Allah, and that falsehood entered what they attributed to revelation.

More Of Their Statements

The corruption is not limited to a few places. Among their statements is that Allah cried over the Flood until His eyes became inflamed, and that the angels visited Him in illness. Among their prayers is, “Wake up, how long will You sleep, O Lord? Rise from Your sleep” (Psalm 44:23).

Such words are treated as open falsehood against Allah, and as further proof that what is now in their hands is not identical to the Torah revealed to Musa عليه السلام.

Other Claims Found In Their Torah

Their Torah says that Musa عليه السلام and the elders saw Allah openly, and that beneath His feet was something like crystal (Exodus 24:9–10).

It says that Allah regretted creating mankind in the days of Nuh عليه السلام (Genesis 6:5–7), regretted appointing Saul king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:11, 35), and smelled the scent of Nuh’s offering after the Ark (Genesis 8:20–21). Repeated attribution of regret, bodily qualities, and deficiency shows that the current text is mixed with what is not from Allah.

Statement Of One Of Their Learned Men Who Accepted Islam

The Torah sent down to Musa عليه السلام did not contain these falsehoods. The cause given is not simply deliberate corruption by every Jew, but loss, restricted transmission, and later recompilation. Musa entrusted the Torah to the descendants of Levi, especially the family of Harun, and did not spread all of it among the Children of Israel (Deuteronomy 31:9; Deuteronomy 31:19–21).

When Bukhtanassar destroyed Bayt al Maqdis and killed those who preserved it, the Torah was no longer fully retained. Later, ʿUzayr gathered it from what he had memorised and from scattered portions kept by the priests. For that reason, the Torah now in their hands is, in reality, the book of ʿUzayr, even if within it, or within most of it, there is material from the Torah Allah sent down to Musa عليه السلام.

ʿUzayr And The Verse Mentioned About Him

Caution is then kept regarding ʿUzayr himself. Some say he is the man mentioned in (Al Baqarah: 259), and some say he was a Prophet. No proof is affirmed for either claim. Even if he were a Prophet and his name were ʿUzayr, that would only mean agreement in name, not that the compiled Torah in their hands is identical to the original Torah revealed to Musa عليه السلام.

Conclusion From His Words In Hidāyat al Ḥayārā

The Torah revealed by Allah to Musa عليه السلام is preserved in truth and free from lies, impossibilities, and absurdities. The Torah now possessed by the Jews is not the very same Torah in its complete original form.

Complete preservation of the present Torah is denied. Complete disappearance of all revealed material is also denied. Much, or most, of the revealed Torah may still remain within it, but it is mixed with additions, omissions, altered wording, and false attributions to Allah and His Prophets. So the strongest view here is that the original Torah is pure and uncorrupted, while the Torah now in their hands is a mixed text, not fully preserved, and not identical to what Allah sent down to Musa عليه السلام.

The Imam’s words In Ighāthat al Lahfān

Ibn al Qayyim brings three clear positions regarding the Torah in people’s hands.

One group went to an extreme and claimed that most or all of it has been altered and is no longer the Torah revealed to Musa عليه السلام. Some from this group went so far as to treat it with disrespect (using it to wipe yourself in the toilet) because of this belief.

Another group, including Imam al Bukhari, held that the wording itself was not altered, and that the distortion occurred in taʾwil (interpretation). They argued that the Torah spread widely across the earth, making complete alteration of all copies impossible. They also used as evidence that certain rulings, such as rajm (stoning), and the description of the Prophet ﷺ remained in it, and that the Prophet ﷺ affirmed the Torah when it was brought to him.

A third position takes a middle view. It holds that additions and some wording changes did occur, but only in a small amount, while most of the Torah remains as it was revealed.

So the conclusion here is that complete preservation is denied by one side, complete textual alteration is denied by another, and the middle position affirms that the Torah contains both preserved revelation and some degree of distortion.

Reconciling Ibn al Qayyim’s Statements on the Torah

No contradiction exists between these two sets of statements. The difference lies in stage and purpose within the argument.

The two passages therefore address different levels.

• In Ighathat al Lahfan he brings outlines the scholarly positions and the arguments used by each side.
• In Hidāyat al Ḥayārā he establishes what is correct after examining the evidence.

The conclusion that remains is a refined middle position.

The Torah in its original revelation is preserved and pure.

The Torah now in people’s hands is neither entirely unchanged nor entirely lost. Rather, it contains a mixture of preserved revelation and altered material, with both textual change and misinterpretation present together.

Full Passages From Both Books Below

Hidāyat al Ḥayārā

Ways Followed By Those Who Defend Them

These ways are followed by those who support them in claiming that they did not distort the words of the Torah and the Gospel, and did not change anything from them. So some Muslim polemicists also follow these ways with them, without addressing alteration and distortion directly.

Another group claims that they did change and distort many of the words of the two books, even though the motive that led them to do that was far less than the motive that would have led them to change the glad tidings of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Yet because those glad tidings were so many, they were unable to hide all of them or change them. So what they were unable to conceal or alter exposed them.

How can it be denied of the wrathful nation, the killers of the Prophets who accused them of monstrous crimes, that they would hide the description of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his qualities, when they denied the prophethood of the Messiah and accused him and his mother of dreadful things?

His description, together with the glad tidings of him, is found in their books. Even so, they united upon denying his prophethood and rejecting the glad tidings of the Prophets concerning him. And he had not done to them what Muhammad ﷺ did to them, of killing, captivity, taking wealth as spoils, destroying homes, and expelling them from them. So how then would this nation not urge one another to hide his description and qualities, and change them in their books?

Allah, Glorified is He, has condemned them for that in more than 1 place in His Book and cursed them for it.

Their Own Admission Of Alteration

It is astonishing that the Jews and the Christians admit that throughout the kingdom of the Children of Israel, the Torah remained only with the chief Aaronic priest. The Jews also admit that 70 priests came together and unanimously agreed to change 13 letters of the Torah.

This was after the Messiah, in the time of the Caesars, when they were under subjugation, after kingship had passed away from them, and no king remained among them whom they feared and who would restrain them. Whoever accepts changing even 1 place from the Book of Allah cannot be trusted against distorting anything else in it. The Jews also admit that the Samaritans distorted places in the Torah, changed them openly, and added and removed from it. And the Samaritans make the same claim against them.

As for the Gospel, it has already been mentioned that what the Christians possess from it consists of 4 different books written by 4 men: John, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. So how can anyone deny that alteration and distortion found their way into them?

Yet despite all of that, Allah turned them away from changing what we have mentioned of the glad tidings concerning Muhammad ibn Abdullah ﷺ and removing it, even if they were able to hide it from their followers and their ignorant masses.

What Is Found In The Torah They Possess

In the Torah that they possess there is distortion, alteration, and material that cannot be attributed to the Prophets, things about which no person of insight can have any doubt. The Torah that Allah sent down to Musa عليه السلام is free from all of that.

In it there is the account of Lot, the Messenger, that he left the city and dwelt in a cave in the mountain with his 2 daughters. Then the younger said to the elder, “Our father has grown old, so lie with him, so that we may obtain offspring from him.” So the elder lay with him, then the younger, and they did that on the 2nd night as well, and both became pregnant by him, and 2 sons were born from him, Moab and Ammon. (Genesis 19:30–38)

So would it be proper that a noble Prophet and Messenger, honoured by Allah, should be made by Allah, Glorified is He, to fall into such a tremendous obscenity at the end of his life, and then that this be spread about him and told to the nations?

In it there is also that Allah manifested Himself to Musa عليه السلام at Mount Sinai and said to him, after much speech, “Put your hand into your bosom and bring it out leprous like snow.” (Exodus 4:6)

This belongs to the first type already mentioned. Allah, Glorified is He, did not manifest Himself to Musa عليه السلام. Rather, He commanded him to place his hand into his garment, and informed him that it would come out white without harm, meaning without leprosy.

In it there is also that Harun عليه السلام was the one who fashioned the calf for them. (Exodus 32:4)

If this is not from their additions and fabrications, then Harun here would be the name of the Samaritan who fashioned it, not Harun, the brother of Musa عليهما السلام.

In it there is also that Allah said to Ibrahim عليه السلام, “Sacrifice your son, your firstborn, Isaac.” (Genesis 22:2)

This is part of their false accusation and their addition to the speech of Allah. They combined 2 contradictions, because his firstborn was Ismaʿil عليه السلام, as he was the eldest of his children, while Ishaq عليه السلام was only given as glad tidings in old age, after the story of the sacrifice.

In it there is also that Allah saw that the corruption of mankind on the earth had become great, so He regretted creating them, and said: “I will wipe away the human being whom I created from the earth, and the creeping creatures, and the birds of the sky, because I regret creating them very much.” (Genesis 6:5–7)

Exalted is Allah far above the lies of the fabricators and far above what the wrongdoers say.

In it there is also that Allah, Glorified is He and Exalted far above that, wrestled with Yaʿqub عليه السلام, and Yaʿqub threw Him to the ground. (Genesis 32:24–30)

Qur’an Verses Mentioned In Refutation

“وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فِي سِتَّةِ أَيَّامٍ وَمَا مَسَّنَا مِن لُّغُوبٍ”

“We certainly created the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them in 6 days, and no weariness touched Us.” (Qaf: 38)

He means by “لغوب” weariness.

“إِنَّ اللَّهَ فَقِيرٌ وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَاءُ”

“Indeed, Allah is poor and we are rich.” (Ali ʿImran: 181)

“يَدُ اللَّهِ مَغْلُولَةٌ ۚ غُلَّتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَلُعِنُوا بِمَا قَالُوا ۘ بَلْ يَدَاهُ مَبْسُوطَتَانِ”

“The hand of Allah is chained.” Chained are their own hands, and they have been cursed for what they said. Rather, both His hands are outstretched. (Al Ma’idah: 64)

“إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَهِدَ إِلَيْنَا أَلَّا نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَنَا بِقُرْبَانٍ تَأْكُلُهُ النَّارُ”

“Indeed, Allah has taken a covenant from us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us a sacrifice consumed by fire.” (Ali ʿImran: 183)

“لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلَّا أَيَّامًا تَعْدُودَةً”

“The Fire will not touch us except for a few numbered days.” (Al Baqarah: 80)

More Of Their Statements

They also say that Allah cried over the Flood until His eyes became inflamed, and that the angels visited Him in illness.

They also say, as mentioned earlier, that Allah regretted creating the children of Adam. They inserted this slander into the Torah.

They say about Lot عليه السلام that he had intercourse with his 2 daughters and fathered 2 sons from them, from whom they traced the lineage of a number of Prophets.

And in some of the supplications of their prayers they say, “Wake up, how long will You sleep, O Lord? Rise from Your sleep.” (Psalm 44:23)

So they dared against the Lord of the worlds with this vile supplication, as though they were trying to stir Him to zeal for them and seek His protection, as though they were telling Him that He had chosen obscurity for Himself and His beloved ones, so they shake Him with this address in order to awaken Him and bring Him to renown.

One of their leading men, after accepting Islam, said: “So one of them may recite these words in prayer, and his skin trembles, and he has no doubt that his words fall upon Allah in a mighty place, and that they affect his Lord, stir Him, shake Him, and arouse Him.”

Other Claims Found In Their Torah

They have in their Torah that Musa عليه السلام climbed the mountain with the elders of his nation, and they saw Allah openly, and beneath His feet was a throne whose appearance was like crystal. (Exodus 24:9–10)

This is from their lies and fabrications against Allah and against the Torah.

They also have in their Torah that when Allah, Glorified is He, saw the corruption of the people of Nuh عليه السلام and that their evil had become great, He regretted creating mankind on the earth, and that weighed heavily upon Him. (Genesis 6:5–7)

They also have in their Torah that Allah regretted appointing Saul as king over Israel. (1 Samuel 15:11, 35)

They also have in it that when Nuh عليه السلام came out of the Ark, he built an altar and offered sacrifices upon it, and Allah smelled the scent of the smoke and said within Himself, “I will never again curse the earth because of mankind, for the inclination of the human heart is bent towards evil, and I will never again destroy every living creature as I have done.” (Genesis 8:20–21)

Statement Of One Of Their Learned Men Who Accepted Islam

One of their learned men, firm in knowledge, whom Allah guided to Islam, said, “We do not hold that these acts of disbelief were in the Torah that was sent down to Musa. Nor do we say that the Jews deliberately intended to change it and corrupt it. Rather, the truth is more deserving of being followed.”

He also said, “We will mention the true cause of the change of the Torah. For the scholars and rabbis of the people know that this Torah which they possess is not believed by any of their scholars and rabbis to be the very Torah sent down to Musa ibn ʿImran at all.

Musa preserved the Torah from the Children of Israel and did not spread it among them, fearing that they would differ after him over its interpretation and thereby split into parties. Rather, he entrusted it to his clan, the descendants of Levi.”

He said, “The proof of that is what the Torah says, whose meaning is: ‘And Moses wrote this Torah and gave it to the leaders of the descendants of Levi.’” (Deuteronomy 31:9)

The descendants of Harun were the judges and rulers of the Jews, because leadership, the service of the sacrifices, and the service of Bayt al Maqdis were among them. Musa did not disclose to the Children of Israel from the Torah except half of a surah.

And Allah said to Musa concerning this surah that it would be a witness for Him against the Children of Israel, and that this surah would not be forgotten from the mouths of their children. (Deuteronomy 31:19–21)

As for the rest of the Torah, he entrusted it to the descendants of Harun and kept it among them, protecting it from everyone besides them. So the Aaronic leaders were the ones who knew the Torah and had preserved most of it. Then Bukhtanassar killed them all together and burned their Temple on the day he seized Bayt al Maqdis. The Torah was not preserved fully upon their tongues. Rather, each Aaronic priest had memorised only a section of the Torah.

Then when ʿUzayr saw that the people had had their Temple burned, their state had passed away, their gathering had become scattered, and their Book had been removed, he gathered from what he had memorised and from the sections that the priests had memorised, and from that he pieced together this Torah that they now possess.

Because of that, they went to extremes in glorifying ʿUzayr, and said about him what Allah related from them in His Book. They also claimed that a light still appears upon his grave in the marshlands of Iraq, because he made for them a book by which they preserved their religion.

So this Torah which they possess is, in reality, the book of ʿUzayr, even if within it, or within most of it, there is material from the Torah that Allah sent down to Musa عليه السلام.

He then said, “This shows that the one who gathered these sections which they possess was a man ignorant of the attributes of the Lord, what is fitting for Him, and what is impossible regarding Him. For that reason he attributed to the Lord, Exalted is He, what He is far above and free from.”

ʿUzayr And The Verse Mentioned About Him

This man is known among the Jews and Christians as Ezra the scribe. Some people think that he is the one about whom Allah said:

“أَوْ كَالَّذِي مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا قَالَ أَنَّىٰ يُحْيِي هَٰذِهِ اللَّهُ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا فَأَمَاتَهُ اللَّهُ مِائَةَ عَامٍ ثُمَّ بَعَثَهُ”

“Or like the one who passed by a town while it had collapsed upon its roofs. He said, ‘How will Allah bring this to life after its death?’ So Allah caused him to die for 100 years, then raised him.” (Al Baqarah: 259)

And they say that he was a Prophet.

There is no proof for either of these 2 claims, so caution is required in affirming or denying that. If he was a Prophet and his name was ʿUzayr, then he merely shared the same name as the compiler of the Torah they possess.

Final Conclusion

In summary, we, and every rational person, are certain that the Torah which Allah sent down to His one spoken to directly, Musa عليه السلام, is free from these lies, impossibilities, and absurdities, just as we are certain that the prayer of Musa and the Children of Israel with him is free from what they say in their prayers today.

For in the first 10 days of Muharram every year they say in their prayers words whose meaning is: “O our Father, reign over all the people of the earth, so that every living being may say: the God of Israel has become king, and His kingdom rules over all.”

And they also say in it: “And Allah shall be king, and on that day Allah shall be one, and His name one.” (Zechariah 14:9)

By this they mean that His kingship and His oneness do not become manifest except when power returns to them. But as long as rule belongs to others, then according to them His mention remains low among the nations, His oneness remains doubted, and His kingship remains criticised.

And it is known with certainty that Musa عليه السلام and the Lord of Musa are free from this prayer, just as they are free from those absurdities.

Hidāyat al Ḥayārā fī Ajwibat al Yahūd wa al Naṣārā by Ibn al Qayyim al Jawziyyah pg 240–250

Ighāthat al Lahfān

وقد اختلف أقوال الناس فى التوراة التى بأيديهم: هل هى مبدلة، أم التبديل والتحريف وقع فى التأويل دون التنزيل؟ على ثلاثة أقوال طرفين، ووسط.

فأفرطت طائفة وزعمت أنها كلها أو أكثرها مبدلة مغيرة. ليست التوراة التى أنزلها الله تعالى على موسى عليه السلام، وتعرض هؤلاء لتناقضها وتكذيب بعضها لبعض:

وغلا بعضهم. فجوز الاستجمار بها من البول.

وقابلهم طائفة أخرى من أئمة الحديث والفقه والكلام، فقالوا: بل التبديل وقع فى التأويل، لا فى التنزيل.
وهذا مذهب أبى عبد الله محمد بن إسماعيل البخارى.

قال فى صحيحه: “يحرفون: يزيلون. وليس أحد يزيل لفظ كتاب من كتب الله تعالى ولكنهم يحرفونه: يتأولونه على غير تأويله”.

وهذا اختيار الرازى فى تفسيره.

وسمعت شيخنا يقول: وقع النزاع فى هذه المسألة بين بعض الفضلاء. فاختار هذا المذهب ووهن غيره، فأنكر عليه، فأحضر لهم خمسة عشر نقلا به.

ومن حجة هؤلاء: أن التوراة قد طبقت مشارق الأرض ومغاربها، وانتشرت جنوبا وشمالا. ولا يعلم عدد نسخها إلا الله تعالى. ومن الممتنع أن يقع التواطؤ على التبديل والتغيير فى جميع تلك النسخ. بحيث لا يبقى فى الأرض نسخة إلا مبدلة مغيرة. والتغيير على منهاج واحد. وهذا مما يحيله العقل، ويشهد ببطلان.

قالوا: وقد قال الله لنبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم محتجا على اليهود بها: {قُلْ فَائْتُوا بِالتَّوْرَاةِ فَاتْلُوهَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ} [آل عمران: ٩٣] .

قالوا: وقد اتفقوا على ترك فريضة الرجم، ولم يمكنهم تغييرها من التوراة، ولهذا لما قرؤوها على النبى صلى الله تعالى عليه وسلم وضع القارئ يده على آية الرجم. فقال له عبد الله بن سلام:

“ارْفَعْ يَدَكَ عَنْ آيَةِ الرَّجْمِ”.

فرفعها فإذا هى تلوح تحتها. فلو كانوا قد بدلوا ألفاظ التوراة لكان هذا من أهم ما يبدلونه.

قالوا: وكذلك صفات النبى صلى الله تعالى عليه وسلم ومخرجه هو فى التوراة بين جدا. ولم

يمكنهم إزالته وتغييره. وإنما ذمهم الله تعالى بكتمانهم. وكانوا إذا احتج عليهم بما فى التوراة من نعته وصفته يقولون: ليس هو، ونحن ننتظره.

قالوا: وقد روى أبو داود فى سننه عن ابن عمر رضى الله عنه، قال:

“أَتَى نَفُر مِنَ الْيَهُود. فَدَعَوْا رَسولَ اللهِ صلى اللهُ تعالى عليهِ وسلَم إلى القُفِّ فأتاهم فى بَيْتِ المِدْرَاسِ، فقَالُوا يا أبا القاسم، إِنَّ رَجُلاً مِنَّا زَنَى بامْرَأةٍ، فَاحْكُمْ، فَوَضَعُوا لِرَسُولِ الله صلى اللهُ تعالى عليهِ وَسلَم وِسَادَةً، فَجِلَسَ عَليهَا ثمَّ قَالَ ائْتُونِى بالتَّوْرَاةِ فأُتِى بها فَنَزَعَ الْوِسَادَهَ مِنْ تحْتِهِ، ووَضَعَ التَّوْرَاةَ عَليهَا ثمَّ قالَ آمَنْتُ بِكِ وَبمَنْ أَنْزَلَكِ قالَ ائْتُونَى بأَعْلَمِكُمْ فأُتِى بِفَتى ثم ذكر قِصَّةَ الرَّجْم”.

قالوا: فلو كانت مبدلة مغيرة لم يضعها على الوسادة، ولم يقل: “آمَنْتُ بِكِ وبَمنَ أَنْزَلَكِ”.

قالوا وقد قال تعالى: {وَتَّمتْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ صِدْقاً وَعَدْلاً لاَ مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَهُوَ السّمِيعُ الْعَلِيم} [الأنعام: ١١٥] والتوراة من كلماته.

قالوا: والآثار التى فى كتمان اليهود صفة رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم فى التوراة ومنعهم أولادهم وعوامهم الاطلاع عليها مشهورة، ومن اطلع عليها منهم، قالوا له ليس به.

فهذا بعض ما احتجت به هذه الفرقة.

وتوسطت طائفة ثالثة. وقالوا: قد زيد فيها، وغير ألفاظ يسيرة، ولكن أكثرها باق على ما أنزل عليه. والتبديل فى يسير منها جدا.

The people have differed concerning the Torah that is in their hands. Has it been altered, or did alteration and distortion occur in interpretation and not in the revealed wording? This has resulted in three positions: two extremes and a middle view.

One group went to excess and claimed that all of it, or most of it, has been altered and changed, and that it is not the Torah which Allah sent down to Musa عليه السلام. These people then turned to pointing out contradictions within it and claiming that some parts deny other parts.

Some of them went even further and permitted using it for cleansing after relieving oneself.

Opposing them is another group from the imams of hadith, fiqh, and theology. They said that alteration occurred in interpretation, not in the revealed wording. This is the position of Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al Bukhari.

He said in his Sahih: “They distort” means “they remove.” Yet no one removes the wording of a book from the Books of Allah. Rather, they distort it by interpreting it in a way other than its true interpretation.

This is also the position chosen by al Razi in his tafsir.

It was heard from the teacher that disagreement arose regarding this issue among some learned people. One of them chose this position and weakened the others. This was objected to, so fifteen reports were brought forward in support of it.

Among the arguments of this group is that the Torah has spread throughout the east and west of the earth, and across the north and south. The number of its copies is known only to Allah. It is impossible for agreement to occur upon altering and changing all of those copies, such that no copy would remain on the earth except that it had been altered and changed, and all upon one pattern. This is something the intellect rejects and recognises as false.

They also said that Allah argued against the Jews with it, saying:

“Say: Bring the Torah and recite it, if you are truthful” (Ali ʿImran: 93).

They also said that they agreed to abandon the ruling of stoning, yet they were not able to change it in the Torah. When they read it before the Prophet ﷺ, the reader placed his hand over the verse of stoning. ʿAbd Allah ibn Salam said to him:

“Lift your hand from the verse of stoning.”

So he lifted it, and it appeared clearly beneath it. If they had altered the wording of the Torah, this would have been among the most important things to alter.

They also said that the description of the Prophet ﷺ and his emergence are clearly found in the Torah, and they were not able to remove or change it. Allah only condemned them for concealing it. When they were argued against with what is in the Torah concerning his description and qualities, they would say, “He is not the one, and we are waiting for him.”

They also said that Abu Dawud reported in his Sunan from Ibn ʿUmar that a group of Jews came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and asked him to judge between them regarding a case of adultery. He asked for the Torah, placed it upon a cushion, and said:

“I believe in you and in the One who revealed you,”

then requested their most learned man, and the story of stoning was mentioned.

They said that if it had been altered and changed, he would not have placed it upon the cushion, nor would he have said, “I believe in you and in the One who revealed you.”

They also said that Allah said:

“And the word of your Lord has been completed in truth and justice. None can change His words” (Al Anʿam: 115),

and that the Torah is from His words.

They also said that the reports of the Jews concealing the description of the Messenger ﷺ in the Torah, and preventing their children and common people from accessing it, are well known. Whoever among them came to know of it, they would say to him, “He is not the one.”

This is some of what this group relied upon.

A third group took a middle position. They said that additions have entered into it, and that a small amount of its wording has been changed, but that most of it remains as it was revealed, and that alteration within it is very slight.

Ighāthat al Lahfān fī Maṣāyid al Shayṭān by Ibn al Qayyim al Jawziyyah (2/351–354)