be permissible to quote it in meaning only, and its narrator would not have been allowed to handle its sheets without performing ablution. No scholar has ever claimed this.
In addition to the fact that we are required to implement the Qur’an in practice, it also has another purpose, which is to set a challenge by its superior style and to perform worship by its recitation. Hence, it had to be revealed by word and text. The qudsī Hadith has no such additional purposes of challenge and worship. It is simply revealed for the implementation of its message. For this purpose, understanding the meaning is sufficient. To claim that it is revealed in word as well is to claim what is unnecessary and without solid basis, except perhaps the phrases mentioned in some of the qudsi Hadiths attributing the statement to God. But what we have already said tells us that this applies to the meaning rather than to the wording. It is, in fact, common usage in Arabic. When one explains a line of poetry, for example, one says, ‘the poet says so and so’, and when we explain in our own words a verse of the Qur’an we say, ‘God tells us this and that’. In the same way God tells us what Moses, Pharaoh and others said, stating the import of what they actually said, but expressing it in words and styles other than those they used. He nevertheless attributes those words to them.34
1.4 These points of difference between the Qur’an and the Hadith have given us, over the centuries since the revelation of the Qur’an, several independent sources that do not overlap. This separation between them is an important feature of Islam and Islamic culture. Moreover, it is unique to the Muslim nation. These sources are:
i.The Qur’an, which is God’s Word revealed in word and meaning. It is a text that admits neither addition nor omission. It cannot be altered or distorted.
ii.The Hadiths, which are the Prophet’s verbal statements. No mix up with the Qur’an and Hadiths has ever happened or may happen. This applies to both the qudsī and ordinary Hadiths, clearly distinguished from each other as they are. It should be noted that the qudsi Hadiths represent only a small portion of the Hadiths attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him). The nature of the subject matter of the qudsī Hadiths and their degree of authenticity are of little importance in this context.
iii.We also have a complete record of the Prophet’s actions in his daily life, in public and private, in war and in peace time, as well as his fine manners and behaviour. This is included in the books of his history, i.e. sīrah, and his character.
iv.In addition to these three, we have sources devoted to the life of the Prophet’s Companions, and their degrees of closeness to the Prophet (peace be upon him).
v.Finally, we have books of general history which, in their different approaches, provide us with a record of what Islamic societies were like in different periods of history.
There is absolutely no confusion or overlap between the Qur’an and the Prophet’s verbal statements, or between the Qur’an and the history of the Prophet (peace be upon him) or his Companions. Indeed, the Qur’an rarely discusses the history of Muhammad (peace be upon him), the man, or the pain he suffered at any time. It does not refer at all to his personal happiness or delight.
We stress that this clear and absolute distinction between these sources, which the Prophet (peace be upon him) started by prohibiting the writing of the Qur’an and the hadith on the same piece of material, does not apply to earlier religions and Divine books. In all of them, the revealed text, rare as it is, is mixed with statements by the prophets to which it was revealed, their stories and conduct with their disciples and with people. These take long chunks, and even complete books, as we will explain.
2. A Brief Comparison with Earlier Divine Books
We need only to speak here about the Torah and the Gospels in order to realise how much confusion crept into the books that were revealed by God to Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them both). We need to mention the additions that were included within these two books, let alone the alteration and distortion of their texts. These additions highlight the extent of loss of the Divine text. Indeed, the revealed text has been drowned in a sea of these additions. This gives us an idea of the confusion that has affected the sources of religion and legislation in both Judaism and Christianity. These sources put together the revealed texts and the speeches, admonitions, conduct and life of the prophets, as well as the conduct of apostles and disciples, the history of kings and the life of the Children of Israel.
The People of the Book and the Qur’an as the Final Say
The term ‘People of the Book’ is used in the Qur’an to refer to the Jews and Christians together. It is well known that Prophet Jesus, son of Mary, was one of the Israelite prophets and was sent to the Children of Israel in particular. God says: ‘Jesus, the son of Mary, said: Children of Israel! I am God’s messenger to you, (sent) to confirm the Torah revealed before me, and to give news of a messenger that will come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad’ (61: 6). ‘He will teach him (i.e. Jesus) the book and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel, and will make him a messenger to the Israelites’ (3: 48–49).
In the Gospel, Jesus is quoted as saying: ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’ (Matthew 15:24). ‘These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”’ (Matthew 15:5–6).
So, the Jewish law and the Israelite era that preceded Jesus continued to operate under Christianity.35
The Qur’anic term ‘People of the Book’ is both clear and significant as it groups the Jews and Christians together in having one book. Moreover, the term ‘The Book’, and even ‘book’, is used in the Qur’an to refer to all Divine scriptures revealed by God to His messengers, as all these books confirm one another with no conflict or contradiction between them.
Hence, the Qur’an confirms the earlier books as God says: ‘To you We have revealed the Book, setting forth the truth, confirming the Scriptures which had already been revealed before it and superseding them’ (5: 48). That the Qur’an supersedes the earlier revealed books means that it judges and corrects them, because it is God’s final revelations that God has guaranteed to remain free of any distortion or alteration until the Day of Judgement. Moreover, the Qur’an requires the Prophet (peace be upon him) to judge in any dispute between the Jews and the Christians according to what God has revealed. This means that he judges between them on the basis of what the Qur’an has confirmed of their books, or what remained undistorted. The same applies to the Qur’anic order to the followers of the Gospel to judge in accordance with what God has revealed therein. This is because the Gospel confirmed the Torah before it. God says in the Qur’an: ‘We caused Jesus, the son of Mary, to follow in the footsteps of those (earlier prophets), confirming what had already been revealed before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel, containing guidance and light, confirming what had already been revealed before it in the Torah and giving guidance and admonition to the God-fearing. Let, then, the followers of the Gospel judge in accordance with what God has revealed therein. Those who do not judge in accordance with what God has revealed are indeed transgressors. And to you We have revealed the Book, setting forth the truth, confirming the Scriptures which had already been revealed before it and superseding them. Judge, then, between them in accordance with what God has revealed and do not follow their vain desires, forsaking thereby the truth that has come to you’ (5: 46–48).
The Bible, according to Christians, includes the Torah revealed to Moses and the Gospel revealed to Jesus. Thus, it is comprised of:
i.The Torah, as well as all the scriptures that have been added or appendixed to it during the Jewish period, prior to the time of Prophet Jesus, son of Mary. They are referred to as the Old Testament.
ii.The four main gospels and the letters of the Apostles in
