The Fallibility or Infallibility of the Propositions of the Qur’ān and the Testaments

Author

Assistant Professor, Department of the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth Sciences, Faculty of Islamic Theology, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

One of the most important foundations of knowing and interpreting the Qur’ān, the Torah, and the Gospel is the belief in the infallibility and impeccability of the words and propositions of these divine scriptures. If the verses and statements of the noble Qur’ān and the Testaments during the revelation era and the ensuing times have been afflicted with distortion and contradiction, then they cannot be trusted. One of the dimensions of the originality and authoritativeness of the divine scriptures is their freedom from any kind of mistake, disharmony, and disagreement. When a person tries to understand the verses based on such a viewpoint, he will expect nothing but harmony from the verses and will try to figure out this harmony and convergence. In this article, various existing viewpoints in this regard are presented and examined, and it is concluded that the infallibility of the divine scriptures is the stance taken by the majority of Muslims and the Judaist tradition, while there are disagreements among Christians. The main reason is the viewpoints of Muslims, Jews, and Christians toward revelation.

Keywords


Themā noble Qur’ān
Nahj al-balāgha (n.d.). Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ, Beirut, Dār al-Hijra.
The Bible (the New Testament and the Old Testament) (1987). N.p., The Association for the Bible Distribution.
The Bible (1988). Beirut, Dār al-Mashriq.
Anas, J. (1890), Niẓām al-ta‘līm fī ‘ilm al-lāhūt al-qawīm. Beirut, Maṭba‘a al-Amīrkān.
Āshtiyānī, J. (1990), An investigation of Judaism. Tehran, Nigārish Publications.
‘Azīz, F. (n.d.), ‘Ilm al-tafsīr. Cairo, Dār al-Thaqāfa.
Balāghī Najafī, M. (1982), Al-Hudāilā dīn al-Muṣṭafā. Translated by Aḥmad Ṣafā’ī, n.p., Āfāq Publications.
Barbour, I. (1996, Religion and science. Translated by Bahā’ al-Dīn Khurramshāhī, n.p., Markaz Nashr Dānishgāhī.
Bucaille, M. (1994), The Torah the Bible the Quran and Science. Translated by Dhabīḥullāh Dabīr, Tehran, Islamic Culture Publications.
Buṭrus, A. (1995), Qāmūs al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas. Cairo, Dār al-Thaqāfa.  
Browning, W. (1997), Oxford Dictionary of the Bible. New York, Oxford University Press.
Encyclopedia of judaica. (1982), Jerusalem.
Faghālī, B. (n.d.), Al-Madkhal ilā al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas. Beirut, Manshūrāt al-Maktaba al-Bulisiyya.
Goldziher, I. (1955), Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law. Translated by Muḥammad Yūsuf Muṣṭafā, Cairo, Dār al-Kitāb Miṣrī.
Ḥaqqī Burūsawī, A. (1985), Rūḥ al-bayān. Beirut, Dār al-Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Hindī, R. (n.d.), Iẓhār al-ḥaqq. Cairo, Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīniyya.
Ibn Ḥazm Andulusī, A. (2002), Al-Faṣl fī al-milal wa al-ahwā’ wa al-niḥal. Beirut, Dār al-Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī.
Ibn Maymūn, M. (n.d.), Dilāla al-Ḥā’irīn. N.p, Maktaba al-Thaqā fa al-Dīniyya.
Īmānī Langirūdī, Ṭ. (1999), Proving the freedom of the noble Qur’ān from contradiction. Qom, University of Qom.  
Jamā‘a min al-lāhūtī’īn (1986), Tafsīr al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas. Beirut, Dār Manshūrāt al-Nafīr. 
Jawādī Āmulī, A. (2014), Thematic exegesis of the Qur’ān. Qom, Isrā’ Publication Center.
Kamālī Dizfūlī, A. (1992), Rules of exegesis. Tehran, Ṣadr Publications.
Khalafullāh, M. (1999), Al-Fann al-qiṣaṣīfī al-Qur’ān. Edited by Khalīl ‘Abd al-Karīm, Beirut, Intishārāt al-‘Arabī Institute.
Khu’ī, A. (1945), Al-Bayān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān, Beirut, Dār al-Zahrā’.
Lofmark, C. (1990), What is the Bible. London, Rational Publication.
Mahāwash al-Urdunī, A. (1992), Al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas taḥt al-mujhar. Qom, Anṣāriyān Institute.  
Majlisī, M. (2007), Biḥār al-anwār. Tehran, Al-Maktaba al-Islāmiyya.
Ma‘rifat, M. (1995), Al-Tamhīd fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān. Qom, Al-Nashr al-Islāmī Institute.  
Id. (2010), Al-Tamhīd fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān. Qom, Al-Tamhīd Institute.
Marqaṣ Ibrāhīm, S. (2004), Tafsīr kalāāt al-muqaddas (Mu‘jam al-alfāẓ al-‘asra). Cairo, The author.
McDonald, W. (1998), Al-Tafsīr al-taṭbīqī li-Kitāb al-Muqaddas. N.p., Farīq al-Ṣalāt.
McGrath, A. (2006), A textbook on Christian theology: Sources and methods. Translated by Bihrūz Ḥaddādī, Qom, The Center for Research on Religions and Denominations. 
Metzger, B. (1993), The oxford Companion to The Bible. New York, Oxford University Press.
Michael, T. (1999), Christian theology. Translated by Ḥusayn Tawfīqī, Qom, The Center for Research on Religions and Denominations.
Miller, W. (1941), An interpretation of the Gospel of John. Tehran, Ḥayāt Abadī Publications.
Muṣṭafawī, Ḥ. (2002), Tafsīr Rushan. Tehran, Nashr Kitāb Center.
Muṭ‘anī, A. (2005), Al-Ikhtilāf fī al-Kitāb al-Muqadds. Cairo, Maktaba Wahba.
Muṭahharī, M. (1999), Collection of works. Tehran, Ṣadrā Publications.
Nas, J. (1997), The comprehensive history of religions. Translated by ‘Alī Aṣghar Ḥikmat, Tehran, Scientific-Cultural Publications Company. 
Rabī‘ Nattāj, A. (2003). A criticism of the claim on the discrepancy in the noble Qur’ān texts. Bābulsar, University of Mazandaran.
Riyāḍ, Y. (1998), Waḥy al-Kitāb al-Muqaddas. Iskandariyah, n.p.
Ṣamū’īl, Y. (1993), Al-Madkhalilā al-‘ahd al-qadīm. Cairo, Dār al-Thaqāfa.
Shākir, M. & M. Shamkhī (2009), “Are the Sacred Scriptures in the Abrahamic religions divine or human-made?” Pazhouhesh Name-ye Quran va Hadith, No. 4, 57-80.
Suyūṭī, J. (1985), Al-Itqān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān. Edited by Muḥammad Abūlfaḍl Ibrāhīm, Tehran, Manshūrāt al-Raḍī – Bīdār. 
Ṭabarī, A. (1999), Jāmi‘ al-bayān fī ta’wīl al-Qur’ān. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya.
Ṭabāṭabā’ī, M. (1972), Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qur’ān. Beirut, Mu’assisa al-A‘lamī lil-Maṭbū‘āt.
Tawfīqī, Ḥ. (2004), “Ta'wil in Religions”. Seven Heavens, No. 17, 135-158.
Wolf, K. (2006), The concept of Gospels. Translated by Muḥammad Qāḍī, Tehran, Farhang Publications.
Wolfsen, H. (2008), Philosophy of theology. Translated by Aḥmad Ārām, Tehran, Al-Hudā.
Zamakhsharī, M. (1995), Al-Kashshāf ‘an ḥaqā’iq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl wa ‘uyūn al-ta’wīl fī wujūh al-ta‘wīl. Qom, Islamic Guidance Office.
Zarkishī, B. (2004), Al-Burhān fī ‘ulūm al-Qur’ān. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr.