Injil
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The Injil (Arabic إنجيل , also transcribed Injeel) is one of the four Islamic Holy Books the Qur'an records as revealed by Allah - the others being the Zabur, Tawrat, and Qur'an. The word Injil is generally held by non-Muslim historians to be an abbreviation of the Greek word Ευαγγέλιον, sometimes rendered in English as evangel (and literally meaning "good news"). It is usually translated as Gospel, as in the four Gospels of the New Testament. The word Injil usually denotes the New Testament. Currently, Muslims believe the Gospel or the New Testament has been corrupted over time. However, according to some other views, 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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[edit] Occurrence of the word Injil in the Qur'an
The word Injil occurs twelve times in the Qur'an (III, 2, 43, 58; V, 50, 51, 70, 72, 110; VII, 156; IX, 112; XLVIII, 29; LVII, 27 ) and refers to the revelation transmitted by Isa. The word also means the scripture possessed and read by the Christian contemporaries of Mohammed (V, 51; VII, 156), i.e., the four Gospels, often extended in current usage to mean the whole of the New Testament. Although the Qu'ran refers to the message of Isa, the contents of the relevation contained in the Injeel transmitted by Isa is not known from the Qur'an.
[edit] Difference between the Injil and 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, and is used by both Muslims and some Arabic-speaking Christians today.
Some Muslim scholars think that the Injil has undergone tahrif, that is the meaning or words were distorted, passages were suppressed, others added, etc. Many Muslims believe that humans have corrupted parts of the Injil, specifically references to where Jesus is called the Son of God by his followers and the events that occurred after Jesus' death. Most Muslims believe that instead of Jesus dying on the cross and then being resurrected (as the Bible says), he was never crucified and was risen into heaven.
[edit] Only Qur'an is authoritative
Although parts of the Injil are believed to have been corrupted over time, the original Injil was, nonetheless, a revelation from God to Isa 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. Nevertheless, from the books sent by God (kutub), only the Qu'ran does not suffer from tahrif, i.e. is considered flawless (in contrast to Tawrat, Zabur, Injil) and existing (in contrast to the Suhuf-i-Ibrahim) according to the Muslims and therefore only the Qu'ran is an authoritative source for Islam.
[edit] See also
- Origin and development of the Qur'an
- Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
- Christo-Islamic
- List of Christian terms in Arabic
- Tawrat, Suhuf-i-Ibrahim, Zabur
