Surah 3. Al-i'Imran, Ayah 78
| وَإِنَّ مِنْهُمْ لَفَرِيقًا يَلْوُونَ أَلْسِنَتَهُمْ بِالْكِتَابِ لِتَحْسَبُوهُ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ وَيَقُولُونَ هُوَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَمَا هُوَ مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- 'inna min -hum la- fareq(an) yalwon alsinah -hum bi- al- kitaab li- tah.sabo -hu min al- kitaab wa- maa huwa min al- kitaab wa- yaqolon huwa min cindi 'allaah wa- maa huwa min cindi 'allaah wa- yaqolon calaa 'allaah al- kadhib wa- hum yaclamon |
| Pickthall | : | And Lo! there is a party of them who distort the Scripture with their tongues, that ye may think that what they say is from the Scripture, when it is not from the Scripture. And they say: It is from Allah, when it is not from Allah; and they speak a lie concerning Allah knowingly. |
| Asad | : | And, behold, there are indeed some among them who distort the Bible with their tongues, so as to make you think that [what they say] is from the Bible, the while it is not from the Bible; and who say, "This is from God," the while it is not from God: and thus do they tell a lie about God, being well aware [that it is a lie].60 |
| Malik | : | There are some among them who twist their tongues pretending a quote from their Holy Book; so that you may think that what they read is a part of the Book, whereas, in fact it is not a part of the Book. They also assert, "It is from Allah" whereas, in fact it is not from Allah. Thus they deliberately ascribe a lie to Allah. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | There is among them a section who distort the Book with their tongues; (as they read) you would think it is a part of the Book but it is no part of the Book; and they say "That is from Allah" but it is not from Allah: it is they who tell a lie against Allah and (well) they know it! |
Note - 60Most of the commentators assume that this refers
specifically to the Jews, whom the Qur'an frequently
accuses of having deliberately corrupted the Old
Testament. However, since the next two verses clearly
relate to Jesus and to the false beliefs of the
Christians regarding his nature and mission, we must
conclude that both Jews and Christians are referred to in
this passage. For this reason, the term al-kitab, which
occurs three times in this sentence, has been rendered
here as "the Bible". - According to Muhammad 'Abduh
(Manar III, 345), the above-mentioned distortion of the
Bible does not necessarily presuppose a corruption of the
text as such: it can also be brought about "by
attributing to an expression a meaning other than the one
which was originally intended". As an example, 'Abduh
quotes the metaphorical use, in the Gospels, of the term
"my Father" with reference to God - by which term, as is
evident from the Lord's Prayer, was obviously meant the
"Father" - i.e., the Originator and Sustainer - of all
mankind. Subsequently, however, some of those who claimed
to be followers of Jesus lifted this expression from the
realm of metaphor and "transferred it to the realm of
positive reality with reference to Jesus alone": and thus
they gave currency to the idea that he was literally "the
son of God", that is, God incarnate.
|
Share your thoughts about this with others by posting a comment. Visit our FAQ for some ideas.
Filter Comments 
 |
Most of the commentators assume that this refers specifically to the Jews, whom the Qur'an frequently accuses of having deliberately corrupted the Old Testament. However, since the next two verses clearly relate to Jesus and to the false beliefs of the Christians regarding his nature and mission, we must conclude that both Jews and Christians are referred to in this passage. For this reason, the term al-kitab, which occurs three times in this sentence, has been rendered here as "the Bible". - According to Muhammad 'Abduh (Manar III, 345), the above-mentioned distortion of the Bible does not necessarily presuppose a corruption of the text as such: it can also be brought about "by attributing to an expression a meaning other than the one which was originally intended". As an example, 'Abduh quotes the metaphorical use, in the Gospels, of the term "my Father" with reference to God - by which term, as is evident from the Lord's Prayer, was obviously meant the "Father" - i.e., the Originator and Sustainer - of all mankind. Subsequently, however, some of those who claimed to be followers of Jesus lifted this expression from the realm of metaphor and "transferred it to the realm of positive reality with reference to Jesus alone": and thus they gave currency to the idea that he was literally "the son of God", that is, God incarnate. |
