The Old Testament for Muslims

Here I will argue why the Old Testament has value for Muslims.

First I will consider what the Quran has to say.  Many Muslims claim that because the Old Testament has been corrupted, it has no value.  The Quran clearly contradicts this idea.  In Quran 5:43 God says "they have the Torah in which is the decision of Allah". This makes clear that God considers the Torah (Old Testament) to be valid at the time of the Quran, containing God's decisions.  Quran 5:48 says:

"To each among you, We have prescribed a law and a clear way. If Allâh had willed, He would have made you one nation, but that (He) may test you in what He has given you; so compete in good deeds."

For this competition (in good deeds) to make sense, both the Torah and the Quran must be valid at the same time, each representing a slightly different law and way.

And finally Quran 28:49 says "Then bring a Book from Allâh, which is a better guide than these two (Torah and Quran), that I may follow it, if you are truthful." This also seems to clearly say that both are good guides.

There is nothing in the Quran saying that the Old Testament is invalid.

What is the benefit of studying the Old Testament?  The benefit is that it suggests a means of interpretation of the Quran.

Let's consider how Muslims currently interpret the Quran.  At one extreme are sunnis who only use hadith.  They generally reject reason and tend to be too willing to accept many questionable hadiths as authentic in order to have sufficient material.  They also fail to recognize that Muhammad did what was optimal in his time and circumstance, and that this may not be optimal today.  At the other extreme are the quranists who claim to only use the Quran.  But in fact this is not possible because the Quran is a book of principles, not of details, so the details must come from somewhere.  And so the details tend to come from modern culture.  This is significantly worse than the sunni approach because modern culture is pure evil, a degenerate cesspool headed toward collapse.  So the end result is that Muslims basically vary along one dimension, with inflexible traditional sunnis at one end, and liberal degenerates at the other end.

The way out of this is suggested in the Old Testament.  It is the study of history.  In effect, the study of history (and science) can be considered the study of the sunnah of God.  By studying history, we can answer the question of which kinds of practices were common in rising cultures and which kinds of practices were common in falling cultures.  This tells us which kinds of practices are good and bad.  The Old Testament starts by explaining God's will in the Torah, in the first five chapters.  This is similar to the Quran itself.  But then the rest of the Old Testament is supplementary material which shows these how principles are applied in history and are understood by various prophets.  It is this whole package which provides a mental framework for understanding the world, and this can then be extended to a general study of history and science.  As a Muslim, you can take the Quran as the core message and then use history and science to better understand this message.  This approach leads neither to inflexible thinking nor to liberal degeneracy.  It simply leads to truth.

We read the Old Testament online every Saturday.  Please feel free to join us.

http://www.mikraite.org/Online-Old-Testament-Readings-tp145.html

An English translation of the Quran -2:4 And those who believe in what was sent down to you, and what was sent down before you, and regarding the Hereafter they are certain.

2:285 The messenger believes in what was sent down to him from his Lord; and the believers, all who believe in God, and His angels, and His Books, and His messengers: "We do not make a distinction between any of His messengers;" and they said: "We hear and obey, forgive us our Lord, and to you is our destiny."

3:3 He sent down to you the Book with the truth, authenticating what is between his hands; and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel.

4:163 We have inspired you as We had inspired Noah and the prophets after him. And We had inspired Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Patriarchs, and Jesus, and Job, and Jonah, and Aaron, and Solomon; and We gave David the Psalms.

5:46 And We sent in their footsteps Jesus, son of Mary, authenticating what was present with him of the Torah. And We gave him the Gospel, in it is a guidance and a light, and authenticating what was present with him of the Torah, and a guidance and a lesson for the righteous.

5:47 And let the people of the Gospel judge with what God has sent down in it. And whoever does not judge with what God has sent down, then these are the wicked.

5:68 Say: "O people of the Book, you are not upon anything until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel and what was sent down to you from your Lord." And for many of them, what was sent down to you from your Lord will only increase them in transgression and rejection. So do not feel sorry for the rejecting people.

29:46 And do not argue with the people of the Book except in that which is better; except for those who are wicked among them; and say: "We believe in what was revealed to us and in what was revealed to you, and our god and your god is the same; to Him we submit."

The problem with groups like ISIS and the Wahabis and Persian Shia's is that they quote the Quran out of context + they fabricated their own "Talmuds" doctrines which they call the "Ahadith"/the narrations which teach those dark evil things.

These neo-Saudis and neo-Iranians invented their own false doctrines which they tell others to uphold besides the Quran. If people will start reading the Tora, Psalms, Gospel and the Quran, then the people in power will lose their power because people will start understanding the bigger picture.

But i disagree with you about your opinion against using the Scriptures alone. We shouldn't uphold any sources besides the Scriptures as a Divine Revelation.

The whole problem with religion is the Talmud, Trinity and Ahadith etc. Don't be fooled by mixing them with the Scriptures.