The Islamic Bible

Abstract

Islam, as the chief Biblical and revealed religion, accepts the historical position of "Heavenly Books," namely, the books of the Holy Bible inspired by God: The Torah, the Psalms, and the gospel. Initially, Muslims saw the Bible as a text inspired by God, and that is why many of them turned to it, so that they could acquire information and develop their theology. After that, however, as Islamic theology took form and many theories were offered about the position of the Bible in Islam, Muslims wholly rejected the Biblical texts. The Holy Bible was considered to be a false, untrustworthy, edited book; however, this didn't prevent many from turning to the Bible in order to support their theological positions and at the same time to criticize Christian teaching, as well as the Biblical texts themselves. During the Middle Ages (the 8th to 14th centuries) a sizable part of Islamic literature made expansive use of the Bible to develop a body of apologetic literature against Christianity and to go to battle against it. Nevertheless, the Holy Bible constitutes a bridge between Christianity and Islam, and this article argues that it serves as a means of communication between the two religions.