Greek - Euaggelion

Injil is used in the Qur'an, and in the Traditions, and in all Islamic theological works of an early date, for the revelations made by God to Jesus. But in recent works it is applied by Muslims to the New Testament. The word occurs twelve times in the Qur'an, as in the following Surahs, which we have arranged chronologically, and not as they occur in the Qur'an, (It will be seen that the expression Injil is not mentioned in the earlier Surahs,

That is their similitude in the Law, and their similitude in the Gospel,

There are also allusions to the Christian Scriptures in the following verses:

Surah 19:31 (The infant Jesus said) Verily, I am the servant of God: He hath given the book and He hath made me a prophet,

Muhammad was much more indebted to Judaism than Christianity for the teaching he received, which enabled him to overthrow Arabian idolatry and to establish the worship of the One True God, and consequently we find more frequent allusions to the Law of Moses than to the Gospel of Christ; and, as it has been already stated, the references to the Gospel as a revelation are in the later Surahs. But in all references to the Injil as an inspired record, there is not one single statement to the effect that the Christians of Muhammad’s day did not possess the genuine Scriptures. In Surah 4:169, (which is an al-Madinah Surah), the Christians are charged with extravagance, or error in doctrine, but not with not possessing the true Gospels;

Ye people of the Book; commit not extravagance in your religion; and say not of God other than the truth. For verily the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary is an apostle of God, and His word which He placed in Mary, and a spirit from Him. Wherefore, believe in God, and in His apostle; and say not,-the Trinity-refrain; it will be better for you. For verily God is one God; far exalted is He above the possibility that there should be unto Him progeny! to Him belongeth whatever is in the heavens and in the earth, and He sufficeth as a guardian."

In Surah 61:6, there is an appeal to the Gospel in support of Muhammad's mission, and the appeal is made without any doubt that he was referring to a genuine saying of Christ, well known to the Christians of that day. The verse is as follows:

"When Jesus, the son of Mary, said: '0 children of Israel! verily, I am the apostle of God to you, verifying the law that was before me, and giving you glad tidings of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad I 'But when he did come to them with manifest signs, they said, 'This is Manifest sorcery!'

The allusion is to the promise of the Paraclete in John 16:7, the Muslims declaring that the word parakletos has been substituted for the Greek periklutos, the word Ahmad, which is equivalent to Muhammad, meaning " Praised," The charge which modern Muslims bring against the Christians of having either lost, or changed the original Scriptures, is treated of under the head of CORRUPTION OF THE SCRIPTURES.

Some curious statements on the subject will be found in an article in the Kashfu ‘z-Zunun. It is a Bibliographical Dictionary, compiled by Hajji Khalifah about 300 years ago. The statements in its article on the Injil are such a strange mixture of fact and fiction that we translate the article from the Arabic In ex-tenso-

The Injil is a book which God revealed to 'lsa ibn Maryam. In the work entitled al-Muwahib (bv Shihabu 'd-Din Ahmad al-Qastalani, died a.h.923, it is recorded that the Injil was first revealed in the Svriac tongue, and has since been translated into seventeen languages. But in the Sahihu ‘l-Bukhari(A.H., 256), in the story of Waraqah ibn Naufal, it is related that the Injil was revealed in Hebrew, According to 'Wahb ibn Munabbih, as quoted by Zamakhshari (a.h-638) in the Kashshaf. the Injil was revealed to Jesus on the 13th day of the month Ramadan, although some say it was on the 18th day ot that month, 1200 years after the revelation of the Zabur (Psalms) to Moses,

" It is a disputed question whether or not the Injil abrogates the Law of Moses (Taurat). Some say that Jesus was not a Sahibu ‘sh-Shariah (a law-giver); for it is said in the Injil “I am not come to abrogate (tabdil) the Law of Moses, but to fulfil it (takmil)

"But al-Baidawi (A.H. 685) in hie commentary the Anwaru ‘t-Tanzil, seems to prove that the Law of Jesus does abrogate the Law of Moses, for there are certain things revealed to Jesus which were not revealed to Moses

"In the book entitled the Tuhfatu ‘l-Adab fi Raddi ‘ala Ahli ‘s-Salib, or 'A refutation of the servants of the Cross' (written by Abdu'llah, a convert from Christianity to Islam, A.H. 823), it is said that these four Companions are they who corrupted the religion of Jesus, and have added to it. And that they were not of the Hawarian, or Apostles, mentioned in the Qur'an. Matta did not see Jesus unlit the year he was taken up to heaven ; and after the Ascension of Jesus he wrote in the city of Alexandria with his own hand, his Injl, in which he gives an account of the birth and life of Jesus, mentioning several circumstances which are not mentioned by others. Luqa also did not see Jesus, but he was converted to Christianity by by one Bulis (Paul), who was an Israelite, who himself had not seen Jesus, but was converted by Ananias.

Marqus also did not see Jesus at all, but was converted to Christianity, after the Ascension of Jesus, by the Apostle Bitru, and received the Injil (Gospel) from that Apostle in city of Rome, And his Gospel in many respects contradicts .the statements of the other three. Yuhanna was the son of the sister of Maryam, the mother of Jesus and the Christians assert that Jesus was present at the marriage of Yuhanna when Jesus changed the water into wine. It was the first miracle performed by Jesus.