Does the Qur’an mention the Bible?

“The Qur’ān never mentions the Bible, only the Tawrat, Zabur and Injīl”

Actually, the English word “Bible” is simply a translation of the Greek term biblia meaning “the books.” As the collection of Jewish and Christian scriptures came to be considered one unit, the term in Latin began to denote simply “The Book”. In Arabic this is Al-Kitab (الكتاب) or Al-Kitab Al-Muqaddas (الكتاب المقدس), which is what the Bible has always been called in the Arabic language. Arabic Christians before and after Muhammad have always used the same term for the Bible which the Qur’ān does . The Qur’ān calls Christians and Jews Ahle-Kitab (أَهْلَ الْكِتَابِ) meaning “People of the Bible” and it says that they read the Bible (الكتاب):

“The Jews say, `The Christians are not (founded) upon anything.’ And the Christians say, `The Jews are not (founded) upon anything.’ And yet they read the Book ( Al-Kitab ).” – Baqarah 2:113

“Be true teachers, since you teach the Book (Al-Kitab) and you study it earnestly.” – Al-Imran 3:79

There is no closer Arabic word than Al-Kitab which could have been used for the Bible. The Tawrat is the Torah, the Zabur is the Psalms, and the Injīl is the eungel , a term for the four-fold Gospel or the entire New Testament. If the Qur’ān had meant anything else it would surely have specified so, for this is what these Arabic words meant to everyone at the time.

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