Are Muslims encouraged to read the Bible and/or the Torah? Why or why not?
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If I understand correctly, Islam accepts several holy books as authored by Allah. Obviously, Muslims are encouraged to read the Quran, but among these books are the Bible (or Gospel) and the Torah, and it's not clear to me whether or not Muslims are encouraged to read them too.
**Question**: Are Muslims encouraged to read the Bible and/or the Torah? Why or why not?
As in: Would it be worthwhile? Could reading these books lead a Muslim astray? Is there some things a Muslim should know before reading them?
On one hand, they're authored by Allah. But, at the same time, they're not treated the same way as the Quran, nor do I encounter e.g. Muslims reading or quoting from the Bible. There may also be some underlying politics involved here. It's unclear to me how to interpret this.
This question https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/14433/17163 has vague and unreferenced answers. The OP of this question https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/10216/17163 writes "...the Bible is said to be either corrupted or superseded by the Quran." The answer to this question https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/25601/17163 writes "...the Qur'an is the word of God applicable today". The top answer to this question https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/12884/17163 writes "...a large chunk of the New Testament was written by Paul, whom the Qur'an doesn't recognize as a Prophet". And the answer to this question https://islam.stackexchange.com/q/4253/17163 says "...the Gospel and Torah was revealed from Allah but this does not validate its current day authenticity or require us to believe in its present day content entirely."
My impression from the above linked questions is that it's either discouraged, or, at least, not strongly encouraged. Nobody seems to be arguing that it's critical for a Muslim to read these books.
Asked by Rebecca J. Stones
(20998 rep)
Aug 11, 2016, 03:44 AM
Last activity: Sep 26, 2024, 05:57 AM
Last activity: Sep 26, 2024, 05:57 AM