“What Is With Them”
Did Jews and Christians Possess Scripture in Muhammad’s Time?
Introduction
In the previous article, we defined the Islamic Dilemma in simple logical terms.
Now we begin examining the evidence.
The first question we must answer is this:
When the Qur’an speaks about the Torah and the Gospel, is it referring to real, existing Scriptures in the 7th century?
Or is it referring to lost, original books that no longer existed?
To answer that question, we must look carefully at the Qur’an’s own language.
“What Is With Them”
One of the most important Arabic phrases in this discussion appears in Surah 2:89:
وَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ كِتَابٌ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٌ لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ
“And when there came to them a Book from Allah confirming what is with them…”
The phrase translated “what is with them” is:
لِّمَا مَعَهُمْ (limā ma‘ahum)
It does not refer to something that once existed.
It does not refer to something lost in the distant past.
It refers to something they currently possess.
The wording is present tense and possessive.
If the Qur’an wanted to say “what was originally revealed to them,” it could have used very different language. Instead, it speaks of what is with them.
That matters.
“Between His Hands”
Another important phrase appears repeatedly in the Qur’an:
بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ (bayna yadayhi)
“Between his hands”
For example, Surah 3:3 says:
نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ
“He sent down upon you the Book in truth, confirming what was before it.”
The phrase literally means “what is between his hands,” a common Arabic expression referring to something present before someone.
This language suggests something existing and accessible — not something destroyed or vanished centuries earlier.
Confirmation only makes sense if there is something to confirm.
One cannot confirm a book that no longer exists.
Commanding Jews to Judge by the Torah
The Qur’an goes even further.
Surah 5:43 says:
وَكَيْفَ يُحَكِّمُونَكَ وَعِندَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ فِيهَا حُكْمُ اللَّهِ
“But how is it that they come to you for judgment while they have the Torah, in which is the judgment of Allah?”
Notice the wording carefully.
وَعِندَهُمُ التَّوْرَاةُ (wa ‘indahumu al-tawrāh)
“They have the Torah.”
Not “they once had it.”
Not “they had the original but lost it.”
But “they have.”
The Qur’an assumes the Jews in Muhammad’s time possessed the Torah, and that within it was the judgment of Allah.
That is a very strong statement.
Commanding Christians to Judge by the Gospel
Even more directly, Surah 5:47 says:
وَلْيَحْكُمْ أَهْلُ الْإِنجِيلِ بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ فِيهِ
“And let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.”
Again, this is a command.
وَلْيَحْكُمْ (wal-yaḥkum)
“Let them judge.”
Christians are commanded to judge by the Gospel.
If the Gospel had already been textually corrupted beyond recognition, this command would be extremely difficult to explain.
Why command people to judge by a book that no longer contains reliable revelation?
The Qur’an does not say:
“Judge by the original Gospel, which you no longer possess.”
It simply says:
“Judge by what Allah has revealed therein.”
The assumption is that the Gospel they possessed still contained what Allah revealed.
Historical Context
By the 7th century, Jewish and Christian communities already possessed established Scriptures.
Jewish communities preserved the Torah.
Christian communities used the four canonical Gospels.
These were not hidden texts. They were widely copied, read, and debated.
If the Qur’an were correcting them for possessing completely corrupted texts, we would expect clear and direct language stating that the text itself had been altered.
Instead, the Qur’an repeatedly speaks as though Jews and Christians possess Scripture from God.
Why This Matters
The Islamic Dilemma depends on this question.
If the Qur’an refers to real, existing Torah and Gospel in Muhammad’s time, then:
Either those Scriptures were still usable and authoritative,
or the Qur’an is affirming books that had already been corrupted.
Both possibilities create serious theological tension.
But before we talk about “final revelation” or the Qur’an as a “criterion,” we need to face one verse that makes the issue unavoidable.
In Surah 5:47, the Qur’an does not merely mention the Gospel. It gives Christians a command.
In the next article, we will examine that command carefully:
“Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein.”
How can that command make sense if the Gospel was already lost or unreliable?