and their claim that the words, “Alif, Lām, Mīm. That is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for the God-fearing” [al-Baqarah: 1], are in fact speaking of the Gospel.

These, then, are the Qur’anic passages that they have subjected to such interpretation, asserting that Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—the very man who explained to people what had been revealed to them, intended by his recitation of the Qur’an the meanings they have put forward. This is manifest falsehood, betraying either the height of the speaker’s ignorance or the height of his obstinacy.

Yet an exegesis of this sort is hardly surprising coming from the Christians, for they have treated many passages of the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and the prophetic books in the same way, twisting the words brought by the prophets from their proper contexts with blatant distortion. By so doing they altered the scriptures of God and the religion of God, following the example of the Jews who likewise distorted and changed, even though the manner of their corruption differs. Their corruption of the Qur’an is of the same species as their corruption of the Torah and the Gospel. They are among those who claim to uphold the clear verses yet chase after what is ambiguous in them, seeking discord and seeking its interpretation. In the present passages, however, they have tampered with what is unequivocal—whose meaning is plain and admits of only one sense—so that through their ignorance and willful defiance they are even farther from the truth than those who distort what is ambiguous.

It is, after all, known by necessity from the religion of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—that he taught that the Messiah is a servant of Allah, a created being like the rest of the Messengers, and that he declared the Christians who say that he is Allah or the son of Allah to be disbelievers.

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Those who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved. Say, ‘Who then could prevent Allah, if He wished, from destroying the Messiah, son of Mary, his mother, and everyone on earth altogether?’ To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them; He creates whatever He wills, and Allah is Most Capable of everything.” [al-Mā’idah: 17]