Section: Refutation of their allegation that the reports of the earlier prophets contradict what was conveyed by Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him.

Once it is clear to both elite and ordinary people, whether they believe in Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—or deny him, that he affirmed the scriptures and prophets that preceded him—endorsing the Torah and the Gospel, bearing witness that Moses, peace be upon him, and all who truly followed him were upon the truth, and that the Messiah, peace be upon him, and those who truly followed him were upon the truth—yet at the same time declared every Jew, Christian, and anyone else to whom his message reached but who did not believe in him to be unbelievers, testifying that they had altered much of the meaning of the Torah and the Gospel before his prophethood; and once it is acknowledged that all the People of the Book, together with the Muslims, likewise testify that many of the meanings of the Torah and the Gospel were corrupted by many among the People of the Book, then it is impermissible for anyone from the People of the Book to cite Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—as proof for the soundness of a religion which he himself affirmed to be false, altered, abrogated, and whose adherents are destined for the Fire, as has already been explained in detail.

If they should say, “We only mention this in order to demonstrate his inconsistency—how he confirmed those books even though they contradict some of what he reported—or to show that what the prophets before him reported conflicts with his own report, so that what he brought would thereby be discredited,”