Section: Refutation of those who claim that some of its wording was altered after the advent of Muhammad

As for those who say that certain phrases were changed after the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent, they contend that the Torah, the Gospel, and other scriptures once contained explicit statements on several points—among them the very name “Muhammad,” peace and blessings be upon him—and that some members of the People of the Book deliberately altered portions of the copies they possessed.

They do not claim that every copy on the face of the earth was tampered with. Rather, they maintain that some wording in the copies was changed, after which people transcribed numerous copies from those altered manuscripts. These copies then spread so widely that most of what many People of the Book now possess descends from the altered versions.

At the same time, other manuscripts that were never altered still exist in various parts of the world. Many individuals have reported seeing and reading them, and these contain passages absent from the altered copies. Proof of this is that in our own day, if you compare the Torah manuscripts held by Jews, Christians, and Samaritans, you will find multiple points of divergence among them.

The same holds true for the Gospel manuscripts, and likewise the manuscripts of the Psalms differ so widely that no rational person could believe all existing copies of the Torah are identical in wording