Moses. Nor do we maintain that the Jews intentionally sought to alter or corrupt it; rather, the truth is the worthiest of all that is to be followed. (1)

He further said (2): “We shall now set forth the real reason the Torah was altered. The learned men of the community and their rabbis know full well that the Torah now in their hands is not—according to any of their scholars or rabbis—the very Torah that was revealed to Moses son of ʿImrān; not in the least. Moses safeguarded the Torah from the Children of Israel and did not disseminate it among them, fearing that after him they would differ over its interpretation and so split into factions. Instead, he entrusted it to his own clan, the descendants of Levi. He said: The proof of this is the Torah’s own statement, rendered as follows: ‘Moses wrote this Torah and handed it over to the elders of the sons of Levi.’ (3)

“The sons of Aaron were the judges and rulers of the Jews, for the imamate, the service of the offerings, and the Temple were vested in them, and Moses disclosed to the Children of Israel only half of one surah …” (5)

Allah said to Moses about that surah: “This surah shall stand before Me as a witness against the Children of Israel, and this surah shall never be forgotten from the mouths of their offspring.” (7)

As for the remainder of the Torah, he placed it in the custody of the sons of Aaron, entrusted it to them, and kept it safe from all others.