Hal al-Ahd al-Qadim Kalimat Allah
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar al-Islam lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Hal al-Ahd al-Qadim Kalimat Allah? (Arabic: هل العهد القديم كلمة الله؟, lit. 'Is the Old Testament the Word of God?') is a polemical and comparative religion treatise by the contemporary Saudi scholar Munqidh al-Saqqar that critically examines the authenticity, authorship, textual history, and content of the Old Testament.
Background and Scope
The book serves as the first installment in al-Saqqar's multi-part apologetics series titled Silsilat al-Huda wa-al-Nur (The Guidance and Light Series). Completed in Mecca in Sha'ban 1423 AH (October/November 2002 CE), the work was written to address the theological divergences between the Islamic understanding of earlier scriptures and Judeo-Christian beliefs regarding the biblical canon. While affirming the Islamic doctrine that God revealed original divine books such as the Torah to Musa (Moses) containing guidance and light, the author argues that these original scriptures were lost due to historical upheavals and that the surviving Old Testament corpus represents a human product compromised by interpolations and errors.
Contents and Key Themes
The treatise concentrates on textual and historical critiques of the Old Testament canon:
- Critique of Authorship and Transmission Chains (Isnad): The author challenges the traditional attribution of the Pentateuch (the Five Books) to Musa, pointing to textual inconsistencies, narrative styles, and depictions of events that occurred after Musa's death. He likewise questions the attribution of the remaining historical and prophetic books, noting the total absence of connected chains of reliable transmission (asanid) confirming their original authors.
- Historical Loss of the Text: The work reviews the historical milestones that led to the disappearance of the original scripture, citing biblical episodes such as the capture of the Ark of the Covenant, the raid of the Egyptian king Shishak against Jerusalem, the subsequent lapse of the Israelites into idolatry, the reported discovery of the Book of the Law during King Josiah's reign by Hilkiah the priest, and the disruptions of the Babylonian captivity.
- Textual Alterations and Divergent Versions (Tahrif): Drawing on Quranic passages concerning the corruption and concealment of scripture, the author catalogs textual additions, omissions, and textual discrepancies across Samaritan, Hebrew, and translated versions of the Old Testament.
- Internal Contradictions: The book highlights numerical, chronological, and theological discrepancies across parallel passages in the biblical text, such as the Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, arguing that such internal inconsistencies preclude the text from being the unadulterated word of God.
Methodology and Sources
The author utilizes an internal critique method, examining biblical texts directly alongside ecclesiastical decrees, church councils, and biblical commentaries. In establishing his arguments, al-Saqqar integrates admissions from Jewish and Christian scholars, church historians, and modern Western critical scholarship, contrasting these with traditional Islamic theological proofs.
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