Takhjil man Harrafa al-Tawrah wa al-Injil
- Author died
- 668 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-ʿUbaykān
Takhjil man Harrafa al-Tawrah wa al-Injil (Shaming Whoever Distorted the Torah and the Gospel) is a polemical work by the judge and scholar Taqi al-Din Abu al-Tuqa Salih ibn al-Husayn al-Ja'fari (581–668 AH / 1185–1269 CE), dedicated to refuting Judaism and Christianity through comparative scriptural analysis and textual criticism .
Title and Composition
The book is recorded under two closely related titles. The author initially referred to it in his introduction, colophon, and another work, al-Radd 'ala al-Nasara (Refutation of the Christians), as Takhjil man Harrafa al-Injil (Shaming Whoever Distorted the Gospel); it was also cited under this shorter title by Kâtip Çelebi in Kashf al-Zunun, Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi in Hadiyyat al-'Arifin, and Carl Brockelmann . In the introduction to his later work al-Bayan al-Wadih al-Mashhud, written in his old age, al-Ja'fari referred to it by the broader title Takhjil man Harrafa al-Tawrah wa al-Injil, reflecting the book's dual focus on Jewish and Christian scriptures .
Al-Ja'fari composed the work during his youth, remarking that it was eagerly received and transcribed by scholars in Fustat . He noted that while Muslim scholars frequently engaged opponents using rational and theological (kalam) arguments, Christian interlocutors were often unmoved by abstract speculation and relied instead on transmitted texts; thus, he aimed to argue directly from their own canon and terminologies .
Structure and Content
The author organized the work into ten chapters (abwab):
- Chapter 1: Establishes the servanthood of Jesus through his own recorded statements and actions across the Gospels, presenting twenty textual proofs .
- Chapter 2: Demonstrates the prophethood and divine mission of Jesus, citing thirty-two arguments derived from his Gospel miracles, sayings, and deeds, while arguing that the true Gospel delivered to Jesus differs from corrupted subsequent compilations .
- Chapter 9: Analyzes theological innovations and alterations introduced into Christian doctrine, focusing particularly on the role of Paul and clerical practices .
- Chapter 10: Divided into parts examining biblical prophecies foretelling the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the miracles and evidentiary signs of Muhammad ﷺ, and the miracles (karamat) of his companions and righteous followers .
Sources and Methodology
Al-Ja'fari combined textual examination of biblical writings with oral disputations and established Muslim scholarship. His scriptural sources encompassed the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament—including the Pentateuch, the Psalms, and the books of Isaiah, Hosea, Micah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Kings—alongside the four canonical Gospels, the Epistles of Paul, the Acts of the Apostles, and non-canonical texts such as the Gospel of Peter (Injil al-Sabwah) . He also consulted denominational writings and councils of the Melkite, Nestorian, and Jacobite churches, and recorded first-hand debates and queries with contemporary Jewish rabbis and Christian monks .
Among earlier Muslim works, he drew upon refutations by al-Jahiz, al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar, Abu Bakr al-Baqillani, Imam al-Haramayn al-Juwayni, Abu Bakr al-Turtushi, Ahmad ibn Abd al-Samad al-Khazraji, and Ali ibn Sahl Rabban al-Tabari, whose al-Din wa al-Dawlah provided material for the biblical prophecies of Muhammad ﷺ . For prophetic miracles, he incorporated substantial portions of al-Shifa' by al-Qadi Iyad, as well as Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani's Hilyat al-Awliya' and Ibn al-Jawzi's Sifat al-Safwah for saintly miracles .
Modern researchers have observed that while the work is characterized by exhaustive argumentation and detailed scriptural citation, it occasionally employs strained rhymed prose (saj'), contains repetition of certain issues (such as circumcision and the Christian prayer direction), includes uncritical transmission of weak or fabricated reports, and relies heavily on al-Shifa' without explicit attribution .
Influence and Abridgments
The work influenced subsequent polemical and apologetic literature:
- Al-Ja'fari himself abridged it in later years into al-Bayan al-Wadih al-Mashhud min Fada'ih al-Nasara wa al-Yahud (also known as al-'Ashr al-Masa'il), extracting ten focal questions—one from each chapter—as well as his treatise al-Radd 'ala al-Nasara .
- Shihab al-Din al-Qarafi (d. 684 AH) utilized it extensively as a primary source for his major polemical treatise al-Ajwibah al-Fakhirah 'an al-As'ilah al-Fajirah .
- Abu al-Fadl al-Maliki al-Su'udi condensed the text in Shawwal 942 AH under the title al-Muntakhab al-Jalil min Takhjil man Harrafa al-Injil .
- Muhammad ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Mahalli (Ibn al-Salaf) cited it in al-Munqidh min al-Dalalah .
- Rahmatullah al-Kairanawi (d. 1308 AH) drew directly upon chapters two and nine during his 1854 debate with Karl Gottlieb Pfander in Agra, India, and cited it in his landmark work Izhar al-Haqq .
Manuscripts and Editions
A two-volume manuscript produced during the author's lifetime is preserved at the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul: volume one (covering up to mid-chapter six) in the Reîsülküttâb Mustafa Efendi collection (No. 6), dated Safar 637 AH; and volume two in the Damat İbrahim Paşa collection (No. 4), containing an audition and inspection note by the author himself stating: «نظر فيه مؤلِّفه صالح بن الحسين» ("Reviewed by its author, Salih ibn al-Husayn") . Another copy of the second volume (copied in 1177 AH) is held at the 'Arif Hikmat Library in Medina (No. 130 Tawhid) .
An early uncritical edition was printed in Egypt without date . A modern two-volume critical edition prepared by Mahmud Abd al-Rahman Qadah was published by Maktabat al-Obeikan in Riyadh .
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