Gospel in Islam
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Injil (Arabic: إنجيل, romanized: ʾInjīl, alternative spellings: Ingil or Injeel) is the Arabic name for the Gospel of Jesus (Isa). This Injil is described by the Quran as one of the four Islamic holy books which was revealed by Allah, the others being the Zabur (traditionally understood as being the Psalms), the Tawrat (the Torah), and the Quran itself. The word Injil is also used in the Quran, the hadith and early Muslim documents to refer to both a book and revelations made by God to Jesus.
Etymology
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The Arabic word Injīl (إنجيل) as found in Islamic texts, now used also by non-Arab Muslims and non-Muslim Arabs, comes from the Classical Syriac: ܐܘܢܓܠܝܘܢ, romanized: ewangellīōn found in the Peshitta, the Syriac translation of the Bible. This, in turn, derives from Koinē Greek: Εὐαγγέλιον of the New Testament, where it means “good news” (compare Old English gōdspel; Modern English gospel, or evangel as an archaism; cf. e.g. Spanish evangelio). The word Injīl occurs twelve times in the Qurʾān.[1]
Identification
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According to mainstream Sunni Islam, the Injīl is the divinely revealed scripture granted to Jesus (ʿĪsā) by God, referenced in several Qurʾānic passages, notably in 5:46–47. It is described as a guidance-filled and light-bearing scripture that confirms the Torah.[2] However, Islamic theology holds that the original Injīl was not preserved in its revealed form but was subjected to taḥrīf—a process of textual and doctrinal alteration over time.[3] For example, Abdullah Yusuf Ali wrote:
The Injil (Greek, Evangel equals Gospel) spoken of by the Qur'an is not the New Testament. It is not the four Gospels now received as canonical. It is the single Gospel which, Islam teaches, was revealed to Jesus, and which he taught. Fragments of it survive in the received canonical Gospels and in some others, of which traces survive (e.g., the Gospel of Childhood or the Nativity, the Gospel of St. Barnabas, etc.)."[4]
Muslims do not identify the Injīl with the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. Rather, they view those texts as later, human-authored biographies composed decades after Jesus’s lifetime. Islamic theology maintains that the original revelation may have already been lost or obscured before these texts were written. While the Gospels may preserve indirect echoes of the original message, they are not considered divinely revealed scripture.[5][3]
From a textual standpoint, Christian and secular scholars generally assert that the New Testament Gospels have been reliably preserved through a large and early manuscript tradition.[6] However, this view concerns textual transmission rather than theological content. The Islamic critique does not focus on whether the Gospels were copied accurately, but whether their teachings reflect the true message of Jesus. The Qurʾān, by contrast, is presented in Islamic belief as both a guardian (muhaymin) and final arbiter over previous scriptures, affirming truths that remain while correcting perceived distortions.[3][5]
In Qur'anic exegesis
[edit]A minority exegetical approach within Islamic tradition, known as tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi’l-kitāb (Arabic: تفسير القرآن بالكتاب), involves interpreting the Qurʾān in light of earlier scriptures such as the Torah and the Gospel. This method was notably employed by scholars like Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i (d. 1480), who quoted Arabic translations of the Bible in his Qurʾānic commentary to draw literary and theological parallels.[7][5]
However, this approach remained controversial and limited in scope. Mainstream Sunni scholarship has traditionally discouraged affirming or denying Biblical narratives unless supported by the Qurʾān or authentic hadith. As Griffith notes, Muslim exegetes were aware of the Prophet's reported counsel not to confirm or reject reports from the People of the Book, instead affirming belief in the revelation sent to both communities.[5]
See also
[edit]- Biblical and Quranic narratives
- Christianity and Islam
- Islamic view of the Christian Bible
- List of Christian terms in Arabic
- Scrolls of Abraham
References
[edit]- ^ Q 3:3, 48, 65; Q 5:46, 47, 66, 68, 110; Q 7:157; Q 9:111; Q 48:29; Q 57:27
- ^ Deobandi, Muhammad (1964–1969). Ma'ariful Qur'an. p. 176.
- ^ a b c Aʿẓamī, Muḥammad Muṣṭafā al- (2003). The history of the Qur'ānic text: from revelation to compilation ; a comparative study with the Old and New Testaments (1. publ ed.). Leicester: UK Islamic Academy. ISBN 978-1-872531-65-6.
- ^ Ali, Abdullah Yusuf (1938). The Holy Qur-an: Text, Translation & Commentary (3rd ed.). Kashmiri Bazar, Lahore: Shaik Muhammad Ashraf. p. 287.
- ^ a b c d Griffith, Sidney Harrison (2015). The Bible in Arabic: the scriptures of the "People of the Book" in the language of Islam. Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the ancient to the modern world (First paperback printing ed.). Princeton Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-16808-1.
- ^ Nickel, Gordon D. (2015). The gentle answer to the Muslim accusation of biblical falsification (Academic ed.). Calgary: Bruton Gate. ISBN 978-0-9939972-1-1.
- ^ McCoy, R. Michael (2021-09-08). Interpreting the Qurʾān with the Bible (Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Kitāb). Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-46682-1.