The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 116
CH. 2 AL-BAQARAH the Holy Prophet of Islam. In the verse under comment the word is used in the last-mentioned sense, i. e. fulfilling the prophecies of the previous Scriptures. Moreover, the word is here followed by the preposition) and not ↳ and there is a difference between PT. 1 declare the previous Scriptures to be true. It is only the fulfilling of the prophecies contained in the Bible that can serve as an evidence of the truth of the Quran. Thus it is clear that when the Quran speaks of its being the Christian and the Jewish of لام used with the preposition) مصدق scriptures, it uses the word in the | مصدق له and مصدق به and مصدق simple When the word is used in the sense of holding a thing to be true, it is either followed by no preposition or is followed by the preposition. When, however, the Quran uses the word in the sense of fulfilling, it is followed by the preposition. ). Even in common parlance we say. e. I have come in accordance with, or to fulfil, the word of such a person. The use of the word as in the Quran practically bears out this distinction. For instance, in 2:92 the Quran says: And when it is said to them, 'Believe in what Allah has sent down,' they say, 'We believe in what has been sent down to us'; and they disbelieve in what has been sent down after that, yet it is the truth, fulfilling that which is with them. This verse makes it absolutely clear what the word means when followed sense of "fulfilling" and not in the sense of "declaring to be true". Again in 35:32 we find the same expression definitely used in the sense of 'fulfilling'. The verse runs thus: And the Book which we have revealed to thee is the truth itself, fulfilling () that which is before it, i. e. fulfilling the Scriptures that have gone before it. Now in this verse cannot mean 'declaring to be true'; for in that case we shall have to admit that the Quran declares all the teachings contained in previous Scriptures to be true, whereas many of these Scriptures are contradictory of one another and all of them contain at least some teachings that are Quran. So if the expression d opposed to the teachings of the means "declaring to be true", it would signify that the Quran declares not only all the mutually contradictory Scriptures to be true, but also such teachings as are opposed to its own teaching. From this it is clear that the expression can only signify that the Quran fulfils the prophecies that were contained in the previous Scriptures regarding the advent of a Law-giving Prophet and a universal Dispensation. by the preposition. . It undoubtedly means "fulfilling" and not "confirming" or "declaring to be true". The expression in the verse quoted above has been used as a proof of the truth of the Quran and this clearly proves that this expression (i. e. a) conveys the sense of "fulfilling", not that of "confirming"; for if a book declares the Bible to be true, that is no proof of the book being itself a revealed (barter not). For the meaning word of God; even an impostor can of the word see note under 2:17. 116