Chapter 3 verse 49

Book, Wisdom, And The Torah And The Gospel

وَيُعَلِّمُهُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَالتَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ {49}

And He will teach him the Book and the Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel (Chapter 3 Verse 49)

This ayah is used by the non Ahmadi Muslims in a extremely inappropriate manner. They falsely attribute the Book and the Wisdom to mean the Holy Qur’an only because the Qur’an has been called the Book and the Wisdom in other parts of the Qur’an. The truth is that the Book and the Wisdom is not a name which is only given to the Qur’an alone. Allah States in the Holy Qur’an:

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ النَّبِيِّينَ لَمَا آتَيْتُكُمْ مِنْ كِتَابٍ وَحِكْمَةٍ ثُمَّ جَاءَكُمْ رَسُولٌ مُصَدِّقٌ لِمَا مَعَكُمْ لَتُؤْمِنُنَّ بِهِ وَلَتَنْصُرُنَّهُ ۚ قَالَ أَأَقْرَرْتُمْ وَأَخَذْتُمْ عَلَىٰ ذَٰلِكُمْ إِصْرِي ۖ قَالُوا أَقْرَرْنَا ۚ قَالَ فَاشْهَدُوا وَأَنَا مَعَكُمْ مِنَ الشَّاهِدِينَ{82}

And [recall, O People of the Scripture], when Allah took the covenant of the prophets, [saying], “Whatever I give you of the Scripture and wisdom (Kitab and hikmah) and then there comes to you a messenger confirming what is with you, you [must] believe in him and support him.” [ Allah ] said, “Have you acknowledged and taken upon that My commitment?” They said, “We have acknowledged it.” He said, “Then bear witness, and I am with you among the witnesses.”(Chapter 3 Verse 82)

The claim of the non Ahmadi Muslims has already been flawed by this ayah, as it shows that many prophets were given the book and the wisdom. According to their interpretation, it would mean, that no Prophet has yet died, and that all prophets would return to learn the Qur’an.

Allah also States in the Holy Qur’an that He granted the children of Abraham, the knowledge of the book and wisdom. Allah states:

أَمْ يَحْسُدُونَ النَّاسَ عَلَىٰ مَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ ۖ فَقَدْ آتَيْنَا آلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَآتَيْنَاهُمْ مُلْكًا عَظِيمًا {55}

Or do they envy people for what Allah has given them of His bounty? But we had already given the family of Abraham the Scripture and wisdom and conferred upon them a great kingdom.(Chapter 4 Verse 55)

Now there is no Muslim that believes that Ishmael^as, Isaac^as, Jacob^as, and Joseph^as were taught the Qur’an. If one claims that “Kitab” and “hikmah” means Qur’an and the Ahadith, which it clearly does not, then all of the prophets, including the family of Abraham^as should have been taught the Qur’an. It is clear that “al kitab” and “al hikmah” when used together do not always refer to the Qur’an and Ahadith. These two are given to every Prophet of Allah. Allah has only Stated that Isa^as was taught the Torah and the Gospel. He^as was not taught the Qur’an nor will he^as ever be taught the Qur’an as this Holy Book itself states that he^as was sent to the children of Israel.

If Isa^as was to be taught the Qur’an it would have to be abrogated in many places, which no sincere Muslim can accept about this perfect Book of Allah. Wherever it claims he^as was sent to fulfill the Mosaic Law, or that he^as was sent only to the Children of Israel would all need to be changed. The only way the second coming of the Messiah would be able to teach the Qur’an, was if he would be raised from our ummah. The truth is that he^as was indeed raised from among us as prophesied by the Holy Prophet^saw, but was sadly rejected.

When we look at one of the most known tafsir of the non Ahmadi Muslims by the scholar Ibn Kathir, there is no mention of their interpretation either. This is a false interpretation and has no basis. Ibn Kathir stated:

الْكِتَـبَوَالْحِكْمَةَ

(the Book and Al-Hikmah). It appears that the `Book’ the Ayah mentioned here refers to writing. We explained the meaning of Al-Hikmah in the Tafsir of Surat Al-Baqarah.

التَّوْرَاةَ وَالإِنجِيلَ

(the Tawrah and the Injil). The Tawrah is the Book that Allah sent down to Musa, son of `Imran, while the Injil is what Allah sent down to `Isa, son of Maryam, peace be upon them.

Similar has been said in regards to Isa^as in Chapter 5 verse 111. Allah States:

إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ اذْكُرْ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَتِكَ إِذْ أَيَّدْتُكَ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ تُكَلِّمُ النَّاسَ فِي الْمَهْدِ وَكَهْلًا ۖ وَإِذْ عَلَّمْتُكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَالتَّوْرَاةَ وَالْإِنْجِيلَ ۖ وَإِذْ تَخْلُقُ مِنَ الطِّينِ كَهَيْئَةِ الطَّيْرِ بِإِذْنِي فَتَنْفُخُ فِيهَا فَتَكُونُ طَيْرًا بِإِذْنِي ۖ وَتُبْرِئُ الْأَكْمَهَ وَالْأَبْرَصَ بِإِذْنِي ۖ وَإِذْ تُخْرِجُ الْمَوْتَىٰ بِإِذْنِي ۖ وَإِذْ كَفَفْتُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ عَنْكَ إِذْ جِئْتَهُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ فَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِنْهُمْ إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ{111}

When Allah will say, “O Jesus, son of Mary, remember My favour upon thee and upon thy mother; when I strengthened thee with the Spirit of holiness so that thou didst speak to the people in the cradle and in middle age; and when I taught thee the Book and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and when thou didst fashion a creation out of clay, in the likeness of a bird, by My command; then thou didst breathe into it a new spirit and it became a soaring being by My command; and thou didst heal the night-blind and the leprous by My command; and when thou didst raise the dead by My command; and when I restrained the children of Israel from putting thee to death when thou didst come to them with clear Signs; and those who disbelieved from among them said, ‘This is nothing but clear deception.’ (Chapter 5 Verse 111)

In regards  to this verse, explaining Kitab and Hikmah, Ibn Katheer states:

(And when I taught you the Book and the Hikmah,) the power of writing and understanding. (Tafseer Ibn Katheer, under Chapter 5 Verse 110)

Furthermore, many other scholars support this interpretation from the early scholars including Imam Al Razi, and Imam al Qurtubi. Imam Al Razi stated in his Tafseer al Kabeer that kitab here refers to writing. Imam Al Qurtubi states:

 قال ٱبن جُريج: الكتاب الكتابة والخط

Meaning that Ibn Jareej has stated that this refers to book writing and calligraphy.

Hazrat Imam Suyuti who was a great Mujadid states in his tafseer under this ayah:

وأخرج ابن جرير عن ابن جريج { ويعلمه الكتاب } قال: بيده.

That according to Ibn Jareej, this refers to writing by hand.

This shows that even the non Ahmadi Muslim scholars have quoted Ibn Jareej and have taken his view. Why then are they going against their own main scholars and creating a interpretation which contradicts the Qur’an?

Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmood Ahmad^ra States: “The word Book signifies both “the Book” and the “art of writing.” If the word be here taken to mean “the Book”, then it would apply to the “Torah,” the Law of Moses, and in this case the concluding words “The Torah and the Gospel” would be taken as explanatory, the word “Torah” standing for the “Book” and the word “Gospel” for “Wisdom” (Five Volume Commentary of the Holy Qur’an Page 398)