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In many places in the Quran, the characteristics and attributes of Jews are mentioned; they are threatened, reprimanded and affronted due to those evil deeds. For instance, their ingratitude toward the bounties they were given, their associating partners with God, their conceitedness due to regarding themselves as the superior race in the world, their abasement due to attributes like ambition and greed are mentioned.

In the Torah, Sons of Israel are presented as “God’s (distinguished) nation” and “blessed nation”; on the other hand, they are criticized because of their bad acts. It is because they opposed Moses (Musa) and Aaron (Harun), committed what is regarded bad by God, worshipped gods like Baal and Moloch (idols of deified kings) and golden calf. Thus, they did not keep their promise they gave to God, broke their promise, committed immorality and fornication, demolished temples and tried to kill their prophets.

They put God's shariah aside and adopted the laws of other nations. The holy book of Jews is full of examples showing that Sons of Israel were condemned by their prophets and threatened by torture because they deviated from the right path and worshipped other gods.

After mentioning the attributes of Jews, the Quran indicates what disasters their evil attributes caused; by doing so, the Quran shows the outcomes of obeying the evil-commanding soul for human beings in general principles. The concrete outcomes of obeying one’s desires instead of God are shown through Sons of Israel and the severity of the test man is given on the earth is presented. The threats and rage of the Quran are important in that it shows the magnitude of the mistakes that were made and the murders that were committed.

The nation that became famous with the love of goods and property and that showed the most effort and ambition to obtain goods and property in the history was Jews. The most important factor in this attitude of theirs is the fact that they are attached to the world as if they adore the world. As a matter of fact, according to their creed, the only nation that will enter Paradise is Jews. Therefore, for a nation that has such a notion of the hereafter, all means to attain its aims in the world are legitimate.

It is stated in the Quran that they deserve debasing torture because they worship the world, want to live long and regard every means to obtain goods and property legitimate. It is also stated in the Quran that some things that were halal before were rendered haram for Jews because they go beyond bounds to obtain material things. (an-Nisa, 160-161) Badiuzzaman Said Nursi states that the Jewish nation was punished by abasement and lethargy because they love the worldly life too much.

It is stated by the following verse in the Quran that Jews have the bad habit of breaking their promise and violating treaties: "Is it not (the case) that every time they make a Covenant some party among them throw it aside? - Nay most of them are faithless." (al-Baqara ,100). It is also stated in the Quran that they are deniers because they oppose the commands of God and they are enemies of angels and prophets and that God will punish them with severe torture and that they will attain hell-fire. During the era of the Prophet, Jews asked him questions and said that they would believe in him. However, when they received answers contrary to their understanding and desires, they denied the Prophet.

It is also stated that Jews acted with severe enmity and that advice and exemplary lessons would not affect them because their hearts were hard.

It is stated in the Quran that Sons of Israel, the nation of Moses, were made superior to the realms, that they were given privileges, that they were given bounties which were not given to any nations and that they were sent prophets and kings. However, it is also stated in the Quran that the real superiority was valid when they obeyed God only, that God damned them due to their ingratitude and that the mercy of God would not reach them in the periods when they associated partners with God and disobeyed him. Therefore, their superiority is related to their degree of taqwa. As a matter of fact, the Quranic principle "superiority is related to taqwa” shows that superiority is not related to being a member of a certain tribe.

Another characteristic of Jews is that they describe God with inappropriate attributes. Jews claimed that they were children of God and described Him using attributes like stingy and poor. However, it is mentioned in the Quran that there is scorching torture for them, that such words will increase their unbelief, that enmity and hatred have been placed among them until Doomsday and that they have become a nation damned forever due to their polytheism. (al-Maida 18, 64)

Another characteristic of Jews mentioned in the Quran is that they are a nation that causes mischief and disorder. (al-Maida, 64) What lies behind their mischief is their hatred they feel against mankind and their acts based on their personal interests. First, they corrupt the societies morally, set people against one another; then, they act in accordance with their personal interests. It is stated that God will not give them victory to attain their aims using tricky ways in that case.

Another example for the ingratitude of Jews is that they killed prophets and just people in their communities. It is also stated in the Quran that Jews, who compete one another in hatred and enmity, will be inflicted upon painful torture due to these acts of theirs.

The Quran mentions Jews as a cursed nation but it also states that there will be good news for them if they believe in God and the hereafter, command what is good and prohibit what is evil. The following verses in the Quran state that not all Jews are the same, that those who are damned deserve it due to breaking their promise, polytheism and bad deeds and that those who are given good news deserve it because they do not associate partners with God and they obey Him as His slaves:

"Shame is pitched over them (like a tent) wherever they are found, except when under a covenant (of protection) from God, and from men; they draw on themselves wrath from God and pitched over them is (the tent of) destitution. This because they rejected the signs of God, and slew the prophets in defiance of right; this because they rebelled and transgressed beyond bounds. Not all of them are alike: of the People of the book are a portion that stand (for the right); they rehearse the signs of God all night long, and they prostrate themselves in adoration." (Aal-i Imran; 112-113)

When People of the Book who do good deeds are described, it is stated that if you entrust them loads of goods, they will return them in the same amount, that they are glad that the Quran was sent down and that they surrender to and believe in God sincerely.

Conclusion:

In the Quran, the acts that do not conform with the purpose of creation of man on earth are listed and stated clearly, and the deviations and bad characteristics that cause the damnation of a society are described based on the example of Sons of Israel. When the state of a nation that lives among other nations, that forms the basis of all kinds of bad deeds and that can be regarded as the evil commanding soul of mankind because of it and the outcomes that it will encounter are described in the eye of God, the testing of man on earth is shown. As a Quranic method, general principles are shown through the experiences of a nation; it is emphasized that in order to be able to get rid of the bad characteristics that lead man to damnation, debasement, lethargy, torture and troubles, it is necessary to obey God. The torture, hardship and damnation that Sons of Israel suffer are not because of their ethnic origin but because of their obsessions and bad characteristics.

It is because of the principles included in the destiny and character of the Jewish nation that the Qur'an acts so severely against them. (Sözler; p. 367) Therefore, the Quran damns Jews because those characteristics are present in the majority of the Jewish nation intensively. In a way, not the Jewish nation but the characteristics owned by most of Jews are damned. If those acts, which bring about that state, are committed by others, they will be regarded as the same and suffer the same consequences.

As it has been mentioned before, Sons of Israel were given bounties like being saved from the oppression of the Pharaoh and from being drowned thanks to Moses, being fed by the food sent down to them in the desert, being given water gushing forth from a rock and they were protected from torture. However, they did not keep their promise, killed some prophets, started to worship idols by forgetting God and caused mischief on earth. They were damned by God because they were ungrateful to the bounties granted to them, committed oppression, tricks, mischief and intrigues, acted conceitedly, stubbornly and fanatically, and they worshipped material goods and the world greedily.

However, it will be wrong to think that this damnation is due to their race because it is clear that there are some people who accept the truth, and who command what is good and prohibit what is evil among them. As a matter of fact, Abdullah b. Salam, one of the Jewish scholars who lived during the era of the Prophet, had read the attributes of the Prophet in the books and as soon as he saw the Prophet, he said, “there is no lie in this face” and became a Muslim.

Nobody is regarded as evil due to their nation and race or as good; it is the necessity of the absolute justice of God that superiority is related to taqwa and that anybody who does a small good or bad deed will be rewarded or punished for it.

It is known that the original Torah is lost. However, there are many differences among the translations of the Torah. For instance, there are some clear differences between the Greek translation and the Hebrew version. The Torah, which was first written in Hebrew, was started to be distorted when it was translated into Aramaic and Greek. (For more information, see M. Ziyau’r-Rahman al-Azami, al-Yahudiyya wa’l-Masihiyya, p.175-181)

There are also differences among the translations in Chaldean, Latin, Hebeshi, Ghawti, Armenian and Arabic (ibid). This is also valid for the Bibles whose original copies are not present.

- The distortion of the Torah is regarded in two ways: The first one: The distortion of the words of the verses and the addition of some words. The second one: The distortion of the meaning. There are examples like “hittatun/hintatun” for the first kind of distortion.

Besides, the fact that there are statements contrary to modern science and that there are invented stories about prophets like Lot and David that do not befit prophets indicate that the distortion took place in terms of both interpretation and words.

The second issue of distortion always took place; one of the most important duties of the prophets that came after Moses – including Zacharias and John – was to correct those wrong interpretations and spiritual distortions. However, this illness of distortion of Jews always relapsed.

That the Torah and the Gospel were distorted does not mean that they contain no truth. As a matter of fact, Husayn Jisri extracted hundreds of pieces of information from the Torah and the Gospel implying the Prophet Muhammad and quoted them in his book called Risala al-Hamidiyya.

As a matter of fact, it is clearly stated in the Quran, hadiths, history and siyar books that Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) challenged the scholars of the People of the Book and said to them that they had concealed the truths in the books (they distorted them with their interpretations) and that the Prophet silenced them. Some examples regarding the issue:

a. “All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel made unlawful for itself before the Torah was revealed. Say: "Bring ye the Torah and study it if ye be men of truth." If any, after this, invent a lie and attribute it to Allah, they are indeed unjust wrong-doers.”(Aal-i Imran, 3/93-94).

Two reasons are given for the revelation of the verses above:

- The Jews objected to the Prophet (pbuh) about abrogation and said that there could be nothing like that in the religion. The verse was sent down in response to their objection. The verses challenged the Jews by stating, “All food was lawful to the Children of Israel, except what Israel made unlawful for itself before the Torah was revealed. Let alone denying abrogation, the Torah practiced abrogation by rendering haram some things that were halal for the Children of Israel.”

- According to another narration, the Jews said to Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), “You say you belong to the nation of Abraham but you render halal the meat and milk of the camel that were haram in his religion.”

Through that verse, it was emphasized that the prohibition was not imposed during the time of Abraham but that it was rendered haram by Jacob, his grandson. According to a narration, Jacob vowed that he would not eat the flesh of the camel and he would not drink the milk of the camel, the food and drink that he liked the best, if he overcame the illness of sciatica.

No matter what the reason of revelation is, there is something clear: Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) insisted that certain information that the Jews claimed to be absent in the Torah existed and challenged the Jews by saying, “Bring the Torah and read it if you tell the truth”; the Jews avoided it. (See Tabari, Qurtubi, Razi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur, Nasafi, Alusi, the interpretation of the relevant verse)

b. “If anyone disputes in this matter with thee now after (full) knowledge hath come to thee, say: "Come! let us gather together―our sons, and your sons our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves: then let us earnestly pray, and invoke the curse of Allah on those who lie!"”(Aal-i Imran, 3/61).

- The verse challenged a delegate from the Christians of Najran that came to Madinah and that claimed Jesus was the son of God. They could not dare to do “mutual damnation” in accordance with the view of Aqib Abdul-Masih, the leader of this delegate. (See Tabari, Qurtubi, Razi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur, Nasafi, the interpretation of the relevant verse)

c. “The people of the Book know this as they know their own sons; but some of them conceal the truth which they themselves know” (al-Baqara, 2/146).

- In this verse, it is stated that they recognized Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) as they recognized their own children due to his attributes in the Gospel and the Torah. According to a narration, Hazrat Umar asked Abdullah b. Salam, a Jewish scholar, “Did you really know Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) –based on your book – as you knew your children?” He said, “We knew him better than our own children. (See Tabari, Qurtubi, Razi, Ibn Kathir, Ibn Ashur, Nasafi, the interpretation of the relevant verse).

- Another important point regarding the issue is this: If the issues that Hazrat Muhammad insistently mentioned and that he insistently said were present in the Torah had not been true, the people who believed in him, like Abdullah b. Salam, the Jewish scholar, before others, would have exited Islam and converted to their previous religions at once. It is also valid for the Christian scholars. The loyalty they showed to the religion of Islam throughout their lives indicates the trueness of this verse and Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) clearly.

ANSWER 2

Torah is sent to the prophet Moses but it was distorted later on.

First of all let us give information about distortion.

Distortion literally means changing the place of letters or changing a letter in a word, or changing the meaning of a statement. More specifically, to alter any word in Divine Scriptures intentionally.

According to the Religion of Islam, there are a few kinds of distortions: 1. To mispronounce certain letters of a word and thus to give a different meaning to it, 2. To misinterpret a hadith or Quranic verse, 3. To make changes in the texts of the Qur'an and the Hadiths knowingly and thus to make false additions to them.

Distortion, which means spoiling and altering the essence of a divine scripture, has been used in Islamic Literature to refer to the changes that The Torah and The Gospel underwent and to the impairment of their essence. The studies carried out have shown that there are few statements and passages in The Torah that can be accepted as the Word of Allah. And words, stories, sermons and advice were added by Rabbis, 'oracles', and Jewish Interpreters to those limited number of statements and passages which bear the quality of being Divine Text. In this respect, it is extremely difficult to dig out the original text by removing the additions.

Prophet Moses wanted sons of Israel to obey the commandments given by him, to teach the commands and prohibitions of Allah to next generations, to make mention of them whether at home, en route, at each sitting and standing and to protect the Torah well; he thus took oath from them. However, they neither took that sincere advice of Moses seriously, nor carried out the duty to protect the Torah and to pass it on to coming generations. From the very beginning, sons of Israel paid little attention to Allah's Word, the Torah. Seven hundred years after Prophet Moses, the Head Rabbi of the Solomon Temple in Jerusalem and the king of the time were almost oblivious of whether they were given a book named the Torah by Allah.

The greatest guilt of the Jewish religious functionaries about passing the Torah on to generations intact is that they took it in their monopoly to read that Divine Book. Therefore, the Torah could not gain the quality of being read and known by the Jewish Community and they lived detached from that Word of Allah. Afterwards, when practices based on false innovations and ignorance emerged among the Jews, the religious functionaries set out to fight innovations and ignorance on the one hand; and on the other hand, they tried to find proofs from the Torah against those false beliefs and practices. And, they themselves inserted the points about which they could not find proofs into the Torah.

Jewish scholars and rabbis not only interpreted the Torah parallel to their own understanding in the matters they could not find certain answers, but also added the texts they approved and removed certain parts. Consequently, those additions and deletions made the real Torah unidentifiable.

A similar kind of distortion is also seen in another Divine Scripture, the Gospel. Christian priests added their own understandings of religion, their own interpretations and fancy ideas into Allah's Word, the Gospel and thus made that divine book almost unrecognizable. The Qur'an explains those ugly distortions by the Jewish and the Christian religious functionaries of divine scriptures this way: “O you who believe! Many among the rabbis and monks do indeed consume the wealth of people in legally invalid, wrongful ways (such as changing the Book's commandments in return for worldly benefit, bribery, and using religion as a means of worldly gain) and bar them from God's way.” (At-Taubah, 9:34). As is understood from that verse, certain rabbis and priests changed the verses in divine scriptures in exchange for worldly gains or interpreted them according to their own fancy. They especially distorted the verses about the prophethood of Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him, and tried to destroy the verses of the Scripture which give the good news of the coming of Prophet Muhammad after Prophet Jesus, peace and blessing upon them.

Those rabbis and priests did not suffice with it; they claimed that the additions they inserted into divine scriptures were the original text. Thus, those rabbis' and priests' philosophy of history, explanation, interpretation, and their views in other branches of knowledge entered the Collection of the Scripture and thus became almost a part of the Word of Allah.

Studies carried out have shown that the first five books of The Old Testament are not the original Torah. A copy or chapter of the original Torah is not present anywhere. The Torah itself proves that claim, too. The Torah we have today informs us that close to his death, Prophet Moses put the Torah in a trunk and entrusted it to Joshua and that when the emperor of Babel, Buhtu'n-Nasr, destroyed Jerusalem, the Torah in the trunk was also burnt up. We learn directly from the verses in the Gospel that, about 250 years after that conquest and destruction, Ezra collected the Torah again with the help of religious scholars and rabbis and with divine inspiration. Apart from those events, various others caused the Scripture to be extensively distorted and lost.

As a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greek translated the Torah into Greek together with other cultural works. Eventually, the Jews, who were affected by the Greek culture, began to use the Greek translation of the Torah instead of its Hebrew text. In this respect, it is difficult to say that today's Torah, which is passed on to us from Greek translations, is the Torah revealed to Prophet Moses. Nevertheless, it should not be concluded that the Torah underwent complete distortion. It is possible to understand from its truthful passages which do not contradict the Qur'an that the Torah was not wholly distorted.

Indeed, Prof. M. Hamidullah, too, states that The Scripture is not wholly distorted, that because of certain Divine statements present in it, due respect should be paid to it as is shown toward the Qur'an (Conferences, Erzurum 1975, p.17). However, in today's Scripture, besides Allah's Word, explanations and interpretations of Jewish religious scholars, the history of the Jews, the interpreted decrees of Israelite scholars of jurisprudence are all together intertwined. They are so intermingled that it is a really tough job to differentiate between them saying this is Allah's Word, that is explanation or interpretation of it, etc. (Mawdudi, Tevhid Mücadelesi, (trans. into Turkish: A. Asrar) Istanbul, 1983, I, 530).

There were distortions on the religious decrees of the Torah, too. As is known, the Jews of Khyber came to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) so that he would judge a case of adultery between a married man and a married woman; the Prophet judged that the criminals be stoned and said that it is commanded in Torah (Deuteronomy, XXII, 23-24). Although the Jews knew about it, they applied that commandment to the poor and the desolate, but the wealthy and the high-ranking people were punished only with lashes or by mounting on donkeys backwards and walking them among the public this way. Thus, those Jews turned their backs against Allah's Book, and by taking from it whatever suited their desires, they distorted Allah's Law. Similarly, the Prophet explained in his hadiths that the Jews and the Christians “distorted their books by interpreting them” (Darim, Muqaddima, 56), “After Jesus, the kings changed the Torah.” (Nasai, Qudat, 12), “They both distorted their books and made additions to them.” (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 34/3).

Another proof of the distortions in the Scripture is the contradictions seen in the Torah and the Gospel. In order to pinpoint some of the contradictions in the Torah, it is enough to compare these verses: Genesis I:27 and Genesis II:17; Genesis XXII:14 and Exodus VI:2-3; 1. Samuel XVI:10 and 1. Chronicles II:13-15. Similarly, to specify some of the contradictions in the Gospel, comparing these verses is enough to give an idea: John IV:3 and Matthew XIII:54-58; Matthew X:9-10 and Mark VI:8-10; Luke III:23 and Matthew I:16; Luke III:31 and Matthew I:6.

The Chapter 'Song of Songs' in the Torah attributed to Prophet Solomon is full of distortions from beginning to end. In this part, there are words which are impossible to be uttered by a prophet. Similarly, in the Kings I and Kings II, parts of the Torah which are attributed to Solomon again, it is stated that “he took all his power from spells” and thus the miracles Allah bestowed on prophets are tried to be overshadowed.

Some ill-intentioned people interpreted horrifically the Qur'anic verse: “Say: "(God gives you hope): ‘O My servants who have been wasteful (of their God-given opportunities and faculties) against (the good of) their own souls! Do not despair of God's Mercy. Surely God forgives all sins. He is indeed the All-Forgiving, the All-Compassionate.' " (the Qur'an, Az-Zumar, 39:53) and wanted to make distortions. According to them, Allah commanded the Prophet to call people “O my servants”. In other words, people are counted -God forbid- as the Prophet's servants/slaves. It is by no means any interpretation; it is a clear attempt to distort the Qur'an. Some ignorants may be attracted by such people. Accepting such an interpretation is accepting that the Qur'an is contradictory as a whole. This is because from the beginning till end, the Qur'an makes mention of being servant to Allah alone, and especially emphasizes that Muhammad (PBUH) is not the Lord but a servant himself. (Mawdudi, Tafhim, (Trans. into Turkish), V, 114)

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What is the difference between the Quran and the Torah?

It is necessary to address and express a nation with whatever title it is known. It is more appropriate in terms of wisdom and eloquence.

Accordingly, it is necessary to express the nation known as Jews with that name that everyone knows.

However, in the Quran, Jews are mentioned with words such as Israel, Banu Israel, Yahud, Hud and Hadu as well as the People of the Book. However, the word yahud is only used in the chapters sent down in Madinah because there were Jews in Madinah and messages were given to all Jews to come until the Day of Judgment through them.

Judaism in Islamic Resources

Jews, who accepted belief in the oneness of Allah as the principle of the religion, the Torah, which they believed to have contained divine decrees as the basis of the religion, who were the addressees of divine revelation, and who accepted Hz. Musa (Moses), who conveyed that revelation to his people as the Prophet, have been the neighbors of Muslims since the first periods of Islam.

Especially during the Madinah period, their relations with Muslims are mentioned in the Quran, and those relations played an important role in the considerations of Muslims about them.

Relations with Jews, who have lived together with Muslims throughout history, gained a special importance with the status of People of the Book given to them by Islam; both religions revealed their own viewpoints through mutual correspondence and refutations.

When the religion of Islam emerged, the Jews in the Arabian Peninsula had spread to the areas stretching from the Port of Ayla in the Gulf of Aqaba to the farthest corners of Yemen and Oman, from Madinah to Bahrain. The main centers where they lived were Madinah (mainly), Khaybar, Wadilqura, Tayma, Maqna, Fadak, Taif and Yemen.

There were no Jews in Makkah but the Jews who were merchants and soothsayers attended the fairs held annually in the region. There were more than twenty Jewish tribes in Madinah including Sons of Qaynuka, Sons of Qurayza, and Sons of Nadir.

When the Prophet (pbuh) migrated to Madinah, almost half of the city’s population consisted of Jews. (see Hamidullah, İslam Peygamberi, 1/614-615)

The strongest and most organized Jewish community outside Madinah was in Khaybar.

Judaism in the Quran and Hadiths

The determinations and evaluations of Islam about Judaism and Jews are based on the Quran.

In the Quran, the history, faiths, holy books, prophets, ethical behaviors, social relations of Sons of Israel and their actions against Muslims are mentioned. Besides, the stories about Hz. Musa (Moses) and Sons of Israel are narrated more than the stories about other prophets and nations.

Apart from the verses mentioning Moses and his struggle against Pharaoh separately, information about Sons of Israel and Jews is repeated in twenty-four chapters.

In addition, a great part of the chapter of al-Baqara and chapter of al-Araf includes the incidents about Sons of Israel, warnings and reminders to Jews.

The reasons why Sons of Israel are given such a large place in the Quran are as follows: Muslims were in contact with the Jews; the necessity of emphasizing the common ground between the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and Ibrahim and Sons of Israel / Jews; showing Jews the deviations that occurred in their religion; the necessity of clarifying their belief that the last prophet would emerge from among them and their claim of being the chosen people.

There are both positive and negative statements in the verses of the Quran about Sons of Israel and Jews. On the one hand, it is stated that Allah bestowed blessings upon Sons of Israel in the past and made them superior to the worlds and on the other hand, it is pointed out that they did not keep their promise to their Lord, with some minor exceptions, and that they were cursed due to their sins.

In the Quran, Jews are mentioned with words such as Israel, Banu Israel, Yahud, Hud and Hadu as well as the People of the Book. Although the word yahud is only used in the chapters sent down in Madinah, the phrase Banu Israel (Sons of Israel) is also included in the chapters sent down in Makkah, generally in the verses in which the incidents that took place in pre-Islamic periods are mentioned.

The address in the form of “O Sons of Israel” is not included in any of the eighty-six chapters that were revealed before Hijrah (Migration). The address in those verses is always in the form of “O sons of Adam” or “O people”.

The phrase Banu Israel mentioned in the chapter of Taha (20/80) is not an address; it is used in order to point to the Jews in a story that is narrated. (see Hamidullah, 1/596)

Nearly half of the verses about Jews were sent down in Makkah; and the chapters of Taha and al-Araf, almost all of which are about Sons of Israel, were also sent down in Makkah.

The phrase Sons of Israel, which is mentioned in forty-one places, refers to the children of the Prophet Yaqub (Jacob) and their descendants, the people of the Prophet Musa (Moses), the Jews of the first and second temple period, the Jews of the previous period such as the people of Jesus along with the Jews living in the Arabian Peninsula during the Era of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

The main difference is that the Qur'an was sent to the last prophet, Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) and it is the word of Allah (SWT). On the other hand Torah is sent to the prophet Moses but it was distorted later on. Since the Torah is a distorted book making a comparison will not be healthy.