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Believe in the Scripture before the Quran

"O believers, believe in God and His messenger, and the Scripture He sent down to His messenger and the Scripture He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in God, His angels, His Scriptures, His messengers, and the Last Day, has certainly gone far astray." (Quran Sura An Nisa 136).

For years I had been perplexed by this verse. What puzzled me the most was why the Scripture before the Quran is written in a singular form, not plural, whereas there are at least three Scriptures that have been known to muslims, i.e. the Torah, the Gospel, and the Pslams. Which of this Scripture are meant to be believed by the muslims besides the Quran, and how to implement this verse in life? For all I know, the majority of muslims believe that there were three Scriptures before the Quran, namely the Torah, the Gospel, and the Zabur, but these three Scriptures had been altered, corrupted, and edited over time, so the Bible today that we now have is no longer trustworthy. And there is no need for muslims to read the Bible today, let alone to study it, because it had been heavily edited

However, this QS 4:136 makes me think that God wants the muslims to believe this one particular Scripture (in singular form, not plural). I feel like God wants the muslims to read and study this one particular Scripture. But what is it? Is it the Torah, the Gospel, or the Psalms?

I have been thinking about this for years. And after years of contemplation, I came to this conclusion:

1. This Scripture has to be something that is read by both the Jews and the Christians. Reference QS 6:156. Therefore, this Scripture is NOT the Gospel, since the Jews don't read the Gospel. So, this Scripture is either the Torah, or the Psalms.

2. The Scripture before the Quran that is meant by the verse above is the Book of Moses, or simply the Torah. It is because the Quran states in several verse that the Scripture before the Quran is literally the Book of Moses (QS 11:17, 46:12, and 46:30)

3. In the commentary of Sura Al Ahqaf 10, some commentators state that something similar to the Quran that is meant by this verse refers to the Torah.

4. In the commentary of Sura Al Qasas 48-49, some commentators state that the two Books mentioned by these verse refer to the Quran and the Torah.

However, I came to a conclusion that it is not enough for a muslim to just believe that in the past God sent down the Torah to the People of Israel, and that was it. On the contrary, I believe God wants the muslims to read this Torah, and study it. In fact, I believe that when the first revelation revealed to prophet Muhammad, it was a commandment for prophet Muhammad (and his followers) to read the Torah, particularly the first few chapters of the Book of Genesis, because it contains the story of the creation of the heaven and earth and the creation of man. (Read by the Name of your Lord who creates. He created man from bloods)

Moreover, it is stated in Sura Al An'am 156-157 that the pagan Arabs would have been said that "The Scripture was sent down only to two groups before us (that is the Jews and the Christians), and we were unaware what they study. If the Scripture had been sent down to us, we would have been better guided than they." Well, now the Scripture has been sent down to you too, so there is no more reason not to read it and not to study it. 

Nevertheless, after some time of contemplation, I believe that the Torah that should be read and studied by a muslim is not all the Books of Moses from the book of Genesesis to the book of Deuteronomy. Rather, I believe that the Scripture that should be read and studied by muslims is just the first Six Chapters of the book of Genesis, or the parashah Bereishit and the first few verses of the parashah Noach.

What makes me to this conclusion? Because of the Quran Sura Yunus 71-73 and Sura Hud 49. I believe that these two Sura were revealed exactly in that order, Yunus first, and then Hud. According to Sura 10:71, the prophet was commanded to read to them (the Arabs) the story of Noach. However, I believe that the prophet was commanded to read the story of Noach in a glimpse, not in details. So, I believe this refers to the book of Genesis Chapter 6 (or from Genesis 5:32 to the whole chapter of  chapter 6). In addition, in Sura 11:49, it is stated that prophet Muhammad and his people never heard the story of the flood (in details) before. Therefore, I believe that the prophet Muhammad never read the Genesis Chapter 7 and on that contains the story of the flood in details. So, that's what makes me think that the Torah that should be read and study by the muslims is limited up to the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis. 

However, it would we best for us not just to read the first six chapters of the book of Genesis; rather we should study the explanations of it. And the best explanation of it is the midrash rabbah of the book of Genesis (or Bereishis), that can be considered as the Oral Torah of the Book of Genesis.

In conclusion, I believe that every muslims has to study both the Quran and the first Six Chapters of the book of Genesis.


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