Faith in Revealed Books: Divine Speech, Excellence and Abrogation

1. Faith in the revealed books

وَلِلَّهِ تَعَالَى كُتُبٌ أَنْزَلَهَا عَلَى أَنْبِيَائِهِ
Allah Most High has books that He revealed to His prophets.

Belief in revealed books means acknowledging that God imparted guidance to chosen prophets through revelation. Such guidance was not merely a prophet's personal opinion; it was received from God.

Acknowledging the divine origin of earlier revelation is connected to belief in the prophets themselves. Affirming a prophet's truthfulness while denying the original divine message entrusted to him would be inconsistent.

2. Revelation and prophethood

أَنْزَلَهَا عَلَى أَنْبِيَائِهِ
He revealed them to His prophets.

Revelation identifies the source of the message: God, while a prophet receives and conveys it. The expression does not require interpreting revelation as the physical displacement of a material object.

It does not follow that every prophet received a separate written book in exactly the same form. The central point is that God bestowed scripture upon prophets and communicated guidance through them. The source of revelation differs from its mode of communication.

3. Commands and prohibitions

وَبَيَّنَ فِيهَا أَمْرَهُ وَنَهْيَهُ
In those books He made His commands and prohibitions clear.

A command directs people to a required or desired action, whereas a prohibition restrains them from a forbidden action. Both concern conduct and accountability, although not every command or prohibition necessarily carries an identical juristic degree.

For example, an instruction to perform worship and a prohibition of injustice are different forms of address: one directs conduct and the other marks out prohibited behavior. Revealed guidance therefore has a practical dimension.

4. Promises and warnings

وَوَعْدَهُ وَوَعِيدَهُ
And His promises and warnings.

A promise here announces reward and good outcomes for obedience, while a warning alerts people to the consequences of disobedience. These are not only motivational expressions; they concern accountability and the Hereafter.

Commands and prohibitions establish what ought to be done or avoided. Promises and warnings explain the significance and consequences of compliance or transgression. Thus divine guidance connects obligations with outcomes.

5. Four dimensions of scriptural guidance

Scripture does not merely provide a list of doctrines. It guides belief, action and the understanding of consequences. Commands, prohibitions, promises and warnings are four major dimensions of that guidance.

1. Command: identifies what should be done.
2. Prohibition: identifies what should be avoided.
3. Promise: announces reward for obedience.
4. Warning: alerts people to the consequences of disobedience.

The distinction is one of communicative function, not an absolute separation between worldly and otherworldly matters. Each contributes to the reform of inward and outward conduct.

6. Different scriptures, one divine source

وَكُلُّهَا كَلَامُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى
All of them are the speech of Allah Most High.

The Torah, Gospel, Psalms and Qur'an bear different names, but the original revelation is attributed to God. Divine speech here concerns their divine source; it does not mean that human writing or vocal recitation is identical to the eternal divine attribute in every respect.

Saying that a book was revealed to a particular prophet and saying that it is God's speech are compatible: the first identifies the recipient, the second its source.

7. The Torah, Gospel, Psalms and Qur’an

Four major revealed scriptures are commonly named:
Tawrat (Torah) — revelation associated with Moses.
Injil (Gospel) — revelation associated with Jesus.
Zabur (Psalms) — revelation associated with David.
Qur'an / Furqan — the final revelation received by Muhammad ﷺ.

Affirming their divine origin does not automatically establish that every later manuscript, version or reported text is identical in its present form to the original revelation. The original revelation and its later transmission are distinct questions.

8. Reports about the number of scriptures

Traditional reports give varying counts of heavenly scriptures; some present a total of 104, with differing numbers of sheets associated with Adam, Seth, Enoch, Abraham and Moses.

A reported historical number should not become an indispensable point of creed when its transmission is not securely established. The essential belief is that God revealed books to prophets; precise knowledge of every book or sheet and its number is not a condition of this belief.

This distinction respects transmitted reports while recognizing the difference between firm doctrine and uncertain numerical details.

9. A lexical note on Tawrat

Tawrat is the name of the revealed scripture associated with Moses. Classical lexical explanations differ concerning the derivation of the word, sometimes discussing senses related to light becoming visible or concealed information being disclosed.

Such etymological proposals need not be treated as certain historical origins. The scripture's standing follows from its divine revelation, not from a disputed root.

A possible etymology and a theological proof have different evidential force; disagreement over a name's derivation does not invalidate belief in the revealed book.

10. Injil and its designation

Injil names the original revelation given to Jesus. Different classical lexical explanations have been offered, including interpretations connected with an origin or foundation and with something formerly concealed becoming manifest.

Those suggestions are not themselves articles of faith. The central conviction is that God granted guidance to Jesus.

Belief in the divinely revealed Injil and historical study of texts subsequently known by the name “Gospel” are separate enquiries. Conflating them obscures what belief in revelation actually requires.

11. Zabur and David

Zabur names the scripture revealed to David. In Arabic, one use of the root z-b-r is “to write,” which supports the explanation of Zabur as something written or recorded.

The linguistic explanation is useful, but the central point is that David received divine revelation.

Thus the Torah, Gospel and Psalms have different names and linguistic backgrounds while their original revelatory source is divine. Variety of names does not imply a variety of ultimate sources.

12. The unity of eternal divine speech

وَهُوَ وَاحِدٌ
And it is one.

Here unity refers to God's attribute of speech. Eternal divine speech is not a collection of independent divine beings or a plurality of separately existing eternal attributes.

The existence of distinct revealed books does not entail that the attribute itself divides into many eternal personal entities. The concept of kalām nafsī clarifies the distinction between speech subsisting in God and the words heard or spoken by people.

13. Multiplicity in recited and heard expression

وَإِنَّمَا التَّعَدُّدُ وَالتَّفَاوُتُ فِي النَّظْمِ الْمَقْرُوءِ الْمَسْمُوعِ
Multiplicity and variation occur in the arrangement that is recited and heard.

Revealed books can differ in words, arrangement, audience and form of expression. This difference belongs to recited and heard discourse; it does not overturn the asserted unity of the eternal divine attribute.

A command and a promise are different types of address. Their distinctions do not imply multiple divine persons or separate, independently eternal speech-beings.

14. Attribute versus expression

The attribute of speech must be distinguished from its expression. The first concerns the speech that subsists in God; the second concerns human recitation, hearing, inscription and the different arrangements of revealed texts.

Counting the words of a surah or naming different scriptures is an intelligible linguistic exercise. It is not a count of parts within an eternal divine attribute.

This distinction makes it possible to affirm at once that all revealed books are divine speech, that the divine attribute is one, and that the recited forms differ.

15. In what respect is the Qur’an superior?

وَبِهَذَا الِاعْتِبَارِ كَانَ الْأَفْضَلُ هُوَ الْقُرْآنُ
In this respect, the Qur'an is the most excellent.

The phrase “in this respect” refers back to the recited and heard arrangement. The Qur'an's excellence concerns its revealed form, guidance, recitation and distinctive merits. It does not suggest that one portion of an indivisible eternal attribute has become intrinsically more perfect than another.

Two questions must remain distinct: Is divine speech one as an attribute? May one expression of revelation have greater merit than another? The former concerns unity; the latter comparative excellence.

16. The Qur’an’s standing among scriptures

ثُمَّ التَّوْرَاةُ وَالْإِنْجِيلُ وَالزَّبُورُ
Then the Torah, Gospel and Psalms.

The order is used in discussing comparative excellence, not merely to provide a historical date of revelation. Affirming the Qur'an's higher standing does not imply that the original Torah, Gospel or Psalms were not from God.

A book's superiority and another book's original divine authenticity can both be affirmed. The important distinction is between rank or merit and truth of divine origin: difference of degree is not denial of authenticity.

17. One divine speech and different surahs

كَمَا أَنَّ الْقُرْآنَ كَلَامٌ وَاحِدٌ، لَا يُتَصَوَّرُ فِيهِ تَفْضِيلٌ
Likewise, the Qur'an is one speech, so superiority among its parts cannot be conceived in that respect.

When considered in relation to the divine attribute of speech, one part is not more perfect as a part of that attribute. When verses and surahs are considered in terms of recitation, writing and teaching, however, a difference of merit may be discussed.

Whether a statement holds therefore depends on its respect of comparison. One must not introduce gradations into precisely the respect in which speech is held to be one.

18. Why some surahs may have special merit

ثُمَّ بِاعْتِبَارِ الْقِرَاءَةِ وَالْكِتَابَةِ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ بَعْضُ السُّوَرِ أَفْضَلَ
In the respect of recitation and writing, some surahs may have greater merit.

A special merit or reward attached to reciting one surah does not render another surah nondivine. Reward for recitation, instructional benefit and divine origin are distinct properties.

For instance, a surah may explain a central point of belief especially clearly and thereby offer a particular educational benefit. Such benefit does not divide the eternal divine attribute into portions of unequal perfection.

19. The benefit of recitation

وَحَقِيقَةُ التَّفْضِيلِ: أَنَّ قِرَاءَتَهُ أَفْضَلُ، لِمَا أَنَّهُ أَنْفَعُ
The intended excellence is that reciting it is better because it is more beneficial.

Benefit need not be restricted to acquiring more information. Recitation may reinforce faith, improve character, guide conduct and provide remembrance.

A surah may be particularly beneficial for one instructional or devotional purpose, while another may suit a different purpose. Comparative excellence here concerns the benefit of recitation, not a hierarchy within the divine attribute itself.

20. More frequent mention of God

أَوْ ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى فِيهِ أَكْثَرُ
Or because mention of Allah Most High is more abundant in it.

A surah that prominently expounds God's oneness, names, attributes or majesty may have a special merit in recitation. The relevant comparison concerns the subject discussed and the effect of its recitation.

It does not imply that verses about laws, history or moral instruction are less divine. Different Qur'anic subjects carry guidance and wisdom; a particular merit in one surah is not a devaluation of another.

21. How a change of respect changes the claim

Consider two statements that may initially appear to conflict:
1. The Qur'an is one divine speech. This concerns the unity of the attribute.
2. Reciting certain surahs may have special merit. This concerns reward, benefit or the frequency of mention of God.

They are not contradictory, because they involve different respects. A genuine contradiction requires affirmation and denial of the same thing in the same respect, meaning and context.

Keeping the respects distinct safeguards belief in the unity of speech without dismissing reports about the merits of particular surahs.

22. The basic meaning of supersession

ثُمَّ الْكُتُبُ قَدْ نُسِخَتْ بِالْقُرْآنِ
Then the earlier books were superseded by the Qur'an.

Supersession (naskh) here marks the arrival of the final divine guidance for the community of Muhammad ﷺ, so that earlier scriptures do not retain an independent, overriding legislative status. It concerns the later authority of practices and rulings, not whether the original revelation came from God.

A directive could have been valid for its original community and time yet no longer govern the later community. Naskh must not be confused with declaring the former divine message false.

23. Supersession in recitation and writing

تِلَاوَتَهَا وَكِتَابَتَهَا
Their recitation and writing as well.

Supersession in recitation and writing concerns the earlier scriptures' former role as independent devotional and legislative standards for the later Muslim community. It does not assert that every physical copy or every word of an earlier text literally ceased to exist.

Reading a historical text, preserving it for research, and treating it as the governing basis of one's worship and law are distinct activities. In the final sense, the authoritative standard is the Qur'an and the Prophet's guidance.

24. Some rulings, not a blanket denial

وَبَعْضَ أَحْكَامِهَا
And some of their rulings.

The word some matters. The statement does not entail that every earlier rule is negated in exactly the same way. A ruling may be changed, its underlying principle may remain, or a later revelation may clarify its application.

For example, affirmation of divine oneness, honesty and justice remains tied to the truth of revelation, while particular practical regulations may differ across communities. The applicable ruling is established through the final authoritative religious evidence.

25. An integrated understanding of revelation

Five principles fit together in belief in revelation:
1. The original scriptures came from God.
2. They conveyed commands, prohibitions, promises and warnings.
3. Unity of the divine attribute is distinct from plurality of recited forms.
4. The Qur'an and particular surahs may have excellence in specified respects.
5. The Qur'an superseded the earlier scriptures' independent legal authority and some of their rulings.

Thus affirming earlier revelation and following the Qur'an as final authoritative guidance are complementary, not conflicting, aspects of belief in revealed books.