The Qur’an is reprimanding the People of the Book for not trusting or standing on what has been revealed to them. Based on this verse, what the People of the Book (those reading the Tawrat, Zabur and the Injeel) were to be judged by was the Scripture that they already possessed. If the claim that the Bible is invalid was true, then the Qur’an would never have said such a thing. The real allegation is not that the Bible was changed, but rather that the People of the Book were not following it. This ayah actually uplifts the authenticity of the Bible. A clarification of this is given in the following verse:
The accusation obviously states that the Jews are studying the Scriptures that Allah has revealed to them and asking other people to follow its teaching while forgetting to practice it themselves. The verse is not condemning them for reading their Scriptures but accusing them of not practicing what these Scriptures say.
“Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (to practise it) ourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?”
The Qur’an is reprimanding the People of the Book for not trusting or standing on what has been revealed to them. Based on this verse, what the People of the Book (those reading the Tawrat, Zabur and the Injeel) were to be judged by was the Scripture that they already possessed. If the claim that the Bible is invalid was true, then the Qur’an would never have said such a thing. The real allegation is not that the Bible was changed, but rather that the People of the Book were not following it. This ayah actually uplifts the authenticity of the Bible. A clarification of this is given in the following verse:
The accusation obviously states that the Jews are studying the Scriptures that Allah has revealed to them and asking other people to follow its teaching while forgetting to practice it themselves. The verse is not condemning them for reading their Scriptures but accusing them of not practicing what these Scriptures say.
“Do ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (to practise it) ourselves, and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?”