Are the Torah, Gospel and Zabur Truly the Words of Allah?

Articles of faith in Islam

Allah, may He be ُxalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“The Messenger (Muhammad blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books , and His Messengers. They say, ‘We make no distinction between one another of His Messengers’” [Al-Baqarah 2:285]. 

Al-Bukhari (50) and Muslim (9) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One day the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) appeared before the people and Jibril came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah, what is faith? He said: “To believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, the meeting with Him, and His Messengers, and to believe in the resurrection hereafter.” 

The Quran, the Torah, the Gospel and the Zabur are all among the Books of Allah that He sent down to His Messengers (blessings and peace of Allah be upon them), and it is obligatory to believe in them. Whoever disbelieves in any of them has disbelieved in Allah. 

Are the words of Allah created?

Nothing of the words of Allah is created. He, may He be Glorified, spoke the Torah, the Gospel , the Quran and the Zabur in a real sense. 

Similarly, not a single letter of the Quran is created. It is all the words of Allah in a real sense. The same is also true of the Torah, the Gospel and the Zabur. We do not differentiate between the Messengers of Allah, and we do not differentiate between the revealed Books; all of them are the words of Allah. 

Allah, may He be Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Do you (faithful believers) covet that they will believe in your religion in spite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah (Torah), then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it?” [Al-Baqarah 2:75]

What they used to distort is the Torah , but here Allah, may He be Exalted, calls it the “Word of Allah”. 

Muslim (2652) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Adam and Musa debated. Musa said: O Adam, you are our father but you caused our doom and caused us to be expelled from Paradise. Adam said to him: You are Musa, Allah chose you to speak to and wrote (the Torah) for you with His own hand. Are you blaming me for something that Allah decreed for me forty years before He created me?” The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Adam got the better of Musa, Adam got the better of Musa.”

Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

“The view of the early generations, the Companions and those who followed them in truth, and all the leading scholars of the Muslims, such as the four Imams and others, is that which is indicated by the Quran and Sunnah, which is what is in accordance with the clear rational evidence: that the Quran is the word of Allah that was revealed and not created; it comes from Him and will return to Him. He is the One Who spoke the Quran, the Torah and the Gospel, and other words; they are not created and separate from Him. He, may He be Glorified, speaks by His will and power, and His word is within His Essence, and is not a creation separate from Him […] The words of Allah have no end, as Allah, may He be Exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Say (O Muhammad blessings and peace of Allah be upon him to mankind): ‘If the sea were ink for (writing) the Words of my Lord, surely, the sea would be exhausted before the Words of my Lord would be finished, even if we brought (another sea) like it for its aid’” [Al-Kahf 18:109]. 

Allah, may He be Glorified, spoke the Quran in Arabic and the Torah in Hebrew […] Whoever regards His words as created must say: Is that which is created the One Who spoke to Musa: “Verily! I am Allah! La ilaha illa Ana (none has the right to be worshipped but I), so worship Me, and perform As-Salat (Iqamat As-Salat) for My Remembrance” [Ta-Ha 20:14]. This is impossible; these cannot be anything other than the words of the Lord of the Worlds. As Allah spoke the Quran, the Torah, and other Scriptures, with their meanings and words which consist of letters, none of that is created; rather that is the words of the Lord of the Worlds.” (Majmu` Al-Fatawa, 12/37-41) (See also: Majmu` Al-Fatawa, 12/355-356) 

Shaykh Mustafa Ar-Ruhaybani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

“Swearing by the words of Allah, may He be Exalted, or the Quran, or a surah or verse thereof, is a (valid) oath, because it is one of His attributes. So whoever swears by it or by any part of it has sworn an oath by one of the attributes of Allah, may He be Exalted. 

The same applies to swearing by the Torah or any of the other Books of Allah, may He be exalted, such as the Gospel and the Zabur. This is an oath for which expiation is required (if it is broken), because an oath sworn by the Torah or Gospel in general terms is swearing by that which was sent down from Allah, may He be Exalted, not that which has been changed or altered, and the sanctity thereof is not waived by the fact that it has been abrogated by the rulings of the Quran, as is similar to the case of some verses in the Quran the rulings of which were abrogated. That does not alter the fact that it is the words of Allah, may He be Exalted, and as it is His words, it is one of His attributes, as is the Quran." (Matalib Uli An-Nuha, 6/361) 

Shaykh Ibn Jibrin (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

“It is well-known that Allah sent down Books to the Prophets. He sent down the Torah to Musa, He sent down the Gospel to `Isa , He sent down the Zabur to Dawud, and He sent down Scripture (Suhuf) to Ibrahim , as  He said (interpretation of the meaning): “The Scriptures of Ibrahim (Abraham) and Musa (Moses)” [Al-A`la 87:19]. Undoubtedly all of that is the words of Allah that He spoke, and these words include His laws and His commands and prohibitions." (Fatawa Ash-Shaykh Ibn Jibrin, 63/117)

And Allah knows best.