Assalamu Alaikum, The Quran commands the Jews in verse 5:44 to judge using the Torah. And in the verse 5:47, it commands: "Let the People of the Gospel(Injeel) judge by that which Allah hath revealed therein." [5:47] Why does Quran commands christians, Jews to judge by Injeel, Torah respectively when it has said elsewhere that their scriptures are corrupted.?.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

There is no doubt that the Torah and the Injeel (Gospel) have been falsified, and there is evidence about this in the Book of Allaah and the Sunnah of the Prophet . This reality is even acknowledged by many rational personalities of the people of the book. Therefore, there is absolute evidence that the above mentioned books have been forged and falsified as clarified in Fataawa 83344 and 83730.

As regards the saying of Allaah (which means): {But how do they come to you for decision while they have the Tawrat (Torah), in which is the (plain) Decision of Allaah} [Quran 5:43], and His Saying (which means): {Let the people of the Injeel (Gospel) judge by what Allaah has revealed therein.} [Quran 5:47], they [verses] do not deny that these books have been falsified, and they do not contradict the verses which state that these books have been falsified, for many reasons:

1- The fact that the Tawrat and the Injeel have been falsified does not mean that each and every word in them was falsified. For instance the ruling of stoning to death which was revealed in chapter five [Al-Maaidah], existed in the Torah at the time of the Prophet .

Al-Bara' Ibn 'Aazib narrated: ''A blackened and lashed Jew happened to pass by the Prophet . Thereupon, the Prophet called the Jews and said: ''Is this the punishment that you find in your Book (Torah) as a prescribed punishment for adultery?'' They replied: ''Yes''. The Prophet then called one of their scholars and said: ''I ask you in the name of Allaah Who sent down the Torah on Moses, is that the prescribed punishment for adultery that you find in your Book? He said: ''No. Had you not asked me in the name of Allaah, I would not have given you this information. We find stoning to death (as a punishment prescribed in the Torah). But this crime of adultery became quite common amongst our aristocratic class. So when we caught hold of any rich person (indulging in this offence) we spared him, but when we caught hold of a helpless or poor person we imposed the prescribed punishment upon him. We then said: Let us agree on a punishment which we can inflict upon both the rich and the poor. Therefore, we decided to blacken the face with coal and flog as a substitute punishment for stoning. Thereupon the Prophet said: ''O Allaah, I am the first to revive Your command when they had made it dead. He then commanded the offender to be stoned to death. Then Allaah, revealed the following verse, Allaah Says (what means): {O Messenger, (the behaviour of) those who vie with one another in denying the truth should not grieve you...} [Quran 5:41].

Even though the Torah was falsified and forged, the ruling of stoning to death still remained in it but the Jews did not act upon it, and replaced it with flogging. Ibn Taymiyyah said: ''This does not necessarily mean that no falsification occurred in the Torah with regards to conveying information. They were actually falsified in their wording. On the other hand, regarding the rulings which existed in the Torah, (they were abandoned, but) no one can confirm that they were falsified in their wording."

Therefore, Allaah ordered them to judge according to the rulings which existed in their Book and which were not falsified and which were confirmed by the legislation of the Prophet .

2- There is no order for the Jews to judge according to the Torah in verse 44, chapter 5, as the questioned mentioned. As regards the saying of Allaah (which means): {But how do they come to you for decision while they have the Taurat (Torah), in which is the (plain) Decision of Allaah} [Quran 5:43], then this verse is not an order to them to judge according to the Torah, rather it is a condemnation and blame for their wrong belief and the fact that they are misusing the meaning of this verse, as they did not act according to the ruling of stoning which is in the Torah, a Book which they believed as being Allaah's Words, but instead sought the verdict of the Prophet despite denying his Prophecy and Message.

The meaning of the verse, therefore, is how they would seek you to judge between them despite the fact that they do not believe in your Message and do not believe that you are a Prophet, and they neglected the Torah which they believed that it is Allaah's Rulings. Al-Bukhari and Muslim reported that the Jews came to the Prophet seeking his verdict about the man and woman who committed Zina (adultery or fornication).

3- Allaah Says (what means): {Let the people of the Injeel (Gospel) judge by what Allaah has revealed therein.} [Quran 5:47]. Some interpreters of the Quran said that this verse is an order to the Christians to judge according to the Injeel before the Prophet was sent as a Prophet. This interpretation is supported by another confirmed authentic narration about the saying of Allaah (which means): {Let the people of the Injeel (Gospel) judge by what Allaah has revealed therein.}, which means that Allaah revealed the Injeed to 'Eesa so that the people of the Injeel would judge according to what Allaah has revealed in it.

4- Allaah gave glad tidings of the coming of the Prophet Muhammad in the Torah and the Injeel, and ordered them to believe in him, follow him and support him, Allaah Says (what means): {And (remember) when 'Eesa (Jesus), son of Maryam (Mary), said: "O Children of Israel! I am the Messenger of Allaah unto you confirming the Tawraat (Torah) which came before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad.} [Quran 61:6]. Allaah further Says (what means): {Those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write (i.e. Muhammad) whom they find written with them in the Tawraat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel).} [Quran 7:157]. [[This is mentioned in (Torah) (Deut, xviii, 15), and Injeel (Gospel) (John xiv, 16)]].

Therefore, Allaah's order for the Jews and Christians to judge by the Torah and the Injeel is an order for them to follow the Prophet about whom glad tidings were given in the Torah and the Injeel.

Allaah Knows best.