Islam Watch

Series 2 – The Quran’s Fatal Dilemma

Part 5 – The Preservation Paradox: God’s Word Cannot Be Changed

Introduction – The Core of the Preservation Paradox

The Preservation Paradox is one of the most devastating internal contradictions in Islamic theology. At its heart is a simple claim made repeatedly in the Quran: God’s words cannot be altered, corrupted, or changed by anyone. This affirmation appears in multiple verses, stated in clear, unambiguous language that allows no room for metaphorical reinterpretation.

Yet, this same Quran also asserts — or at least Islamic theology claims — that the Torah and Gospel, which the Quran itself affirms as divine revelations, have been altered, corrupted, or lost. This is not just a minor theological inconsistency. It’s a foundational crisis:

If God’s words cannot be changed, and the Torah and Gospel were God’s words, then they must still exist in preserved form.
If they have been changed, then God’s claim in the Quran is false — and the Quran collapses as divine revelation.

This part of the series will break down the Preservation Paradox in detail — laying out the relevant Quranic texts, the Islamic claim of biblical corruption, historical evidence regarding preservation, and why this contradiction is fatal to the credibility of Islam itself.

1. What the Quran Says About the Inalterability of God’s Words

The Quran contains multiple verses affirming the impossibility of anyone altering God’s words. This is not a vague idea — it is stated as an absolute fact.

Key Verses

Surah 6:115 –

"The word of your Lord is complete in truth and justice. None can change His words.

Surah 18:27 –

"Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. None can change His words, and you will find no refuge besides Him."

Surah 10:64 –

"There is no change to the words of Allah. That is the great attainment."

These verses are present tense and universal — not restricted to the Quran alone. The wording applies to any revelation that came from Allah, including previous scriptures. The logic is straightforward: If a text is revealed by God, it is part of His “words,” and by the Quran’s own testimony, His words are beyond the power of human alteration.

2. The Quran Affirms the Torah and Gospel as God’s Word

The Islamic claim of biblical corruption immediately hits a problem: the Quran explicitly affirms the Torah (Tawrat) and Gospel (Injil) as divine revelations.

Examples:

Surah 3:3 –

"He has sent down upon you the Book in truth, confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel."

Surah 5:47 –

"Let the people of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein."

Surah 6:154-157 –
The Torah is described as “complete” and a guidance for the Children of Israel.
Surah 5:68 –

"Say: O People of the Book, you have no ground to stand upon unless you uphold the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been revealed to you from your Lord."

The Quran doesn’t talk about lost or corrupted copies — it speaks as if the Torah and Gospel are present and accessible to the Jews and Christians of Muhammad’s time, and that these communities should live by them.

3. The Islamic Claim of Corruption – A Post-Quranic Invention

Despite the Quran’s affirmations, mainstream Islamic teaching today claims that the Torah and Gospel have been textually corrupted. This claim is used to explain away the doctrinal contradictions between the Bible and the Quran — contradictions that are unavoidable if the Bible is genuine revelation.

Two Versions of the Corruption Claim in Islam:

Textual Corruption (Tahrif al-Nass) – The actual words have been altered or replaced.
Interpretive Corruption (Tahrif al-Mana) – The words remain but are misunderstood or misinterpreted.

Historically, the textual corruption claim gained dominance because it was the simplest way to dismiss verses that contradicted the Quran — particularly regarding the crucifixion of Jesus, His divinity, and the nature of salvation.

However — and this is critical — the Quran never once states that the Torah or Gospel have been textually corrupted. The closest it comes is accusing some Jews and Christians of “concealing” parts or misrepresenting meaning, which is an accusation of interpretive corruption, not wholesale text alteration.

4. The Preservation Paradox Formulated

Here’s how the Preservation Paradox plays out step-by-step:

The Quran states God’s words cannot be changed (Surah 6:115; 18:27; 10:64).
The Quran affirms the Torah and Gospel as God’s revealed words (Surah 3:3; 5:47; 5:68).
Therefore, the Torah and Gospel cannot have been changed.
The Torah and Gospel contradict the Quran on essential doctrines (crucifixion, deity of Christ, salvation by grace).
This leads to two possibilities:
- If preserved: The Quran is false, because it contradicts preserved truth.
- If corrupted: The Quran is false, because it affirms the authority of corrupted texts.

Conclusion: Either way, Islam’s claim of being the final and perfect revelation collapses.

5. Historical Evidence – The Torah and Gospel Were Preserved

Islamic apologists often ignore or downplay the massive historical and manuscript evidence showing that the Torah and Gospel in Muhammad’s day were substantially identical to what we have today.

Key Manuscript Evidence:

Dead Sea Scrolls (3rd century BCE – 1st century CE) – Provide copies of Hebrew Bible texts over 1,000 years older than previous manuscripts, showing remarkable consistency.
Codex Sinaiticus (c. 330-360 CE) – A complete Greek New Testament and much of the Old Testament.
Codex Vaticanus (early 4th century CE) – One of the oldest surviving nearly complete Bibles.
Peshitta & Coptic versions – Early translations predating Islam.

By Muhammad’s lifetime (7th century CE), the textual tradition of both Old and New Testaments was already well-established and widely distributed, making the idea of a universal, coordinated corruption implausible to the point of impossibility.

6. Why the Preservation Paradox is Theologically Fatal

The problem for Islam is not simply that it contradicts historical evidence. The real problem is that it contradicts itself within its own theological framework.

If Allah cannot protect His earlier revelations from corruption, why should anyone believe He protected the Quran?
If Allah allowed His earlier words to be corrupted despite promising they could not be changed, that makes Him a liar — and the Quran, claiming to be His word, becomes untrustworthy.
If the earlier scriptures were preserved, then Islam is theologically bankrupt because its core teachings contradict them.

7. Apologist Attempts to Escape the Paradox (and Why They Fail)

Muslim apologists have proposed several strategies to dodge the Preservation Paradox. Here are the most common — and why they fail.

Claim 1: “God’s word” here refers only to the Quran

This fails because the Quran itself applies the “unalterable” description to previous revelations and explicitly calls the Torah and Gospel God’s words.

Claim 2: Only the “original” Torah and Gospel were God’s words — those are now lost

This fails because the Quran commands Jews and Christians to judge by what they have — not some hypothetical lost version.

Claim 3: The corruption is only in interpretation, not text

This fails because if the text is still intact, the contradictions remain — and Islam is still false.

8. Formal Logical Breakdown

Premise 1: The Quran affirms that God’s words cannot be changed.
Premise 2: The Torah and Gospel are affirmed in the Quran as God’s words.
Premise 3: The Torah and Gospel contradict the Quran on key doctrines.
Conclusion: Either they were preserved (making Islam false) or they were corrupted (making the Quran false). In both cases, Islam fails.

9. Conclusion – Why This Argument Is Inescapable

The Preservation Paradox is a theological dead end for Islam. It does not depend on Christian theology, Church tradition, or even historical evidence — though those independently support the Bible’s preservation. The argument arises entirely from the Quran’s own claims and the unavoidable logic that follows.

Muslims who wish to maintain belief in both the Quran’s authority and the claim of biblical corruption must embrace an irreconcilable contradiction. This is why the Preservation Paradox is one of the most powerful tools in theological debate — it forces Islam to face an unresolvable internal collapse.