What is the origin of the Muslim insistence that the Torah has been twisted from the original? ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Thursday, September 11, 2025

What is the origin of the Muslim insistence that the Torah has been twisted from the original?

Egyptian news site El Nabaa says something I have seen dozens of times in Arab media:

There is no biblical Israel in the annals of history...and the "Promised Land" is an expansionist project cloaked in religious garb.

Netanyahu is betting on fake texts...and the Jews themselves have acknowledged the nonexistence of biblical Israel.

Removing the biblical narratives from history does not mean denying the existence of the prophets mentioned in the Qur’an and the Torah.

The Torah was distorted to achieve colonial political goals, and the Holy Qur’an confirmed this.

I wondered where the Quran says that the torah was distorted -and it actually doesn't.

What it does say in several places is that the Jews misinterpreted the Torah, but not that the Torah itself was inaccurate.

That was a fabrication of later Islamic scholars, notably 11th century Ibn Hazm from Andalusia. :he argued that since the Quran contradicts the Torah (and Gospels) then they must have been changed. argued that the Torah and Gospel were textually corrupted, citing inconsistencies in the texts available in his time and the Quranic verses above. Another brilliant "proof" he had was that since Mohammed isn't mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, then the Jews and Christiasns must have removed his name from the text.

Not all Islamic scholars accept the Torah is distorted" idea, but it is certainly a mainstream position. And like the other fabrications like there were no Temples in Jerusalem, the scholarship that fosters antisemitic thinking becomes the dominant discourse in the Muslim world.