I join you in mourning the passing of Hocaefendi, known to the world as Fethullah Gülen. It is with a deep sense of respect and reverence that I share my impressions of his profound impact on those who met him and studied his works. Through this reflection, I hope to offer words of consolation and to inspire hope as we look to the future.

As a Rabbi devoted to healing relations between Jews and Muslims, I have found in Gülen a foremost leader in this historical process. Gülen’s approach is deeply rooted in the Quran and Hadith and expands beyond tolerance to embrace the “Other” as a blessing from God—each person valued and seen through the divine perspective. These principles of humility and respect resonate deeply in my own tradition and personal mission.

Last year, I had the honor of visiting Gülen at his home. Though unwell, he graciously accepted the visit. I brought with me a copy of the Torah translated into Arabic, symbolizing a bridge between the Torah and the language of the Qur’an. He lifted the Torah with joy, signifying he was accepting the gift both with appreciation and humility. It was a gesture reminiscent of the Hadith (Sunan Abu Dawud 40), in which Muhammad (PBUH) rose to honor a Torah scroll brought to him, an expression of profound respect.

Later that day, one of his students presented me with a beautiful calligraphic rendering of a verse from the Book of Psalms, inspired by Gülen’s teachings. The Quran, after all, acknowledges Psalms’ unique place among the sacred books: “To David We gave the Book of Psalms” (Surah Al-Isra 17:55). The selected verse, Psalms 145:10, reads: “All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, and Your pious shall bless You.” This, too, reinforced the shared heritage of reverence and respect for sacred texts and a universal vision for the world.

When I met with Gülen, I had many questions regarding the status of Jewish people, Judaism, and the Torah within Islam. These inquiries lie at the heart of my work as Director of the Ohr Torah Stone’s Blickle Institute for Interfaith Dialogue. In our shared story, I believe it is God’s will that Jews and Muslims, in mutual respect and fraternity, fulfill the vision of Zephaniah 3:9: that humanity, united, will call upon the name of God and serve together. I was advised to submit my questions in writing, and I received a comprehensive, respectful response on October 4, 2023. This document, I believe, will stand as a historic testimony to our shared values and aspirations.

Religion is often cited as a cause of conflict, but it must also be part of the solution. Our religious identities, rather than dividing us, should be a source of connection. This connection flourishes when we understand and feel that the God we worship is the same God loved and served by others.

In closing, I offer words of hope for the millions of Hizmet followers. The letter “H” at the beginning of Hizmet holds special significance for me, as I have experienced firsthand the virtues of Hospitality, Humility, Hope, Healing, Heart, and Humanity within this movement. I would add an additional “H” as a precedent for a path forward: Habad.

Habad, an Orthodox Jewish movement rooted in service and spiritual engagement, resonates with Hizmet’s ideals. Its last leader, the Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is remembered for his profound spirituality and vision. Though he passed away in 1994, his movement continued to grow, sustained by his ideas, his messages, and his vision. In a similar way, Hizmet, inspired by the teachings of Gülen, has the potential to grow and continue impacting humanity, spreading his message of service and unity.

May Gülen’s memory be a blessing and may Hizmet continue to bring blessing to the world.

Since all monotheistic scriptures come from the one and only God, we should view other scriptures as potentially enriching our understanding of our own scripture. But in the middle ages, almost all readers thought of revelation as a zero sum sport like tennis rather than a multiple win co-operative sport like mountain climbing.

In a zero sum game, any value or true spiritual insight I grant to another scripture somehow diminishes my own. This was the result of the influence of Greek philosophy’s emphasis on the logic of the excluded middle. Something is either true or it is false. There is no other option. If two propositions contradicted one another, one or both of them must be false. If my religion is true, yours must be false.

In modern terms, light could not be both a particle and a wave at the same time. Yet we now know that light is indeed both a particle and a wave at the same time.

This situation did not improve much in modern times. In the last two centuries, university academics have written many studies of comparative religion which they claim are objective and not distorted by their religious beliefs. Unfortunately, academics who treat other religions academically usually do not believe that other scriptures are actually Divinely inspired. Indeed, many academics do not believe that even their own scriptures are Divinely inspired.

They use the same kinds of explanation to understand a revealed religion that they would use to explain secular history and literature. I follow a different model, one I learned from Prophet Muhammad. For example, the Mishnah (an early third century compilation of the oral Torah), states, “Adam was created as an individual to teach you that anyone who destroys a single soul, Scripture imputes it to him as if he destroyed the whole world” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5).

And the Qur’an states, “one who kills a human being, unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land, would be as if he slew the whole people, and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people” (Qur’an 5:32). Academics explain the similarity of the two statements by assuming that since the Jewish statement is several centuries earlier than the Qur’an, Muhammad must have heard it from a Rabbi or other educated Jew in Medina.

But I believe Muhammad is a prophet of God who confirms the Torah of Prophet Moses. Muhammad has no need to learn this statement from another human being. Academics might reply that the statement is not found in the written Torah; it appears in the oral Torah, written by the Rabbis in the Mishnah more than 1000 years after Moses.

But the Rabbis maintain that the Mishnah is part of the oral Torah that was passed down from Moses through many generations, just as the Prophet Muhammad’s sayings have been passed down through the generations. Indeed, the Qur’an itself introduces this statement as follows, “It is because of this that We ordained for the Children of Israel ‘one who kills a human being …'” (Qur’an 5:32).

No prophet of God needs to be informed by another human what should be written in Holy Scripture. God is the source of all Divine inspiration. There are several verses in the Qur’an that mention things from the oral Torah. My perspective is that prophets and Holy Scriptures cannot in reality oppose one another because they all come from one source. Prophets are all brothers; they have the same father (God) and different mothers (motherlands, mother tongues, nations, cultures, and historical eras).

All of these produce different rituals and legal systems, but their theology can differ only in small and unessential details. As the sage of Konya, Jalal al-Din al-Rumi says, “Ritual prayer might differ in every religion, but belief never changes” (Fihi Mafih 49). Religions differ because the circumstances of each nation receiving them differ. Where the Scriptures differ, they cast additional light on each other. My belief is based on an important Hadith of Prophet Muhammad: a disciple of Muhammad named Abu Huraira relates, “The people of the Book used to read the Torah in Hebrew and then explain it in Arabic to the Muslims. Allah’s Apostle said (to the Muslims). “Do not believe the people of the Book, nor disbelieve them, but say, ‘We believe in Allah, and whatever is revealed to us, and whatever is revealed to you.'”

Following Muhammad’s teaching, I too neither believe nor disbelieve the Qur’an. If I believed in the Qur’an, I would be a member of the Muslim ummah (community). But I cannot disbelieve in the Qur’an because I believe that Muhammad was a prophet and I respect the Qur’an as a revelation to a kindred people, in a kindred language. In fact, the people, the language and the theology are closer to my own people, language, and theology than that of any other on earth.

How does this perspective affect my understanding of their Qur’an and my Torah? I practice “hosgoru.” Unlike those in the past who played the zero sum game, I do not seek some verse in the Qur’an I can dispute or object to. Indeed, this is what the Qur’an itself teaches. “For every community We have appointed a whole system of worship which they are to observe. So do not let them draw you into disputes concerning this matter” (22:67).

One of the major differences between the Qur’an and the Torah is the Torah’s attention to details (names of people and places) and the Qur’an’s emphases on universals. The Torah has long lists of geographical locations and of genealogies that many people today, especially non-Jews, find boring.

The Qur’an rarely identifies locations, and often omits the names of the people it does mention, for example the prophet who appointed Talut to become the first king of Israel (2:246). Indeed, Muslim commentators disagree about many of these details. Some say the prophet who appointed Talut king of Israel was Samuel and others think it was Joshua or Simeon.

These disagreements occur because many commentators do not use the Bible to fill in the details for the generalities of the Qur’an. Sometimes the Qur’an refers to nameless Messengers sent to a nameless town and no additional details can be added because there is no parallel in the Torah (36:13-29). In this case, even the punishment is only a vague “single blast and all became corpses” (26:29).

This lack of detail points to the Qur’an’s universal and ongoing Divine call for all human societies to repent and reform themselves.

On the other hand, many Rabbis get caught up in the details of the Torah and even expand them into super details. Thus, the rules relating to dietary observance of Passover and prohibited work on Shabbat have multiplied endlessly.

We need to learn from the Sunnah of the prophet as narrated by Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, “Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded” (Bukhari Volume 1, Book 2, Number 38).

Another important lesson from the Prophet’s Sunnah, as narrated by his wife Aisha, says, “Whenever the Prophet was given an option between two things, he used to select the easier of the two as long as it was not sinful; but if it was sinful, he would remain far from it” (Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56, Number 147).

This is the path that I and most Reform Rabbis have taken in the last two centuries. If Orthodox Jews in the time of Muhammad had followed the prophet’s teaching, Reform Judaism (the largest of several different religious groups of Jews in North America) would have begun 14 centuries ago, instead of only two centuries ago.

The Qur’an was also far ahead of its time in many other ways. One of the most important ways is the Qur’an’s oft repeated statement that believers (Muslims) should believe in all the messengers of God. This message of religious pluralism and toleration is sorely needed in the 21st century.

The Qur’an states: “They say that none will enter Paradise unless he be a Jew or a Christian. That is their wishfulness. Say ‘Produce your proof if you are truthful'” (2:111).

At the time of Muhammad, both Orthodox Rabbis and Catholic Priests did claim that only their own believers would enter Paradise. The Qur’an instructs Muslims that this claim is not based on the Jewish or the Christian scriptures but only on the desires of those people who make these claims. In truth, nowhere in the Torah of Moses, the Zabur of David, or anywhere else in the Hebrew Bible is this claim that only Jews will enter Paradise asserted.

The great Sage Hillel, who lived in the first century prior to the birth of Jesus, taught that, “The righteous of all nations have a place in Paradise” (Tosefta Sanhedrin). Jesus also taught, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 12:2).

But generations after the death of Jesus, claims were made in his name, that only those who believed Jesus was the son of God, who died on the cross to save all humans from going to Hellfire, would be able to enter Paradise. In reaction to these polemical Christian claims, some Talmudic Rabbis began to counter-claim that only Jews would enter Paradise.

Yet even then the Rabbis did not think that eternal punishment was the fate of all those excluded from Paradise. Gehenna-Hellfire was conceived of as a temporary abode generally believed to last a maximum of 12 months.

The great sage, Rabbi Akiba, stated, “The punishment of the wicked in Gehenna lasts 12 months” (Mishnah Eduyyot 2:10). This is repeated in the Talmud (Shabbat 33b), and elsewhere it is stated that sinners, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are punished in Gehenna-Hellfire for (up to) 12 months (Rosh HaShanah 17a).

Thus the Qur’an accurately states, “They say, ‘the Fire will not touch us except for a fixed number of days” (2:80). The Qur’an instructs Muslims to say to both Jews and Christians, “If the abode of the Hereafter with God is reserved for you alone, excluding other people, then long for death … but they will never long for it” (2:94-5).

So, the answer to those who claim that, “none will enter Paradise unless he is a Jew or a Christian,” is “No! Rather, whoever submits his whole being to God as one devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing him, his reward is with his Lord, and all such will have no fear, nor will they grieve” (2:112).

Thus, the Qur’an affirms that those Rabbis who strayed from the words of Hillel, “The righteous of all nations have a place in Paradise,” were wrong. Those followers of Jesus who abandoned his teaching, “In my Father’s house are many dwelling places,” and instituted the doctrine that Saint Augustine espoused, “No one can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation,” are also wrong.

Tragically, during many centuries of Medieval debate between the three religions, everyone thought that religion was a zero sum game (one winner or one truth vs. many winners or many truths, i.e. soccer or tennis vs. hiking or mountain climbing).

Thus, some Muslim commentators also began to take the same exclusionary view condemned by Prophet Muhammad by adding specific details of theological belief to the statements in the Qur’an that stress a simple and firm belief in the one and only God: “No! rather, whoever submits his whole being to God as one devoted to doing good, aware that God is seeing him, his reward is with his Lord, and all such will have no fear, nor will they grieve” (2:112).

And even more explicitly, “Those who believe (Muslims), those who advocate Judaism, Christians, Sabeans, whoever truly believes in God and the Last Day, and does good righteous deeds, surely their reward is with their Lord, they will not fear, nor will they grieve” (2:62).

Thank God, in 21st century America the majority of most religious groups now believe the teachings of the Qur’an cited above (2:112 and 2:62).

A survey of over 35,000 Americans in 2008 found that most Americans agree with the statement: many religions – not just their own – can lead to eternal life. Among those affiliated with a religious tradition, seven-in-ten say many religions can lead to eternal life. This view is shared by a majority of adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including 82% of Jews, 79% of Catholics, 57% of evangelical Protestants and 56% of Muslims (from the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, 2008, Pew Research Center).

Thus, in the 21st century United States most Christians, Jews, and Muslims have rejected the zero sum mind set and believe in the Qur’an’s teachings, “If God had so willed He could surely have made you a single community, but (He didn’t) in order to test you by what he has given you. Strive then, in competing in good works” (5:48). For ultimately, “On the Day of Resurrection God will judge between you about what you differed” (22:69).

Only those who reject God by disbelief or by unrepentant evil activities will be the losers when Judgment Day comes. But many, perhaps most, theologians will learn that they might not be as smart as they thought they were.

In conclusion, it is very important to understand that “religious pluralism is the will of God” is very different from religious, moral, or cultural relativism. Relativism teaches that all values and standards are subjective, and therefore there is no higher spiritual authority available for setting ethical standards or making moral judgments.

Thus, issues of justice, truth or human rights are, like beauty, just in the eye of the beholder. Most people, especially those who believe that One God created all of us, refuse to believe that ethics and human rights are simply a matter of taste. Religious pluralism as the will of God is the opposite of cultural or philosophical relativism.

The fundamental idea supporting religious pluralism is that religious people need to embrace humility in many areas of religion. All religions have always taught a traditional anti self-centered type of humility. Religious pluralism also opposes a religious, philosophical, and self righteous intellectual egoism that promotes a tendency to turn our legitimate love for our own prophet and Divine revelation into universal truths that we fully understand and know how to apply.

Religious pluralism teaches that finite humans, even the most intelligent and pious of them, cannot fully understand everything the way the infinite One does.

This is true, for every human being, even for God’s messengers themselves. When Prophet Moses, “who God spoke with face to face, as a person speaks with a friend” (Exodus 33:11) asks to see God face to face, he is told, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see My face and live” (33:20).

Similarly, in the Qur’an, Prophet Jesus admits to God, “You know everything that is within myself, whereas I do not know what is within Yourself” (7:116). When Prophet Jesus was asked, in private, by his disciples, “What will be the sign for your coming (back) and the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) Jesus warns his disciples about all kinds of upheavals and false Messiahs that will come. Then Jesus concludes by saying, “But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not even the son: only the Father” (24:36).

A similar statement was made by Prophet Muhammad when he was asked, “Tell me about the Hour.” He said: “The one questioned about it knows no better than the questioner” (Muslim book 1 Hadith 1&4).

God taught the general principle of epistemological humility through his Prophet who taught his followers, “I am no novelty among the messengers. I do not know what will be done to me, or to you” (Qur’an 46:9).

Only on Judgment Day will the answer to the theological differences that divide us now be resolved. “To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open path. If God had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (He desires) to test you in what He has given you: so (compete) strive in all virtues as in a race. The goal of you all is Allah. He will (on Judgment Day) show you the truth of the matters in which you dispute” (5:48).

In general, social theories do not work in an absolutely deterministic manner due to the human factor. This is true of the fact that religions offer peace to society. Among these side factors are various social and historical engagements, possible misunderstandings and misinterpretations inherited from the past, and so on.

In this article, I analyze two religions: one is a religion of love and peace, and the other is a religion of love and mercy. However, many unfortunate events have taken place between them. For the purpose of this paper, I have set all such events aside on the grounds that every historical event should be evaluated in light of its original circumstances. Therefore, it would not be fair to judge the past using todayas arguments. We can probably just say: Those who believe (in the Quran), who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Sabians, Christians, Magians, and polytheists, God will judge between them on the Day of Judgment, for God is witness of all things (22:17) The only benefit from recalling these events might be to discover the mistakes made in history so that they can be avoided in the future.

Given the above and now that we are in the Age of Information, followers of both religions should review their knowledge and think carefully about whether existing misunderstandings are based on something other than the written sources, especially the holy books of both religions. Prophet Muhammad once said: People are the enemy of what they do not know.a So, do we really know each other well? If not, what does such ignorance lead to? Do those who have sharp critiques of another religion even know its fundamentals? Unfortunately, none of these and similar questions have a positive answer.

Therefore, in an effort to help diminish this lack of knowledge, this article provides some brief explanations about how the Quran sees Christianity. There are many other related verses and arguments in the Sunnah as well, but those will be dealt with in a later article. For the purposes of this article, the Quran is sufficient.

Christianity and Christians

Is Christianity a Divine Religion? This question has an immediate answer: Yes! According to the Quran, Christianity is a religion from God and all religions from the Divine Source are the same. The only differences are some modifications made by God according to the prevailing conditions of a particular age. The name of this religion is Islam, and Prophet Muhammad brought its final version: He has established the same religion for you as that which He enjoined upon Noah–which We have sent by inspiration to you–and that We enjoined upon Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (42:13). Other verses, such as 4:136 and 2:213, point this out in a wider approach.

That is why the Quran most of the time carefully distinguishes unbelievers from followers of the holy scriptures, although there is no agreement on all points of these beliefs. The fact that it calls them the People of the Booka is important.

Remarkably, the Quran sometimes refers to People of the Book (Jews and Christians) or previous scriptures as supporting the Messenger, and sometimes declares itself a reference for verifying previous scriptures. In fact, both show that the Quran somehow accreditsa Christianity. We read, respectively: They say, ˜Why does he not bring to us a sign from his Lord? Has there not come to them a clear evidence of what is in the previous books? (20:133; see also 6:114, 10:94, 13:43, 29:47, 28:52) and He has revealed to you the Book with truth, verifying that which is before it, and revealed the Torah and the Gospels aforetime, guidance for the people (3:3; see also 35:31).

In the following verse, the Quran gives special importance to Christianity: Behold! God said: O Jesus, I will take you and raise you to Myself, and clear you (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme. I will make your followers superior to those who reject faith, until the Day of Resurrection. Then shall you all return unto Me, and I will judge between you about that which you dispute (3:33). In 22:40, the Quran mentions churches as being among those places in which the name of God is commemorated.

Christians and their relations with Muslims. The following verses state the basic characteristics of Christians in general, which can be summarized as being trustworthy, adoring God during the night, being lowly before God, not taking a small price for the communications of God, not behaving proudly, being strong believers and crying on account of the truth, having Compassion and Mercy in their hearts, and so on.

We read in the Quran: Among the People of the Book are some such that if you entrust one (of them) with a heap of wealth, he shall pay it back to you (3:75); They are not all alike. Of the People of the Book there is an upright party. They recite Godas communications in the nighttime and adore (Him) (3:113); and Most surely, among the People of the Book are those who believe in God and (in) that which has been revealed to you and to them, being lowly before God; they do not take a small price for the communications of God. These have their reward with their Lord. Surely God is quick in reckoning (3:199; see also 29:47).

The Quran also states: When they hear what has been revealed to the Apostle, you will see their eyes overflowing with tears on account of the truth that they recognize. They say: Our Lord, we believe, so write us down with the witnesses (of truth). And why should we not believe in God and in the truth that has come to us, while we earnestly desire that our Lord should cause us to enter with the good people?a Therefore God rewarded them, on account of what they said, with gardens in which rivers flow to abide in therein. This is the reward of those who do good (to others) (5:83-85); and bestowed on Jesus, son of Mary the Gospel, and We ordained compassion and mercy in the hearts of his followers (57:27).

A Muslim man or women is forbidden to marry an unbeliever and to eat the meat of any animal that has not been sacrificed in Godas name. However, the following verse cancels that restriction for the People of the Book: This day (all) the good things are allowed to you. The food of those who have been given the Book is lawful for you and your food is lawful for them, and chaste believing women and the chaste from among those who were given the Book before you (are lawful for you) (5:5).

This obviously means that God wants Muslims to become closer to Christians in their social life. But more importantly, and in addition to issues of marriage or food, Muslims are asked to be nice to them at all times: Do not dispute with the People of the Book except by what is best, except for those of them who act unjustly (29:46). Can their status as People of the Book be one reason why Muslims are told to be nice to them? You will find the most violent of people in enmity towards believers [to be] the Jews and the polytheists, and you will find the nearest in friendship to believers [to be] those who say: We are Christians.a This is because there are priests and monks among them, and because they do not behave proudlya (5:82; see also 13.36).

Who is saved: Christians or Muslims? The above discussion naturally may lead one to a desire to know who will be in heaven. However, we are not at a position to really answer this question, for heaven belongs to God and its people are His people. Thus, talking about who will and will not be in heaven does not seem to be a respectful behavior toward God: Whatever is in the heavens and Earth is Godas, and We enjoined those who were given the Book before you and you too to be careful of (your duty to) God. If you do not believe, surely whatever is in the heavens and in Earth is Godas. God is Self-sufficient, worthy of [all] praise. (4:131).

Those who consider themselves to have some kind of guarantee, who try to restrict the ways to heaven according to their own will, or letting everybody have a place in it ahead of time may be at fault. We probably can talk about being saved if it is clearly stated in the scriptures. I think both Muslims and Christians agree that unbelievers will receive an everlasting punishment on the Day of Judgment.

So, everyone should consider seriously what the Quran says: (As for) those who believe and do good, We will make them enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. (This is) Godas promise, (which is) true. Who is truer of word than God? (This) shall not be in accordance with your vain desires or those of the People of the Book. Whoever does evil will be requited with it and, besides God, such people will not find for themselves a guardian or a helper. Whoever does good deeds, whether male or female, and he (or she) is a believer–they will enter the garden and will not be dealt with unjustly in any way (4:122-24). Clearly, these verses are talking about both Muslims and Christians, but not in accordance with their desires.

Probably the problem becomes one of determining what are good deeds. Fortunately, good deeds are defined in almost exactly the same way in both religions. The verse: Turning your face to East or West can be read as calling yourself Muslim or Christiana: It is not righteousness that you turn your faces toward the East and the West, but righteousness that one should believe in God, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the Prophets; give away wealth out of love for Him to near relatives, orphans, the needy, wayfarers, beggars, for (the emancipation of) captives, and observe the prayers and pay the poor-rate. Those who keep their promise after they have made one, and those who are patient in times of distress, affliction, and conflict–these are the ones who are true (to themselves) and who guard (against evil) (2:177).

The following verses address Christians directly: If the People of the Book had believed and guarded (against evil), We would have covered their evil deeds and have made them enter gardens of bliss (5:65) and Those who believe, or who are Jews, Christians, and Sabians–whoever believes in God and the Last Day and does good, will have their reward from their Lord. There is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve (2:62; see also 5:69).

How is the Bible mentioned? It is widely accepted in the Muslim world, along with some historical evidence, that the words of the Torah, the Bible, and the Psalms do not have the same miraculous nature of those of the Quran. This is because they have been translated repeatedly, with the result that many alien words gradually became part of the original text. Also, the words of commentators and sometimes their misguided interpretations were confused with their verses. In addition, distortions conceived by ignorant and hostile people were incorporated into them. Over time, the amount of corruption and alteration in those Books has continued to grow.

Nevertheless, there is still some evidence that the Bible or the Torah, both of which are mentioned in the Quran, mostly refers to those existing at the time of Prophet Muhammad. As for the Torah, the Quran states in a verse revealed after a group of Jews asked the Prophet a question and then disobeyed his decision: How do they make you a judge and they have the Torah, wherein is Godas judgment? Yet they turn back after that. These are not the believersa And We sent after them in their footsteps Jesus, son of Mary, verifying what was before him of the Torah. And We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light, and verifying what was before it of the Torah, and [serving as] a guidance and an admonition for those who guard (against evil) (5:43-44, 56; see also 5:27, 7:157).

As the Gospel verified the Torah, the Quran verifies both (3:3; see also 9:111). Likewise, the following verse also encourages followers of the book to read the Book as it should be read: Those to whom We have given the Book read it as it ought to be read, they believe in it. Those who do not believe in it are the losers (2:121).

Suggested Reading List

• Gulen, M. Fethullah. The Infinite Light. London: Kaynak A.S., 1996 (Online at www.fgulen.com). Gulen, Essentials of the Islamic Faith is also a good source of related information.
• Hasan, Ahmad (trans.). Sunan Abu Dawud, book 36 (Online at www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah).
• Khan, M. Muhsin (trans.). Sahih Bukhari, books 55 and 56 (Online at www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah).
• Nursi, Bediuzzaman Said. Risale-i Nur Collection: The Letters. The Nineteenth Letter: Sixteenth Sign.a Konak-Izmir, Turkey: Kaynak AS, 1998. (Online at www.nur.org or www.risale-inur.com). Related topics are discussed throughout the entire collection.
• Siddiqui, Abdul Hamid (trans.). Sahih Muslim, books 30, 31, and 41 (Online at www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah).