THE CONCEPT OF THE INJIL IN HADÔTH LITERATURE1 AN ANALYTICAL STUDY

Abstract

The Prophetic Traditions constitute very authoritative, normative source of Islam, second only to the Qur’Én. Therefore, it is significant to explore the treasures of ×adÊth in order to explain Islamic view of the InjÊl, the book entrusted to prophet ‘ÔsÉ (*), and its relation to the canonical gospels of the Christians. For this purpose, the article begins with a discussion about Waraqah b. Nawfal’s manuscript of the InjÊl, referred to in one of the most authentic collections of aÍÉdÊth (i.e., BukhÉrÊ’s collection). It then develops to survey the aÍÉdÊth, which describe when and how the InjÊl was sent down, in order to highlight the nature of its revelation. The paper, afterwards, turns to the question of the corruption of the previous scriptures especially the InjÊl as addressed in the Prophetic Traditions. Finally, it discusses how the Prophetic narrations view the prophecies about the advent of Prophet MuÍammad (œ) as foretold in the previous scriptures especially the InjÊl. The article ends with a critical appraisal and concludes that the Prophetic Traditions’ concept of the InjÊl is largely an extension of that of the Qur’Én. They also provide specific insights into how the corruption crept into the Christian scriptures and whether the alteration was of both the text and meaning or of the meaning alone.