The four Gospels, which form the basis of Christians' religion and which they name the Bible are not the genuine Injil-i Sharif which Allahu ta'ala sent down with Jabrail (Gabriel) 'alaihissalam'. These four Gospels are history books written by four different people after Isa's 'alaihis-salam' ascension to heaven. One of them, (Matthew), is said to be one of the Apostles. Twelve years after Isa's 'alaihis-salam' ascension to heaven, upon the repeated earnest requests of his friends, he wrote a bock titled (Milad-i-Isa), in which he related what he had seen and heard. The second one, (Mark), wrote twenty-eight years later what he had heard from the Apostles. The third one, (Luke), wrote a book of history thirty-two years later in Alexandria in order to narrate what he had heard. The fourth one (John), is said to have been one of the Apostles. Forty-five years after Isa's 'alaihis-salam' ascension to heaven, he wrote a biography of Isa 'alaihissalam'.

The Injil (Evangel), sent down by Allahu ta'ala, was only one Book. It is an absolute fact that heavenly Book did not contain any contradictory, inconsistent writings. These four books, on the other hand, teem with paradoxical lies. It is written in all of them that Isa 'alaihis-salam' was killed by crucifixion. On the other hand, it is declared clearly in Qur'an al-karim that someone else was killed in lieu of him and that Isa 'alaihis-salam' was elevated to heaven alive as he was. If these four Gospels were really Word of Allahu ta'ala, they would not contain any reports belying one another, for there will not be any paradoxical statements in the Word of Allahu ta'ala. These Gospels contain reports that have nothing to do with the facts heard from Isa 'alaihis-salam', and some of them are reports of events that happened after his ascension to heaven. This fact is admitted by priests, too. The lies in these books are quoted and answered in the book (Al-alam fi-bayan-i mafi-din-in-Nasara), written by Imam-i-Qurtubi [61], in the book (Hidayat-ul-Hiyara fi-ajwibat-il-yahood-i-wan-Nasara), written by Ibn-ul-Qayyim-i Jawziyya [62], and in the book (Tahjil man-harraf al-Injil), written by Salih Suudi Maliki. Also, detailed information is given in the books (Asami-ul-kutub) and (Kasf-uz-zunun), written by Ahmad Effendi of Tashkopru and Katib Chalabi 'rahmatullahi ta'ala alaihim'. Salih wrote his book in 942 [A.D. 1535].

The genuine Injil does not exist anywhere. In fact, most priests deny the existence of a heavenly Book called (Injil). According to a narrative, after Isa's 'alaihis-salam' ascension to heaven, the Jews burned, or somehow destroyed, that book. At that time the Injil was not widely known yet. For Isa's 'alaihis-salam' period of prophethood was about three years. And those who believed him were quite few, most of whom were illiterate peasants. For this reason, another copy of the Injil-i-Sharif could not be written. Only, Isa 'alaihis-salam' had committed it to his memory. Or, we might as well conjecture that during the destruction of fifty Gospels in the three hundred and twenty-fifth year of the Christian era priests, thinking it was one of those false Gospels, must have destroyed it, too. In those days there were forty to fifty irreconcilable Gospels. There were religious controversies which mostly ended in furious bloodbath among the upholders of those Gospels. It is written in the ecclesiastical histories that during the trial of Arius four of those Gospels were sanctioned and the others were disallowed. An Anglican priest conducted a search of the forbidden Gospels, translated the ones he had found into English, and published them in London in 1236 [A.D. 1280], adding a list of the Gospels he had not been able to find. Ahmad Farisi Effendi, owner of the newspaper (Al-jawaib), translated this publication into Arabic. A list of those books called (Gospels) has been added to our book (Samsamiyya).

Because Christians believe that these four Gospels and the books which they posses in the names of (Taurah) and (Zabur) are heavenly books, we call them Ahl-i-kitab (People of the Book). The statements quoted as having been made by Isa 'alaihis-salam' in these four Gospels are of doubtful origin and can never be authentic documents because they are among those narratives called (haber-i-wahid), versus those authentic narratives called (mutawatir). Mark and Luke, for instance, were disciples to Paul and had never seen Isa 'alaihis-salam'. And Paul, in his turn, as it is written by Luke in the ninth chapter of (Acts of the Apostles), had not seen Isa 'alaihis-salam' but came forward with the claim that "Jesus has revealed himself to him from heaven" after Isa 'alaihis-salam' had been elevated to heaven. Nor is it something believable that they wrote the stories they had heard from the Apostles. For they did not give the names and biographies of the people from whom they are supposed to have heard these stories, but wrote them in a manner as if they had seen Isa 'alaihis-salam' and heard them from him. Historians classify such stories as lies and slanders. For instance, it is written in the twenty-sixth chapter of (Matthew) and in the fourteenth chapter of (Mark) that "On the night when the Jews came to arrest Jesus the eleven Apostles who were with him ran away and (Peter), who was their chief, watched the event from a distance, followed the Jews taking Jesus until they reached the chief Rabbi's home and then, being frightened, he fled;" and it is written in the four Gospels that the Jews arrested Jesus and "treated him in such and such a way" and "he said to them so and so," in the direct style of a person who saw these events. It is evident that these stories are the lies and slanders that they must have heard from Jews.

If it should be asserted that "Three days later Jesus resurrected from his grave and related the events he had undergone. The stories written in the Gospels, therefore, are not the Jews' fabrications but Jesus' own reports;" this argument will be rebutted by the narrative that "As the Jews interred the corpse of the person they had killed on the cross, they realized that it was not Isa 'alaihis-salam', and lest others should find out they secretly exhumed the corpse and buried it somewhere else and then lied and slandered, 'The Apostles stole the corpse from the grave.' They acknowledge themselves that the report stating that "he resurrected from his grave," is not true. It is written in the last chapter of (Mark), "Jesus was resurrected and first showed himself to Mary Magdalene. And she went to the Apostles and told them. They would not believe." (John) writes in the twentieth chapter that even Mary thought that the person she saw was a gardener. If it is asserted that "Jesus knew what he was going to experience and told his Apostles that he would resurrect three days later," its answer will be, "Then, they would not have doubted when Mary told them that she had seen him. As a matter of fact, they would have come to his grave and awaited his resurrection."

FOOTNOTES

[61] Muhammad Qurtubi passed away in 671 [A.D. 1272].
[62] Ibn Qayyim Muhammad passed away in 751 [A.D. 1350].