It must have been before Mohammads time, otherwise he would not have come and declared that it had been changed... but then if it was before Mohammad, why would the Quran (which was written AFTER Mohammads time) direct people to the bible?
This all seems very contradictory to me.
1. While the Quran was physically written down after Prophet Muhammad's time, during his lifetime when he told the verses of the Quran many people memorized it, and some had barks on which verses were written. All this was compared, and collected and physically written down later during the caliphate of
Othman RA, but in the opinion of almost all historians, non-Muslim or Muslim, it was exactly the same as the verses during the time of Prophet. The mere act of writing down the Quran on paper occured later but that in no way invalidates that the verses are the same as said by the Prophet to be the Quran.
2. I am yet to come across a hadith of the Prophet which says explicitly that the literal words of the Bible have been changed. The actual situation in 7th C Arabia was that Prophet Muhammad found corruption in general attitude of the Arabic Jews and Christians, in his neighborhood, and felt that they were not following the correct way. He had a positive outlook for the Christian monks of Sinai and to them (after the Arab conquest of Egypt) he sent
this letter.
The only other hadith I know which is relevant to what you are talking about is
ما حدثكم أهل الكتاب فلا تصدقوهم ولا تكذبوهم، وقولوا آمنا بالله ورسله، فإن كان باطلاً لم تصدقوه، وإن كان حقاً لم تكذبوه
Translation: Whatever the people of the book have narrated to you so neither believe them, nor disbelieve, and just say we believed in Allah and his Apostles. That's so you don't believe it if it was false, and you don't disbelieve in it if it was true.
In essence, it asks Muslims not to judge the opinions of Jews, Christians etc.
3. According to Ibn Taymiya, although only some Muslims accept the textual veracity of the entire Bible, most Muslims will grant the veracity of most of it. * Esposito (1998), pp.6,12* Esposito (2002b), pp.4–5* F. E. Peters (2003), p.9* F. Buhl; A. T. Welch. "Muhammad". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online.* Hava Lazarus-Yafeh. "Tahrif". Encyclopaedia of Islam Online.
4. Some Muslim scholars who dont propose the thesis that the text of the Bible has been altered (obviously, in their opinion they are not in contradiction to the Quran or the Hadith)
4.1
Syed Ahmad Khan:
”As far as the text of the Bible is concerned, it has not been altered. No attempt was made to present a diverging text as the authentic one.”
From: M.H.Ananikian, “The Reforms and Religious Ideas of Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan”,
The Moslem World 14 (1934) p.61
4.2
Muhammad Abduh:
”... the charge of corruption of the Biblical texts makes no sense at all.
It would not have been possible for Jews and Christians everywhere
to agree on changing the text. Even if those in Arabia had done it,
the difference between their book and those of their brothers,
let us say in Syria and Europe, would have been obvious.”
From: Jacques Jomier, “Jesus, The Life of the Messiah”, C.L.S., Madras, 1974, p.216
4.3
Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas (Mohammed pbuh's cousin and one of his companions)
“The word “Tahrif” [corruption] signifies to change a thing from its original nature; and there is no man who could corrupt a single word of what proceeds from God, so that the Jews and Christians could corrupt only by misrepresenting the meanings of the word of God.''
From: Imam Muhammad Isma'il al-Bukhari in Dictionary of Islam, T.P.Hughes,
Kazi Publications, Inc, 3023-27 West BelmontAvenue, Chicago Il. 60618, 1994, p.62
4.4
Fakhruddin Razi on the authority of Ibn Abbas, a nephew of Muhammed pbuh:
"The Jews and early Christians were suspected of altering the text of the Taurat and Injil; but in the opinion of eminent doctors and theologians it was not practicable thus to corrupt the text, because those Scriptures were generally known and widely circulated, having been handed down from generation to generation." (I could not find the source for this from the internet)
4.5 "The early commentators of the Koran and doctors of Islam who did not have a firsthand knowledge of the Bible believed in "Tahrif-I-Manawi" (corruption in meaning) only. (Abdul-Haqq, Sharing Your Faith with a Muslim, p. 38).
4.6 I found many other names, who posit this, by a google search one even of
Imam Ghazali (could not find the source). In reference to him, I did find this written about him:
His creed is that it is impossible that there should be a union of divinity and humanity in Christ, and the method of interpretation he has adopted must lead to this result. So in spite of the appearance of fairness which we have here, it must be admitted that Al Ghazzali's argument is to support a foregone conclusion. It is, however, very interesting to find that he is prepared to argue the case on the assumption that the Gospels are genuine, and this is in marked contrast to what we have seen in the case of Ibn Hasm's attack. (Sweetman, Islam and Christian Theology, Part 2, Vol. 1, p. 267).
5. I have no doubt that there are any Muslim scholars who say the contrary to above as well. Islam is followed by 25% of the world, dont forget. There are many disagreements on many topics.
6. Finally here are some verses in the Quran regarding Christianity and Judaism:
Those who believe and those who are Jews, Christians and Sabeans,
[in fact] anyone who believes in God and the Last Day, and acts
honorably will receive their earnings from their Lord: no fear will lie
upon them nor need they feel saddened.-2:62
[But] they are not all alike: among the followers of earlier revelation there are upright people, who recite God's messages throughout the night, and prostrate themselves [before Him]. They believe in God and the Last Day, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and vie with one another in doing good works: and these are among the righteous.-3:113-114
Nonetheless, those who believe in- the prophets who dated for back in the past and those who profess Judaism and the various sects of the Sabeites and of the Sabaeans and the Christians and those who fall in line with the prophet Muhammad; whoever believes in Allah, and acknowledges the truth of Resurrection and Judgement and imprints his deeds with wisdom and piety, shall Heaven reward them for their homage thereto, and no fear nor dread shall fall upon them nor shall they come to grief.-5:69
Regards
