In Chapter Seven of Scholar Camilla Adang’s book,” Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm”, she writes regarding the corruption or authenticity of the Jewish Scriptures (the Torah). These books are often referred to by the Arabic term taḥrīf (misrepresentation/alteration), varied widely, primarily concerning whether the corruption was of the text itself or merely its interpretation. Here is a summary of each scholar’s perspective, drawing primarily on the content found in Chapter Seven:

Ibn Rabban (Born: 838 AD Amol, Iran – Died: 870 AD Baghdad, Iraq).

  • View on Corruption: Ibn Rabban held a mild interpretation of taḥrīf, believing it referred to a distortion of the sense (interpretation) of the scriptures (taḥrīf al-ma‘ānī), not the actual text (taḥrīf al-naṣṣ).
  • Rationale: He did not make a polemical issue of any discrepancies he observed between different biblical versions. He could not afford to reject the Torah as a forgery because his main argument for Muhammad’s veracity relied on finding references to the Prophet in the Jewish and Christian scriptures.

Ibn Qutayba (Born: 828 AD, Kufa, Iraq – Died: 889 AD (age 61 years), Baghdad, Iraq). 

  • View on Corruption: Similar to Ibn Rabban, Ibn Qutayba believed taḥrīf meant giving a wrong interpretation to an otherwise genuine text.
  • Authenticity: He did not question the authenticity or validity of the Jewish scriptures. He acknowledged a tradition that the Torah was burned at one point, but was later reinstated by Ezra.

Al-Ya‘qūbī (Born: Baghdad, Iraq – Died 897 AD, Egypt).

  • View on Corruption: Taḥrīf does not appear to have been a significant issue for Al-Ya‘qūbī.
  • Authenticity: He saw no reason not to accept the Torah as a source. His account of the Torah’s history suggests the text was never damaged by fire, and he credits Zerubbabel, rather than Ezra, with its restoration and propagation.

Al-Ṭabarī (Born: Amol, Iran – Died 17 Feb 923, Baghdad, Iraq).

  • View on Corruption: Al-Ṭabarī primarily favored the view that taḥrīf meant the deliberate misrepresentation (distortion) of the meaning and interpretation of God’s word, not necessarily the written text.
  • Blame: He attributed the misrepresentation primarily to the rabbis (aḥbār), who were accused of writing separate books alongside the Torah containing their own interpretations, which ignorant Jews mistook for scripture.
  • Textual Integrity: Although he preferred the interpretive view, he suggested that alongside the genuine Torah (restored by Ezra), there might have existed a second, fabricated text written by rabbis. He noted that oral distortions of God’s spoken word occurred as early as Moses’ lifetime.

Al-Mas‘ūdī (Born: 896 AD, Baghdad, Iraq – Died: 956 AD (age 60 years), Cairo, Egypt). 

  • View on Corruption: Al-Mas‘ūdī accused the Jews of distorting the sense of the Torah, not the text.
  • Authenticity: His accounts indicate that the original text of the Torah was not corrupted. He cited the Samaritan view that the Jewish Torah is forged, altered, and changed, while the true Torah rests with the Samaritans.

Al-Maqdisī (Born: 946 AD —died 1000 AD).

  • View on Corruption: Al-Maqdisī was the first in this group of authors to cast suspicion on the authenticity of the text itself, believing it had suffered “alteration and corruption right from the beginning”.
  • Process of Corruption: He listed internal inconsistencies (like relating Moses’ death and post-mortem grief) and discrepancies among the Hebrew, Christian (Greek), and Samaritan versions as evidence of distortions and alterations.
  • Ezra’s Role: He recounts that the text was burned by Nebuchadnezzar, and Ezra restored it, but he claims the Jews themselves say that Ezra’s disciple later corrupted the restored text, replacing certain words and turning it into the work of a man living after Moses. He noted that this textual corruption explains why Muhammad might not be fully mentioned in the Torah.

Al-Bāqillānī (Born: 950 AD, Basrah, Iraq – Died: 5 June 1013 (age 63 years), Baghdad, Iraq). 

  • View on Corruption: Al-Bāqillānī seemed to assume the Torah text was authentic, though abrogated.
  • Taḥrīf as Inadvertent Error: When discussing taḥrīf, he understood it as inadvertent errors made during the translation process from the original Hebrew (which Moses spoke) to other languages, suggesting the original Hebrew text itself remained reliable.

Al-Bīrūnī (Born: 9 September 973 AD, Beruniy, Uzbekistan – Died: 13 December 1048 (age 75 years), Ghazni). 

  • View on Corruption: Al-Bīrūnī was skeptical about the overall reliability of accounts of early history, which he said were “mixed up with falsifications and myths”. He believed that in the translation process (especially to Syriac/Greek versions), the words in the holy books were altered from their proper meanings.
  • Deliberate Alteration: He suggested these alterations were deliberately inserted in the scriptures by their authors (presumably Christian) who were “purposely deviating from the path of truth and righteousness”.
  • Authenticity: He noted differences among the Jewish (Hebrew), Christian (Septuagint), and Samaritan recensions, concluding that because of such conflicting chronological views, distinguishing between truth and fiction was difficult.

Ibn Ḥazm (Born: 7 November 994 AD, Córdoba, Spain – Died: 15 August 1064 (age 69 years), Huelva, Spain). 

  • View on Corruption: Ibn Ḥazm held the most aggressive position, asserting that the Torah possessed by the Jews was a complete forgery.
  • Methodology: He sought to prove this by using internal criticism, analyzing over fifty passages in the Five Books of Moses and pointing out numerous theological errors (e.g., anthropomorphisms), computational errors, historical/geographical inaccuracies, contradictions, and blasphemous assertions (e.g., descriptions of prophets engaging in unworthy conduct).
  • Ezra’s Role: He specifically identified Ezra as the writer or dictator of the false Torah after the true scripture was lost when Jerusalem was destroyed. He claimed Ezra emended the text, turning it into a “profane piece of writing”.
  • Evidence for Forgery: He used the fact that three different versions of the Torah existed (Jewish/Ezra’s, Christian/Septuagint, Samaritan) as conclusive proof that none of them represented the divine original, as God could not reveal contradictory texts.
  • The True Torah: He argued that the true, divine Torah mentioned in the Koran was not the text the Jews possessed, but that this true scripture was taken up to heaven upon Jesus’ ascension. He believed that only a few specific passages had been miraculously protected from forgery.

Source:

[Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science. Texts and Studies 22] Camilla Adang – Muslim Writers on Judaism and the Hebrew Bible: From Ibn Rabban to Ibn Hazm (1996, Brill Academic Publishers).