With regard to this accusation Muslims may be divided into three classes: those who
know that the accusation is utterly false; those who are convinced that it is true; and,
lastly, those who do not know whether it is false or true. The first party know the
truth; the second ignore it; and the third are driven to the accusation by the inertia
of habit. Their ancestors made the accusation, and they simply follow in their steps,
irrespective of whether the accusation is well founded or baseless. And it is to the
last two parties that we address ourselves, seeing that the first knows the truth, but
only disputes for the sake of disputing.
But before proceeding to discuss the question in detail, we will ask our brother
Muslims to answer the following questions:
(1) Was the Bible in the days of Muhammad sound and true?
(2) If it was true (and there is no escape from admitting the fact) was it corrupted
after the days of Muhammad?
(3) Can Muslims produce a copy of the Bible whose date can be traced to the days of
Muhammad (or farther back) which is different from the present Bible?
(4) Is it conceivable that the Jews and Christians should agree to corrupt the Bible,
knowing that they are as widely separated from each other as the two poles?
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