Surah 16:43 is a powerful "Senior Authority" verse. It doesn't just suggest checking with the Jews and Christians; it commands it as a means of verifying truth.
Surah 16:43:
"And We sent not before thee other than men whom We inspired—Ask the followers of the Remembrance if ye know not!"
The term Ahl al-Dhikr (People of the Remembrance/Reminder) is a title of high honor given to those who possess the previous scriptures.
You do not send seekers of truth to a group that possesses "corrupted," "false," or "shredded" books. To send a skeptic to the People of the Book for information implies that their "Reminder" (the Bible) is functional, accurate, and authoritative.
If the Bible was already corrupted by the 7th century, why would the Quran point to its followers as the ones who "know"? To follow this command is to consult a book that denies Muhammad’s prophethood.
In context, this verse is defending the fact that prophets are human beings. To prove this "new" claim, the Quran appeals to the "old" authority.
This makes the Bible the Senior Witness and the Quran the Junior Claimant. In any court, the junior claim must match the senior testimony to be validated.
When one follows the Quran’s command and "asks" the People of the Book (by reading the Torah and Gospel), the "Remembrance" they find contradicts the Quran on the nature of God, the identity of the Messiah, and the way of salvation. If the Quran is true, it sent us to a witness that proves it false.
If the "People of the Message" are the source of knowledge for those who "know not," then the Message itself must be preserved.
This verse establishes a timeline of reliability. In the 7th century, the "Message" was considered so reliable that it could serve as a corrective for ignorance.
Since the manuscripts of the "Message" from that era (the 7th-century Bible) are the same as our modern ones, the Quran has effectively signed off on the total integrity of the modern Bible.
Surah 16:43 tells those who are unsure to 'Ask the people of the Reminder.'
If I ask the 'people of the Reminder' (the Jews and Christians) and read their 'Reminder' (the Bible), I find that it denies Muhammad is a prophet and says Jesus is the Son of God.
Did the Quran send me to a reliable source or an unreliable one?
If the source is reliable, then Islam is false because the Bible contradicts it.
If the source is unreliable (corrupted), then the Quran is false for sending me to a lie to find the truth.
Either way, the Quran's own command leads to its own undoing.
This verse essentially turns the People of the Book into the "Quality Control" department for the Quranic revelation.
There is a nearly identical verse in Surah 21:7. The following verse in Surah, 16:44 tells us how the Quran defines the "Message" itself.