Home > Surah 17 - The Night Journey
This verse provides a perspective on the divine hierarchy of messengers and the specific revelation granted to King David, emphasizing that while all prophets are chosen, God has granted varying degrees of favor and specific scriptures to them according to His wisdom.
Surah 17:55:
And thy Lord is Best Aware of all who are in the heavens and the earth. And We preferred some of the prophets above others, and We gave unto David the Psalms.
Unlike the "lost" Gospel (Injil) that some Muslims claim existed, the Psalms of David are a matter of archaeological record.
By the 7th century, the Zabur was a closed, well-known canon. If the Quran confirms the book "given to David," it is confirming a book that we possess in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
If the text of the Psalms we have today matches the text from before Islam, and that text contradicts the Quranic view of Jesus, then the Quran is false for claiming to "confirm" it.
Psalm 2:7 (part of the Zabur) says:
The Lord said to me, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you.'
The Quran cannot simultaneously confirm the Zabur and deny its core Messianic identity. To accept the Quran, a Muslim must reject the Zabur. But if they reject the Zabur, they reject Surah 17:55.
The Psalms contain prophecies that even Jesus used to stump his opponents (Matthew 22:41-46).
In Psalm 110:1, David writes:
"The Lord said to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand...'"
This identifying of the Messiah as David's "Lord" implies a status far above a mere human prophet. If the Quran confirms David's "preferred" revelation, it confirms the high Christology that Islam attempts to dismantle.
As established in other verses (like 6:115 or 10:64), the "Words of Allah" cannot be changed.
Since the Zabur was given by Allah to David, it is the "Word of Allah."
If a Muslim claims the Psalms were corrupted, they are claiming that man was able to overpower Allah’s "preferred" revelation. If Allah could not protect the Zabur, why should anyone believe He could protect the Quran?
The Zabur (Psalms) is one of the most manuscript-attested books in the ancient world?
By confirming David’s book, the Quran has validated the very truth that proves the Quran is not from God.
If you believe Surah 17:55, you must believe the Psalms; and if you believe the Psalms, you must reject Islam.