Home > Surah 40 - The Forgiver
In the Meccan period, the Quran frequently appeals to the history of Moses to provide a template for Muhammad’s own struggle. This verse is part of a larger section (v. 51-56) that promises victory to the messengers and their followers.
It identifies the Scripture not as a temporary loan or a fragile message, but as a permanent legal and spiritual inheritance given to a specific people.
Surah 40:53:
And We verily gave Moses the guidance, and We caused the Children of Israel to inherit the Scripture.
An inheritance is something that is possessed and protected by the heirs.
If God "caused" the Children of Israel to inherit the Book, He entrusted them with its preservation.
If the Jews were "heirs" of the Book, then the Book they possessed in the 7th century was their legitimate inheritance from Moses.
If that 7th-century "inheritance" (the Torah/Old Testament) contradicts the Quran (e.g., the sacrificial system or the promise of a Divine Messiah), then either the Jews "inherited" a lie, or the Quran is wrong about what the inheritance contains.
The verse says God gave Moses "The Guidance" (Al-Huda).
Guidance is only useful if it remains clear and accessible.
If the "Guidance" was corrupted into "shirk" (polytheism) shortly after Moses, then God's gift was a failure.
By the Quran’s own standard, the "Guidance" given to Moses must be what the "heirs" (the Jews) were still reading. Since that Guidance leads to the Gospel, the Quran is endorsing a path that excludes Islam.
In any legal context, if you recognize someone as the "heir," you recognize their right to the property they hold.
By calling the Jews the heirs of the Scripture, the Quran acknowledges they are the rightful custodians.
When the "rightful custodians" (the Jews) produced their Book for Muhammad and showed him it didn't mention him or his specific doctrines, Muhammad's claim was invalidated by the very "Inheritance" he praised.
Surah 40:53 says that God caused the Children of Israel to 'inherit the Scripture.'
If I am an heir to a house, I possess the house my father gave me. If the Jews were the heirs of the Scripture, they possessed the Book God gave them.
We have the 'inheritance' of the Jews from the 7th century and earlier (like the Dead Sea Scrolls). That inheritance clearly teaches the Covenant of blood and the divinity of the coming Messiah.
If the inheritance was 'corrupted,' then you are saying God allowed His chosen 'heirs' to inherit a forgery.
Either the 'Inheritance' (the Bible) is the true Word of God—making the Quran false—or God failed to protect the 'Inheritance' He gave to Israel. Why should I believe the Quran is a 'Confirmation' if it tells me to trust an inheritance that you claim is a lie?"
Inheritance isn't a "lost original"; it is the property currently held by the family. The next verse (Surah 40:54) strengthens this argument even further!