Home > Surah 43 - The Ornaments of Gold
This verse is a highly effective polemical tool. Allah commands Muhammad:
Surah 43:45:
And ask those We sent before you of Our messengers: 'Have We made besides the Most Merciful deities to be worshipped?'
Muhammad is told to ask previous messengers (or their followers, the People of the Book) about their theology.
This command implies that the message of the previous messengers was still accessible, coherent, and reliable enough for Muhammad to consult. If the previous scriptures had been hopelessly corrupted centuries prior, this command would be completely meaningless. Therefore, the Quran assumes the theological integrity of the Judeo-Christian community during Muhammad's era.