Home > Surah 87 - The Most High
This early Meccan verse belongs to a period where the Quran was laboring to gain legitimacy among a skeptical audience by appealing to the prestige of ancient, established religious traditions. It serves as a "Validation by Antiquity" clause.
It asserts that the moral and theological claims made in the preceding verses (concerning the success of the purified and the vanity of the world) are not novel ideas but are literally contained within the "Former Scrolls." his is an invitation to perform a comparative audit of the "Archives."
Surah 87:18:
Lo! This is in the former scrolls.
The verse claims the message is "in" (fī) the former scrolls.
If a teacher says, "You can find this formula in your textbook," and the student opens the textbook but finds a different formula, the teacher is discredited.
The Quran claims the theology of Surah 87 is in the "Former Scrolls" (specified in v. 19 as those of Abraham and Moses).
We have the scrolls of Moses (the Torah). When we check them, we find that "success" is not attained through self-purification (tazakka), but through the Substitutionary Sacrifice and the Mercy of the Covenant.
God points to the "Former Scrolls" as the proof of His current message.
You cannot point to a "corrupted" or "forged" document to prove your truth.
If the Scrolls of Moses and Abraham were already corrupted into "Christian/Jewish shirk" by the 7th century, God would be pointing Muhammad's audience to a lie to prove a truth.
This verse certifies the functional reliability of the former scriptures. If they were reliable enough to be used as a "Lo! This is in them" reference, then their testimony regarding the Son of God and the Atonement must be taken as the standard.
Verse 14 says: "He is successful who purifieth himself."
The Quran claims this doctrine is in the Former Scrolls.
The "Former Scrolls" (The Torah/Prophets) teach the opposite: "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment" (Isaiah 64:6). Moses’ scrolls teach that purification comes through the blood on the altar, not the effort of the self.
The Quran is making a specific claim about the contents of the Bible that the Bible itself refutes.
Surah 87:18 claims that the message of this surah is found 'in the former scrolls' of Moses and Abraham.
I am accepting that challenge. I am opening the scrolls of Moses right now.
The scrolls of Moses do not say 'Success comes to him who purifies himself.' They say 'Success comes to the one who is covered by the blood of the sacrifice.'
If the 'Former Scrolls' are the proof of the Quran's truth, but the scrolls actually contradict the Quran's message, then the Quran has failed its own verification test.
Either the 'Former Scrolls' (the Bible) are the true standard (which makes the Quran's theology of self-purification false), or the Scrolls are 'lost/corrupted' (which makes the Quran's appeal to them in 87:18 a deception). Why does your Book point me to my Book, if my Book proves yours is a departure?"
By focusing on the word "In" (fī), you anchor the debate in textual evidence. If the message isn't in there, the claim is void.
How can Muslims explain the fact that the Quran identifies the "Torah" as a book of "Self-Purification," when the Torah is actually a book of "Priestly Sacrifice and Substitution"?