Islam and Christianity

had a say in the various branches of knowledge, including
renowned prime minister Churchill, [1]
the former Bible, i.e. the
Authorized King James Version (KJV), which had been published
in 1611, was resumed. In 1952 the Bible was revised once again and
a version was prepared under the label Revised Standard Version
(RSV), which also was rejected soon because it was found
‘inadequately revised’. A short time later, in 1391 [1971], the
‘Double-revised Bible’ was published.
The Catholic Bible as well underwent many changes. In fact,
the Bible was translated from Hebrew into Greek and from
Greek into Latin, was re-examined by various councils, e.g. by the
Nicene Council that was held with the command of Constantine
the Great in 325, by the Council of Ludicia in 364, by the Council
of Istanbul in 381, by the Carthaginian Council in 397, by the
Ephesus Council in 431, by the Council of Kadiköy, and by many
other councils, was re-arranged at each council, some parts were
changed at each time, some books were excised from the Old
Testament, while some books that had been rejected by the
previous councils were re-admitted. When the Protestant sect
appeared in 930 [1524 C.E.], these books were examined again
and new changes were made.
During this long period many Christian theologians raised
objections to these translations and changes and argued that some
parts of the Holy Bible were additions.
As we have stated earlier, those who argue that the Hebrew
original of the Bible was mistranslated are quite right. For in
Hebrew the word ‘father’ is used not only in the genealogical
sense, but also in the social sense, i.e. it means ‘an exalted,
respectable person’. It is for this reason that the Qur’ân al-kerîm
refers to Âzer, the uncle of Ibrâhîm (Abraham) ‘alaihis-salâm’, as
“His father, who was called Âzer.” His own father Târuh (Te’rah)
was dead. He had been raised by his uncle, Âzer, and therefore
called him ‘father’, as it was customary in his time. The
conversations written in the book Reshehât show that in
Turkistan respectable and merciful people are called ‘father’. In
Turkish, the remark, “What a fatherly man!” is an expression of
admiration.
On the other hand, the word ‘son’, in Hebrew, is frequently
[1] Sir Wins ton L.S. Churc hill (1874-1965), Bri tish sta tes man and wri ter,
pri me mi nis ter of Eng land, from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955.
– 95 –