THAT is the Book Wherein There is No Doubt

In this post we shall look at S 2:2 with an excerpt from Sam Shamoun's article The Quran on the Authority and Integrity of the Biblical Text, Part 2

My translation goes: That book--there is no doubt therein, guidance for the fearers,

From Sam's article:

Sura 2:2

"THAT is the Book, wherein is no doubt, a guidance to the godfearing..." A.J. Arberry

Although many Muslim scholars claim that the phrase "that book" refers to the Quran, this seems to be more of a desperate attempt of avoiding the obvious implications of this passage, namely that the Muslims were to have no doubt about the authority and inspiration of the Holy Bible available at the time of Muhammad.

Because, whenever the Quran refers to itself as a divine book from God it uses the phrase "this", not "that":

And this is a Book (the Koran) which We have sent down as a blessing; so follow it that you may receive Mercy. Lest you should say that the Book was sent to two sects (the Jews & Christians) before us, and we were unaware of what they used to study. S. 6:155-156

This Koran could not have been produced by any other than Allah; it confirms what was revealed before it (the Torah & Gospel), and explains fully the Book (Scriptures) that was revealed without any doubt by the Lord of the worlds. S. 10:37

As the authors of the True Guidance note:

The Quran says that there is no doubt in the Book, though some Muslims have cast doubt on its authenticity. The Quran orders Muhammad to ask those who read the Book from before him whenever he is in doubt concerning the Quran (Sura Yunis 10:94). Islamic commentators said that verse 2 means that there is no doubt that the Book is a guidance unto the god-fearing. But the god-fearing are not in need of guidance, because Allah has already guided them!

We believe that "that Book" refers to the Bible only, not to the Quran. Were the Quran intended, Muhammad would have said "this book" not "that Book." (True Guidance - Comments on Quranic Verses [Light of Life, PO Box 13, A-9503 Villach, Austria], part 5, p. 8; bold emphasis ours)

Finally, even some Muslim scholars understood S. 2:2 as referring to the Holy Bible as that book in which there is no doubt. Ibn Kathir acknowledges the fact that some viewed the phrase 'that book' as referring to the Bible:

<This is The Book in which there is no doubt> has been interpreted by some as the Torah and the Gospel, which is highly unlikely and useless elaboration on a matter about which they know nothing. The correct interpretation is that it refers to the Qur'an." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir - Part 1 Surah Al-Fatiah Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 1 to 141, abridged by Sheikh Muhammad Nasib Ar-Rafa'i [Al-Firdous Ltd., London, 1998 Second Edition], p. 57; bold italic emphasis ours)

Mahmoud M. Ayoub states:

Most commentators have agreed that dhalika al-kitab (that is the Book) means hadha al-kitab (this is the Book). Tabari reports the view on the authority of 'Ikrimah, al-Suddi and Ibn 'Abbas that "Kitab may refer to the surahs which were sent down before Surat al-Baqarah in Mecca... Some commentators have claimed that the word kitab refers to the Torah and the Gospel and not the Qur'an (see Tabari, I, pp. 227-228).

And,

... Other commentators have said that the word kitab refers either to the Torah and the Gospel in which the Qur'an is explained or to them both, meaning that the Qur'an included both the Torah and the Gospel ... (Ayoub, The Qur'an and Its Interpreters, Volume One [State University of New York Press, Albany, 1984], pp. 62, 63; bold emphasis ours)

Sir William Muir cites Jalaludeen:

"That which hath been revealed BEFORE THEE, viz. the Pentateuch and the Gospel, &c." ما أنزل من قبلك أي التوراة والأنجيل وغيرهما — Jelalooddeen. (Muir, The Coran: Its Composition and Teaching; And The Testimony It Bears To The Holy Scriptures, p. 135; capital emphasis ours)

In light of the preceding factors, there is nothing within the context of the Quran that would rule out that the phrase, that is the Book wherein is no doubt, is referring to the Holy Bible. That is, unless one holds to the prior assumption that the biblical text is corrupt and then proceeds to read this presupposition into the exegesis of the Quran. On the contrary, if we are free from this bias, it is the more natural understanding based on the common grammatical usage that dhalika refers to an entity outside the Quran.

The Quran on the Authority and Integrity of the Biblical Text, Part 2