it still raises a question to the Christian that thinks this verse is a contradiction. And that question is "why would Allah make you believe in something that he recognized is corrupted, isn't this a contradiction in the Quran?"
I don't think it is a contradiction .....
First:2:285 The Messenger believes in what has been sent down to him from Lord, and [so do] believers; everyone believes in God and His angels, His books and His messengers. We do not differentiate between any His messengers.
The noble verse described the muslims as the ones who believed in God and His angels, His books and His messengers.
but are the prophets before Mohamed still alive in persons? no.
it means we believe in them as they WERE prophets ,and it is not conditional that they must be alive in order to believe in them.....
Second: not only is the case of the prophets but the case of the scripture itself, it is not conditional in order to believe in a revelation ,that it must be present fully as it was originally revealed ,eg;
Holy Quran: SAY: "We believe in God and what has been sent down to us, and what was sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, and what was given Moses and Jesus, and what was given the [other] prophets by their Lord.
what was sent down to Abraham?
So remind, if the reminder should benefit;He who fears [Allah] will be reminded.But the wretched one will avoid it -[He] who will [enter and] burn in the greatest Fire,Neither dying therein nor living.
He has certainly succeeded who purifies himself,And mentions the name of his Lord and prays.
But you prefer the worldly life,While the Hereafter is better and more enduring.Indeed, this is in the former scriptures,
The scriptures of Abraham and Moses.
Qur'an 87 (Al-A'laa), ayat 9-19
no scrolls of Abraham survive till today ,yet the Quran described the muslims as they already believed in that scroll....... so how that could be?!
the answer is simple, the quran has the core of the teachings of the previous revealed books, it means if you already believed in the quran ,you automatically believed in the previous scriptures as originally revealed ....
Can anyone also explain verse 2:113 where it says:
(The Noble Qur'an, 2:113) The Jews say: "The Christians have naught (to stand) upon; and the Christians say: "The Jews have naught (To stand) upon." Yet they (Profess to) study the (same) Book. Like unto their word is what those say who know not; but God will judge between them in their quarrel on the Day of Judgment.
^Does this mean that both their books are good and uncorrupted?
The verse means ,that both the Jews and the christians each read their scriptures and each infer that the other have no ground to stand on. .