Reading the Gospel for Healing
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Q21: There is a man in my village who was a Christian and then entered Islam. He was then afflicted with a long illness. His Christian brother told him, "Read the Gospel and you will be healed." He did not do what his brother told him, but after his brother kept repeating it to him, he went to one of the churches, read the Gospel, and was healed of his illness. Does this act take him out of the religion of Islam, even though he did not leave the religion of Islam?
A21: It is not permissible for a Muslim to read the Gospel; because it is distorted, and the undistorted parts of it are made sufficient by the Noble Qur'an. As for one who needs to read it in order to refute the People of the Book, it is permissible for him to look at it. And among what indicates the prohibition of a Muslim reading the Gospel is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he saw a piece of the Torah in the hand of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), disapproved of it. Imam
Ahmad narrated it in his Musnad:. Al-Hafiz said in (al-Fath): (It was narrated by Ahmad, Ibn Abi Shaybah, and al-Bazzar, and its narrators are reliable except that there is weakness in Majdala). And the meaning of "Are you bewildered in it?" is: Are you confused in it? As for entering churches on their festival day and increasing their numbers, it is not permissible; because of what al-Bayhaqi narrated in al-Sunan al-Kubra with a sound chain to 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: ("... and do not enter upon the polytheists in their churches on their festival day, for the anger descends upon them"). And if that is for a legitimate Shari'ah interest, such as calling them to Islam or the like, there is nothing wrong with it. But as for entering them for the sake of entertainment only, it should not be done; because there is no benefit in it.
A21: It is not permissible for a Muslim to read the Gospel; because it is distorted, and the undistorted parts of it are made sufficient by the Noble Qur'an. As for one who needs to read it in order to refute the People of the Book, it is permissible for him to look at it. And among what indicates the prohibition of a Muslim reading the Gospel is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when he saw a piece of the Torah in the hand of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), disapproved of it. Imam
Ahmad narrated it in his Musnad:
That 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with a book he had obtained from some of the People of the Book. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) read it and became angry and said: "Are you bewildered in it, O son of al-Khattab? By Him in whose hand is my soul, I have certainly brought you a pure religion. Do not ask them about anything so that they inform you of the truth and you deny it, or of falsehood and you accept it. By Him in whose hand is my soul, if Musa (peace be upon him) were alive, he would have had no choice but to follow me."
أن عمر بن الخطاب - رضي الله عنه - أتى النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - بكتاب أصابه من بعض أهل الكتاب ، فقرأه النبي - صلى الله عليه وسلم - فغضب فقال : أمتهوكون فيها يا ابن الخطاب ، والذي نفسي بيده لقد جئتكم بها نقية ، لا تسألوهم عن شيء فيخبروكم بحق فتكذبوا به أو بباطل فتصدقوا به ، والذي نفسي بيده لو أن موسى - صلى الله عليه وسلم - كان حيًا ما وسعه إلا أن يتبعني
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.