Without a doubt, the most common text that Islamic apologists use in response to the claim that the Qur'an confirms the Bible is Surah 2:79, which says the following:
"Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say: "This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby." (Yusuf Ali)
First, our Muslim friends leave out what context of Surah 2:79 is:
"Can ye (o ye men of Faith) entertain the hope that they will believe in you?- Seeing that a party of them heard the Word of Allah, and perverted it knowingly after they understood it. Behold! when they meet the men of Faith, they say: "We believe": But when they meet each other in private, they say: "Shall you tell them what Allah hath revealed to you, that they may engage you in argument about it before your Lord?"- Do ye not understand (their aim)? Know they not that Allah knoweth what they conceal and what they reveal? And there are among them illiterates, who know not the Book, but (see therein their own) desires, and they do nothing but conjecture. Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say: "This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby " (S. 2:75-79)
We can see from verse 78 that the Qur'an is not speaking here of the Jews and Christians as a whole, but rather a certain group within the Jews, in particular. Ibn Kathir agrees with this interpretation:
"Allah said…
<Do you covet> O believers…
<That they will believe in your religion> meaning, that these people would obey you They are the deviant sect of Jews whose fathers witnessed the clear signs but their hearts became hard afterwards. Allah said next…
<Inspite of the fact that a party of them (Jewish rabbis) used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it> meaning, distort its meaning…
<after they understood it>. They understood well, yet they used to defy the truth…
<knowingly>, being fully aware of their erroneous interpretations and corruption. This statement is similar to Allah's statement…
<So, because of their violation of their covenant, We cursed them and made their hearts grow hard. They change the words from their (right) places> (5:13).
Qatadah commented that Allah's statement …
<Then they used to change it knowingly after they understood it> "They are the Jews who used to hear Allah's Words and then alter them after they understood and comprehended them."' Also, Mujahid said, "Those who used to alter it and conceal its truths; they were their scholars." Also, Ibn Wahb said that Ibn Zayd commented…
<used to hear the Word of Allah (the Tawrah), then they used to change it> "They altered the Tawrah that Allah revealed to them, making it say that the lawful is unlawful and the prohibited is allowed, and that what is right is false and that what is false is right. So when a person seeking the truth comes to them with a bribe, they judge his case by the Book of Allah, but when a person comes to them seeking to do evil with a bribe, they take out the other (distorted) book, in which it is stated that he is in the right. When someone comes to them who is not seeking what is right, nor offering them bribe, then they enjoin righteousness on him. This is why Allah said to them …
<Enjoin you Al-Birr (piety and righteousness and every act of obedience to Allah) on the people and you forget (to practise it) yourselves, while you recite the Scripture (the Tawrah)! Have you then no sense> (2:44)
Allah said…
<Then Waylun (woe) to those who write the book with their own hands and then say, "This is from Allah," to purchase with it a little price!>.
This is another category of people among the Jews who called to misguidance with falsehood and lies about Allah, thriving on unjustly amassing people's property. `Waylun (woe)' carries meanings of destruction and perishing, and it is a well-known word in the Arabic language. Az-Zuhri said that `Ubadydullah bin `Abdullah narrated that Ibn `Abbas said, "O Muslims! How could you ask the People of the Book about anything, while the Book of Allah (Qur'an) that He revealed to His Prophet is the most recent Book from Him and you still read it fresh and young Allah told you that the People of the Book altered the Book of Allah, changed it and wrote another book with their own hands. They then said, `This book is from Allah,' so that they acquired a small profit by it. Hasn't the knowledge that came to you prohibited you from asking them By Allah! We have not seen any of them asking you about what was revealed to you." This Hadith was also collected by Al-Bukhari. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "The little amount here means this life and all that it contains."
Allah's statement…
<Woe to them for what their hands have written and woe to them for that they earn thereby> means, "Woe to them because of what they have written with their own hands, the lies, falsehood and alterations. Woe to them because of the property that they unjustly acquired." Ad-Dahhak said that Ibn `Abbas commented…
<Woe to them>, "Means the torment will be theirs because of the lies that they wrote with their own hands…
<And woe to them for that they earn thereby>, which they unjustly acquired from people, be they commoners or otherwise." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, S. 2:75-79)
Note also that verse 75 speaks of a "party of the Jews", not the Jews on a wholistic level.
If Surah 2:75-79 were speaking of the People of the Book as a whole corrupting their Scriptures, then the Qur'an would be contradicting itself (something which no reasonable Muslims would want to concede), since Surah 2:121 speaks of groups within the People of the Book who don't corrupt their Scriptures:
"Those unto whom We have given the Scripture, who read it with the right reading, those believe in it. And whoso disbelieveth in it, those are they who are the losers" (Surah 2:121)
The Islamic scholar Al-Zamakhshari says the following concerning this verse:
"'They to whom we have given the scriptures' are the faithful among the people of the Book who recite the scriptures in their true recitation, neither altering nor changing what they contain of the description of the Apostle of God. Those who have faith in their scriptures are contrasted with 'whosoever rejects faith in it [the scriptures],' that is, alterers. 'These shall be the losers' because they exchange guidance for error." (Zamakhshari, I, p. 308)" (Mahmoud Ayoub, The Qur'an and Its Interpreters, Vol. 1, pgs. 149-150)
See also Surah 3:113-114.
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