when Christians ask...

Christians keep bringing up the same old argument, that if Allah Swt revealed the Torah why don’t we believe in the Torah and follow it? There are many reason why we don’t follow the Torah which you have. Firstly, the Torah was given to Moses Pbuh, which was to be followed by the children of Israel. It was a guidance for the children of Israel only. the Torah was entrusted to the rabbis and doctors of law as mentioned in Surah 5:44, but unfortunately, they could not preserve it.  throughout time the Jews became hard hearted their faith wasn’t as strong and committed as their forefathers were. They started to distort and change the words of God, writing words which were not from God as mentioned in Surah 2:27 and 2:79. For breaching their covenant which they made with God Almighty they have been cursed as found in Surah 5:13 Secondly we have not been commanded to follow the Torah, yes we are to believe in the Torah which “was” revealed by Allah Swt to Moses Pbuh.

We also have explicit Hadith telling  us Torah has been changed/corrupted

The Bani Israel wrote a book, they followed it and left the Torah. (This hadith was reported in Tabarani’s Al Mu’jam Al Awsat and was authenticated by
Sheikh Nasr Al Deen Al Albani in his Silsila Al Ahaadeeth Al Saheeha , hadith no. 2832.)

The Prophet peace be upon him said…

The Bani Israel as a long time passed and their hearts became hardened, they invented a book from themselves. It took over their hearts and their tongues.
(This hadith was reported in Al Bayhaqi’s
Shu’b Al Eemaan, Volume 2, no.439. Sheikh Nasr Al Deen Al Albani has authenticated this hadith in his Silsila Al Ahaadeeth Al Saheeha , hadith no. 2694.)

This should be sufficient prove, that the Torah which Christians and Jews read is not the original Torah given to Moses Pbuh

Now let’s go little deeper, when Christians tell us why don’t we follow the Torah which they have, what exactly do they mean?  The irony  is, many Christians don’t even know what “TORAH” means.  The word Torah means  "to guide/teach" (cf. Lev 10:11). The meaning of the word is therefore "teaching", "doctrine", or "instruction" or commonly known as the Law.

Now if the word “Torah” means teaching or instruction, then Muslims don’t have a problem with that let me elaborate. There are 613 Laws in the “TORAH” 613 instructions and rules, take for instance

Not to commit sodomy with one's father (Lev. 18:7)

Not to commit incest with one's father's wife (Lev. 18:8)

Not to commit sodomy with one's father's brother (Lev. 18:14)

Not to commit sodomy with a male (Lev. 18:22)

Not to do wrong in buying or selling (Lev. 25:14)

Not to borrow on interest (Deut. 23:20)

That one who possesses evidence shall testify in Court (Lev. 5:1)

Not to steal personal property (Lev. 19:11)

Not to defraud (Lev. 19:13) etc..

Th above Laws are not a problem for Muslims. When you say TORAH, you mean LAW and INSTRUCTIONS. Why then do you expect us to believe in the 5 books of the Pentateuch, when there is only 613 Laws which make up the TORAH. Those laws also come with instructions. Why should we believe in the stories found within the Law? Those stories found in, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are meaningless since the Torah doesn’t mean stories why should we accept them. Think about it, the 5 books of the Pentateuch, speak of the creation and fall of man, how people fought each other, how kingdom and empire were built. How man defied God etc. within all those stories are the Law of God (Torah). Some laws were specifically for the Jewish Sabbatical and Jubilee Years others where for the Jewish court and judicial procedure. But many are still applicable for modern times, which Muslims wont have a problem with. Take for instance Not to slay an innocent person (Ex. 20:13) Not to defraud (Lev. 19:13) Not to turn one's attention to idolatry (Lev. 19:4)  To destroy idolatry and its appurtenances (Deut. 12:2-3) etc..

Next time Christians tells you why don’t you follow the Torah, since it’s a revelation from your God. Correct them on what the Torah means.  Torah does not mean the 5 books of the Pentateuch, i.e. the creation story, biographies of Prophets etc..  rather it means Laws, Instructions and teaching. Another interesting point is, Joshua on many occasions refers to the Torah as the “Law of Moses” even the New Testament, refers the Torah as the “Law of Moses”.  

When we say the Torah is corrupted we mean the “Law/Instructions/Teachings” have been corrupted. Also, why are there 613 laws, why not 650 why stop at 613? Was this divinely inspired or another handy work of the rabbis? Funny enough we have good reason to believe this was made up by a rabbi.

The first report that the Torah contains 613 commandments dates to the third century CE, when Rabbi Simlai mentioned this concept in a sermon that is recorded in the Babylonian Talmud, Makkot 23b. The Talmud states: “Rabbi Simlai gave as a sermon [darash Rabi Simlai]: 613 commandments were communicated to Moses – 365 negative commands, corresponding to the number of solar days [in a year], and 248 positive commands, corresponding to the number of the members [bones covered with flesh] of a man’s body.” It thus appears that Rabbi Simlai invented the number 613 because it fit his sermon: A person should observe the Torah with all his body parts (248) every day (365). The two numbers add up to 613.

As far as we know, no one thought there were 613 biblical commandments before Rabbi Simlai offered his sermon. In fact, 150 years before Rabbi Simlai, ben Azzai is quoted as saying that there were three hundred biblical commands. (Sifrei Deuteronomy 76) E. E. Urbach wrote: “In the Tannaitic sources this number [613] is unknown.” (The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1987).

Ibn Ezra (1089–1167) recognized that if one counts all of the divine commandments recorded in the Bible, the number would be well over a thousand; and that if only the commandments relevant to his day were numbered, the total would be less than three hundred. He wrote in his Yesod Moreh 2: “Some sages enumerate 613 mitzvot [divine commandments] in diverse ways By “diverse ways,” ibn Ezra meant that rabbis differed in what they included in the 613 “biblical commandments.” The most famous catalogue is that of Maimonides, discussed below, who included beliefs in his list. In contrast, Bachya ibn Pakuda (eleventh century) considered that only practical duties and not beliefs should be included, so he had a different list of 613 commands. Ibn Pakuda’s list appears in Sefer Torat Chovot Halevavot (Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1984)…but the truth is that there is no end of the number of mitzvot…and if we were to count only the root principles…the number of mitzvot would not reach 613.”

So we can see from the above information, this 613 Law was made up by Rabbi Simlai. throughout time rabbis have been playing with the Law of Moses, thus the Torah is not prestige as it was delivered.