“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Taurat, Shaya 55:8)
Mankind needs divine guidance. the great God revealed his Word through the prophets so that we could learn his ways. However, some things about God’s ways are difficult for us to understand, as the above verse implies when God says, “my thoughts are not your thoughts.” An example of this difficulty is found in the following prophecy from the Zabur of Prophet Dawud, revealed about 1000 BCE (“before the common era” or “before the birth of Christ”). The Zabur says:
In the scroll of Al-Kitab it is written about me. I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your Taurat (law) is within my heart. I have proclaimed the Injil (good news) of righteousness in the great assembly. (Zabur 40:7-9)
Who is speaking in these verses—the prophet Dawud or is it someone else? Whoever it is, the passage teaches several things about him. First, he delights to do God’s will. Second, he has the Taurat within his heart, and third, he proclaimed the Injil, that is, he told the Good News of how to be right with God. Who is this person? Perhaps Al-Kitab itself can answer the question. In all of Al-Kitab, there is only one person of whom all these things are explicitly taught. As it is written in the holy Quran:
Then God will say: “O ‘ISA Ibn Maryam! Recount my favour to you and to your mother. Behold! I strengthened you with the Holy Spirit, so that you spoke to the people in childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught you Al-Kitab and wisdom, the Taurat and the Injil.” (Quran 5:110; also 3:45)
The unnamed individual mentioned in the Zabur passage above is undoubtedly Prophet ‘ISA Ibn Maryam, written about 1000 years before his birth. Of him, the verse says, “In the scroll of Al-Kitab it is written about me” (confirmed by the Injil, Hebrews 10:7).
The Taurat, Zabur, Injil, and Quran all teach that ‘ISA is a great prophet, but there is more. They also declare that he alone is AL-MASIH, or THE MESSIAH, the One chosen by God to lead and rescue his people. There have been many prophets and apostles, but only one who is called AL-MASIH.
All four of these holy books are collected here so that you might discover the truth about ‘ISA Ibn Maryam, and how important he is in the plan of God as AL-MASIH, the Chosen One. As ‘ISA himself says in the holy Injil,
You search Al-Kitab, because you think that in its writings you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. (Injil, John 5:39)
May our gracious Lord grant spiritual insight and wisdom as you read, compare, and search for the truth.
About this translation
This is a public domain translation of the Holy Bible together with the Holy Quran, and published under the name Al-Kitab. This is an effort to make available in one place, all four “heavenly books” said to believed in by all Muslims, known as the Taurat, Zabur, Injil and Quran.
The fact that all these holy books are placed here together should not be construed to mean that we should view them all as having the same function, purpose or authority. For more information on this matter, we suggest you carefully study courses such as “Eternal Word” and “The Way of Truth“, available at the Al-Kitab Scripture Research Institute.
The Al-Kitab translation was first published online in 2001 as part of the Al-Kitab Scripture Research Institute website. The Bible portion of this translation (Taurat, Zabur, Injil) is an adaptation and update of the public-domain World English Bible (WEB) begun in 1994. When this Al-Kitab translation was undertaken in 2000, the WEB was still only a rough draft revision of the American Standard Version of 1901. The Quran portion of this Al-Kitab translation is an adaptation and update of the classic Abdullah Yusuf Ali translation.
Al-Kitab 2.0 — In early 2026, the second edition of the Al-Kitab translation was begun and is well underway. This new edition includes many minor adjustments in syntax. However, the biggest difference from the first edition is in regard to translating the name of God. The first edition rendered the tetragrammaton YHWH as “Allah”, rather than use the traditional translation “the LORD.” In this second edition, YHWH is not replaced with an alternative word like Allah or LORD, but is instead transliterated with supplied vowels according to accepted scholarly consensus for the purposes of pronunciation, i.e. YAHWEH. Capitals are used to emphasize that it is the Divine Name, as opposed to simply being another divine title (all of which are capitalized) such as, God, Lord, Almighty, etc.
There are two main reasons for making the change in regard to God’s name. The first reason is to allow English readers see God’s personal name YAHWEH wherever it is found in the pages of Al-Kitab. The second reason is to counter the false idea being propagated by some people that “Allah” is God’s personal name. In actual fact, it is no more God’s name than elohim, or God, or theos, and so on. These are all words that identify God, but they are not his name. God has revealed his personal name, and it is not Allah. But if that surprises you, don’t take our word for it. Study it out for yourself. But don’t be led by blind guides who will just lead you into a ditch. Let God and his Word be your teacher. For example, the Taurat, Exodus 3:15 says: God said moreover to Musa, “You shall tell Bani-Israel this, ‘YAHWEH, the God of your fathers, the God of Ibrahim, the God of Ishaq, and the God of Yaqub, has sent me to you.’ This is my Name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered to all generations.”
This second edition of the Al-Kitab translation makes extensive use of footnotes to aid the reader in understanding. Many are translation notes relating to the various original languages of Al-Kitab. Some footnotes identify when a verse is cited elsewhere in Al-Kitab, giving not only the book name, chapter and verse reference, but also providing the full relevant scripture portion that is being cited.
In this translation, italics are used to identify scripture believed in by Muslims using Islamic terminology, such as Taurat, Zabur, Injil, Quran, Al-Kitab. Italics are also used in footnotes to highlight words of interest as well as to mark relevant parts of quotations.
Names of prophets, objects, and other characters known to Muslims and Islamic tradition are often given in their Islamic equivalents, seeing that this publication is intended to be used by Muslim readers. Usually a translation note is provided in the footnotes for explanation.
It is hoped that this second edition of the Al-Kitab translation (or Al-Kitab 2.0), will bring light and understanding to a new generation. May you come to discover the way to God, the truth of all things, and the life which overcomes the grave and death.