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Being an Ishmalite myself i can clearly say that we don't reject the Torah as false as accused here. It is considered to be one of the revealed books by God and is called as "Torat" in our scripture. In fact we believe it to be one of the 6 articles of faith to believe in Torah. One ceases to be a beliver even if one rejects one of the six articles of faith.

So from where does this accusation come?

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    Ali, this is a personal request. Please don't alter the form of this question. It's actually a very well asked, SE-style question, and it deserves a solid answer. I'll forewarn you, though, that it will likely come from rabbinic sources, which may not satisfy your inquiry, but this question, right here, is perfect for the site.
    – Seth J
    Feb 27, 2013 at 18:46
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    I've deleted comments that were chatty and did not "contribute to the improvement or understanding of the post". For those who want, there's chat.
    – msh210 ♦
    Feb 27, 2013 at 20:34
  • Ali, if you accept the torah as true then it says clearly that God chose Isaac not Yishmael. Don't muslims believe the opposite? further how can one simultaneously believe in:"in the Books (kutub) sent by Allah[1] (including the Qurʾān, Gospel and Torah/Tanakh)." if these books contradict each other??
    – ray
    Feb 27, 2013 at 21:30
  • @R.Sebag This has been discussed in detail here, do read the comments too judaism-islam.com/…
    – knowit
    Feb 28, 2013 at 5:00
  • i think it is clear that if there is a contradiction between the torah and the quran, the muslims will follow the kuran - and there are hundreds and probably thousands of such irreconcilable contradictions. in the above quote, there was no clear contradiction so the islamic scholars are debating it.
    – ray
    Feb 28, 2013 at 7:28

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It's not so much "reject the Torah" as shorthand for "reject the traditional Jewish interpretation of the Torah, including to what extent it is binding today."

Maimonides, Laws of Repentance 3:17

ג,יז שלושה הן הכופרים בתורה: האומר שאין התורה מעם ה', אפילו פסוק אחד, אפילו תיבה אחת--אם אמר משה אמרו מפי עצמו, הרי זה כופר בתורה; וכן הכופר בפירושה, והיא תורה שבעל פה, והכחיש מגידיה, כגון צדוק ובייתוס; והאומר שהבורא החליף מצוה זו במצוה אחרת, וכבר בטלה תורה זו, אף על פי שהיא הייתה מעם ה', כגון הנוצריים וההגריים. כל אחד משלושה אלו כופר בתורה.

The following are all considered "denying the Torah" [from our perspective]: Claiming the Torah is not of divine origin ... denying its interpretation which is the Oral Law [i.e. the Talmud] ... or saying that G-d replaced these commandments with others, rendering our Torah non-binding.

As, to the best of my knowledge, Muslims do not accept the Talmudic interpretation of the Torah as currently binding upon them, for a Jew to practice Islam would be seen as "denying the Torah" in that sense.

Effectively, Maimonides explained that his term "deny" can include "accept deprecation"; that's just how the terminology got picked up.

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    Shalom, what about the Midrash about the nations rejecting the Torah?
    – Seth J
    Feb 27, 2013 at 19:28
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    @SethJ First of all, it's a midrash not a statement of what they believe; we ask them for that. Second, Islam developed after that Midrash. Why can't they have taken a different path than their predecessors?
    – Double AA ♦
    Feb 27, 2013 at 19:43
  • @DoubleAA, I was thinking exactly that.
    – Seth J
    Feb 27, 2013 at 19:53
  • @DoubleAA Remeber that was Rambam's view and not God's view . Rambam lived in an Islamic empire and felt the utmost need to secure his herd hence his views are not reliable. Many prominent Rabbis of his time criticized Rambam for his excessive interpretations of Torah.
    – knowit
    Feb 27, 2013 at 20:19
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    @Ali Shalom only quoted it from the Rambam, but it is actually ubiquitous in Jewish tradition and represents God's view.
    – Double AA ♦
    Feb 27, 2013 at 20:21
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You are confusing the midrashic idea of the nations rejecting the torah as a unique gift with your idea of accepting that the torah has any divine origin.

Note the midrash:

http://www.jewishtreats.org/2011/06/give-them-choice.html

There is an oft-cited Midrash (Sifrei, Dvarim 343) describing how God offered the Torah to the other nations of the world before He gave it to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. According to this Midrash, the first nation to whom He offered the Torah asked what was in it. When God told them about the law prohibiting stealing, they couldn’t fathom a life without theft. The next nation reacted incredulously to the prohibition of adultery; they were horrified at the idea that God would monitor people’s bedroom behavior! Another nation was unable to accept the prohibition of murder...and so on. When God asked the Jewish people if they would accept the Torah, there were no questions. They declared: “Na’aseh v’nishma” (“We will do and we will listen”). -

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