- The claim that a Muslim family living in the Middle East recently bought one of the biggest Bible-producing publishers in the world is unproven.
- The rumor stems from a video published in early August 2026, in which California-based author and pastor Jack Hibbs urges his viewers to quickly buy physical Bibles, alleging “a Muslim family in the Middle East just bought one of the biggest Bible-producing publishers in the world.” He did not mention the purported company’s name.
- As of this writing, we did not yet uncover evidence to confirm or debunk this rumor.
- Snopes contacted Hibbs to ask for evidence substantiating his claim. We did not receive a response within several days but will update this article if further information becomes available.
- We also reached out by email to numerous Bible publishers and sellers to inquire if they were aware of the sale of a major company. As of this writing, we had not received any responses substantiating the rumor.
For example, on Aug. 6, a TikTok user posted (archived) the clip with the onscreen caption, “Get your Bibles NOW.”
The man speaking in the video urges viewers to quickly purchase a physical Bible, apparently over fears of the Muslim family who allegedly purchased the publisher altering the Christian text in favor of Islam. He uses the words “just bought,” suggesting the purchase occurred recently:
Just make sure you own an actual Bible. Can you do it kind of quick, please? I’m not going to mention the name right now cause I don’t want to get sued. But a Muslim family in the Middle East just bought one of the biggest Bible-producing publishers in the world. Why? Why would Muslims buy a Bible-producing company? They pu-, they, hmm. My point is this, will you buy a Bible right away so nobody can change the Bible?
One Facebook user posted a video asking (archived), “Breaking news! Christians, I need your help with this one! Is this rumor true?!” A different Facebook user also requested (archived) confirmation of the truth, as did a Snopes reader who emailed us to ask, “Did a Muslim family buy a Bible publishing company in order to subvert the Bible or limit access?”
In sum, our investigation has yet to uncover evidence confirming or debunking the claim that a Muslim family in the Middle East bought a major Bible-producing publisher. As such, we’ve left this article unrated until we learn more.
Searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo and Google failed to locate any news media outlets, including Christian or political publications, reporting on the matter. Those searches did, however, find the name of the man speaking in the clip.
The video features author Jack Hibbs, who serves as the senior and founding pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Chino, California, and founder of the faith-based Real Life Network. The clip originated from the Aug. 6 episode (archived) of Hibbs’ YouTube podcast, “Real Life with Jack Hibbs.”
We emailed Hibbs at two different email addresses, reached out via a contact form on his church’s website and left a message with his assistant at the church, asking for information that might allow us to confirm the claim. We did not receive a response within several days but will update this article if we receive further information.
Researching the rumor
In the video, Hibbs claims a Muslim family recently bought “one of the biggest Bible-producing publishers in the world” and urges his viewers to quickly buy physical Bibles.
Abingdon Press - Baker Publishing Group
- Barbour Publishing
- B&H Publishing Group (Holman Bible Publishers)
- Cambridge University Press
- Christian Art Publishers
- Church Bible Publishers
- Crossway
- EvangelicalBible.com (Schuyler Bibles)
- Hendrickson Publishers
- Humble Lamb
- Ignatius Press
- The KJV Store
- The Lockman Foundation
- Moody Publishers
- Oxford University Press
- R.L. Allan & Son Publishers
- Three Sixteen Publishing (Steadfast Bibles)
- Tyndale House Publishers
- United Bible Societies
Cambridge University Press spokesperson Matt Midgley told Snopes via email, “Cambridge University Press & Assessment is part of the University of Cambridge. We couldn’t comment on any other publisher.” Midgley did not provide additional details related to Cambridge’s publishing operation.
A Humble Lamb spokesperson emailed, “Humble Lamb is a Christian family owned and family run business located in Kentucky. Humble Lamb’s sole owner is the founder Daniel Arroyo, since the beginning in 2017. We also do not know of any Bible publishers being owned by Middle Eastern Muslim families.”
Lifeway Christian Resources spokesperson Carol Pipes said via email, “We have no knowledge of this happening with any Bible publisher in the industry. I also reached out to our B&H team,” referencing the “trade book arm of Lifeway,” adding that “they were not aware of this happening either.”
Individual searches for news coverage related to a change of ownership at any of the above companies returned no relevant results.
We compiled the list of companies from a best-selling Bible list and other sources.
For further reading, we previously reported whether HarperCollins removed 45 complete verses from the Bible.
