Chapter 4.1. Bible vs Quran
1.
Comparison of contents of the Bible and the Quran.
1.1. First, how does the sizes of the two books compare?
The traditional Quran consists of 114 chapters (Surahs), made up of 30 parts, 6,616 verses (ayahs), 77,943 words, and 338,606 letters (Mishkat III, p.663)
(Note: Lately it was found that the various versions of the Quran texts differ with the number of verses. Read more where we discuss the difference between the Hafs and Warsh Versions.)
The Bible consist of 66 books (applying to the King James Version of the Bible in its modern Protestant form including the New Testament and the protocanonical Old Testament, not the deuterocanonical books.)
Number of Chapters of the Bible (Reference)
- There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament.
- 187 chapters in the Pentateuch
- 249 chapters in the Historical books
- 243 chapters in the Poetic books ("Wisdom")
- 183 chapters in the Major prophets
- 67 chapters in the Minor prophets
- There are 260 chapters in the New Testament.
- 89 chapters in the Gospels
- 28 chapters in Acts
- 87 chapters in the Pauline Epistles (excluding Hebrews)
- 34 chapters in the General Epistles (including Hebrews)
- 22 chapters in Revelation
There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 verses in the New Testament. This gives a total of 31,102 verses (Reference)
1.2. Differences between the contents of the Bible and the Quran.
Some of the most important differences is summarized here (Reference)
Sons of Adam
In the
Bible, adam and Eve have two sons: the elder Cain, who is a farmer, and the
younger Abel, a shepherd. When both make sacrifices to God, God only accepts
Abel's offerings. Angered, Cain kills his brother despite God's warning. He is
condemned to a lifetime of wandering and fruitless toil. The Qur'an
narrates a similar story relating to the sons of adam, although the brothers
are not named.
However, a
significant difference between the two versions is that while God speaks to
Cain in the Bible, the brother who is accepted by God speaks to the rejected
one in the Quran, saying: “God accepts only from the God-wary. Even if you
extend your hand toward me to kill me, I will not extend my hand toward you to
kill you. Indeed, I fear God, the Lord of all the worlds. I desire that you
earn [the burden of] my sin and your sin, to become one of the inmates of the
Fire, and such is the requital of the wrongdoers.” (Quran 5:27–29)
The rejected
brother then kills the younger brother, as Cain does to Abel. In the Quran, God
then sends a crow to dig the earth in which to bury the murdered brother, and
the murderer regrets his deed as he looks upon the crow.
The Quran
then draws a lesson from the murder, not found in the text of the Torah: “That
is why We decreed for the Children of Israel that whoever kills a soul, without
[its being guilty of] manslaughter or corruption on the earth, is as though he
had killed all mankind, and whoever saves a life is as though he had saved all
mankind.” (Quran 5:32)
This verse
is nearly identical to a passage in the Mishnah Sanhedrin tractate, part of the
Jewish Oral Torah, which also concludes that the lesson of the murder of Abel
is that "whosoever destroys a single soul is regarded as though he
destroyed a complete world, and whosoever saves a single soul is regarded as
though he saved a complete world".
Noah (Nūḥ)
In both the
Bible and the Quran, Noah is described as a righteous man who lived among a
sinful people, who God destroyed with a flood while saving Noah, his family,
and the animals by commanding him to build an Ark and store the animals in
them. In both sacred books, he is said to have lived for 950 years.[28] But
unlike in Genesis, which records not a single word from Noah before he leaves
the Ark, the Quranic story of the prophet focuses less on the details of the
flood and more on Noah's unsuccessful attempts to warn his people, directly
quoting his attempts to persuade his wicked countrymen to turn to
righteousness.
This
emphasis on Noah as a preacher vainly attempting to save others, while not
found in the Torah itself, appears in Christian sources as early as the Second
Epistle of Peter and was present in Jewish and Christian sources of Late
Antiquity, including the Talmud. In the context of the Quran, it emphasizes
the crucial notion that Noah and other Biblical figures were prototypes of the
Islamic prophet Muhammad, all preaching righteousness to save their people from
doom.
The Bible
and the Quran also diverge on the fate of Noah's family. In the Bible, all of
Noah's immediate family is saved, including his three sons.
But the
Quran mentions a son of Noah who rejects the Ark, instead choosing to take
refuge on a mountain where he is drowned. Noah asks God to save his son, but
God refuses. This buttresses the recurrent Quranic emphasis on the importance
of faith and righteous conduct over ties of family. The episode may also be
connected to a passage in the Book of Ezekiel, which similarly stresses
righteousness over blood ties by stating that "even if Noah and Daniel and
Job were living there [in a sinful country]... they would be able to save
neither son nor daughter, only themselves by their uprightness". But
while the son of Noah who would not be saved is only hypothetical in Ezekiel,
he is a real son in the Quran, traditionally identified (though not by the
Quran itself) with the Biblical figure of Canaan.
The Quran
also cites Noah's wife as "an example of the faithless" who was
doomed to hellfire without further elaboration, [Quran 66:10] although some
Islamic exegetical traditions hold that she would call Noah a madman and was
subsequently drowned in the flood.
No similar
reference exists in the Bible, although certain Gnostic legends entailed a
hostile portrayal of Noah's wife. The Bible also records Noah being drunk
on wine, and fell asleep naked, and after being found naked by his son Ham, he
cursed Canaan, Ham's son. The Qur'ānic narrative does not mention such an
incident, so Muslims reject this Biblical narrative.
In the
Quran, the Ark is said to rest on the hills of Mount Judi (Hud 11:44); in the
Bible, it is said to rest on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4) The Al-Djoudi
(Judi) is apparently a mountain in the biblical mountain range of Ararat. The
Quran cites a particular mount in the Ararat Range, whereas the Bible just
mentions the Ararat Range by name. There is a Mount Al-Djoudi in the
present-day Ararat Mountain range in Turkey.
Abraham
(Ibrāhīm)
See Genesis
18:1–15, 22:1–20 and Q11:69-74,[38] Q15:51-89,[39] Q37:102-109, and
Q51:24-30. Several messengers come to Abraham on their way to destroy the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham welcomes them into his tent and provides
them with food. They then promise their host that Isaac (ʾIsḥāq إسحٰق) will soon be born to Abraham's
wife, Sarah (Sārah سارة). Sarah laughs at the idea because she is far too old to bear children.
The Hebrew name יצחק means 'he laughs" and is one of the literary tropes in the
biblical story. These literary connections are typically lost in Quranic
versions of biblical stories.
The angels
rebuke her, telling her that by God's she will bear a son. A conversation ensues
in which Abraham admits that he wished God to have mercy on the people of Sodom
and Gomorrah.
Sacrifices
his son
In another
narrative, Abraham receives a command (in his dream) from God to sacrifice his
son. Abraham agrees to this and prepares to carry out the sacrifice. Before he
can do so, however, God tells him to stop and gives him a replacement
sacrifice. Abraham is subsequently honored for his faithfulness to God.
(As-Saaffat 37:102–108; Genesis 22:2–18)
However,
there are several differences between the biblical and Quranic accounts.
In Genesis,
the sacrificial son is Isaac, whereas in the Quran name of the son is not
mentioned. Much of the Muslim ʿulama have differed on who the son was, with
many scholars believing the son was Ishmael, but many also believing it was
Isaac.
While God
seems to speak directly to Abraham in Genesis, He speaks through a vision in
the Quran.
Abraham's
Journeys in the Bible and Quran
The Bible
describes Abraham as in Iraq-Syria, then in Canaan, Paran, and Egypt, with his
final days in Canaan and Hebron. Both Isaac and Ishmael attend Abraham's
funeral.
The Quran
mentions that Abraham left his wife and Ishmael (as an infant) in the land
where present-day Mecca is, while he left to what was apparently Palestine.
Lot and
Sodom and Gomorrah (Lūṭ and "The People of Lot")
There are
several differences between the Quran and the Bible:
In the
Quran, Lot is described as a prophet, like his uncle Abraham. In Genesis
(Genesis 19:1–29), Lot is not described as a prophet. In the New Testament, (2
Peter 2:7,8) Peter the Apostle describes Lot as a righteous man who was daily
tormented by the lawless deeds he saw in Sodom.
In both the
Bible and in the Quran, Abraham pleads for God to have mercy (Quran 11:75;[59]
Gen. 18:24–33).
In Genesis,
Lot's wife leaves with Lot but turns around briefly and God turns her into a
pillar of salt (Genesis 19:26). In the Quran, there is no mention of her
leaving; rather Lot and his followers were commanded by the angels not to turn,
but Lot is informed that his wife will turn and look behind (Quran Hud 11:123),
and thus be destroyed with the rest of the two cities. (Q11:81)
Following
the destruction of Sodom, the Bible describes an incestuous event between Lot
and his two daughters, at his daughters' behest, in Genesis 19:30–38. The Quran
does not describe any such event.
Joseph
(Yūsuf)
The
narratives of Joseph can be found in Genesis 37–45 and in the first 102 verses
of Surah Yusuf (Joseph) (Quran 12:1-102)
In both the
Bible and the Quran, Joseph has a vision of eleven stars and the sun and the
moon all bowing to him which he shares with his family. (Genesis 37:9; Yusuf
12:4)
Joseph's
brothers became jealous that their father preferred Joseph over them, and so
they form a plot to kill Joseph. However, one brother convinces them not to
kill him but throw him down a well while they are alone. The brothers come to
the father asking his permission to take Joseph out with them to enjoy and play
with them. Jacob expresses his reservations against letting him go with them
and expressing fear about a wild animal killing him while they were not careful
about him. The sons assure the father of their being a mighty group against any
threats to Joseph. The father eventually agrees to send Yusuf with them (in the
Quran), while in the Bible, Jacob sends Joseph out of his own accord without
sons trying to persuade him to let him go with them. (Yusuf 12:8–10; Genesis
37:20–22)
They agree.
They subsequently lie to their father as to Joseph's whereabouts, covering his
clothing in blood and asserting that a wild animal had attacked him. A caravan
passing the well inspires the brothers to pull Joseph out of the well and to
sell him as a slave to traders in the caravan. Later the traders sell him to a
wealthy Egyptian. (Genesis 37:27–36; Yusuf 12:20-22)
Joseph
grows up in the house of the Egyptian. When Joseph is a grown man, his master's
wife tries to seduce him. Joseph resists and runs away but is caught by other
servants and reported to his master. The wife lies to her husband, saying that
Joseph tried to rape her. (Yusuf 12:25; Genesis 39:12).
At this
point, the two stories differ. In the Bible, Joseph's master (named as
Potiphar) refuses to believe Joseph's denial and imprisons him. In the Quran,
Joseph's master (who is only identified as "the Vizier") accepts the
suggestion of another wise person to check Joseph's tunic. If it is torn from
the front, the wise person asserts, it will prove Joseph a liar; but if it is
torn from the back (as proves to be the case), Joseph will be vindicated, and
the master's wife proven a liar and an adulteress. The Vizier reprimands his
wife and permits Joseph to remain in his household. The Vizier's wife hosts a
banquet for women who had been gossiping about her and Joseph providing them
with knives; Joseph is commanded to appear before the wife and her lady friends;
they cut their hands with knives. (The bible does not mention the banquet, and
the Quran does not explain why the guests cut themselves, but a
"post-Biblical Jewish tradition" describes Potiphar serving fruit to
the gossips who, distracted by the handsome Joseph, cut themselves inadvertently
while slicing it up.)
Although
the Vizier again recognizes Joseph's innocence, he orders him imprisoned,
nevertheless. In prison, Joseph meets two men. One has a dream of making wine
and the other dreams of carrying a stack of bread that birds are eating. Joseph
tells the first that he will serve the Pharaoh again and the second will be
executed. Both things happen, precisely as Joseph foretold. Although Joseph
asks the first man to bring his name and unjust imprisonment to the attention
of the Pharaoh, (referred to in the Quran as only the King, not a Pharaoh) the
first man quickly forgets about him once restored to the royal favor.
Sometime
thereafter, Pharaoh had a dream (Genesis 41:17–24; Yusuf 12:43)
In the
Quranic account, Joseph insists that the Vizier's wife vindicate him before the
king before Joseph will agree to do so (this is not mentioned in the Bible);
Pharaoh summons the Vizier's wife, who admits her lies about Joseph and
proclaims his innocence. The Quran now rejoins the biblical narrative, where
Joseph reveals the meaning of the king's dream: Egypt will have seven years of
good crops followed by seven years of famine and the famine will be worse than
the abundance. The king rewarded Joseph by giving him charge over the
storehouses and the entire land of Egypt.
During the
famine, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food, but the youngest was left
with their father. While Joseph recognized them, they did not recognize him. He
demanded that they return with the missing brother. The brothers return home
and find that Joseph had hidden in their packs more than they paid for. They
asked their father if they might return with the youngest brother. Reluctantly,
their father allows this. They return, and after some further incidents, Joseph
ultimately reveals himself to his brothers. (Genesis 45:1; Yusuf 12:90).
In both the
Quran and the Bible, the missing brother is Benjamin, (Arabic: بن يامين) Joseph's only full blood brother.
The others are half-brothers.
The Qur'an
correctly does not refer to the king of Egypt during Joseph's time as the
"Pharaoh." The titular word "Pharaoh" was given to the
kings of Egypt during the New Kingdom period later historically. This
distinction is not found in the Bible.
Moses
(Mūsā)
In the
Bible, the narratives of Moses are in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. The narratives here are mostly in Exodus 1–14 and 32. In the
Quran, the Moses narratives are in the following passages: 2.49–61, 7.103–160,
10.75–93, 17.101–104, 20.9–97, 26.10–66, 27.7–14, 28.3–46, 40.23–30, 43.46–55,
44.17–31, and 79.15–25.
God gave
the Israelites a bountiful land, but this occurred at different times in the
two scriptures. Besides that, and the many additional details in the Torah,
there are other differences:
The
biblical Moses is reluctant to become a prophet and makes excuses. He
eventually agrees and Aaron speaks and performs miracles at first until Moses
is ready and takes over. In the Quran, Aaron was made God's messenger on Moses'
request to back him up in the difficult task. Moses asked God to give him human
support from his family, then asks for Aaron, praising Aaron by saying that he
(Aaron) is a better speaker than him (Moses).
The
sorcerers, in the Quranic story, repent after seeing Moses' signs and submit to
God at the anger of Pharaoh.
In the
Quran, Pharaoh didn't repent but tried to deceive Moses and God by saying that
now he believes in one God, the God of Moses and Aaron (while drowning).
In the
Bible, Moses first goes to Pharaoh without showing any signs.
In Exodus,
Aaron helps make the golden calf. In the Quran, Aaron himself was a messenger
of God and was representing Moses in his absences. He opposed that idea with
all his might and warned the Israelites that God will be angry with them. In
the Quran, a person named Samiri (that many see as a confusion in the Quran
with Samaritans) leads the Israelites to worship the golden calf.
In the
Quran, Pharaoh drowned, but God said in the Quran that he preserved the
pharaoh's body as an example for generations to come (or made an example for
coming generations)
Gideon/Saul
(Tālūt)
In the
Quran and the Bible, there are stories about smaller armies winning victory
over larger ones. One story in the Quran and the Bible shares strong
resemblances, although they are placed at different times and attributed to
different characters. The Bible story features Gideon from the Book of Judges,
and the Quran story features Talut (usually translated as Saul). (Judges 6–8 of
the Bible and In 2:246-248 of the Quran)
The story
about how Samuel appoints Saul as the king appears in 1 Samuel 8–12 and
17:1–58.
A similar
story appears in the Quran 2:246–251. The account also bears similarity to when
Gideon led an army. (See the above Gideon/Talut story).
The
Queen of Sheba
The story
appears in 1 Kings 10:1–13 and 2 Chronicles 9:1–13 and in verses Surah 27
20–44. The two stories have almost nothing in common. In each, the Queen of
Sheba comes to visit Solomon and is impressed by his wisdom and riches. In the
Bible, the visit is only diplomatic. In the Quran, the Queen becomes monotheist
and peace is established in the kingdoms. Although not part of the Quran,
Islamic tradition holds that the name of the Queen of Sheba is Bilqis or
Balqis.
Jonah
(Yūnus) and the big fish
In both the
Bible and the Quran, Jonah is swallowed by a "big fish". The Book of
Jonah in the Bible consists of four chapters about Jonah's mission to Nineveh.
Jonah is referenced three times in the Quran: in verses 139–148 of Sura 37
(As-Saaffat) (Those who set the ranks), verses 87–88 of Sura 21: al-Anbiya'
(The Prophets) and verses 48–50 of Sura 68: al-Qalam (The Pen)/Nun. It is
mentioned in verse 98 of Sura 10: Yunus (Jonah) and verse 86 of Sura 6:
al-An'am (The Cattle).
In the
Quran, Jonah gets frustrated by his own people and abandons them to God's
mercy, however without asking permission from God and thus going against his
given responsibility. In the Quran, it is also mentioned that if Jonah had not
prayed inside the belly of the fish, he would have stayed in there until the
Judgement day.
In the
Bible, Jonah pays a fare to sail to Tarshish.
In both
stories, he boards the ship loaded with passengers, lots are cast, and Jonah is
thrown overboard and swallowed by a large fish (Jonah 1:17, As-Saaffat 37|142).
After praying, he is cast out of the fish and washed ashore, and God causes a
gourd to grow (37|146) or weeds (2:5).
In the
Bible, Jonah continues into Nineveh, and the city is spared by God. In the
Quran, God causes the gourd to grow to comfort Jonah after he lies on the shore
in a sickly state (As-Saaffat 37|145), in the Bible the gourd plant grows up to
provide shade for Jonah while he waits for Nineveh to be destroyed (Jonah 4:6).
According
to an Islamic tradition however, the big fish gets frightened at first, fearing
it might have swallowed a holy person as it heard prayers and supplications read
in a wonderful voice from her stomach, hearing which numerous sea creatures had
surrounded it. But she comforts herself later since it was God's order to
swallow Jonah. After two days the fish casts him out the beach of an island and
he is very weak. The gastric juices with the hot sunlight burned his skin till
the point he was about to scream of pain. God causes a vine to grow over him
and provide him fruit and shade. He recovers and goes back to his people who had
become good after he left.
According
to the Bible, Nineveh was a great city, with more than one hundred twenty
thousand people and much livestock (Jonah 4:11). In the Quran, the number of
people he was sent towards as a prophet exceeded a hundred thousand. They
believed in his message and God granted them prosperity for a long time.
(As-Saaffat 37|147–148). In the New Testament, Jesus refers to the Ninevites
repenting at the preaching of Jonah (Matthew 12:41, Luke 11:32).
Haman
In the
Bible, Haman was an Agagite noble and vizier of the empire under Persian King
Ahasuerus who desires to persecute the Jews. In the Quran, Haman is an adviser
and builder under a Firaun (Pharaoh) of ancient Egypt whose narrative
relationship with Moses is recounted in the Quran.
The
structure which Firaun commands Haman to build is like the Tower of Babel in
Genesis, unrelated to the narrative of Haman in the Bible. Both structures are
made from burnt bricks for the purpose of ascending to the heavens.
New
Testament narratives
Zechariah
(Zakariya) and John (Yahya)
The story
of Zechariah is told in the Gospel of Luke 1:5–80 and 3:1–22 and in the Quran
3.37-41 and 19.2–15. In both accounts, Zechariah and his wife reached an old
age without bearing children. Zechariah is told his wife would conceive,
despite her barrenness, and his name would be John. As a sign that this would
happen, Zechariah becomes mute. John grows to be a devout man. Both accounts
mention John's death.
Each
account also contains unique elements and differ regarding Zechariah's
muteness. In the Bible, Gabriel appears to Zechariah, a priest, on the right
side of the altar telling him that his wife will conceive. Zechariah questions
how his wife could conceive when he is an old man, and his wife is barren and
is struck mute because of his disbelief. Later, Elizabeth conceives. After
Elizabeth gives birth and they went to circumcise the child, Zechariah confirms
that the son's name is John and receives his speech back.
In the
Quran, God promises Zechariah a child and Zechariah similarly questions God.
God replies that it is easy, just as he created Zechariah from nothing.
Zechariah then asks for a sign, and God responds that he will not speak to
anyone for three nights, except by gesture. Zechariah comes out from his prayer
chamber and gestures to praise God in the morning and afternoon.
Mary
(Maryam)
In the
Bible, in the sixth month after the conception of John the Baptist by
Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin Mary, at Nazareth.
Mary was of the house of David, and was betrothed to Joseph, of the same royal
family. And the angel had taken the figure and the form of man, came into the
house and said to her: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.' Mary
having heard the greeting words did not speak; she was troubled in spirit,
since she knew not the angel, nor the cause of his coming, nor the meaning of
the salutation. And the angel continued and said: 'Fear not, Mary, for thou
hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt
bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus (in Matthew 1:21–22 a
meaning for the name is given "for he shall save his people from their
sins. In Hebrew ישוע sounds like the Hebrew word for salvation "ישועה").
He shall be
great and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give
unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall reign in the house of
Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.'
In Luke,
Mary is betrothed to Joseph, but the Quran never mentions any man. In the
Quran, 'her people' have a conversation with Mary accusing her of fornication.
In the Bible, no such conversation happens but Joseph knows that people are
thinking this.
Mary in
Islam, "Maryam", a Quranic chapter (surah) is named for Mary and The
Quran mentions Maryam by name in numerous verses (āyāt), starting with her
birth.
Q3:36-37:
Then when she (the wife of ʿImrān) had given birth to her she said: My lord: I
have given birth to a female (And God knew best to what she was to give birth.
And the male is not like the female.) And I have named her Maryam. Then her
lord accepted her with a comely acceptance and caused her to grow with a comely
growth and placed her under the care of Zakariyyā. Whenever Zakariyyā entered
upon her in the sanctuary he found with her provision. He said: O Maryam:
whence comes this to you?
She said:
It is from the presence of God. God gives provision to whom he wills without
reckoning.
Her final
mention is in the final verse of Chapter 66 "Prohibition".
Jesus
(ʿIsa, Yeshuaʿ)
New
Testament narrative: Jesus's ministry takes up the whole of the four Gospels
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in the Bible, as well as being the focus of the
subsequent books of the New Testament.
Some
stories common to all four Gospels include: Jesus was baptized by John the
Baptist; Subsequently travelled as an itinerant preacher and healer; Took on
twelve apostles; Miraculously fed 5000 people at least once; Entered Jerusalem
on a donkey; Drove merchants from the Second Temple; Predicted his betrayal by
one of his disciples; Was crucified; But resurrected from death.
Each gospel
represents a different perspective, with some different information and
emphases than each of the other gospels. Christians accept all four books as
part of the canon of Scripture.
Quran
narrative: Jesus directly appears several times in the Quran: Al-Imran 35–59;
An-Nisa' 156–158; Al-Ma'idah 109–120; Maryam 16–35, Al-Mu'minun 50; Az-Zukhruf
57–65; As-Saff 6 and 14. He is also indirectly referred to in other locations.
The Quran
contains few narratives from Jesus' life, but does include many brief
descriptions in common with the Bible: Made the dead to live; Was the
prophesied Messiah; Flew into Egypt with Mary in childhood; Had disciples;
Taught disciples to carry on his ministry; Healed individuals inflicted with
blindness and leprosy; Had a last supper with his disciples; Prophesied the
coming of prophet Muhammad
The details
of Jesus's birth differ from those offered in the gospels of Matthew and Luke
(see above section). Other accounts in the Quran do not exist in the Bible. Two
such stories, one in which infant Jesus verbally testifies to Mary's virginity
and another in which young Jesus forms and breathes life into clay birds, have
counterparts in non-canonical Christian literature. The Quran rejects that
Jesus ever expected to be interpreted as divine and that he only taught
strictly tawhid.
Jesus in
Islam:
In Islam,
ʿĪsā ibn Maryam (Arabic: عِيسَى ٱبْنُ مَرْيَمَ, lit. 'Jesus, son of Mary'), or Jesus, is the penultimate prophet and
messenger of God (Allah) and the Messiah, who was sent to guide the Children of
Israel with a new revelation: Injīl (Arabic for "gospel").
As in the
Christian New Testament, the Quran describes Jesus as the Messiah (al-Masih in
Arabic), born of a virgin, performing miracles, accompanied by disciples,
rejected by the Jewish establishment, and being raised to heaven. The Quran
differs from the New Testament in denying Jesus was crucified or died on the
cross, and especially in rejecting the divinity of Jesus as God incarnate, or
the literal Son of God.
The
significance of Jesus in Islam is reflected in his being mentioned in the Quran
in 93 verses with various titles attached such as "Son of Mary",
"Spirit of God", and the "Word of God", and other
relational titles, mentioned directly and indirectly, over 187 times. Jesus is
more briefly described in Surah Maryam, Chapter 19 of Quran. Thus, he is one of
the most mentioned people in the Quran by reference; 25 X by the name Isa,
third-person 48 X, first-person 35 X and the rest as titles.
The Quran
and hadiths mention Jesus to have been born a "pure boy" (without
sin) to Mary (مريم) as the result of virginal conception, like the event of the
Annunciation in Christianity.
The Quran
denies Jesus as a deity in several verses, including one that mentions that
Jesus did not claim to be divine (Q5:116). According to the Quran, he was not
crucified (4:157), but was rather saved by God. (Although the earliest Islamic
traditions and exegesis quote somewhat conflicting reports regarding a death
and its length, Muslims believe that Jesus did not die on the cross, but still
believe that he was raised alive to heaven). Over the centuries, Muslim writers
have referenced other miracles like casting out demons, having borrowed from
some heretical pre-Islamic sources, and from canonical sources as legends about
Jesus were expanded.
In Islam,
Jesus is believed to have been the precursor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
According to the Quran, the coming of Muhammad was predicted by Jesus:
"And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: ‘O children of Israel! I am
God’s messenger to you, confirming the law (which came) before me, and giving
glad tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad'"
(Quran 61:6). Through this verse, early Arab Muslims claimed legitimacy for
their new faith in the existing religious traditions and the alleged
predictions of Jesus.
Like all
prophets in Islam, Jesus is also called a Muslim, as he preached that his
followers should adopt the "straight path". In Islamic eschatology,
Jesus will return in a Second Coming to fight Gog and Magog and Al-Masih ad-Dajjal
or "False Messiah" and establish peace and justice on earth.
Other
figures: People in both the Bible and the Qur'an
The Quran
and the Bible have over 50 characters in common, typically in the same
narratives. The Quran identifies Enoch and Ishmael as prophets, but they are
never given a story. In the Bible, all these men are identified as righteous
people but not prophets — except Ishmael who is blessed by God (Genesis 17:20).
There is
also one person mentioned in the Quran, Dhul-Qarnayn, who is not mentioned in
the Bible by that name but whose story is like stories about Alexander the
Great as mentioned in other Alexander romances and legends of its time (see
Alexander the Great in the Quran).
Mixed
similarities: In several cases, the Quran and the Bible have common events but
occur in different narrations.
Idol
calf and Samaritan
In the
Bible, in Moses' absence, certain people who went out of Egypt with the Hebrews
worship a golden calf saying, "This is your God, O Israel, who brought you
up out of Egypt." Hundreds of years later, Samaria was founded and became
the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. King Jeroboam, its first king,
also made two golden calves and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who
brought you up out of Egypt."
The Quran
tells the story of a calf while Moses is gone. A man called "the
Samari" Yusuf Ali or "the Samaritan" (Arberry) is blamed for
protagonizing their idolatry.
A verse in
Hosea 8:5–6 contains the same content as Ta-Ha 20.97 where Hosea refers to the
Jeroboam calf and the Quran refers to the earlier calf. Both feature a prophet
speaking to the Samaritan/Samaria promising to destroy the calf.
Throw out
your calf-idol, O Samaria! My anger burns against them. How long will they be
incapable of purity? They are from Israel! This calf – a craftsman has made it;
it is not God. It will be broken in pieces, that calf of Samaria. (Moses) said:
"Get thee gone! but thy (punishment) in this life will be that thou wilt
say, 'touch me not'; ... Now look at thy god, of whom thou hast become a
devoted worshipper: We will certainly (melt) it in a blazing fire and scatter
it broadcast in the sea!"(Yusuf Ali [Quran 20:97])
In the
Quran, Moses' punishment that the Samari cannot be touched is the same as the
modern Samaritan's punishment where no Jew was allowed to touch them because of
their idolatry. In his commentary, Yusuf Ali claims that the Samari is not a
Samaritan.
Miriam
and Mary
In Arabic,
both the names Mary and Miriam are called Maryam. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is
the only woman to have her name mentioned in the Quran; all other women are
mentioned only by relations, and their names were given later by commentators.
While speaking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Quran also refers to her as
the sister of Aaron (in verses 66:12 and 19:28–30), who in the bible also had a
sister Miriam.
Critics
have noted that the Qur’an appears to confuse Mary … in the New Testament with
Miriam of the Old Testament, who … lived some 1400 years earlier”. However,
according to Muslim interpreters, this Aaron is different from the brother of
Moses. It was a tradition to give people the names of prophets and pious
persons who lived before them.
To summarized: Can we compared the Quran with the Bible?
Ron Jefferson answered as follows in Quora.com
I think Muslims need to understand why we cannot compare the two books and why we cannot take the Quran seriously. The Quran cannot compete with the Bible in any way. The Bible is not one book but a compilation of 66 divinely-inspired books comprising God’s entire revelation to mankind. The writing of the Bible spanned north of 1500 years whereas the Quran was recited in just 23 years and written down after Muhammad died. (Read further what Jefferson has to say)
2.
Most important differences between the Quran and the Bible
Most of the
differences between the Bible and the Quran mentioned above is of relatively
small importance when look at it from the side of the real heart of the Gospel.
But there
are some very important differences which need to be focused on. Especially the narratives about the following people differ in most cases. Why such differences?
*Sons of Adam *Noah (Nūḥ) *Abraham (Ibrāhīm) *Sacrifice of his son *Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah (Lūṭ and "The People of Lot") *Joseph (Yūsuf) *Moses (Mūsā) *Gideon/Saul (Tālūt) *The Queen of Sheba *Jonah (Yūnus) and the big fish *Haman *New Testament narratives: Zechariah (Zakariya) and John (Yahya) *Mary (Maryam) *Jesus (ʿIsa, Yeshuaʿ) *Jesus in Islam * Idol calf and Samaritan *Miriam and Mary
2.1. The summarized main
message of the Quran compared to the Bible
Muslim apologists have a lot of praising for the Koran, but
few Muslims know what the MAIN MESSAGE from the Quran is if one researches the book.
That which one can quote in a one sentence phrase.
What will you say?
Don Richardson in
his book "Secrets of the Koran" wrote...
-
In the Koran there is a
continuous list of threats and damnation for punishment of sin; over and over
it is repeat: hell, punishment, wrath, God's curse etc. - both for infidels
(unbelievers or non-Muslims) and disobedient Muslims.
-
Also, anyone who refuses to go
to battle for Islam or retreats from battle for Islam, draws down the same
threats of hell (8:16; and 9:49).
Summarized: 1
threat of hell and damnation in every 7,9 verses (some verses with more than
one warnings each are counted once)...
-
Agree, the Bible also warns
against hell: This is mentioned 31 times in the OT (1 for every 774 verses) and
74 times in the NT (1 out of 120 verses)
Then it’s not wrong to summarise the message of the Quran
as…
A Book of hell and damnation!
2.2. The Quran ignores/rejects the Crucifixion of Jesus; How can it be?
The Islamic denial of the crucifixion is worthy of a special note. The Qur'an teaches nothing about salvation through belief in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. It states that the Jews did not kill the Messiah; it only looked to them like they did, but Allah gathered him up. What does that mean?
Muslim tradition further teaches that Judas was miraculously given the appearance of Jesus and was crucified by the Jews who thought he was Christ Jesus himself, while Jesus was secretly taken up to Allah. In this way he escaped the attack of his fellow Jews.
(Where in the world, from where did this story originate?
Ooh, the angel told it to Muhammad! You can fall for this if you want; Me not! As it is NOT THE TRUTH! IT IS A LIE!
Difficult to think that Muhammad, who seemed to have contact
with many Christians and Jews in his lifetime, never heard about this central
theme of the Christian faith of the worldwide church during the 7th
century, known to all Jews (although they also reject it) and all the
Christians he met, that Jesus was crucified and resurrected.
How possible could this be rejected from the Quran if it was
not deliberately done.
How is it possible that Muslim’s scholars can believe that
all the many many verses in the Bible that tell the story of Jesus historical crucifixion
were all added later (that’s what they imply saying that the Bible text was
corrupted as it does not agree with the Quran .
They just ignore all the many proven testimonies from this
historical event... just because the Quran reject it?
Dear Muslims, How can Islam just reject the crucifixion and
resurrection of Jesus despite such overwhelming proof?
During Passover I again received a comment of one Muslim friend
that said one cannot accept it … Why? Because the Quran reject it.
Friend, the information underneath about the crucifixion
gives a very good summary of the proofs of eyewitnesses about Jesus’ crucifixion
and resurrection. I see it as my duty to share this with you. You can do with
it what you want. You can say you don’t accept it, but you can also not ignore
it. Here are the Facts…
Muslims say the Bible is False!
Does this discrepancy rather not
proof that the Quran is false!
This is the one most certain proof
that the Quran is very false.
Your Quran explicitly denies that Jesus was crucified and claims
that the Jews became so confused that they crucified somebody else instead who
had the likeness of Christ. It is recorded in the Quran 4:15 “They slew him
not nor crucified but it appeared so unto them."
Anybody can see that it is a lie! Why can't Muslims see it
and accept it?
The Quran has ignored not only the records of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John and the rest of the New Testament, but also all the other
chroniclers.
It ignores the history of the Roman Empire which documented
that a Jewish man by the name of Jesus was crucified during the time of Pilate
the Pontius, the Roman Governor who gave way to the demands of the chief
priests of the Jews.
It is well known that Christ's trial took place in front of
the chief priests and the Roman Governor. It is also common knowledge that the arrested
man did not remonstrate and say, "I am not Christ, I am Judas who wanted
to betray Him and give Him away to you."
All Jesus' words on the cross denote that He was Christ,
especially His statement, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they do" (Luke 23:34).
Jesus Himself told His disciples more than once before that
He must be delivered to the chief priests and be crucified, then He would rise
from the dead on the third day. Christ Himself foretold that and the
crucifixion was fulfilled according to the many prophecies recorded in the Old
Testament which predicted His crucifixion centuries before.
Christ came to accomplish God's plan for man's salvation.
Therefore, it is not reasonable that six hundred years after
Christ's crucifixion, a man should appear and declare to the world (ignoring
all the historical evidence) that the one who was
crucified was not Christ?.
2.3. Why is Abraham’s sacrifice
of a ram in place of his son not included in Quran?
Abraham is a very important figure in the Islam
tradition as well as in the Bible.
The Quran claims (Chapter 2:125-127) that Abraham and
Ishmael, his son, are the ones who built The Ka'ba in Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The late Dr. Taha Husayn
(the most famous professor of Arabic literature in Egypt) acknowledges that the
information recorded in the Quran pertaining to the construction of Ka'ba at
the hand of Abraham and Ishmael is not historically documented. He said: "The
case of this episode is obvious because it is of recent date and came into vogue
just before the rise of Islam. Islam exploited it for religious reasons"
(quoted in Mizan al-Islam by Anwar al-Jundi, p. 170).
This declaration invoked the rage of the Muslim scholars
against him.
The former president of Tunisia did the same thing when he
stated that the Quran contains mythical stories. Muslim scholars revolted
against him and threatened to kill him because these are Muhammad's orders -
kill anybody who insults the Quran.
So, what could Taha Husayn or Abu Ruqayba [better known in the
West as Bourgiba] (or we) do if the Quran rejects the most scientifically
documented historical stories?
Is Islam expected everybody that differ from them are
supposed to shut up their mouths and close their minds lest they be killed?
Traditionally today, Muslims believe that Abraham was told to sacrifice his son, Ishmael (though the Quran does not mention the name of the son). The multiple versions suggest that the dhabih was originally an oral story that had been circulating before being written as it is in the Quran and in additional commentaries.
But Abraham's sacrifice of a ram in place of his son is
completely lost in Islam. Why? It is so sad that the most important spiritual
lesson that God intended mankind to learn from Abraham's
sacrifice of a ram in place of his son is left out in Islam.
“ISLAM BLINDS MUSLIMS TO THE PLAN OF GOD”.
Just think for yourself: Did Abraham repeat the sacrifice
every year? No!
Abraham understood the prophetic symbolism. He knew by
divine insight that the sacrifice point to Messiah sacrifice--that just as the
ram died in place of his son, so Messiah will die in place of repentant
sinners. God demonstrated substitutionary sacrifice with Abraham's sacrifice.
-
Who was to die in this
instance? Abraham's son!
-
Who ended up dying? A ram!
-
Who provided the ram? God!
-
Who deserved to die for his or
her sins? The sinner!
-
Who ended up dying for the sins
of sinners? Messiah!
Can't you see the perfect analogy?
The Bible clearly point out that Messiah became the lamb that was sacrificed to take away sins in accordance with God's eternal plan, "Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). God ordained animal sacrifice to atone for sins temporarily until Messiah comes. It is part of the rest of the tradition of the Old Testament and concluded in the rest of the Bible. Why was it left out in the Quran?
Is it so that the spirit behind Islam deliberately avoided blood atonement?ABRAHAM'S SACRIFICE: A
FORESHADOW OF THE CRUCIFIXION
See this Facebook Post: Some Questions for all to ponder as you read this Post:
□ Are the reported sacrifices of Isaac and of Jesus related?
□ Are they narrative-tied?
□ Does one of these events unfold with the other in mind?
□ Does the sacrificing of Isaac prefigure or foreshadow Jesus's? (Or
alternatively, does the sacrificing of Jesus refer back to the sacrificing of
Isaac?)
The Premise is YES, AFTER ALL…
■ BOTH ARE PROMISED-CHILDS, MIRACULOUSLY CONCEIVED
Verses on Jesus being miraculously conceived:
• Luke 1:30-35: “The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you
have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear
a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. … Mary said to the angel, “How can this
be, since I am a virgin?” The angel answered … the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.”
Verses on Isaac being miraculously conceived:
• Genesis 18:9-10: “[The angels] said to him, … “…behold, Sarah your
wife will have a son.” … Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah
was past childbearing. Sarah laughed to herself…”
■ BOTH ARE CALLED THEIR FATHER'S SPECIAL “ONLY SON”
In both stories, Jesus and Isaac are explicitly identified as their father's
special “one and only son.” This is relevant because few father-son
relationships are described this way in the Biblical texts, and yet this unique
specialness of the son to their father is central to both the story of Isaac
and Jesus.
Verses on Jesus being God's “only son”:
• John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,”
• Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him
over”
• Romans 5:10: “we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son”
• 1 John 4:9-10: “God sent his only Son … he loved us and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.”
Verses on Isaac being Abraham's “only son”:
• Genesis 22:2 -- “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love,
Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on
one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” v12 -- “…you have not withheld
your son, your only son, from Me.”
■ BOTH ARE TO BE SACRIFICED BY THEIR LOVING FATHER
■ BOTH ARE TO BE SACRIFICED IN THE SAME PLACE (MORIAH)
■ BOTH ARE TO BE A SACRIFICIAL LAMB TO GOD (ON WOOD)
In their respective accounts, both Jesus and Isaac were to be
sacrificial lambs to God.
■ BOTH CARRY THEIR OWN WOOD UP ON THEIR BACK TO DIE ON
■ BOTH VOLUNTARILY SUBMITTED TO THEIR BEING SACRIFICED
■ BOTH NARRATIVES CONCLUDE: GOD WILL PROVIDE
■ BOTH FATHERS ANTICIPATED THEIR SON'S RESURRECTION
■ BOTH NARRATIVES INVOLVE A SUBSTITUTIONARY SACRIFICE
To really understand the significance and purpose of Abraham's sacrifice
you have to read the Biblical account and compare it to the event it
foreshadowed which is the Crucifixion.
Simple, he knew it point to Messiah! Of course, he knew that if he accepts the Messianic plan of God, there would be no need for
Islam.
Muslims, it is Messiah that is eternally ordained to save,
not your religion.
Don't be deceived. Accept Jesus, the Messiah now!
Read Hebrews
7:26-28 NET About Messiah Jesus...
"For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high
priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the
heavens.
He has no need to do
every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins
and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once
for all.
For the law appoints as high priests’ men subject to
weakness, but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a
son made perfect forever."
2.4. About the Blood Sacrifice for sin
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