Islam and the Bible

[This paper was for my Religious Foundations and the Bible class at Capital University last semester.]

Jesse Harmon

UC 220

Pastor McAllister

October 24, 2011

Islam and The Bible

            The biggest, most obvious difference between Islam and Christianity has to be the theology expressed in each religion’s respective scriptures.  Islam uses the Qur’an, while Christianity uses the Bible.  As a Christian, I will try to explain Islam’s views and how they compare to the Christian Bible.  However, one must know a little about each religion’s history in order to effectively compare and contrast the two. 

        Christianity is, in layman’s terms, based on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Judaism was the foundation of Christianity, as Jesus Christ was Jewish.  However, Christians view Jesus as the Messiah that was promised in the Old Testament of the Bible, (one should note that Christians generally use Messiah and Christ interchangeably). 

        Islam is a monotheistic religion.  It’s holy book, the Qur’an, is said to have been sent down my Allah, (Arabic for God), to Muhammad, the last prophet according to Islam.  According to Islam, it is believed that Muhammad reached the Third Heaven with the permission to enter by the angel Gabriel.  Jesus however has only reached the Second Heaven, while Moses has reached the First Heaven.  However, Matthew 7, verse 15 states, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”  (NRSV)  This is reiterated in Matthew 24, verse 11, “And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray,” as does Matthew 24, verse 24, “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (NRSV). 

Martin Luther stated that Christ, “speaks of false prophecies,”  (Lee). 

            Some scholars, including Abdelmoumin I. Ahmed, believe the Qur’an is an extension of the Bible and the Torah.  He states in his 2009 article, titled, “The Bible and the Qur’an: A New Islamic Understanding,” that, “the Qur’an does not state that it came to abrogate the Torah and Gospel.  Rather, it came confirming them and including the values they have.”  Dr. Nader Pourhassan even stated the same thing, “In the Koran, the Torah and the Bible are only spoken about in the most respectful tones…It also made clear that the Koran is intended to compliment, rather than replace or succeed, the Bible and the Torah,”  (Pourhassan 74-75). I do not find this to be true.  Samual Zwemer, American Protestant missionary, states, “In the Book of Job alone there are more glorious descriptions of God’s personality, unity, power, and holiness than in all the chapters of the Qur’an,” (Reynolds).

In the Bible, Jesus is clearly seen as a performer of miracles.  His first miracle, turning water into wine, is described in John 4:46, “Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine…” (NRSV)  Jesus performs many miracles in the gospels, some of which the gospels say are not mentioned in the Bible.  However, only one miracle is seen in the Qur’an.  In The Moon chapter of the Qur’an, Muhammad is seen splitting the moon.  The Sahih International translation of the Qur’an states, “The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder (the people of Makkah requested Prophet Muhammad SAW to show them a miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon).” 

What would Christianity be like if the Holy Bible was printed in the original languages: Hebrew, Arabic, and Greek?  Many people would be seriously confused as to what is being said.  The Qur’an is, a lot of times, printed in its original language, which is Arabic.  Many newcomers to the faith find it difficult to understand what they are memorizing, or even just reading  (The battle of the books).

The one thing that the Bible and the Qur’an have in common is the fact that they are both full of bloodshed and violence.  Philip Jenkins, professor of Humanities at Penn State University, gave light on this issue.  He once wrote, “many passages quote God as commanding acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing and racially-based mass murder.”  He then goes on to explain God’s commandment to the Canaanites to exterminate the native people.  God orders King Saul to kill the Amalekite people.  Genesis 4:8 talks about Cain killing Abel, the first recorded murder in history.  “Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let us go out to the field.’^* And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” (NRSV). The Qur’an, however, states, “And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.”  This is from the chapter called, The Cow.  The most blatantly obvious sign of death from the Bible is the killing of Jesus Christ.  Pontius Pilot, after the urging of his people, crucified Jesus Christ.  This is the foundation of the Christian religion today.  However, Muhammad died more natural death.  He fell ill and died in Mecca and is buried next to his third wife. 

            Both holy books do have a “do not kill clause” in them.  The Bible has the Ten Commandments, (“You shall not murder.” NRSV).  The Qur’an states, “O you who believe! do not devour your property among yourselves falsely, except that it be trading by your mutual consent; and do not kill your people; surely Allah is Merciful to you,” in the Women chapter.  However, as seen in the above paragraph, both books give some insight into violence in their respective time periods. 

Actually writing this was very difficult.  In order to write a paper like this, one must put aside his or her own personal beliefs, and focus on the subject through objective eyes.  Researching this paper has opened my eyes a little as to what is in each respective holy book. 

Works Cited

Ahmed, Abdelmoumin I. "The Bible and the Qur'an: A New Islamic Understanding." Journal of Unification Studies. 10. (2009): 105. Print.  Islamic scholar, Ahmed,

attempts to explain why the Qur’an is an extension of the Bible and the Torah.  He discusses some of the text in both books, and compares them.

Lee, Francis Nigel. "Islam In The Bible." n. page. Web. 23 Oct. 2011.  Reverend Dr.

Francis Nigel Lee’s article appears to be one written out of emotion, instead

of unbiased scholarly research.  Her article is marked with highlights, underlines, and italicized words.  Although she does have some good points, this seems to be more of a sermon, than a scholarly letter.  This article will be    used in this paper though.

Pourhassan, Nadar. The Corruption of Moslem Minds. La Cruces: Barbed Wire Publishing, 2002. 74-75. Print.  Dr. Pourhassan documents his position on the Qur’an’s relationship with the Bible and the Torah, much like Ahmed did. 

Reynolds, Gabriel Said. "Reading the Qur'an Through The Bible." N.p., Nov 2009. Web. 23 Oct 2011.  Reynolds wrote an opinion article stating why the Bible and the Qur’an should be in each hand.  A portion of this article talks about early twentieth-century missionary Samuel Zwemer talking about how the Bible and the Qur’an should be separate. 

"The battle of the books." Economist 385.8560 (2007): 80-82. Academic Search             Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 Oct. 2011.