Christianity and Islam:

Similarities and Differences

A Step Forward in Christian-Muslim Dialogue

Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
Key Similarities and Differences................................................................................. 5
A) The Beginning.................................................................................................. 5
B) Prophets of God ............................................................................................ 11
C) Jesus .................................................................................................................. 15
D) Scriptures........................................................................................................ 25
Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 31
By: Nadim Ayche Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 35
2nd Edition References ......................................................................................................................... 43
Introduction
God created man and honored him with many attributes, the most importantly of that is the
choice between truth and error. A choice that was not given even to the angels of God, whom
were created obedient by nature and they would never disobey God. Since this choice is
given to every single human being, it is only natural for our choices to be different; what
someone might believe to be the ultimate truth, another might see it as an obvious error,
and vice versa.

Believing is an act of the heart, and we can’t possibly force someone’s heart to believe in
something no matter how obvious it looks to us. It needs to be convincing to the person
himself. If you put a gun to someone’s head and tell him to believe in what you think is the
truth, he would repeat what you tell him with his tongue, but it is never into his heart yet.
The only way that it would enter his heart is if he gets convinced through his mind first, and
that is where the importance of dialogue becomes apparent. And since most individuals
believe that they are on the right path, despite the different paths we are taking, dialogue
becomes a necessity.

Christian-Muslim dialogues are the most important religious dialogues in our times, that is
because Christianity is the most followed religion then comes Islam. According to some
statistics, followers of both religions make up to 54% of the living human population, which
is more or less believable. If dialogue is the language spoken between the followers of these
two religions, reward would be for us and all people sharing this planet with us.

What concerns us in this study is the most important part of the religious dialogue, that is
the one related to the principal or core beliefs where the differences are actually initiated. I
had the honor of being part of several dialogues regarding the Christian and Islamic beliefs.
I was also a witness to other dialogues that I didn’t participate in myself. These were involving
people from different Christian denominations. Among them people I met in different walks
of life or missionaries that stop people on the street to tell them about Jesus and the Bible
from the Christian perspective.

It is apparent from these experiences that many people have the tendency to discuss one of
the opposite aspects of the dialogue, these are the similarities or the differences between both
religions. Some people conveniently like to talk only about the similarities between
Christianity and Islam, since it brings people closer together and makes the dialogue easier
to swallow. Others like to point out the differences; and it might be more of a heated
argument than a dialogue.

In reality, we need to talk about both. It is obvious that similarities do bring people closer
together; how many important similarities between Christians and Muslims go unnoticed
because both sides never try to find out. As an example, when I was a student at Ohio
University, I wrote an article about Jesus in Islam in a local newsletter that was read by one
of my professors. So, he said to me “I never knew that you guys believe in Jesus!!”. If something
of this magnitude is not known, then it is not a surprise when Muslims and Christians look
at each other as aliens.

On the opposite side, some people might assume similarities that do not exist. For example,
some Christians thought that Muslims worship Mohammad similar to how Christians
worship Jesus. Some others though that the Quran is another Gospel besides the other four
that we currently have.

But also, understanding our different beliefs helps us remove the fear of the other. We are
the enemies of what we don’t know. People accept the differences others have with them
when they understand its background and causes, even if they continue to disagree with it.
As opposed to the differences remaining ambiguous to the other side with no apparent
reason to justify them.

What is more important is that both, similarities and differences, do actually exist. Dialogue
will not be useful if we ignore one of them and favor the other simply because it goes with
our personal preferences.

For Muslims, this approach should not be just an option, but the way to go. If you observe
the Quran, you will see how on one hand it argues against some of the principal Christian
beliefsR1, but on the other hand it tells Muslims to state the similarities when discussing
religion with Jews and Christians, such as “…but say, ‘We believe in the revelation which
has come down to us and in that which came down to you …” Quran 29:46R2, i.

And specifically about Christians, the Quran says: “82 …and nearest among them in love
to the believers wilt thou find those who say “we are Christians”, because amongst these
are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world, and they are not
arrogant.” Quran 5:82

It also appears that some of these dialogues are not beneficial, because people leave the
principal issues and discuss the minor issues related to details. The problem in this approach
is that these details are branches of the principal issues that we already disagree on. Whether
we agree on minor issues or not, it won’t have any effect on the result. It is like two people
walking on two major parallel roads, if some of the branches of these two roads meet at
certain points then the two people will meet at the branch intersection; but only to go back
to the main road. The question is, which road should we take?

i
29:46 means verse 46 of chapter 29. Refer to the Quran Overview in the References section for introduction to the Quran.
Among the things that reduce the benefits of some the dialogues is the absence of clear
distinction of the common ground that exists between the two sides. For example, Christians
do not believe that the Quran is revealed by God, and so, a Muslim cannot use verses from
the Quran as a proof in such a discussion. The same goes to the Gospels we have in our
hands these days. This should be clarified upfront so we can have a clear and open dialogue
that can be fruitful. The common ground between both sides is the human mind as I argue
in Appendix A.4.

It recently occurred to me that the Muslim and Christian individual, who is not specialized
in religious studies, needs a short study to introduce him/her to the key similarities and
differences in the beliefs of both religious. Providing that it can happen without the need for
each individual to spend a significant amount of time or effort for that sake; so the idea of
this study was born.

By reading this study, it is my hope that we come out of our comfort zones to a wider
understanding of religion. As Gary Millerii once metaphorically said “a lot of people, Muslims
and Christians alike, want to drink milk all their lives. Suppose you give the baby nothing but milk all
his life, there will come a time when the baby needs meat, fruits, and vegetables in order to grow”. Paul
talked about a similar concept in one of his letters to the Corinthiansiii. We definitely need
to go beyond the milk when it comes to our understanding of religion.

This study is divided into two parts, the main body and the appendices. The main body is
focused on the four principal topics, Adam, the prophets, Jesus, and the scriptures. The
appendices would be discussions that are not part of the main body but are important in
order to understand the principal topics. The reader may read each of these appendices
separately and before or after the main body. A section is provided at the end with most of
the references, from the Bible and the Quran, that are used in this study, for the reader’s
convenience.

May God guide us all to the truth.

ii
Gary Miller is a Canadian preacher and was a mathematics and logic lecturer at Toronto university in the 1970s. He is
knowledgeable in the Bible in its both parts, the old and new testaments.
iii
Refer to the Bible Overview in the References section for introduction to the Bible and its books and letters.
 Key Similarities and Differences
Most of the Christian-Muslim conversations usually end up being focused on the following
important topics: the beginning (Adam), prophets, Jesus, and the scriptures. In this study,
we will try to explore the similarities and differences that Christians and Muslims have, when
it comes to each of these topics.

These topics are also chosen for this study because they are common among Christians and
Muslims; that is why the subject of prophet Mohammad does not come up here since it is
not part of the scope of this study. However, the reader is encouraged to read the biography
of prophet Mohammad, from a reliable source, to get a wider and clearer picture of Islam.

A) The Beginning

Both, Christians and Muslims, believe that Adam is the first man God created and that He
created Eve from him. Both sides also believe that Adam and Eve lived in paradise for a
period of time, they disobeyed God and ate from the forbidden tree, and that God
commanded them to go down to establish life on earth. This is a great deal of similarities
even though it seems to stop here.

The Christian version of Adam’s story and the beginning can be found in Genesis 1:1
through 5:4R3, iv. On the other hand, Adam is mentioned in several places in the Quran;
however, the part related to the beginning is mentioned in details in chapters 2 and 20. The
details of the story differ as follows between both scriptures:

1- Decision to Sin

Genesis 3 says “The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the
garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of
the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,”
the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes
will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman
saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable
for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who
was with her, and he ate it” R3. If you read the entire chapter 3 in Genesis, you would
assume that Eve made the decision to eat and that Adam did not have much of a say in
that decision. It even goes on to say that Adam pointed the finger at Eve for that fault. For

iv
 the purpose of this study, it is irrelevant whether Satan appeared to them in the form of a
serpent or any other form, that should not have any bearing on the issue being discussed
here.

On the other hand, the Quran uses a different language to describe this event “36 Then
did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity) in
which they had been …” Quran 2:36R4. The Quran also confirms the primary role of Adam
in this event, “120 But Satan whispered evil to him: he said, "O Adam! shall I lead thee
to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that never decays?" 121 In the result, they both
ate of the tree, and so their nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for
their covering, leaves from the Garden: thus did Adam disobey his Lord, and allow
himself to be seduced. 122 But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him,
and gave him Guidance” Quran 20:120-122. Pay close attention to “Satan make them slip” in
the first verse and to “whispered evil to him” and “they both ate of the tree” in the second verse.
Satan’s temptation was mainly with promising eternal life, “Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom
that never decays”, and that was a Satan’s lie, the tree does not provide any of that.

In chapter 7, the Quran also says “21 And he swore to them both, that he was their
sincere adviser. 22 So by deceit he brought about their fall: when they tasted of the tree,
their shame became manifest to them, and they began to sew together the leaves of the
garden over their bodies. And their Lord called unto them: "Did I not forbid you that
tree, and tell you that Satan was an avowed enemy unto you?” Quran 7:21-22. The key thing
in this verse is “And he swore to them both”; in the Islamic tradition, there is a narration
about the conversation between God and Adam afterward, where God says to him “With
all the other items I allowed you to have in paradise, were these not sufficient to deter you from eating
what I forbid?” and Adam responded “Of course my Lord, but I swear by you I did not think that
anyone will swear falsely by your Name”. Adam here is pointing at Satan and not Eve as
indicated by Genesis.

2- Did Man Introduce Sin into the World?

As far as I know, most Christian denominations believe that Adam and Eve introduced the
sin into the world, and that the rest of the human beings inherited the sin from them.
Although you probably can’t find that stated clearly in Genesis, but you will find it in other
parts of the Bible. In Psalm 51:5 it says “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time
my mother conceived me”; also, Paul says in Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered
the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all
people, because all sinned”.

Muslims disagree completely with this notion. They see that the sin exists because God
created man with the ability to do good or sin, and that He gave man the will to choose
 between them starting with Adam and Eve. Meaning, that was not introduced by Adam or
Eve’s actions. The fact that God gave them the choice (i.e. told them no to eat from the tree)
is a clear proof that they already have the ability to do both, good or sin; otherwise what
meaning would the choice have?! “35 We said: ‘O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the
Garden; and eat of the bountiful things therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach
not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression.’” R4.

Muslims don’t not view Adam or Eve as the source of sin; they consider that if someone
believes they did then he would be stating, intentionally or unintentionally, that Adam and
Eve created something into this world and affected its agenda, instead of God. It even means
that they changed the direction of the world, and that is not possible. What they did is part
of what God created man capable of doing, that is to sin.

3- Reason for Life on Earth

Genesis 3 states “16 To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in childbearing very
severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your
husband, and he will rule over you.’ 17 To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your
wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, you must not eat from it,
cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the
days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants
of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the
ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’”. This
is a clear statement from Genesis that their sent down to earth is a punishment to them and
that Eve’s painful childbearing and labor is a punishment to her and her daughters.

Opposite to that, Muslims believe that God forgave Adam and Eve, “37 Then learnt Adam
from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him; for He is Oft-
Returning, Most Merciful.” R4. And so, their sent down to earth can’t be a punishment
because they are already forgiven. The purpose of sending human down to earth is stated in
chapter 2 in the Quran “30 Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I will create a vicegerent
on earth.’ They said: ‘Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and
shed blood? - whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?’ He said: ‘I
know what ye know not.’” R4. Per this verse, God had already told the angels that he will
create a representative to Him on earth before the creation of Adam. And it is obvious that
they already knew some of the things man will do, so they asked out of curiosity, “Wilt Thou
place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?”, the answer was “I know what ye
know not”. So, in the Islamic perspective, human’s sent down to earth is part of God’s will
and intention for this creation.
 The pregnancy and labor pain of women in the Islamic perspective is simply part of God’s
creation and Will, and it is not a reaction to Eve’s mistake or a punishment to her. If this
was a punishment, why would He punish all women instead of only Eve? Would the just and
most merciful God punish someone for the mistake of another?!

With all that said, the Quran simply disagrees with the entire argument of the need for God
to send someone later to die on the cross for our sins. From the Quranic perspective, the
effect of the sin disappeared as soon as God forgave it, and it should have no further
consequences. Saying that God has to send his son to die for our sins implies that God is
weak and can’t solve the problems of the universe with His own Will and Power. The truth
is that God does not need a process in order to forgive, He can simply forgive all the sins of
all people at all time and nothing in his kingdom will be affected.

4- Reason for Forbidding the Tree

Going back to the reason for forbidding eating from a specific tree, the Quran says “…or ye
run into harm and transgression.” Quran 2:35R4. It appears as a test of obedience of God’s
command, and that eating from it will not change man’s power or widens his knowledge.
Disobeying God is the biggest harm a man can do to himself. On the other side, Genesis 3
states “2 The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden,
and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ 4 ‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said
to the woman. 5 ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” R3. The reason for forbidding eating from
that tree in Genesis, according to Eve, is that so they don’t die. They obviously didn’t die,
otherwise where did all these humans come from? But the reason according to the serpent is
so they don’t have the knowledge of good and evil.

Let’s look at the reason stated by Eve, in Genesis, regardless whether death here is intended
in its literal or metaphoric meaningv. It is obvious that she is quoting to the serpent what
God said to them. Because her statement was not denied or corrected anywhere else in
Genesis, it is only natural to assume that she was honest and accurate in her quotation. But
Genesis 3 also says, after they ate from the tree, “22 And the Lord God said, ‘The man has
now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out
his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ 23 So the Lord God
banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been
taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden

v
cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
R3
. Here we have to ask the following question:

a. According to verse 22, God confirmed what the serpent said. And so, verse 3 can’t be
explained except as an error in the text of Genesis itself. Otherwise, is it proper for God
to give them a reason for not to eat that is different from the true reason mentioned in
verse 22?!
b. Didn’t God create this specific tree and so He can take these special attributes from it?
Or what was the reason for giving this tree these attributes in the first place.
c. Didn’t God know what will happen prior to that so He would stop them from eating
from the tree?
d. According to these verses, He also now wants to make sure they don’t eat from the tree
of life so they don’t live forever. Does he not have control over everything?
e. Does this sound like the God that created the heavens and the earth and sustains them
or does this sound like a scared person?

I will leave the answers to the reader’s judgement.

B) Prophets of God

Many of the known prophets of God that are recognized by Christianity, are also recognized
by Islam. That includes Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, and Solomon.
These are the most commonly known names, but there are more prophets that are
recognized by the Bible and the Quran. Even in the case of Jesus, there is generally an
agreement that he was sent by God, regardless of the nature of Jesus and the nature of the
message. But I will leave that to the next topic in this study.

You will also find multiple similar stories of the prophets in the Quran and the Bible,
although they might differ in the details. Such as, Noah’s ark story, the story of Moses and
the Pharaoh, and some of the stories of prophet/king David, and other prophets.

It appears that both the Bible and the Quran agree that the role of a prophet is to provide
guidance to the people they are sent to, since he is the one receiving the message from God.
A prophet is supposed to be the living example of the message he is preaching. However,
the perceptions of some of these prophets in the Bible and the Quran are in sharp contrast
to each other. We will run through three examples on Prophets Noah, David, and Solomon
respectively.

1- Noah:
Genesis 9 states about Noah “21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and
lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told
his two brothers outside.” This is a different picture painted for Noah compared to the one
in the Quran, where he is mentioned in several places all of which show a bright picture of
a prophet who spent hundreds of years calling his people to believe in God. God has chosen
him, as stated in the Quran, “33 God did choose Adam and Noah, the family of Abraham,
and the family of Imran above all people.” Quran 3:33. It is not possible for the one chosen
by God to be the same one who is drunk and naked.

2- David:
2 Samuel 11 tells us the story of David with Bathsheba “2 One evening David got up from
his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman
bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her.
The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now
she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5
The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.” R5 On the other
side, David is mentioned in various places in the Quran that gives a different picture of him,
 as in the following verse “17 Have patience at what they say, and remember our servant
David, the man of strength: for he ever turned (to God). 18 It was We that made the hills
declare, in unison with him, Our Praises, at eventide and at break of day. 19 And the
birds gathered (in assemblies): all with him did turn (to God). 20 We strengthened his
kingdom, and gave him wisdom and sound judgment in speech and decision.”
Quran 38:17-20

The Bible and the Quran are essentially talking about two different persons. The person that
is described in the Quran as “he ever turned (to God)” and was given “sound judgment in speech
and decision” cannot be the same person described in 2 Samuel. When you read the full
chapter of 2 Samuel 11 in reference R5, what is presented is a man that is intentionally
looking at a bathing woman that is not his wife without her knowledge; committing adultery
with the wife of one of his followers and using his power and position to do that; committing
murder by sending Uriah to war and making sure he gets killed. It doesn’t stop there, but
he is also sending Uriah’s death message with Uriah himself, and this is just wickedness. Is
this a person you can describe as “he ever turned (to God)”?

3- Solomon:
In 1 King 11, Solomon’s heart is described as not following the Lord completely, and he
built temples for his wives to worship other than God “7 On a hill east of Jerusalem,
Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the
detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned
incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.9 The Lord became angry with Solomon
because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to
him twice.” R6. It also appears that not only he did that, but he himself worshiped other than
God, “10 Although He had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not
keep the Lord’s command.”

This can’t be the same Solomon that Muslims came to know from the Quran. “30 To David
We gave Solomon (for a son), - How excellent in Our service! Ever did he turn (to Us)!”
Quran 38:30. In addition to the fact that he ever turns to God, he is described as being excellent
in God’s service; and that can’t be correct if he worships or help others worship other than the
One and only God.

What is interesting is that verse 4 of 1 King 11 describes Solomon by saying “4 As Solomon

grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted
to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.”. What makes this strange
is that the Biblical David who is described here as his heart was fully devoted to God is the same
David that supposedly committed all the sins and crimes discussed previously.
Discussion:
Through the direct and indirect indications in the Quran, and the teachings of prophet
Mohammad, Muslims firmly believe that all prophets of God are at the highest moral
character where no other human being can reach. They are preserved from doing major sins
and were the true living examples of God’s message to their people. Muslims have
tremendous respect to the prophets of God, all of them. When a Muslim mentions a
prophet, any prophet, he or she will always say what translates as “peace be upon him”. While
the referenced stories from the Bible reveal prophets that, at least, lost their credibility of
being an example to their people.

If these stories in the Bible about prophets of God are true, then we may ask:
a. Why would you respect, and not to mention follow, a man that is too drunk to realize
that he is naked. How would you even view a man that does such a thing at our time?

b. If you are one of the followers of the David described in the Bible, why would you not
commit adultery or murder? What would be your reaction if David asked you not to
commit these sins, while he does? Or if he tries to apply the law to you? Why wouldn’t
every married woman commit adultery, since David seems to give Bathsheba the
permission to?

c. If you are one of the followers of Solomon described in the Bible, why would you not
worship gods other than the One and only God? Is Solomon in a position to preach you
not to do so?

d. Why would God send them to deliver a message He knows from the beginning that they
themselves will not follow it correctly? Doesn’t that contradict God’s wisdom and
purpose in sending prophets?!

In addition to the credibility, which is very important and crucial to their message, there is
the issue of criminality in some cases. Take the story in 2 Samuel 11 for example, the crimes
that are attributed to David are of the lowest moral level. Not only criminal, but its
punishable by death according to the very law that David is withholding. More important,
the described character fits a hypocrite more than a prophet.

I have to admit that I don’t know the official position of any church on this issue, and
whether churches consider these passages to be an accurate text that was truly part of the old
testament or not. The only explanation I heard was from Joshua Evans quoting the priest
that was leading his church when he was a teenager, when Joshua questioned these stories
in the old testament. The priest said, and I am summarizing, “The old testament refers to God’s
 covenant with the children of Israel, and they were stubborn people. Move on in your reading to the
new testament, you will find the new covenant, they were under Jesus Christ”.

I hope that this is not the official position of any church because it can’t stand the basic
examination, for the following reasons:

1. How about the followers of David for example, who did not witness the coming of Jesus and
did not know anything about the new testament? In reality, they didn’t have the same options
that the followers of Jesus have. The same to be said about the followers of other prophets.

2. When God sent David to his people to guide them, wouldn’t God know if David was going
to commit all these horrible things? Of course, He would, yet He sends him anyway.
Doesn’t that contradict God’s wisdom by sending to them who will mislead them?

3. Why didn’t God send Jesus Christ first thing in human history or close to the beginning if
that is the case? Instead of sending hundreds of prophets that can’t solve the issue.

It appears to me that the ordinary Christian either does not read this part of the Bible or
doesn’t consider its impact. I think the scholars of Christian churches need to take a clear
stand as to what these stories are supposed to represent, and whether these are accurate
accounts of the Bible message or not.
C) Jesus

Jesus, of course, is at the center of this study. Despite the major differences between Christian
and Muslim beliefs regarding Jesus, there are also major similarities between both beliefs that
should be recognized. The following items contain similarities, differences, or both. Items 1
through 5 are important and prerequisites to item 6.

1. Mary
Both believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a righteous, pious, and devout woman. The
status of Mary in the eyes of Christians is well known, especially among Catholics. Christians
in general respect Mary, but they do have different views about her status. Catholics consider
her the mother of God, that she was preserved from doing sins, and that she has the power
of intercession. This is close to what eastern Orthodox Christians believe. While protestants
in general do not lift her status up to this level, although they consider he a saint.

The status of Mary in Islam is probably less known. The Quran says in chapter 3 “42 Behold!
the angels said: "O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the
women of all nations”, and in chapter 5 under the description of Jesus it says “75…his
mother was a woman of truth…”, and in chapter 12 it describes Mary as “12…and she
testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the
devout (servants)”. It is sufficient honor that God said about her in the Quran “chosen thee
above the women of all nations”.

2. Jesus’ Birth
Both believe Jesus was born miraculously without a father. Matthew 1 says “18 This is how
the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to
Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy
Spirit.” R7. While the Quran narrates Mary’s conversation with the angel as “…18 She said:
‘I seek refuge from thee to (God) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear God.’
19 He said: ‘Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of
a holy son. 20 She said: ‘How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and
I am not unchaste?’ 21 He said: ‘So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and
(We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is a matter (so)
decreed.’ 22 So she conceived him …”. Quran 19:16-22R8. The one speaking to Mary here is
angel Gabriel, whom God has sent to her to breath into her from His spirit. In Islam, angel
Gabriel is the holy spirit; we will discuss that later in this study.

A key difference between the two versions is that, in the remainder of this reference, the
Quran defends Mary against the accusations she received when presenting the baby Jesus to
 the public (i.e. accusation of committing fornication), which I didn’t find a similar defense
in the Bible. In the Quranic version, the door for that accusation was shut forever because
the response did not come through a regular communication channel, but through the
miracle of Jesus speaking in the cradle and responding to their inappropriate suggestions,
“27 At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said:
‘O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought! 28 ‘O sister of Aaron! Thy father was
not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!’ 29 But she pointed to the babe.
They said: ‘How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?’ 30 He said: ‘I am indeed
a servant of God: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;” R8. These
accusations were also denied in verse 156 of chapter 4 where the Quran described their
accusation as a “grave false charge”.

3. Jesus’ Mission
Both believed that Jesus was sent by God. But of course, Christians and Muslims disagree
on the form and purpose of Jesus’ mission. Christians believe that Jesus was sent as the son
of God to die and save people from their sins; and they don’t believe that he brought a new
law. Muslims believe he was sent as a prophet of God, only to the children of Israel, with the
message to worship the One and only God, and follow his law which overrode some of the
previous law. They also believe that his miraculous birth is a sign of God’s power and not a
sign of Jesus divinity. The Quran says in chapter 23 “50 And We made the son of Mary and
his mother as a Sign: We gave them both shelter on high ground, affording rest and
security and furnished with springs.”

Also, they both believe that Jesus will come back at the end of time. The form of this return
does have differences between the Christian and Islamic narrative, especially the expectations
of each side from his return. The Islamic narrative on Jesus’ return probably contains more
details than does the Christian one, but this is not the place to discuss. For Muslims, the
second coming of Jesus is one of the five major signs of the judgement day, “61 And (Jesus)
shall be a sign (for the coming of) the Hour (of judgement): therefore, have no doubt about
the (Hour), but follow ye me; this is a straight way” Quran 43:61.

4. Miracles
Both believed that Jesus performed miracles. Most of the commonly known miracles
performed by Jesus, such as healing the born-blind, are mentioned in both the Quran and
the GospelsR9. The interesting part is that, there are two miracles mentioned in the Quran
that we don’t see in the Gospels. These are when Jesus spoke in the cradleR8, and the food
table that was sent down to the disciples by GodR10, as seen in chapter 5 of the Quran that is
named after this miracle, Al-Maeda (The Table).
 The key difference is that, while Christians view Jesus’ miracles as a sign of his divinity,
Muslims view them as miracles done by the permission of God, and to be no different from
the miracles that other prophets performed, such as Moses. And so, these miracles are proof
of his prophecy because every prophet is supposed to perform miracles that supports his
claim that he is sent by God.

In the limited human perception, if you compare Jesus’ miracles to those of the other
prophets, the other miracles look more difficult to do. For example, Jesus brought people
from the dead, but those are people that originally had a life (soul). If you compare that to
one of Moses’ miracles, he was transforming the stick that didn’t have a soul into a living
snake. Or if you compare that to one of prophet Mohammad’s miracles with the tree trunk.
Prophet Mohammad used to give his Friday prayer speeches while leaning his back to that
trunk; and then they built him a platform. The first time the prophet used the new platform,
the trunk was longing for him and they were hearing a crying sound. Prophet Mohammad
then stepped down and wiped on it with his hand to calm. Or if you compare Jesus’ miracle
of bringing people back to life to the miracle of prophet Saleh, that Muslims believe in,
which goes like this: Saleh’s people challenged him with what they thought is impossible,
they requested that he gives them a female camel that literally comes out of a big rock that
they chose. Not only that, they wanted her to be pregnant and that she gives birth in front
of them. God gave them exactly what they requested. Of course, all these things are equally
easy for God.

In the Islamic perspective, If Jesus’ birth without a father is a sign of divinity, then what do
we call Adam who was born without a father and a mother. The Quran echoes this same
meaning, “59 The similitude of Jesus before God is as that of Adam, He created him from
dust then said to him: ‘Be’ and he was. 60 The truth (comes) from thy Lord alone, so be
not of those who doubt.” Quran 3:59-60. As to the miracles in general, the Quran makes its
position very clear by mentioning that these miracles are done with the permission of God,
and not due to the ability of Moses, Jesus or MohammadR9, R10.

5- Additional Topics
Muslims do not view Mohammad the same way Christians view Jesus, and that is one of the
misconceptions about Muslims that can be found in the United States and the western
countries in general. While Christians view Jesus as being God or son of God, depending
on which major branch of Christianity you’re referring to (Orthodox versus Catholics versus
Protestants), Muslims view Mohammad as mortal human that God send with a message to
guide people and gave him the Quran.
 Another difference is that Christians believe that God sent his son for all people and that
there will be no prophets after him. They resolve, for example, what Jesus says in the
following verse with an interpretation that takes the verse from its apparent meaning, “I was
sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” R11. While Muslims believe that Jesus was a human
prophet sent to his people only (children of Israel); the Quran says about Jesus “48 And God
will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel, 49 And (appoint him) a
messenger to the Children of Israel” Quran 3:48-49. Also, ”59 He was no more than a servant:
We granted Our favour to him, and We made him an example to the Children of Israel”
Quran 43:59.
In Muslim beliefs, the only message that was for all mankind is the last message that was sent
down to Mohammad; the Quran says about sending Mohammad “107 We sent thee not,
but as a Mercy for all creatures” Quran 21:107. That is why the Quran declares Mohammad
as the seal of the prophets, “40 Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he
is) the Messenger of God, and the Seal of the Prophets: and God has full knowledge of all
things“ Quran 33:40. The message of Islam sent down to Mohammad does not contradict the
principal beliefs in the previous messages since Adam till Jesus; it also contains the last law
sent from God to people, and every part of a previous law is either confirmed or overridden.

6- Jesus, Crucifixion, and Trinity

Since Muslims believe that Jesus is only a prophet of God, just like Moses, David,
Mohammad, and many others; the burden of proof falls on the Christian side of the
conversation. That is because they are the ones claiming a special status for Jesus above and
beyond that of the other prophets, that is the divinity. The key discussion points are usually
as follows:

a. Christians believe that Jesus is divine, at least that is the official stand of most of the
denominations; except probably the Unitarian church, which I only met one person
from that church in my whole life; that was during a short spell I lived in the State of
Ohio. Unitarians believe in the Oneness of God and they don’t see Jesus as a divine
being but as a person that God revealed to, but that is not mainstream Christianity.
Muslims on the other side believe that he is mortal human honored with being sent by
God as a prophet and a messenger.

I can’t find an explicitvi verse in the Gospels that supports the claim of Jesus’ divinity. All
the verses used by Christians are implicit and could be interpreted differently based on
other parts of the Bible. In my view, the probable and apparent meanings of these
different implicit verses are not the one leading to Jesus’ divinity. You won’t find in the

vi
 Gospels that Jesus himself claims to be divine explicitly; it is only the interpretations of
Christian believers of the Bible. While in the Quran, the versus related to the status of
Jesus are strictly explicit; as an example, “75 Christ the son of Mary was no more than
a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was
a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how God doth make
His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!”
Quran 5:75R12.

In my experience, the view on the form of this divinity varies between different Christian
denomination and sometimes between different individuals within the same
denomination. I have always started the conversation by asking “What is the status of Jesus
in your beliefs?” or “How do you explain the trinity?”. On the individual level, I have heard
answers ranging from “Jesus is God”, to “Jesus is the son of God” to even the surprising, but
less common, answer of “I don’t believe Jesus is divine, but I still consider myself a Christian”.
To the last one I would say “who do you pray to?” and the answer comes back through a
surprised face “to God!”.

b. Christians believe in the trinity, that is the father, the son and the holy spirit. It is
believed that the first person to use the term ‘trinity’ is the Patriarch of Antioch in the
second century. So, it is a term that you’ll not find on the lips of Jesus, or anywhere in
the Gospels, and Christians can agree to that. With all its importance to the Christian
creed, I still haven’t heard a common definition of the trinity that is agreed on among
Christians, but if I would try to phrase a Christian definition I would say “The trinity is
the belief that the father, the son and the holy spirit are three persons in one entity, that is God.
These are not three, but one, as in the father is God, Jesus is God, and the holy spirit is God”.
Differences between the views of Christian individuals on the trinity usually show up
when you ask them to explain the above definition. Muslims not only disagree with the
status of Jesus and the holy spirit in Christianity, they also disagree with the possibility
of God being three different persons and still be considered one.

The challenge for those of us who believe in the trinity is that it has to somehow be
referenced back to Jesus, and not to someone else regardless of their status, there is no
other option. The fact that it is not on the lips of Jesus presents a serious challenge to
the possibility of the idea all togethervii . That is because Christians generally believe that
the trinity is above the reach of the human mind, i.e., the mind can’t make a judgement
about whether the trinity is true or not. So, the only other way to prove this belief is the

vii
See Appendix A.3 for further discussion on the trinity in the Gospels.
scripture. If the trinity is not provable by the human mind and is not explicitly taught by
Jesus in the Gospel, then where did it come from?

On the Muslim side, the Quranic verses related to the trinity are very clear and explicit,
“73 They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god
except One God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous
penalty will befall the blasphemers among them. 74 Why turn they not to God, and
seek His forgiveness? For God is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful. 75 Christ the son of
Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away
before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily)
food. See how God doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are
deluded away from the truth!” Quran 5:73-75R12. I don’t know what the implications of
the English word ‘blaspheme’ that Yusuf Ali chose to use in his translation, but it is
supposed to be a translation of the Arabic word ‘kafara’, which literally means they
‘disbelieve’ and in this context ‘disbelieved in the true God’.

The Quran obviously doesn’t disagree with the existence of Jesus and for that matter the
holy spirit. The Quran says “87 We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a
succession of messengers; We gave Jesus the son of Mary Clear (Signs) and
strengthened him with the holy spirit. Is it that whenever there comes to you a
messenger with what ye yourselves desire not, ye are puffed up with pride? - Some ye
called impostors, and others ye slay!” Quran 2:87. But the definition of the holy spirit in
the Quran differs completely from that in the Christian belief. For example, the Quran
says to Mohammad about the very revelation of the Quran he is receiving “102 Say, the
Holy Spirit has brought the revelation from thy Lord in Truth, in order to strengthen
those who believe, and as a Guide and Glad Tidings to Muslims.” Quran 16:102. There
is a consensus among Muslims, since the time of prophet Mohammad, that the holy
spirit is angel Gabriel, the angel that brings down the messages from God to the prophets.
The Quran named him Jibreel (Arabic for Gabriel), and named him rouh al-qudus (Arabic
for holy spirit) like in the verse above, and also named him arrouh al-ameen (Arabic for
spirit of faith and truth) like in the following verse. “192 Verily this is a Revelation from
the Lord of the Worlds: 193 With it came down the spirit of Faith and Truth- 194 To
thy heart and mind, that thou mayest admonish” Quran 26:192-194. Also, prophet
Mohammad occasionally referred to angel Gabriel in his talks as the holy spirt or the
spirt of Faith and Truth.

To the best of my knowledge, there are only three prophets that Muslims believe they
have spoken to God directly with no intermediary, and on limited occasions. Those are
Adam (at the beginning), Moses at the mountain in Sinai, and Mohammad during the
 night ascension above the heavens. The rest of the communications between God and
prophets were through angels and particularly through Gabriel. In the case of Jesus,
Muslims believe that the holy spirit (Gabriel) stayed with him constantly to support him
as verse 2:87 mentioned above indicates.

c. Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross; Mark 15 says “24 And they crucified him.
Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get. 25 It was nine in the
morning when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him
read: the king of the Jews.”. Muslims on the other hand do not believe that he did, the
Quran says “…157 That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary,
the Messenger of God’;- but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made
to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain)
knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not:- 158
Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise;-” Quran
4:157-158R13.

Discussion:

In order to understand the Christian beliefs, these three topics should be discussed together,
that is Jesus’ divinity, crucifixion, and the trinity. As I mentioned earlier, since Christian
beliefs include what is above and beyond the Islamic beliefs, Christians typically need to offer
provable explanations to a few common questions in defense of their beliefs. These questions
could be asked by anyone and need not be associated with Muslims only. I will be presenting
these questions in the form of a conversation; good part of which comes from actual
conversations I had in the past. Parts of this conversation are a topic of debate among major
Christian branches themselves, that is Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Christians.

If we consider the trinity to be a form of monotheism as the Christians believe, “are the father
and the son one or two beings?” The expected answer is “they are one”, that is the basic definition
of monotheism. But “does Jesus have an independent will from that of the father?” i.e., can the
father want something and Jesus want something else that is opposite or contradictory, at
the same time and situation? The expected answer to this question is “no”, because a “yes”
answer would mean that these two wills would be in conflict and one of them only will
prevail. So, the answer is usually “no”. So, Christians believe that they are one and that they
have the same will.

If you ask, “if they have the same will, why did Jesus cry out in a loud voice ‘Eli, Eli, lema
sabachthani?’ Matthew 27:46 (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?”)”. The common answer is that “Jesus had two natures, divine nature and human nature, and
the human is the one who made this cry”. If you’re not familiar with the common Christian
beliefs, a whole new concept is presented to you at this stage, that is the dual nature of Jesus.
Although this concept is intended to mean that the human side is in full submission since
it is accompanied by the divine side; however, the verse above goes against this very concept,
but let’s continue.

The human nature of Jesus is not debated by anyone, because Jesus was born from his
mother’s womb, grow up from a newborn into a man, ate, drank, slept, felt pain, and
performed all other human needs that need not be listed here, in order to keep our level of
respect to Jesus where it belongs. So, no one in his right mind ever claimed that Jesus was
like the fictional superman figure that, for example, ate just because he likes to and not
because he needs to. Jesus ate food simply because he needed to.

Since the human nature of Jesus is not argued by anyone, “why do Christians see the need for
Jesus to have a divine nature too?”, assuming the concept of the dual natures is feasible. The
answer is, and I am typically paraphrasing in this conversation, “God sent his only son to die for
our sins, it has to be someone who is divine in order to redeem us from our sins”.

At this point, let’s get past the discussion regarding why God needs to die for our sins, which
is discussed in the part about Adam. For the sake of this conversation, let’s assume that we
agree that Jesus needed to die for our sins as the son of God. Gary Miller once asked, “why
can’t we take the greatest, most righteous man ever created and crucify him instead?” The answer is
according to Gary also, “Humans are sinful and not perfect, in order for our sins to be redeemed, the
crucified had to be someone who is divine and pure of sins, it has to be someone who is God and man
at the same time. The man alone is simply not good enough”. Obviously, this is an explanation and
not a proof, but let’s continue the conversation.

“So, did the divine Jesus die?”.

No one in his right mind would say “Yes, the divine Jesus died”, because according to the
Christian beliefs, Jesus is supposed to be one with God. The death of the divine Jesus would
mean that God died, and that is agreeably impossible. So, when faced with the question of
“Did the divine Jesus die?”, the answer is typically “No, only the man died”. However, this answer
takes us back to the beginning with Gary’s question, because the man dying was supposed to
be not good enough.

There are people who insist not only on the dual nature of Jesus, but also that the divine
Jesus never separated from the human one even for a blink of an eye. And they argue that if
he would have done that, the crucifixion wouldn’t have been enough to forgive all the since
of humanity for all generations of people. But the agreeable fact is that the human died, and
that is a separation regardless of when it happened. Their argument means that the divine
was with the human supporting him but the human is the only one that gets the pain and
then dies. If that is the case, it could have been any human being sacrificed, like Gary
suggested, and God would be with him all the time and support him. The result will not
change. The argument that the sacrifice has to be someone who is divine is no more than an
explanation, but it doesn’t do the job of proving Jesus’ divinity.

At this point of a conversation, people either go back to explanations that go around in

circles and come back to the same point, or they would say “the concept of divinity of Jesus and
the need to die for our sins is above the human mind, and we can’t comprehend it. It comes to us
through God. You first have to believe and then it will come to you and you will understand it.”

On a personally level I feel that, it is not fair to the listener when someone makes this
argument in such an important discussion, because there is nothing about it that is verifiable.
It is just a statement someone else is making and it is impossible to prove. There were times
when I replied “That is fine. I can agree with your conclusion and I would say that Jesus didn’t only
have a father, but also had a grandfather. However, you haven’t reach that conclusion because this is
above the human mind and only God can give it to us. He has given it to me. You just have to believe
in it first”. Of course, I am not claiming that the last sentence is true, but it is not much
different in conceptviii.

The argument that a belief is above the reach of the human mind might look appealing at
first, but if you think about it, we’ll find that it goes against God’s wisdom, justice, and mercy.
God created us and gave us only one tool to distinguish between right and wrong and
between truth and falsehood, and that is the human mind. If the truth about God is above
the human mind, that means that God created us without the ability to distinguish between
what is true and false about Him; and then He guided some people to the truth, but not
others, for no fault of their own. Do we anticipate such a thing from God the Just and
Merciful?!

If this specific belief is above the mind as some of us argue, it would mean that no person
can convince another person with these beliefs. That is because the mind is the only human
tool we have to convince each other. In that case, why do churches send out missionaries
across the land to convince people with the divinity of Jesus and his death as a savoir? They
are basically using the human mind to convince people with a fact that is above the human
mind. It seems to me that the missionary trips are practically an admission from the churches
that this fact is not above the human mind.

Going back to the discussion about the proposed dual nature of Jesus, I once sat down and
thought about it from the timeline standpoint according to the Christian beliefs, starting
with the day before Mary conceived Jesus and ending with the day after the crucifixion. Here
is how it goes: On the day before Mary conceived, there was only the divine Jesus with no
human nature. i.e., Jesus had one nature at that time. The next day Mary conceived and she

viii
See Appendix A.2 for further discussion about the human mind.
eventually gave birth to baby Jesus that becomes the Jesus we know. Now Jesus has two
natures, divine and human, which is a change from the one nature he had. Years after, Jesus
got crucified and the human side died; Jesus is now back to the one nature he had before,
and that is a change too.

If you believe in the dual nature of Jesus, you simply believe that Jesus is ever changing which
means that he is not God. God simply does not change. On the other side, if you believe
that Jesus is divine, then you have to give up the dual nature argument; and the one died on
the cross is just the man sent by God. In the latter case, what is the need for Jesus to be divine
if he is not dying anyway? Wasn’t that the basis for the argument that Jesus need to be divine?

Aside from these previous discussions, I have the following thought regarding the crucifixion
that I like to mention, which goes as follows: Christians believe that God sent his own son
to die for our sins. The death method was the crucifixion which is a horrible crime and a
very unmerciful way to die, to say the least, even if only the human dies on the cross. But
God wills, according to the Christian belief, that the cruel criminal who crucifies his son is
the very same man that his son came to die for. The man is being saved from his sins by
doing a horrible and huge sin (crime), a lot bigger compared to the first sin that started all
this. It sounds a little strange.

From the Muslim perspective, Jesus is not divine and he didn’t die on the cross or
anywhere else. He is simply the prophet of God to the people of Israel. God created him
without a father as a sign for all mankind. God saved him from those who wanted to
crucify him; and made his student, that betrayed him and lead to his hiding place, to look
exactly like Jesus. They crucified this betraying student, “157 That they said (in boast),
"We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of God";- but they killed him not,
nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein
are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a
surety they killed him not:- 158 Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is
Exalted in Power, Wise;” Quran 4:157-158.
D) Scriptures

To cover this topic, first we need to provide a brief historical introduction on how the Quran
and the Bible were transferred to us.

Starting with the Quran, and unlike some of the previous scriptures, the Quran was not
revealed at once. Prophet Mohammad received the revelation during what is approximately
23 years, from the first revelation he received at the age of forty (which was the first 5 versus
of chapter 96) to the last verse towards the end of his life. It is a common knowledge that
prophet Mohammad was illiterate, he never knew how to read or write. A number of his
companionsix were tasked with writing down the new revelations upon his orders and during
his life, and people had instantaneous copies of it. In addition, many of his companions
memorized the verses of the Quran as they get revealed.

Prophet Mohammad was the living example of the Quran and he was reciting it on them
and teaching it to them every day. Thousands of the companions have memorized the entire
Quran during the prophet’s lifetime. After his time, the Quran was mass transmitted through
teaching and memorization from the prophet’s companions to hundreds of thousands and
then to millions of people within a limited number of generations. So, it was transmitted to
us through memorization as it was transmitted to us as a written scripture. Both were in a
public form that no one can possibly modify without being caught.

The official prints of the Quran, that the companions of prophet Mohammad had no
objection to, were collected and put in one binder at the time of Abu-Baker, that is one of
the companions of prophet Mohammad and the first Muslim leader after him. Copies of it
were made and distributed to different territories at the time of Othman, the third leader,
that is when the footprint of the Islamic State was getting larger. All that is happening under
a State that is ruled by Islam, so there is no persecution to the believers in this message in
any form or shape. No restrictions on the circulation and teaching of the Quran publicly.
No outside factors that could affect the ability of Muslims to preserve the book. That is why
Muslims have absolutely no doubt that the book we have in our hands today is the literal
word of God as it was revealed to Mohammad, and no single letter has ever been modified
by someone else.

The Quran was revealed in Arabic, that is a living language that is still being used by millions
of people including myself, and it was the language of the State. Even new Muslims from

ix
A companion of prophet Mohammad is a person who believed in the message of Islam and met the prophet. Especially the
ones that stayed around him.
other backgrounds at the time ended up speaking Arabic, not just for the Quran but for
their day to day life needs. For the reader’s information, native Arabic speakers could be
Muslims, Christians, Jews or any of several faith and cultures or even atheists. Although it is
not practically possible, but even if all the millions of Muslims at some point in time agree
to manipulate the text, it is not like they can just do it and no one can find out. People of
other faith speak the exact same language and they are good at it too.

For the Bible, the four gospels that Christians agree on are those of Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. We say “agree on” because there are other gospels that Christians don’t recognize
as genuine scriptures, such as the Gospel of Barnabasx. These four gospels are not doctrine
books, but more of the biography of Jesus. According to different Bible translations, these
are not books that were revealed to Jesus, but a recording of these four individuals mentioned
above, through different sources. Only two of them are introduced as being from the
disciples of Jesus, those are Matthew and John. Mark’s Gospel is a record of what he heard
from Peter, a disciple of Jesus. And Luke was a companion of Paul.

Among Christian scholars, there is a disagreement about the years these Gospels were
written. There are doubts about the declared identities of some of the authors of Gospels or
letters in the New Statement. For example, not all Christian scholars agree that John, the
writer of the fourth Gospel, is the same as John the disciple of Jesus. They site multiple items
they consider evidences including that this Gospel is written late between 90 and 100 AD,
and its language is more theologically developed than the times the other Gospels were
written.

It is generally agreed on that Jesus and his students spoke Aramaic; however, there is no
consensus regarding the original languages of the four gospels. What we know is that the
Gospels were written in multiple different languages that all are considered dead languages,
that no current nation speaks. Some of the Gospels’ copies in their original languages were
never found; all we have is a translation into another ancient dead language. So, it is not
ever possible to verify the accuracy of the original translation. For example, Matthew wrote
his Gospel to the Jews in ancient Hebrew that no one has a copy of; however, the only copy
could ever be tracked is a translation of the Gospel to ancient Greek. The original is simply
lost. As for the English translations of the Gospels that are easily available these days, the
first translation was completed in the year 1380 AD by John Wycliffe.

x
The earliest reference to this Gospel I found was in the Gelasian Decree that was issued by Pope Gelasian I between 492 &
496 AD. In chapter 5 of this decree, a list is provided for books to be avoided by Roman Catholics. Among them is “the Gospel
in the name of Barnabas”. This gospel is aligned with the Islamic beliefs when it comes to Jesus’s deity, trinity, and crucifixion;
however, we are not interested in using it in this study since Christians do not believe it to be an authentic Gospel. Some p eople
wrongly claimed that this is made up by Muslims but looking at the date it was mentioned in the Gelasian Decree, that was more
than 70 years before the birth of prophet Mohammad.
According to the “Story of the Bible” by Larry Stone, Matthew and Luke consulted with
Mark’s Gospel. They also consulted with another Aramaic document referred to by Christian
historians as document Q, that we have no record of and we don’t know its author. What is
strange about consulting with Mark’s Gospel is that Matthew is supposed to be one of the
disciples of Jesus; why would a student of Jesus need the help of another one, who is not the
student of Jesus, to write his own Gospel?! Consulting with both documents looks even
stranger when you consider that all the gospels are supposed to be inspired by the holy spirit;
why do they need the help of something else?!

The persecution of the early followers of Jesus is a challenge to the accuracy of the text at a
completely different level. People were being executed simply for trying to follow Jesus. The
environment in which these Gospels and letters were written, translated, and circulated
around is not one that allows care of the accuracy of the text. I will leave you with a piece by
Sir Frederic G. Kenyon whom I understand to be an authority on the study of ancient
languages and the study of the new testament as a historical document. He says:

{…Then we have a period of rather over two hundred years, when the various books
circulated, either singly in separate papyrus rollsxi or combined into small groups in papyrus
codices, with no central control to ensure a uniform text, but rather exposed to indefinite
variation at the hands of local scribes, and perhaps assuming a somewhat different character
in different parts of the world. During this period also, translations were made into Syriac,
Latin and Coptic. Meanwhile Christianity was from time to time exposed to persecutions by
the Roman Emperors and governors, when copies of the Scriptures were a special object of
search and destruction, which increased the difficulty of securing an accurate transmission
of the text. Many churches must have been dependent on copies locally made by
inexperienced scribes; and though scholars or bishops may from time to time have tried to
secure and circulate more correct copies, their efforts would probably have effect only in
their own neighbourhood. It is a period of confusion, when people were thinking only of
the substance of the Christian teaching, and caring little for the verbal accuracy of the text;
and when there were no great libraries, as there were for pagan literature, in which the books
could be carefully copied and revised by skilled scholars. It is by realizing the conditions in
which Christians lived in these earliest centuries that we can best understand the problems
presented to us with regard to the text of the Greek Bible}xii .

If you read the history of the Bible languages as discussed by Christian scholars, you would
realize how complex the language issue is, and how easy for information to be mistranslated,

xi
Papyrus rolls were made from the pith of a papyrus plant and used in ancient times to write on.
xii
“Story of the Bible”, by sir Frederic G Kenyon end of chapter 3.
completely lost, or intentionally modified. Take the ancient Hebrew for example, it is a
language that had no vowels, and was sometimes written without spaces between words. It
obviously had verbs but it didn’t have verb tenses; the past, present, and future tenses did
not exist in that language. Also, it is a Semitic language like Arabic, which means that it is
written from right to left. Now imagine a scripture, written in ancient Hebrew, is being
translated into ancient Greek by an unskilled local scribe, under the Roman persecution and
lack of resources. I will let the reader conclude what the final product would look like, even
if we assume the scribe is not trying to manipulate the text.

In a speech given in Orange County, California, Joshua Evans reported what he heard from
one of the textual critic professors at Bob Jones Universityxiii. Transcript of what the professor
said is provided below:
{ what you have is a book written by men over centuries and centuries and eons and eons, and this book
started as an original that was copied and copied and copied, and somebody added a mistake and
somebody came behind him and corrected that mistake and added two of his own, someone came and
copied it and skipped a line and added a line where it wasn’t supposed to be, and someone else came
and copied it and took it to his country and in order for it to fit well with the doctrines they were
teaching he would cross out a dot here or cross out a word here or change a word here so it would fit
with the theological ideas of this part of the world , and after all these years, you have a book now that
is compiled from all of this written by the hands of men that still have men fingerprints left on it, and
that’s what you have, you have an imperfect book that is only perfected through faith} [End of transcript]xiv .

When we read through the history of the Bible from Christian sources and read through
some of the debates around some of the books and/or the authors of the Gospels, it might
be difficult for some of us to understand the dimensions of such discussions or debates. That
is because most of us would demand scientific proofs and authenticity to everything in life;
but when it comes to the most important thing in life, that is religion and salvation, some of
us are willing to ignore all the authenticity discussions, confusions, and doubts related to the
Bible and proceed. We always find justifications that are based on personal feelings!!

During the time I lived in the State of Georgia, around the year 2006, I once asked a man
who claimed to be a missionary, “Do you believe all the Bible is from God or do you think some of
it has been edited and revised over the years”
He said “No, some of it is from God and some of it is not”. And I appreciated his honesty.
I said, “Do we know which part is from God and which part is not?”.

xiii
Bob Jones University is a private, non-denominational Evangelical university in Greenville, South Carolina, known for its
conservative cultural and religious positions
xiv
The full video is available on youtube at this address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGrcFGSDfiA
He said “No”.
I said, “John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son…”, is that from the
part that we know is from God?”.
He said “We don’t know”.
I said, “If that is the case, why do you call people to believe in it?!”
He said, “I don’t know!!”, with a body expression that says “Whatever!”.

One argument I heard in dialogues and read about in some of the Bible history books, is the
claim of discovering a number of papyrus rolls in the 1,800s that contains partial writings
from the Gospels. These writings go back to the second century; and they supposedly match
the current Gospels in our hands. The details of these discoveries are not part of the scope
of this study and can be found in multiple publications. However, what concerns us here is
how does this affect the authenticity of a scripture. Assuming that the translation of these
papyri from their original unspoken language to current languages is accurate, which is a big
assumption, these kinds of discoveries are not an acceptable form of proof of the authenticity
of the Bible. Firstly, we are talking about parts of the gospels and not all the gospels.
Secondly, even if these discovered papyrus matches the current copies we have, what does
that prove? The original documents themselves are in question, as can be seen from sir
Kenyon’s writings. Matching them does not advance the discussion at further.
Besides, it is a strange thing to lean on a proof of this kind to support a scripture; are we
trying to say that God’s message to people needs some archaeologists to discover this
document for a proof, after about 1800 years. What would that mean to the millions of
people that lived and died before this discovery. We are talking about books of guidance
from God and not Archaeological discoveries; this is not the way God’s message is learned
about and proved.

Another common argument is that the Bible is the “inerrant word of God in the original”;
and the last person that used this argument in a conversation with me was a person that is
officially involved in church activities, and he explained it as the official stand of his church.
This is such an interesting argument. Of course, every book that is supposed to be revealed
by God should be inerrant in the original, because God does not commit errors. But that is
not what we are discussing here. When we say ‘the Bible is inerrant’ or ‘the Quran is
inerrant’, we are and should be talking about the copies we have in our hands. How much
does it match the original? Has it been modified from the original or not? I only reported
this argument because it is commonly heard, but I am not sure that we can use this argument
to support the current copy of the Gospels.

In summary, there are obvious reasons that makes the narration of the Bible and the Quran
different when it comes to the accuracy. Three among these are most important; they were
also mentioned by Gary Miller in his previously referenced speech. First, the language of the
Quran is a living language, while the Bible is written in ancient languages that no one speaks.
Second, the Quran has been in the hands of people since day one, while the Bible was the
property of the church for hundreds of years. Third, there is not any dispute about the Quran
among Muslims, while the first table of content of the Bible that matches the current Bible
dates back to the fourth centuryxv . Debates were still going on as to what books belong to the
new testament. Up until today, there are 7 books in the old testament in dispute between
Catholic and Protestant churches. Debates about the content of the Bible between
translators may never end.

There is a clear difference between the authenticity of the Bible and that of the Quran as
already explained. Obviously, Christians are using the current Bible as the source of their
religion, which means that its level of authenticity is acceptable to them. In the Islamic
traditions, the level of authenticity of the Bible is classified as uncertain; which is not an
acceptable form of proof for the principal beliefs of a religion. Not only that, there are
historic disconnects in the transmission of the Bible to us, which makes it unusable, according
to the Islamic standards of narrations. Muslims require that the principle beliefs be based on
teachings or documents that has a certain authenticity and a continuous chain of historical
transmission, that leaves no doubt. An example of that is the mass transmission of the Quran
from one generation to another.

From the Muslim standpoint, the status of the authenticity of the Bible (old and new
testaments) and the Quran is no coincidence. The Quran talks about the Torah by saying
“44 … for to them was entrusted the protection of God’s Book, and they were witnesses
thereto…” Quran 5:44. The statement “to them was entrusted” means that God left it up to them
to protect and preserve the Torah and He did not promise to do so Himself. The same
applies to the Gospels and new testament in general, in the Islamic perspective. While in the
case of the Quran, it was not left up to the Muslims or anyone else to protect and preserve
it; but God promised to do so “We have, without doubt, send down the Message; and We
will assuredly guard it (from corruption)” Quran 15:9.

xv
“The Story of the Bible” by Larry Stone.
Conclusion
This study is intended to be brief and informative; to give sufficient information for the
reader to be aware of the major dimensions of this discussion. There are more similarities
and differences between Christians and Muslims, but I elected to focus only on what I
consider to be the common topics at the core of our different beliefs, for the reasons
mentioned at the beginning.

Additional topics could have been discussed and would make for such an interesting
discussion. For example, in Christianity, you are saved by faith, i.e. believing that Jesus is
your savoir; that he died on the cross for our sins. While in Islam, no one is judged by the
mistake of the other. Many Christians assume that Muslims believe that they are saved by
work, and that can’t be farther from the truth. The importance of work in Islam, after true
beliefs, is that God promised paradise in the Quran for those who believe and do good work.
Meaning that God made the good work a reason for entering paradise, after believing. The
Quran is filled with verses similar to this “107 As to those who believe and work righteous
deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise, 108 Wherein they
shall dwell (for aye): no change will they wish for from them.” Quran 18:107-108. Prophet
Mohammad explained that no one qualifies to enter paradise because of his work, but only
with God’s mercy.

Another topic that would be interesting for future discussions is the belief in the unseen,
such as the angels, paradise, hell, judgement day. These would need a separate study.

In summary, let’s agree that we can disregard the minor differences between Christians and
Muslims on topics that do not really make much of a difference in this context, such as,
whether Jesus was truly born in December or why do Christians drink alcohol and eat pork
and Muslims don’t. Secondly, and for the purpose of this discussion, we can disregard some
important issues such as the example mentioned above about salvation. All these are not
intellectual items but rather items related completely to God’s Will. Should two people agree
on the principal topics of this study and agree on which book of revelation to use, they would
then easily agree, for example, on the unseen. These non-intellectual items would fall in place
naturally, based on whichever scripture an individual follows.

So, if we put all that aside and talk about the topics of this study only, it is my conclusion
that Islam and Christianity are so similar that they must be coming out of the same source;
but they are so different and sometimes contradictory that only one of them can be accurate.
It is the job of every one of us to find the authentic and true message that God sent and
follow it. Was Jesus the divine son of God, and so he was the last sent by God to save us
from our sins, as Christians believe? Or, was Jesus a human messenger and prophet of God
to the children of Israel only, and hence succeeded by Mohammad, the seal of the prophets,
with the last message and complete religion for everyone to follow, as Muslims believe?

These are the options we have and the potential choices that we’ll face God with when we
die. “88 The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, 89 But only he (will prosper)
that brings to God a sound heart; 90 To the righteous, the Garden will be brought near,
91 And to those straying in Evil, the Fire will be placed in full view; 92 And it shall be said
to them: 'Where are the (gods) ye worshipped- 93 Besides God? Can they help you or help
themselves?' 94 Then they will be thrown headlong into the (Fire), - they and those straying
in Evil, 95 And the whole hosts of Iblisxvi together 96 They will say there in their mutual
bickerings: 97 By God, we were truly in an error manifest 98 When we held you as equals
with the Lord of the Worlds;” Quran 26:88-94

May God guide us all to the truth.

xvi
Name of Satan.
Appendices
 Appendices

A.1- Words Meanings and Indications

Words Meanings:
Words are classified according to their meanings into literal and metaphoric. Deciding
whether a specific word meaning is literal or metaphoric is a linguistic issue, very much
dependent on the specific language and its use at the time of the statement, and not the time
of reading it. The literal meaning of a word is the original meaning that this word in intended
to be used for; while the metaphoric meaning is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase
is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable, i.e., when the literal
meaning of the word is not possible.

For the metaphoric meaning to be applicable, there has to be a clear evidence that the literal
meaning of a word or a phrase is not possible, otherwise, the metaphoric meaning is not
applicable. For example, if we say “our tigers surprised the enemy in the battle field and
defeated them”, we obviously don’t mean the real tiger that is the known animal, but we
mean human soldiers. That is because armies are made of soldiers and not animals, but we
used this metaphor to say that our soldiers were brave and fast like a tiger. We accepted the
metaphor to explain the sentence because the literal meaning is not possible. A metaphoric
meaning is a change or a diversion from the literal meaning, and so, a metaphoric meaning
cannot exist unless the literal meaning exists and is in use. Otherwise, it won’t me a
metaphor.

Take for example Genesis 3:3 when Eve says “3. but God did say, you must not eat fruit
from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will
die.’”. The footnotes on some of the Bible translations state that this is rather a ‘spiritual
death’. It is true that the Bible sometimes uses the words dead and alive metaphorically, the
‘dead’ is the person that disobeys God and the ‘alive’ is the righteous person. As an example,
the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:32, the father says to the good son “But we had to
celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.”, i.e., he was ungodly and now he repented. We only go to this interpretation
because the literal meaning is not possible. He definitely doesn’t mean that his was physically
dead and became alive, unless it was a miracle and the father her is not talking about a
miracle. So, we had no choice by interpret this death metaphorically. However, in the case
of Genesis 3:3, there is no reason found in the text that prevents the real meaning of the
word “die”. Until that reason is found, any metaphoric interpretation would be based on
the desire and/or the imagination of the commentator.

Also, considering the time and place this conversation took place, it is safe to assume that
the word ‘die’ is being used for the first time, or one of the very first a few times. In that
context, if we claim that ‘die’ is intended here in a metaphoric way, assuming it is
linguistically applicable, that metaphoric meaning would have to be the literal meaning. We
are at the beginning of the creation and the early human conversations. The meaning of ‘die’
here must be the literal meaning, that is the physical death that we know. And they obviously
didn’t die.

Words Indications:
Words are also classified according to their method of indication of the meaning into explicit
and implicit, whether it is for the literal or metaphoric meaning. An explicit meaning is a
one stated clearly and leaving no room for confusion or doubt. Which does not accept
interpretations from its apparent meaning. For example, if a doctor says “The patient has been
having contractions every 30 minutes” then you understand it exactly as it reads; it does not
imply a meaning other than the clear and apparent meaning. While an implicit meaning is
a one that is not directly stated or expressed but is either suggested in the wording or
necessary to effectuate the purpose. Interpretations of other meanings other than the
apparent ones are acceptable in implicit meanings. For example, if you say about some “This
incident forced him to take the mask of his face”, and the person is not wearing a physical mask,
then the sentence implied meaning is that he was forced to show his real self.

In the case of having multiple texts, explicit and implicit, that contradict each other, the
explicit text always takes precedence. In that case, the implicit text is interpreted to one of
its possible meanings that does not contradict the explicit text. This is how scriptures and
the teachings of Jesus and Mohammad are understood; even human written laws and
constitutions are understood this way.

If you find two explicit texts in the same book or source that are contradictory; it would be
a flaw in the book itself. This is possible in human created constitutions, laws, and
regulations, but can’t be accepted as a possibility in a scripture that people claim it is from
God. If such a contradiction is found in a book that people claim it is a scripture, it is a clear
indication that, either the book is not truly from God, or it was originally revealed by God
but ended up being revised and distorted by people.

Every scripture has portions of it that are explicit and portions that are implicit. In fact, the
Quran talks about itself in the following description, directing the talk to Mohammad, as
follows: “7 He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or
fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are
allegorical…” Quran 3:7. If we scan the Quran we would find that the meanings of the verses
that talk about the principal beliefs are always explicit. These verses are the foundation of
the religion. Such as, “1 Say: He is God, the One and Only; 2 God, the Eternal, Absolute;
3 He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; 4 And there is none like unto Him.” Quran 112:1-4.
Or as the description of God in this verse “…there is nothing whatever like unto Him”
Quran 42:11. No two Muslims ever had any form of debate about the meaning of these verses.

On the other hand, the vast majority of the rest of the versus could be implicit, that is no
coincidence. Most of these versus are related to the Islamic law and practice, and it is
intended for that to be flexible and allow for different interpretations. That is how that law
was suitable for all the places and times it was applied at throughout 1400 years. But the
principal beliefs must be based on explicit versus, and that is a big difference.

Muslims expect this to exist in any scripture; the principal beliefs are not supposed to be left
for human interpretations that could take the whole religion off track.

Christians commonly base their principal beliefs on verses from the Bible that are implicit.
For example, many Christians use the Biblical term “son of God” to prove that Jesus is
divine. Well, this term is used in many places in the Bible to indicate that a person is
righteous. In Mathew 5 it says “9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called
children of God”; and in Romans 8 Paul supports the meaning I am arguing here for the
“children of God”, he says “14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children
of God”. And so, we can’t use the term “son of God” to support a belief in the divinity of
Jesus, because it is implicit and can accept multiple meanings, the most famous among them
is ‘righteous person”.
This the governing interpretation of the word “son of God”. Saying that it means that Jesus
is divine is not an acceptable interpretation for two reasons. First, it contradicts the likely
meaning of the word, i.e., the righteous person. Second and most important, it contradicts
other explicit verses from the Gospel; for example, “17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:17.

It is a must to have these principals set before we start having interpretations of the scriptures
that follow nothing but our own desires and predefined conclusions.
A.2- Human Mind

One of the things that comes up frequently in Muslim-Christian dialogue, is whether the
concept of the trinity is above the human mind or not. Meaning, can the human mind make
a sound judgement on whether the trinity is possible or not? In this context, it is important
that we distinguish between the ability of the mind to prove (or disprove) something, and its
ability to imagine something. For example, we can’t imagine the mathematical infinity, no
matter how we tried, but we are still mentally convinced of the concept of the infinity.
Humans already agree on the infinity and we have been teaching it to our kids in schools for
many years. But why can’t we imagine it? Because our imagination is limited to the previous
things that we experienced through our senses. We can’t imagine the infinity because we
never saw, heard, touch, tasted, or smell an infinity or even something similar to it.

For people who say that we can’t understand the trinity, I would say that we might not be
able to imagine it, but we should be able to understand it, and prove or disprove it. With
that said, there are couple of observations about the notion that “We can’t understand the
trinity or Jesus divinity with our minds, we just have to believe in it”:

1. Things that are above the reach of the human mind are the things that the mind cannot
prove or dispute, i.e., the mind stops and can’t make a judgment. As soon as the mind
is able to reach a conclusion that proves or disputes something, then it is not above the
human mind.

2. If someone says that the trinity is above the human mind, then they need to prove that
it is. This is a claim and every claim has to be proved. We can’t just conveniently make a
claim that leads to a dead end.
A.3- Trinity in the Bible
[Transcript of a part of Gary Miller’s speech, in South Africa sometimes in the 1980’s]

{Beginning about 1969, the same story I seem to get when I go from church to church, I’d
ask them “you know, if you took all the words of Jesus and you cut them out of the Bible with scissors,
and I gave you some paste and told you to put them back together anyway you like, take all these words
and put them back together, paste them together how you like, you still can’t make them spell out the
trinity. It still doesn’t say anything about it, no matter how you change his words.”

So, they tell me “it doesn’t mean it isn’t true, the trinity is an evolved understanding, the church didn’t
understand this deep thought at first, the understanding evolved over the centuries, it was discussed,
people came to understand it and believe it.”

“fine, but if that’s what you say, you shouldn’t say on the other hand ‘Jesus used to preach it’. If you
tell me people didn’t figure it out for 200 years, don’t tell me Jesus preached it.”

So, they would say “No, no, he preached it but it’s not in the Bible, he used to preach it to his disciples,
he told them about it”

“well in the 18th chapter of John, Jesus says very clearly ‘I taught nothing in secret’, everything I had to
say I said it in the market place. He didn’t tell his disciples any secrets”} [End of transcript]xvii .

Those of us who believe in the trinity are challenged with accepting the undisputable fact
that Jesus didn’t teach it. The only thing that would make sense, if the trinity is the true
belief, is that Jesus teaches it; calls people publicly to believe in it; and be ready and willing
to take the consequences and resistance from people who will probably challenge it violently.
If he didn’t teach, then we can’t claim it is something he wanted us to believe in.

Jesus made it clear in John 18:20-21R14 that he didn’t teach anything secretly. Also, common
sense would not approve the theory of teaching it secretly and leave on that condition. It
would have been acceptable to teach it secretly at the beginning, providing that it is
transferred into a public teaching prior to Jesus departure, but that is not what Christians
believe happens. But for him to teach it secretly, and people understand hundreds of years
later, that would go against all of our common sense.

xvii
A.4- The Common Ground
In my previous dialogues with fellow Christians, I always wished that we can agree on a short
list of rules before starting the dialogue. An important part of this list would be to define the
common platform between the two sides that, when disagreeing, we can go back to it. Also,
as important, what constitutes a proof for both sides.

Christians do not believe that the Quran is a revelation from God; hence, in such a dialogue,
what the Quran says does not constitute a proof to them. The same goes to the Bible.
Muslims believe that there was a Gospel that God revealed to Jesus and that Jesus was
preaching it to the people. But that is different from the four Gospels, and we don’t have a
copy of it now. For a Muslim, the four gospels we have now a day, regardless of their
authenticity, are nothing more than the recording of Jesus’ teachings and biography. Which
is equivalent to the narrations of the teachings and story of Mohammadxviii . But the real
Gospel was a book revealed by God to Jesus and not about him, just like the Quran is a book
by God to Mohammad and not about him. If anything, the Quran can only be used against
the Muslim argument, and the Bible can be used against the Christian argument.

The only real common platform Christian and Muslim have is the human mind. This mind
that God gave us to be able to comprehend ideas and distinguish the true from the false
whenever biases and prejudice are not covering up our visions.

xviii
References
References
In our quotes in this study, and in an effort to keep the English reader in a familiar territory,
I replaced the word ‘Allah’ in Yusuf Ali’s translation with the word ‘God’, which are basically
the same. The reader is hereby notified. Allah, is Arabic for God’s name and is basically used
by Arab Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

The Bible verses used in this study are from the New International Version (NIV) translation.
The Quranic verses are from Yusuf Ali’s translation of the Quran.

Bible Overview:
The Bible is a collection of books and letters that Christians consider to be inspired by God.
The Bible consists of two major parts, the old testament and the new testament. The old
testament contains the books and letters written before Jesus, while the new testament
contains those written after Jesus. Most of the old testament is written in a story format. The
first five books of the old testament, Genesis through Deuteronomy, are believed to be the
Torah that was revealed to prophet Moses.

The new testament starts with the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, then it
contains letters written by Luke, John, Paul, Peter, and others. The four gospels are about
the story and teachings of Jesus, and they were written after Jesus departure. Christians
believe that the gospels and the letters are inspired by the holy spirit. Probably the most
important of the letters are Paul’s letters. Christians believe that he was a Jew who used to
hurt the followers of Jesus before he believed in him and started preaching for Christianity.
His letters probably shaped Christianity to what it is today.

Quran Overview:
The Quran is not a book of stories but a book of guidance for what the believers need for
this lifetime and the hereafter. The chapter in the Quran is called Surah. The Quran contains
114 Surah that vary in its length; which are classified into two categories: the Meccan and the
Medinan. The Meccan chapters are the ones revealed while prophet Mohammad was still
living in Mecca, before his migration to Medinah. These chapters mainly address the belief
in One God, the prophecy of Mohammad, the resurrection, and the judgment day; i.e., the
principal beliefs. The Medinan chapters are the ones revealed after the migration of prophet
Mohammad to Medinah. These chapters mainly address the ethics and the legislations.

Each chapter of the Quran is completely separate from other chapters and can be read alone.
In the same chapter you might find the mention of this lifetime, the hereafter, the
resurrection, the judgement day, paradise, hell, parts of stories of previous prophets,
legislation, and discussions of the creation and most importantly man and human nature.
 It contains different scenes from the different stories at some locations. The stories of the
prophets and the previous nations are not told as one piece, but only scenes from these
stories are included in most of these chapters, as it fits the theme of the chapter. I have
counted, for example, the mention of prophet Moses and/or children of Israel in 32
chapters. The only exception is the story of prophet Joseph in chapter 12 (named Joseph),
which is told from its beginning to end in the same chapter.

(R1) Quran 19:88-95

88. They say: ‘(God) Most Gracious has begotten a son!’
89. Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!
90. At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down
in utter ruin.
91. That they should invoke a son for (God) Most Gracious.
92. For it is not consonant with the majesty of (God) Most Gracious that He should beget a son.
93. Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (God) Most Gracious
as a servant.
94. He does take an account of them (all), and hath numbered them (all) exactly.
95. And every one of them will come to Him singly on the Day of Judgment.

(R2) Quran 29:46

46. And dispute ye not with the People of the Book, except with means better (than mere
disputation), unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury): but say, ‘We
believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which came down to you;
Our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow (in Islam).’

[For those who are unfamiliar with some of the terms, ‘People of the Book’ (or sometimes translated as
Followers of the Book) is the Quran’s reference to the Jews and Christians]

(R3) Genesis 3:1-24

1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He
said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden?’
2. The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3. but God did say, you must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and
you must not touch it, or you will die.’
4. ‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman.
5. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.’
6. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed
fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9. But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’
10. He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’
11. And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I
commanded you not to eat from?’
12. The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and
I ate it.’
13. Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said,
‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate’
14. So, the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, ‘Cursed are you above all
livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days
of your life.
15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.’
16. To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor
you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over
you.’
17. To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which
I commanded you, you must not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you; through
painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.
18. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
19. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from
it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’
20. Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21. The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
22. And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.
He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and
live forever.’
23. So, the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which
he had been taken.
 24. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and
a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

(R4) Quran 2:30-39

30. Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I will create a vicegerent on earth.’ They said: ‘Wilt
Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood?- whilst we do
celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?’ He said: ‘I know what ye know not.’
31. And He taught Adam the names of all things; then He placed them before the angels, and
said: ‘Tell me the names of these if ye are right.’
32. They said: ‘Glory to Thee, of knowledge We have none, save what Thou Hast taught us: In
truth it is Thou Who art perfect in knowledge and wisdom.’
33. He said: ‘O Adam! Tell them their names.’ When he had told them, God said: ‘Did I not
tell you that I know the secrets of heaven and earth, and I know what ye reveal and what ye
conceal?’
34. And behold, We said to the angels: ‘Bow down to Adam’ and they bowed down. Not so Iblis
: he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject Faith.
35. We said: ‘O Adam! dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful things
therein as (where and when) ye will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and
transgression.’
36. Then did Satan make them slip from the (garden), and get them out of the state (of felicity)
in which they had been. We said: ‘Get ye down, all (ye people), with enmity between
yourselves. On earth will be your dwelling-place and your means of livelihood - for a time.’
37. Then learnt Adam from his Lord words of inspiration, and his Lord Turned towards him;
for He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.
38. We said: ‘Get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from
me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
39. But those who reject Faith and belie Our Signs, they shall be companions of the Fire; they
shall abide therein.
[Iblis is the name of Satan]
[The other location in the Quran the story of Adam is mentioned in details is in 20:115-124.]

(R5) 2 Samuel 11:1-27

1. In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men
and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But
David remained in Jerusalem.
2. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From
the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
3. and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the
daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”
4. Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she
was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
5. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6. So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David.
7. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how
the war was going.
8. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the
palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him.
9. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go
down to his house.
10. David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from
a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11. Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my
commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my
house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a
thing!”
12. Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So
Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next.
13. At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the
evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
14. In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.
15. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from
him so he will be struck down and die.”
16. So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest
defenders were.
17. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s
army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
18. Joab sent David a full account of the battle.
19. He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the
battle,
20. the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to
fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall?
21. Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on
him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he
asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22. The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to
say.
 23. The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the
open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate.
24. Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men
died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
25. David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one
as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
26. When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him.
27. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became
his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.

(R6) 1 King 11:4-13

4. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully
devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the
Ammonites.
6. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David
his father had done.
7. On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of
Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.
8. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their
gods.
9. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the
God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.
10. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s
command.
11. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant
and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from
you and give it to one of your subordinates.
12. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will
tear it out of the hand of your son.
13. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of
David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.

(R7) Matthew 1:18-25

18. This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be
married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the
Holy Spirit.
 19. Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to
public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
21. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his
people from their sins.”
22. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
23. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which
means “God with us”).
24. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took
Mary home as his wife.
25. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him
the name Jesus.

(R8) Quran 19:16-33

16. Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the
East.
17. She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he
appeared before her as a man in all respects.
18. She said: ‘I seek refuge from thee to (God) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear
God.’
19. He said: ‘Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy
son.
20. She said: ‘How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not
unchaste?’
21. He said: ‘So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him
as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us': It is a matter (so) decreed.’
22. So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place.
23. And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree: She cried (in her anguish):
‘Ah! would that I had died before this! would that I had been a thing forgotten and out of
sight!’
24. But (a voice) cried to her from beneath the (palm-tree): ‘Grieve not! for thy Lord hath
provided a rivulet beneath thee;
25. ‘And shake towards thyself the trunk of the palm-tree: It will let fall fresh ripe dates upon
thee.
26. ‘So eat and drink and cool (thine) eye. And if thou dost see any man, say, 'I have vowed a
fast to (God) Most Gracious, and this day will I enter into not talk with any human being'
 27. At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: ‘O
Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!
28. ‘O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!’
29. But she pointed to the babe. They said: ‘How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?’
30. He said: ‘I am indeed a servant of God: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;
31. ‘And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and
Charity as long as I live;
32. ‘(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;
33. ‘So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised
up to life (again)’

(R9) Quran 3:45-51

45. Behold! the angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his
name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honour in this world and the Hereafter
and of (the company of) those nearest to God;
46. ‘He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity. And he shall be (of the company)
of the righteous.’
47. She said: ‘O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?’ He said:
‘Even so: God createth what He willeth: When He hath decreed a plan, He but saith to it,
'Be,' and it is!
48. ‘And God will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel,
49. ‘And (appoint him) a messenger to the Children of Israel, (with this message): ‘'I have come
to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure
of a bird, and breathe into it, and it becomes a bird by God's leave: And I heal those born
blind, and the lepers, and I quicken the dead, by God's leave; and I declare to you what ye
eat, and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a Sign for you if ye did believe;
50. '(I have come to you), to attest the Law which was before me. And to make lawful to you part
of what was (Before) forbidden to you; I have come to you with a Sign from your Lord. So
fear God, and obey me.
51. 'It is God Who is my Lord and your Lord; then worship Him. This is a Way that is straight.'

(R10) Quran 5:109-120

109. One day will God gather the messengers together, and ask: ‘What was the response ye
received (from men to your teaching)?’ They will say: ‘We have no knowledge: it is Thou
Who knowest in full all that is hidden.’
110. Then will God say: ‘O Jesus the son of Mary! Recount My favour to thee and to thy mother.
Behold! I strengthened thee with the holy spirit, so that thou didst speak to the people in
 childhood and in maturity. Behold! I taught thee the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the
Gospel and behold! thou makest out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, by My leave, and
thou breathest into it and it becometh a bird by My leave, and thou healest those born blind,
and the lepers, by My leave. And behold! thou bringest forth the dead by My leave. And
behold! I did restrain the Children of Israel from (violence to) thee when thou didst show
them the clear Signs, and the unbelievers among them said: 'This is nothing but evident
magic.'
111. ‘And behold! I inspired the disciples to have faith in Me and Mine Messenger: they said, 'We
have faith, and do thou bear witness that we bow to God as Muslims'‘.
112. Behold! the disciples, said: ‘O Jesus the son of Mary! can thy Lord send down to us a table
set (with viands) from heaven?’ Said Jesus: ‘Fear God, if ye have faith.’
113. They said: ‘We only wish to eat thereof and satisfy our hearts, and to know that thou hast
indeed told us the truth; and that we ourselves may be witnesses to the miracle.’
114. Said Jesus the son of Mary: ‘O God our Lord! Send us from heaven a table set (with viands),
that there may be for us - for the first and the last of us - a solemn festival and a sign from
thee; and provide for our sustenance, for thou art the best Sustainer (of our needs).’
115. God said: ‘I will send it down unto you: But if any of you after that resisteth faith, I will
punish him with a penalty such as I have not inflicted on any one among all the peoples.’
116. And behold! God will say: ‘O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me
and my mother as gods in derogation of God'?’ He will say: ‘Glory to Thee! never could I say
what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it.
Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in
full all that is hidden.
117. ‘Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship
God, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them;
when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to
all things.
118. ‘If Thou dost punish them, they are Thy servant: If Thou dost forgive them, Thou art the
Exalted in power, the Wise.’
119. God will say: ‘This is a day on which the truthful will profit from their truth: theirs are
gardens, with rivers flowing beneath,- their eternal Home: God well-pleased with them, and
they with God: That is the great salvation, (the fulfilment of all desires).
120. To God doth belong the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, and
it is He Who hath power over all things.
(R11) Matthew 15:21-28
21. Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have
mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.’
23. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away,
for she keeps crying out after us.’
24. He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’
25. The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said.
26. He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’
27. ‘Yes it is, Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’
28. Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her
daughter was healed at that moment.’

(R12) Quran 5:72-78

72. They do blaspheme who say: ‘God is Christ the son of Mary.’ But said Christ: ‘O Children
of Israel! worship God, my Lord and your Lord.’ Whoever joins other gods with God,- God
will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be
no one to help.
73. They do blaspheme who say: God is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One
God. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall
the blasphemers among them.
74. Why turn they not to God, and seek His forgiveness? For God is Oft-forgiving, Most
Merciful.
75. Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed
away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food.
See how God doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away
from the truth!
76. Say: ‘Will ye worship, besides God, something which hath no power either to harm or benefit
you? But God,- He it is that heareth and knoweth all things.’
77. Say: ‘O people of the Book! exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is proper),
trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times
gone by,- who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the even way.
78. Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the
tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in
excesses.
(R13) Quran 4:155-158
155. (They have incurred divine displeasure): In that they broke their covenant; that they rejected
the signs of God; that they slew the Messengers in defiance of right; that they said, "Our
hearts are the wrappings (which preserve God's Word; We need no more)";- Nay, God hath
set the seal on their hearts for their blasphemy, and little is it they believe;-
156. That they rejected Faith; that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge;
157. That they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of God";-
but they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those
who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to
follow, for of a surety they killed him not:-
158. Nay, God raised him up unto Himself; and God is Exalted in Power, Wise;-

(R14) John 18:20-21

20. ‘I have spoken openly to the world,’ Jesus replied. ‘I always taught in synagogues or at the
temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret.
21. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said.’