The Quran

Introduction

There are crucial differences that should be noted between the Bible and the Quran (Koran, or Qur'an). The importance lies in the fact that we are comparing two books that both claim to have been inspired by God. If the Quran is inspired, then it must be true. If the Quran is true, then Muhammad is a prophet, Allah is the true God, and the Islamic faith is true. If not, there is nothing more to discuss. As we will see, however, evidence points to the latter being the case.

Inspiration

Inspiration to a Muslim is a bit different than it is to a Christian. Rather than God using men to communicate His words using their own, the Quran is believed to be the actual words God used, written down by Allah himself. It is difficult to even know who the author of the Quran truly is. Was it Allah (Suras 53:2-18; 81:19-24), or the holy spirit (Suras 16:102; 26:192-194), or Angels (Sura 15:8), or just the Angel Gabriel (Sura 2:97)? Perhaps the Quran was written directly by Allah, given to the angel Gabriel (who is the Holy Spirit?), and handed down to Muhammad.

According to Sura 10:37-38, no one could write anything like the Quran. It is further claimed that there are no variant readings or versions of the Quran. Thus, it is perfect in its original language, and in fact, cannot even be translated properly by any human - but must be read in Arabic (Suras 12:2; 13:37; 41:41,44). Unfortunately, this makes the Quran unreadable by approximately 800 million Muslims. These are rather bold claims, especially to one who has seen the evidence for the Bible's trustworthiness and claim to truth. But these claims are easily inspected. We have the scholarship available to us today to see if these things are so.

The Text

Muhammad dictated the contents of the Quran during his religous fits or whenever something needed to be done. Sometimes those words would be recorded, sometimes not. Often they were written on leaves or sticks. None of these original writings exist today, thus there is no "original" Quran that can be compared to the current collection of writings. Further, there is absolutely no doubt among western and Arabic scholars that variant readings exist for the Quran. Uthman's standardized version of the Quran (the one currently accepted by Islam) has verses missing (over 120 verses from just one Sura). This fact is universally recognized. The Quran has gone through an "editing" process since the time of the original collection of documents. Uthman's standard version is itself proof of the malleability of the Quran - for what need is there for a standardized text if no variations exist?

The "heavenly language" of the Quran is, conveniently, not only in Muhammad's own tongue, but in the dialect of his own tribe. Even so, the Quran contains grammatical errors (e.g. Suras 2:177,192; 3:59; 4:162; 5:69; 7:160; 13:28; 20:66; 63:10) In fact, more than 100 aberrations from the Arabic language have been noted by Arabic scholars. Further, the Quran uses words foreign to the Arabic language. These include Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Ethiopian, Persian, etc. This may be due to Muhammad's inclusion of borrowed stories from merchants as they passed through Mecca. The reverse is also true. The Quran claims that speeches were made by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Moses, Mary and even Jesus that contain words such as: "Muslim" and "Islam" that were in a totally unknown tongue and not invented for at least another 600 years (Suras 2:60, 126-128, 132-133, 260; 3:49-52, 67; 6:74-82; 7:59-63, 120-126 etc.). The eloquence of the Quran is merely a matter of opinion. It has also been seen as a confused collection of jumbled thoughts, often wordy and in no particular order. It has been called "humiliating to the human intellect"..."mediocre literature"..."exceedingly incoherent"..."badly edited"... "obtusely arranged" (and these last two from a Muslim scholar!).

Errors in the Quran

It is important to note at the outset that the Quran itself claims to be perfect (Sura 85:21-22). Therefore, if even one error is found in the text, the Quran is proven false. Many Muslims may feel that it is blasphemous to even offer a criticism of the Quran. Truth, however, should never object to scrutiny. Muhammad himself invites us to check his word against the Bible, and the Bible has been attacked by Muslims. Christians welcome honest inquiry into the accuracy of the Bible - we have little to hide after 2,000 years! Quite unlike the claims of Christianity to the inspiration of the original documents, and the high reliability of subsequent copies, the Quran today is considered by Muslims to be the perfect word of Allah. So we move on to a very simple exercise: What does the Quran actually say? See for yourself if this is a book handwritten by God and handed directly to man.

Contradictions Between the Quran and the Bible

Muslims accept the Bible as inspired with errors (Sura 2:136 as well as Suras 13, 16, 17, 20, 21, 23, 25). However, the Quran was written 600 years after the Bible was complete, so the Bible is the authority. In order to explain how the two books can disagree, Muslims must claim that the Bible was corrupted. The question they cannot adequately answer is: "When was the Bible corrupted?" If they say before 600 A.D. then how can the Quran admonish believers to read it? If they claim it was after 600 A.D. then they have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, for we have absolutely no doubt as to the accuracy of copies from at least the 3rd century forward. This puts Muslim critics in a bind. For if the Bible is incorrect, and the Quran says it is not, then the Quran is false. If the Bible is correct, then the Quran cannot be accurate because it contradicts the Bible in many places. If the Bible is true then the Quran is not. If the Bible is false, then so is the Quran for claiming it is not.

Contradictions Between Christianity and the Quran's View of Christianity

Even if Christianity were completely false Islam still has an insurmountable problem because the Quran makes sweeping judgments against Christians for believing things that they do not (nor have we ever) believed. If the Quran is really perfect, then it should at least be able to accurately report what falsehoods Christians believe. This is reflected in the fact that even today, after 2,000 years of clarification, Christians are still attackedby Muslims for believing things they do not believe. Why? Because Muslims cannot admit that the Quran can be wrong - even about what Christians believe. As is easily shown, it is very wrong indeed.

Conclusion

Muhammad came along 600 years after Christ and denied what He, His apostles, and their disciples taught in Scripture. He did not even manage to correctly state Christian beliefs although they had been around for centuries. Who is more likely to be correct about the facts of history? No neutral source would trust a man born 600 years after the actual events who contradicts all eyewitness testimony and sources dated to within a few decades of the event. It is difficult to see the Quran as anything but a flawed work of man.