How does the Qur’an compare to the Book of Genesis on the great events of history?
The differences between the Qur’an and the Bible are massive, beginning with the foundational history of Genesis, upon which the Gospel is squarely based.
The Bible teaches of a God of love for whom death and suffering were not a part of His original creation; sin caused the world to fall from original perfection.
By contrast, and in common with theistic evolutionary corruptions of Bible doctrine, the Qur’anic view of death and suffering has them as intrinsic to creation, a natural part of the way things are.
Not surprisingly, therefore, the worldview of Islam leads to a radically different understanding of the nature of God, humanity, salvation and the world in general. This must affect not merely the stance of individuals, but entire cultures.
See comparison tables: Creation, the Fall, Flood, Babel
“My name is Muhammad,” the young man said to a fellow student at university in Australia. “Muhammad?”, she replied, “Where have I heard that before?”
After he, a Muslim, explained that Muhammad[1] is the name of the “Great Prophet” of Islam, the young lady, raised in a church-going family, asked about the differences between Islam and Christianity.
The Muslim man explained that probably the most fundamental differences is that the Qur’an [2] speaks of Jesus as a prophet-definitely not the Son of God.
That evening, the Australian-born student told her father of the encounter, and asked, “Dad, I’ve been thinking… our bodies are unclean! Why would God, who is pure, sully himself by coming down to Earth in human form?”
[Learn why God greatly humbled himself]
After her father failed to give a reasoned answer, she turned her back on the church, converted to Islam and later married a Muslim. [3]
Such a question requires only a basic understanding of the Atonement to answer. Salvation required a sacrificial “last Adam” (I Cor. 15:45) to shed His blood in death, one who was a descendant of the first, yet sinless. This could be fulfilled only through God incarnate, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:12, 22).
Notice, though, how all this is built upon the foundational Genesis truths of the first Adam bringing in sin and death, and the first shedding of blood as a covering for sin (Genesis 3:21). The increasing confusion caused in the church by long-age compromises (which, by putting suffering, death and bloodshed before Adam, undermines these truths) is a major reason why so many today cannot give reasoned answers to basic Gospel-related questions (contravening 1 Peter 3:15). This leaves young people in the church vulnerable to being tossed by winds of false doctrine (Ephesians 4:14).
Following September 11, the increased prominence of Islam in the media, and public declarations by government (and many church) leaders that Islam is a “great” religion, will likely raise further questions in the minds of many young people in the churches (e.g., “Do Jews, Christians and Muslims worship the same God?” / “What does the Qur’an say about the Bible?” / For Christians: What does Islam teach about the crucifixion of Jesus? / For Muslims: What does the Qur’an say about Isa al Masih (Jesus)?).
Many Christian commentators have sought to raise awareness of fundamental doctrinal differences between the Qur’an and the Bible (see charts below), but few people are aware of how the Muslim’s holy book starkly contradicts the Bible’s account of our origins.
Creation, The Fall, Flood and Babel
Genesis provides a unified description of Creation; the Qur’an does not. Instead, fragmented passages are scattered across many of its 114 chapters (“Sura”). The tables below attempt to assimilate these fragments for a clearer picture of what the Qur’an says, compared to the Bible.
The many contradictions highlighted in these tables surely demolish any claims that the “revelation” given to Muhammad is not a corruption of, but reliably builds upon, Judeo-Christian history.
For instance, the Qur’anic account prohibits Adam from going anywhere near the Forbidden Tree, while Genesis says that God only commanded Adam not to eat its fruit. (Man had been placed in the garden to tend it (Genesis 2:15), which seems to require physical access to each tree for e.g. pruning.)
Interestingly, the Bible relates that Eve, who was deceived (I Timothy 2:14), had misconstrued God’s instruction to not eat of the fruit from the tree to instead also mean not to touch it (Genesis 3:3). Yet Eve’s distorted view, obviously wrong, is portrayed as truth in the Qur’an.
The Biblical account of origins also makes more sense of today’s world than does the Qur’an—e.g. the presence of sin, violence, death and the origin of languages (and concomitant minor “racial” differences). The Bible explains why the whole creation is so obviously groaning, in bondage to decay (Romans 8:19-22). In contrast, the Qur’an makes God responsible for death and suffering, in common with long-age and evolutionary Christian views, and Eastern religions.
CREATION
Key differences between the Bible and the Qur’an
| The Bible says: | The Qur’an says: |
|---|---|
| Man was created on Earth, in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:8) | Man was created in Paradise (“janna”)1, not on Earth (first couple later banished to Earth, e.g. Qur’an 2:36). |
| The Bible describes clearly what was made on each day of Creation Week. The “Big Bang” is excluded by this sequence (e.g. Earth before Sun). | No clear details of each creation day. Some vague clustering of the days in 41:9-12.2 |
| Creation in 6 days which are clearly Earth-rotation days (c. 24 hours). | Creation also in 6 days2 but could easily be interpreted as “millions of years” (see main text). |
| Man and the animals were created vegetarian (Genesis 1:29-30). No death and suffering in the original creation. | Carnivory (and thus death and suffering) apparently integral to life on the created Earth from the first. The Qur’an (6:142, 16:5, 40:79) says that cattle were created for man to eat. |
| Man was created naked (but not ashamed—Genesis 2:25). | The Qur’an speaks of Adam’s (and his wife’s) nakedness becoming apparent to them after they sinned (20:121; also implied by 7:22), yet also implies that they were wearing some kind of raiment prior to the Fall (Qur’an 7:273). |
| All things were created through Christ and for Christ. He was preexistent to Creation (e.g. Genesis 1:26; 3:22, 11:7; Michah 5:2; John 1:1-3, 10; 3:13; 6:62; 8:35, 58; 17:5, 24; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:2). | Jesus Christ was a created being. Qur’an 3:59 “The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; he created him from dust…” |
References and notes
- Muslims previously never questioned that the Qur’anic janna (“paradise”) in which man was created was not on Earth. But evolutionary pressure has led to many (not all) Muslim scholars today claiming that the Qur’anic pre-Fall garden was on Earth.
- Some critics quote 41:9-12 as giving a contradictory total of eight days, but Muslim apologists explain this away by making two days concurrent: Qur’an 41:9-12 “Say: 'Is it that ye deny Him Who created the Earth in two Days?… He set on the (Earth) mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the Earth… in four days… So he completed them as seven firmanents in two Days.”
- “O ye Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner as he got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of the raiment, to expose their shame…”
[Also see: Age of the Earth and Days of Creation]
The Qur’an and Evolution
With the increased adoption of evolutionary-based curricula, some Muslim leaders and scholars began to recognize the threat to Islam from a rising tide of evolutionary thinking. Their response had been either to attack evolution, or, more commonly, to blend it with Islam.
CORRUPTION (The Fall of man)
Key differences between the Bible and the Qur’an
| The Bible says: | The Qur’an says: |
|---|---|
| Prior to sin, Adam and Eve given free access to fruit of the “Tree of Life” (Genesis 2:9, 16-17) | The “Tree of Eternity” (equated with giving eternal life in 7:20, hence comparable to the Biblical Tree of Life) was the Forbidden Tree (20:120). |
| Forbidden tree clearly identified as “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” “And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'” (Genesis 2:16-17) | No mention of the name “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Qur’an 7:19 “O Adam! Dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden, and enjoy (its good things) as ye wish: But approach not this tree, or ye run into harm and transgression.” (Also 2:34) |
| Snake/serpent in Eden (Genesis 3). | No mention of snake or serpent in the Qur’an (except a reference to Moses' stick-to-snake transformation). |
|
The serpent enticed Eve, denying she would die. (Genesis 3:1-5) “‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’.” |
Satan enticed Adam and his wife. Qur’an 20:120 “But Satan whispered evil to him: He said, ‘O Adam! Shall I lead thee to the Tree of Eternity1 and to a kingdom that never decays?’” Qur’an 7:20-21 “Then began Satan to whisper suggestions to them … He said: ‘Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live forever’.” |
| “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and Eve, and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:21) | “Raiment” mentioned, but no mention of skin (Qur’an 7:26). |
| After the Fall, Adam and Eve still on Earth, but barred from Eden (Genesis 3:23-24). | Adam and Eve were shifted from Paradise (not on Earth) down to Earth (7:24, also 2:36). |
| After the Fall, man will now eat “through painful toil” and (as a result of the Curse on the land) “by sweat of your brow” (Genesis 3:17, 19) | Toil and sweat were an integral part of the original created Earth. Qur’an 90:4 “Verily We have created man to toil and struggle.” |
| Death is an “enemy”, that entered after Adam sinned. (Genesis 2:17; 3:19; Romans 5:12, 17; I Corinthians 15:21-22, 26) | No references in the Qur’an to death being an “enemy”, or anything other than an integral part of the original created Earth. |
| Ground now “cursed”; the whole creation now “groaning”, in “bondage to decay”. (Genesis 3:17; Romans 8:20-22; Revelation 22:3). | Apparently, the “bad things” are not a consequence of the Fall, but integral to the original Creation. |
Reference
One Muslim commentator, clearly confused about the Genesis account, writes that this tree is designated in the Bible as “the tree of life” and “the tree of knowledge of good and evil”. —Muhammed Asad, The Message of The Qur’an, Dar al-Andalus Ltd, Gibraltar, p. 484 (footnote 106), 1984.
1. The Islamic creationists
The creationist Muslims claim that “The theory [of evolution] and the holy Qur’an are in direct conflict with each other and no compatibility is possible anywhere.”4 New Scientist reported that Islamic creationist books cite and copy Christian creationists, but with Biblical references deleted.[5]
2. The Islamic evolutionists
Evolution-believing Muslims seem to be far more numerous, and vocal, than creationist Muslims.
They have a substantial strategic advantage precisely because the Qur’an is so vague, nebulous and seemingly open to various interpretations.[6] They delight in pointing out that, in contrast, “There is absolutely no ambiguity whatsoever in the Biblical description of the Creation in six days followed by a day of rest, the sabbath, analogous with the days of the week.”[7] These evolution-accommodating Muslims are adamant that the “days” of Creation in the Qur’an “mean in reality 'very long Periods, or Ages, or Aeons.'”[7]
Muslim apologists gleefully point out that the Qur’an is compatible with evolution where the Bible is not, e.g.: “Neither here nor anywhere else in the Holy Qur’an is it affirmed that Adam was the first man, or that there was no creation by God before Adam, nor that Adam lived or man was created, or the Earth made, only six thousand years ago.”[8,9]
Long-age Muslims exploit the Bible’s explicit detail of the Flood, too. They say that because the Bible clearly says there was a recent global Flood, while “science” says there was not, the Bible is wrong and the Qur’an is thus confirmed to be right![10] Some of the Muslim literature even claims that the Qur’an shows that Allah revealed to Muhammad details about the “big bang”, ancient universe and evolution long before scientists began to “discover” such “facts”.[11]
CATASTROPHE (Noah’s Flood)
Key differences between the Bible and the Qur’an
| The Bible says: | The Qur’an says: |
|---|---|
| Noah was the tenth generation from Adam (Genesis 5:3-32; Luke 3:36-38). Other Biblical genealogies allow us to date the Flood to around 4,300 years ago. | No clear genealogies are given. |
| Ark was sealed with “pitch” (possibly tree resin1--Genesis 6:14). | Ark caulked with palm fibre (Qur’an 54:13-14). |
| Bible gives Ark dimensions (Genesis 6:14-16). | No mention of Ark size. |
| Duration of rain (40 days/nights), time afloat (150 days), total duration (370 days) of Flood (Genesis 7:12, 24; 8:4, 14). | No mention of any time periods for the Flood. |
| Eight people survived the Flood (1 Peter 3:20), i.e. all of Noah’s family (Genesis 7:1, 7) | The number on board is not mentioned. The Qur’an claims one of Noah’s sons was drowned (11:42-43), and puts a question mark over whether Noah’s wife survived (66:10, 11:40).2 |
| Man granted permission to eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3). | Man ate meat on Earth from the beginning (6:142, 16:5, 40:79). |
| “I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the Earth.… Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” (Genesis 9:11-17) | There is no mention of the rainbow, or its significance, anywhere in the Qur’an. |
References
- Walker, T.B., The pitch for Noah’s Ark, Creation 7(1):20, 1984. (Also available at answersingenesis.org/pitch).
- Muhammad Asad, The Message of The Qur’an, Dar al-Andalus Ltd, Gibraltar, p. 877 (footnote 21), 1984.
[Also see: The Flood and the Bible]
Christian awareness
In the same way that being aware of evolutionary challenges to our faith helps us to be ready with answers,12 so, too, we need to be aware of what religions, including Islam, actually say, in order to be better prepared to answer our children’s questions.[13] When men teach things that are contrary to the Bible, we are commanded to actively oppose such ideas (2 Corinthians 10:5). Christians need to be ready to help guide young people through the kinds of “intellectual crisis of faith” that many confront in their teenage years--whether because of exposure to evolutionary teaching, or to other religions.
Knowing that the Word of God accurately explains our world ahead of all opposing ideas not only strengthens our own faith, but gives us the confidence to reach out in love to challenges--including Muslims.
Using Genesis to reach Muslims?
Just as the Apostle Paul used Athenian beliefs to draw his Greek listeners to the truth of the Gospel (Acts 17:22-23, 28), Christians could use a similar approach when talking with Muslims. One could start by reminding the Muslim that the Qur’an says that the Scriptures of Jews and Christians were given by God, e.g. Qur’an 2:87--“We gave Moses the Book and followed him up with a succession of Apostles; We gave Jesus the son of Mary clear (signs) and strengthened him with the Holy Spirit.” Similarly, in Qur’an 6:91, the Book given to Moses is described as “a light and guidance to man…”
So why so many irreconcilable differences between Genesis 1-11 and the Qur’an? A Muslim might say that today’s copies of the Bible have been corrupted. But the earliest Biblical manuscripts (e.g. in the British Museum[14]) date from before Muhammad, demonstrating the reliability of our current copies.
A further challenge for the Muslim would concern the presence of death, suffering, grief, etc. in the world. Consider the following exchange between American TV host Larry King and Georgetown University’s Islamic professor of theology, Maysam Al-Faruqe:
KING: Maysam, if you believe in heaven and paradise, then dying is good?
AL-FARUQI: Absolutely. And dying is perfectly natural, it’s the end of things.
KING: Why do we treat it tragically?…
AL-FARUQI: Well, there is the pain…[15]
So in this Muslim (also theistic evolutionary) view of death as “perfectly natural,” why grieve and wail at the death of a loved one? The Islamic professor’s answer, “Well, there is the pain…” begs the question: “So pain and suffering are a “natural” par of God’s good (Qur’an 32:7) creation, too?” Clearly, Muslims have no satisfactory answer.
But the Bible explains that death, violence, pain and decay entered a once-perfect Creation as a result of Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2:17, 3:19; Romans 5:12-17; 8:19-22; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Thankfully, this situation is only temporary, as God gave his Son, Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, that those who believe in Him can look forward to the coming operation, to a world with “no more death, mourning, crying or pain”, i.e. no more Genesis Curse (John 1:18, 3:16; Acts 3:21; Revelation 21:4, 22:3).
CONFUSION (Origin of languages)
Key differences between the Bible and the Qur’an
| The Bible says: | The Qur’an says: |
|---|---|
| Before God confused the tongues at Babel, the whole world had one language and a common speech (Genesis 11:1-9). | No mention of there ever being a single common language, or of the Tower of Babel. |
| After being scattered from Babel, people congregated into clans and nations, each with their own languages (Genesis 10:5, 20, 31). | Regarding the different languages, the Qur’an (30:22) says: “And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the Earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors…” |
[Also see: Is there archaeological evidence of the Tower of Babel?]
In conclusion
Muslims claim to respect Jesus and other Biblical figures, which has caused many to think Islam may be an “additional” revelation from the Creator, building upon a Biblical foundation. However, the differences between the Qur’an and the Bible are massive, beginning with the foundational history of Genesis, upon which the Gospel is squarely based. This evidence is consistent with the Christian claim that the Bible is the Creator’s truthful, sole revelation, and that the Qur’an, despite some superficial resemblances, is a radical departure from its teaching.
The Bible teaches of a God of love for whom death and suffering were not a part of His original creation; sin caused the world to fall from original perfection. By contrast, and in common with theistic evolutionary corruptions of Bible doctrine, the Qur’anic view of death and suffering has them as intrinsic to creation, a natural part of the way things are. Not surprisingly, therefore, the worldview of Islam leads to a radically different understanding of the nature of God, humanity, salvation and the world in general. This must affect not merely the stance of individuals, but entire cultures.
Author: David Catchpoole, B. Ag.Sc (Hons), Ph.D. Supplied by Creation Ministries International. First published in Creation Ex Nihilo 24(2):March-May 2002.
References and notes
- Alternate spelling: 'Mohammed'. We use here the spellings of the 1935 Yusuf Ali translation of the Qur’an from The Word Online Bible CD [up]
- Alternative spelling: Koran (also: Quran, Qur-an, Qur-n) [up]
- Though only loosely based on an ABC Radio (Australia) Encounter program, 19 March 2001, similar stories abound today. [up]
- Sheikh Mohammed Shihabuddin Nadvi, Evolution or Creation? (witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/SN_evolution/default.htm), 21 November 2001. [up]
- Mackenzie, D., Unnatural selection, New Scientist 166(2235):34-39, 2000. [up]
- The Koran can also accommodate different views in other areas. Muslims eager to promote Islam as a religion of “peace” quoted publicly only Koranic passages that apparently speak gently of non-Muslims, ignoring other passages commanding Muslims to wage ‘jihad’ against them. [up]
- The Creation of the Heavens and the Earth: Differences from and resemblances to the Biblical description (witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MB-BQS/16creation.htm), 16 November 2001. [up]
- Maulvi Muhammad Ali, The Holy Qur-n, containing the Arabic text with English translation and commentary, 3rd edition, Ahmadiyya Anjuman-I-Ishaat-I-Islam, Lahore, Punjab, India. p.24 (footnote 52), 1935. [up]
- Genesis is dismissed as 'myth' by some Muslims. The Islamic View of Creation, (ldolphin.org/islamcreat.html), 21 November 2001. [up]
- E.g. Is the Qur’an the Bible’s Savior? (geocities.com/Athens/Agora/4229/koran.html), 4 December 2001. [up]
- E.g. Bucaille, M., The Bible, The Qur’an and Science, (witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MB_BQS/default.htm), 16 November 2001. [up]
- Ham, K. I have the Bible--what more do I need? Creation 15(2):28-30, 1993. [up]
- A very helpful resource is Gitt, W. What about the other religions? CLV press, Bielefeld, Germany, 1994. [up]
- Extant Early Manuscripts of the Bible, (westminster.edu/staff/brennie/mss.htm), 11 December 2001. [up]
- CNN Larry King Weekend, (cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/01/lklw.00.html), 11 December 2001 (broadcast 1 December 2001). [up]
Learn more about Islam and Christianity
For Christians: What does Islam teach about the crucifixion of Jesus?
For Muslims: What does the Qur’an say about Isa al Masih (Jesus)?
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