Biblical narratives and the Qur'an
Encyclopedia
The Qur'an
, the central religious text of Islam
, contains references to over fifty people and events also found in the Bible
. While the stories told in each book are generally comparable in most respects, important differences sometimes emerge.
In the Qur'an, it is mentioned that the original Gospel (and original Torah) tells about Muhammad, the final prophet to whom will be given the last revelation of God. Anything in the Bible that agrees with the Qur'an is accepted, and anything in the Bible that disagrees with the Qur'an is not accepted. Many stories in the Bible are not mentioned at all in the Qur'an; with regard to such passages, Muslims are instructed to neither believe nor disbelieve in them, but they are allowed to read them and pass them on if they wish to do so.
Often, stories related in the Qur'an tend to concentrate more on the moral or spiritual significance of the event rather than the details (though significant details are often offered). The tales often assume that people already know the basic details of the stories, and thus use the stories to make moral and religious points, rather than simply relating history for its own sake.
Western secular scholars have tended to analyze similarities between Biblical and Quranic accounts of the same person or event as being evidence for the influence of pre-existing traditions on the composition of the Qur'an
. This has been denied by Muslims. From a traditionalist Muslim perspective, such a discussion would make no sense; Muslims believe that the Qur'an was sent from Allah (God) through the angel Jibrael
(Gabriel) to the prophet Muhammad
in a series of revelations, and this divinely inspired text was then progressively dictated (word for word, and over and over again to make certain that there were no mistakes) by Muhammad to the followers of Islam. Moreover, they believe that the Biblical tradition was corrupted over time, and hence it would be futile to use it as a basis for any sort of comparison with the allegedly infallible revelation of the Qur'an.
, telling them to eat any food there they wished, except that from a single tree, the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". According to this tale, a serpent
tempted them to partake of fruit from the tree, telling them that they would become like God by doing so; both then ate from it. Immediately thereafter, they became ashamed and covered their nakedness with leaves. God questioned them concerning their actions, reminding them of His command to not to eat of the tree. He next put enmity between the woman and man, and between humans and the 'tempter', then forced Adam and Eve to leave the garden, following which these two humans then populated the earth.
According to the Islamic creation story in the Qur'an, before creating Adam from clay by uttering the simple word "Be", Allah
informed the Angels of His divine plan to "create a vicegerent on earth". When they asked him "will You place therein one who will do harm and shed blood, while we, we hymn Your praise and sanctify You?" He said: "Surely I know that which you know not." After creating Adam, Allah taught him the names of all things as well as those of the Angels, which Adam then repeated correctly after the Angels were unable to comply when Allah asked them to do so from their own knowledge. Allah next commanded all of the angels to prostrate before Adam, to honour God's new creation and to display obedience to Allah. All of them did except for Iblis (thereafter known as Shaitaan), a jinn
who was arrogant and rebelled against Allah and thus became a disbeliever. Shaitaan subsequently swore to mislead mankind from the straight path of Allah, and Allah responded to his arrogance and disobedience by expelling him from Paradise
.
The Qur'an says that Adam and his wife were misled by Shaitaan, who tempted them with immortality
and a kingdom that never decays, saying: "Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever". Adam and Eve had been warned of Shaitaan's scheming against them, and had been commanded by Allah to avoid the tree Shaitaan referred to. Although Allah had reminded them that there was enough provision for them "not to go hungry nor to go naked, nor to suffer from thirst, nor from the sun's heat", they ultimately gave in to Shaitaan's temptation and partook of the tree anyway. Following this sin, their "nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden", and were subsequently sent down from Paradise onto the earth with "enmity one to another". However, Allah also gave them the assurance that "when there come unto you from Me a guidance, then whoso followeth My guidance, he will not go astray nor come to grief."
Unlike Christianity, Islam believes that God thoroughly forgave Adam and Eve their transgression when they begged His mercy; thus, there was no "original sin" (as in Christian teaching) that was passed down from Adam to his descendants.
Among the many significant differences between the stories are:
(See Also: Bible: Book of Genesis:,, and Qur'an: Surah
Al-Baqara
:30-39, Surah Al-A'raf
:19-27, and Surah Ta-Ha
:115.
.
According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had two sons: Cain, the eldest, and Abel, his brother. Each made sacrifices to God, but God only accepted Abel's sacrifice, and not Cain's. God accepts Abel's offering and not Cain's because Abel gave the best of his flocks, indicating that God came first in his heart. Cain, on the other hand, gave a sacrifice from his crops, which shows that he was more focused upon only making a sacrifice rather than pleasing the Lord.(Gen. ; see Al-Ma'ida ). Although God attempted to remonstrate with Cain about his attitude, Cain refused to listen and ultimately murdered his brother, Abel (see Al-Ma'ida ; Gen. ). Cain was subsequently called to account by God, who condemned him to a lifetime of wandering and fruitless toil, while promising to take vengeance upon any who tried to avenge his brother's blood upon him. Abel, on the other hand was regarded by the Bible as righteous.
The Qu'ran relates a slightly different version:
Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to God): It was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: "Be sure I will slay thee." "Surely," said the former, "God doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous.If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds. For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong." The (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the lost ones.Then God sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. "Woe is me!" said he; "Was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother?" then he became full of regrets. On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole mankind: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole mankind. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.
Compare the last part with the Talmud Yerushalmi (Mishnayot), Mishnah Sanhedrin Tractate 4:5, and Folia 23a, and in the Talmud Bavli Folia 37a.
לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי ללמדך שכל המאבד נפש אחת [מישראל] מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל'המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם
Therefore, humans were created singly, to teach you that whoever destroys a single soul [of Israel], Scripture accounts it as if he had destroyed a full world; and whoever saves one soul of Israel, Scripture accounts it as if she had saved a full world.
The term Scripture indicates that the Rabbi was citing the Law, indirectly confirming the Qur'an´s statement.
as well as Al-A'raf
, Yunus
, Al-Muminun
, Ash-Shu'ara
, Al-Qamar
, and all of Nuh
Noah
is described in the Bible as a righteous man who lived among a wicked people. God decided to kill all the wicked through a vast flood, while saving the righteous; hence He commanded Noah to build an Ark, using God's own instructions. (Gen. ; Hud ) Noah did so and he, his family, seven pairs of birds and ″clean″ animals, and two of each other animal species (a female and a male) board the Ark (Gen. ; Hud ). Water gushes up from the ground and rains fall from the sky, flooding the earth and killing all the wicked. (Gen. ; Al-Qamar ). All aboard the Ark are safe until the waters retreat (Gen. ; Hud ). There is disagreement among Christians and Muslims concerning whether the flood was local or global.
There are several differences between the Biblical and Quranic versions of Noah's story:
, Al-Hijr
, As-Saaffat
, and Adh-Dhariyat
. Several messengers come to Abraham on their way to destroy the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham welcomes them into his tent and provides them with food. They then promise their host that Isaac (ʾIsḥāq إسحٰق) will soon be born to Abraham's wife, Sarah (Sārah سارة). Sarah laughs at the idea because she is far too old to bear children.
The angels rebuke her, telling her that by God's will she can bear a son. A conversation ensues in which Abraham admits that he wished God to have mercy on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
However, there are several differences between the Biblical and Qur'anic accounts:
The story continues further after the destruction of the twin cities, with Lot leaving Zoar (where he had fled for refuge) with his two daughters to live in a cave. Fearing that all the men were dead, the daughters decided that in order to 'preserve the seed of their father
' and procreate, they must have sexual intercourse
with him; they decide to get him into a drunken stupor so as to be able to 'lie with him' and obtain his seed
. And so they each sleep with their father (one each on successive nights), having intoxicated him to a point wherein he could 'perceive not', and thus get impregnated by him. The Bible then continues "And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day". The Biblical story of Lot ends here.
According to the Qur'an, Lot (or Lut, as he is called in the Qur'an) was a Prophet. He was also a nephew of Prophet Ibrahim (Abhraham). A group of Angels visited Ibrahim as guests and gave him glad tidings of a son "endowed with wisdom"; they told him that they had been sent by Allah to the "guilty people" of Sodom, to destroy them with "a shower of stones of clay (brimstone
)" and deliver Lot and those who believed in him. However, Lot's wife was specifically excluded, with the angels saying "she is of those who lag behind". The Qur'an draws upon Lot's wife as an "example for the unbelievers", as she was married to a righteous man but refused to believe in his words; hence, she was condemned to the Hell
fire.
According to the Qur'an, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah
, to which Lot had been sent with Allah's message, indulged in the abominable sin
of homosexuality
; upon Lot's exhorting them to abandon their transgression against Allah, they ridiculed him, threatening him with dire consequences. Lot prayed to Allah to be saved from doing as they did; when the Angels came to him, he became distressed. Knowing well the character of his people and feeling himself powerless to protect them, he said: "this is a distressful day." When his people—overjoyed at the news of new visitors in the village—came to snatch them away from Lot, he tried to convince them to refrain from practicing their lusts on the male visitors and offered his own daughters in marriage to them in exchange for the visitors release. However, the men of Sodom were unrelenting and replied: "we have no need of thy daughters: indeed you know quite well what we want!" The Qur'an describes the peoples' state then as "... they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death". Seeing that Lot was powerless to protect them, the visitors revealed to him that they were angels sent by Allah to punish his people for their transgressions. They advised Lot to leave the place during the night and not look back, informing him that his wife would be left behind due to her sinful nature and that they (the Angels) "...were about to bring down upon the folk of this township a fury from the sky because they are evil-doers". Keeping his faith in Allah, Lot left his home and the cities during the night with his family and others who believed in him; only his wife stayed behind.
When morning came, Allah "turned the cities upside down, and rained down on them Brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer", putting an end to the lives of the people and exclaiming: "so taste ye My Wrath and My Warning!" according to the Qur'an. The Qur'an refers to the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah as "signs for those who understand by example", for those who "care to understand" and those who "fear a grievous penalty or a painful doom". The story of Lot in the Qur'an ends after describing this event, and thereafter is used by Allah as an example stating "and most surely you pass by them (Sodom and Gomorrah) by the day, and at night; do you not then understand?"
There are several differences between the Qur'an and Bible:
(See Also: Bible: Genesis 19:1-26 . Qur'an: Surah Al-Hijr
57-77, Surah Hud
74-83, Surah Al-A'raf
80-84, Surah Ash-Shu'ara
160-174, Surah An-Naml 54-58, Surah Al-Ankabut
28-35, Surah As-Saaffat
133-138, Surah Adh-Dhariyat
31-37, and Surah Al-Qamar
36-39.)
In both the Bible and the Qur'an, Joseph has a vision of eleven stars and the sun and the moon all bowing to him which he shares with his family.
(Genesis 37:9) And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."
(Yusuf|12.4) Behold! Joseph said to his father: "O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!"
Joseph's brothers became jealous that their father preferred Joseph over them, and so they form a plot to kill Joseph. However, one brother convinces them not to kill him but throw him down a well while they are alone. (Yusuf|12.8-10; Genesis 37:20-22) They agree. They subsequently lie to their father as to Joseph's whereabouts, covering his clothing in blood and asserting that a wild animal had attacked him. A caravan passing the well inspires the brothers to pull Joseph out of the well and to sell him as a slave to traders in the caravan. Later the traders sell him to a wealthy Egyptian. (Genesis 37:27-36; Yusuf|12.20-22)
Joseph grows up in the house of the Egyptian. When Joseph is a grown man, his master's wife tries to seduce him. Joseph resists and runs away, but is caught by other servants and reported to his master. The wife lies to her husband, saying that Joseph tried to rape her. (Yusuf|12.25; Gen. 39:12); At this point the two stories differ.
In prison, Joseph meets two men. One has a dream of making wine and the other dreams of carrying a stack of breads that birds are eating. Joseph tells the first that he will serve the Pharaoh again and the second will be executed. Both things happen, precisely as Joseph foretold. Although Joseph asks the first man to bring his name and unjust imprisonment to the attention of the Pharaoh, the first man quickly forgets about him once restored to the royal favor.
Sometime thereafter, Pharaoh had a dream:
(Genesis 41:17-19) And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river; 18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow; And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
(Yusuf|12.43) The king (of Egypt) said: "I do see (in a vision) seven fat kine, whom seven lean ones devour, and seven green ears of corn, and seven (others) withered. O ye chiefs! Expound to me my vision if it be that ye can interpret visions."
Pharaoh's cup-bearer, who had been previously imprisoned with Joseph, suddenly remembers his promise and tells Pharaoh about the man who foretold his own restoration to favor. Pharaoh sent to the prison, asking Joseph to interpret his dream. In the Qur'anic account, Joseph insists that the Vizier's wife vindicate him before Pharaoh before Joseph will agree to do so (this is not mentioned in the Bible); Pharaoh summons the Vizier's wife, who admits her lies about Joseph and proclaims his innocence. The Qur'an now rejoins the Biblical narrative, where Joseph reveals the meaning of Pharaoh's dream: Egypt will have seven years of good crops followed by seven years of famine and the famine will be worse than the abundance. Pharaoh rewarded Joseph by giving him charge over the store houses and the entire land of Egypt.
In the Qur'an it is important to note, that unlike the references to Pharaoh in the account of Moses, the account of Joseph refers to the Egyptian ruler as a "king", not a pharaoh.
During the famine, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food, but the youngest was left with their father. While Joseph recognized them, they did not recognize him. He demanded that they return with the missing brother. The brothers return home and find that Joseph had hidden in their packs more than they paid for. They asked their father if they might return with the youngest brother. Reluctantly, their father allows this. They return, and after some further incidents Joseph ultimately reveals himself to his brothers. (Genesis 45:1; Yusuf| 12.90).
In the Bible, the missing brother is Benjamin, Joseph's only full blood brother. The others are half-brothers.
, Numbers
, and Deuteronomy
. The narratives here are mostly in Exodus 1-14 and 32. In the Qur'an, the Moses narratives are in the following passages: 2
.49-61, 7
.103-160, 10
.75-93, 17
.101-104, 20
.9-97, 26
.10-66, 27.7-14, 28
.3-46, 40
.23-30, 43
.46-55, 44
.17-31, and 79
.15-25.
Pharaoh slew the young male children of the Israelites (II:46). Moses' mother
cast Moses as an infant into a small ark. God protected him. Moses was found by the household of Pharaoh. They adopted him. Moses' sister, Miriam, had followed Moses. When he was found, she recommended that his own mother serve as nurse to him. When Moses became an adult, he saw an Egyptian fighting with an Israelite. Moses interceded and killed the Egyptian. The next day Moses saw the Israelite whom he saved. "Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" he asks. Pharaoh tried to have Moses killed and Moses fled. He went to a watering place in Midian
. He met some sisters and watered their herd. When the women's father, Jethro
, learned of Moses, he invited him to stay and gave him a daughter, Zipporah
, to marry.
In Midian, Moses saw a fire and approached it. God spoke to him, and told him to remove his shoes. God said that he had chosen Moses. God said to throw down his staff and to stretch out his arm as signs. His staff turned into a serpent and then returned to the form of a staff. His arm became white although he was not sick. God commanded him to go to Pharaoh to deliver a message. Moses said that he could not speak well. So God provided Aaron, his brother, to help Moses speak.
God sent Moses to the court of Pharaoh
. Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses. Moses threw down his staff. It became a serpent. He extended his hand, and it turned white. Pharaoh's magicians performed a magic feat also but the feat was swallowed by Moses' serpent. God caused a famine. God sent plagues of locusts, frogs, blood, and death. God sent at least nine signs to Pharaoh. Each time the Egyptians agreed to let the Hebrews leave and God stopped the plague. When they broke their word. God told Moses to lead the Israelites across a sea. Moses struck the sea with his staff and the sea dried up. Pharaoh's army pursued them but the water returned and they are drowned. (Exodus 14:7, II:47)
Moses left the Hebrews for forty nights. He put his brother Aaron in charge of the people (Al-Baqara|2.48) On a mountain, God gave Moses a revelation of precepts for Israel to follow. God made tablets with writing on them which Moses carried back to Israel.
Moses asked to see God. The people saw the fire and lightning and the mountain and are afraid. While Moses is gone, the Israelites demanded to worship an idol. They used the gold from their ornaments to construct a golden calf whom they said was the god who rescued them from Egypt. Aaron does not stop them. Then Moses returned and chastised them and Aaron. Many were killed for their action. God sent down manna and quail to eat but the Hebrews still rebelled against God, and complained about the food. Moses asked God for water and God answered him. Moses struck a stone with his staff and water came forth. The Israelites were divided into twelve tribes.
God gave the Israelites a bountiful land, but this occurred at different times in the two scriptures. Besides that and the many additional details in the Torah
, there are other differences:
See also Aaron
, Islamic view of Aaron, and Islamic view of Pharaoh.
appears in Numbers 16:1-50 in the Torah
and in Al-Qasas 76-82. Korah was an Israelite living during the time of Moses. Because of his wickedness, God caused him to die by opening the ground and swallowing him and his home (Numbers 16:31-33; Al-Qasas|28.81). In the Qur'an, Karon is simply a rich man who is too arrogant. In the Torah, he leads a minor rebellion against Moses. God also kills the others who rebel with him and their homes.
in the Bible, Gideon is hesitant about leading the Hebrews to battle. To demonstrate God's power, God tells Gideon to observe when the troops reach a river and whoever drinks without his hands Gideon must send home. The Hebrews later have victory.
In the Qur'an, the same event happens to Saul on the way to meet Goliath. In the Biblical account of Saul and Goliath, Saul is also hesitant about the battle with Goliath's army but David wins the battle for Israel.
A prophet of Israel appoints Saul
as king after the Israelites petition the prophet for a king (Samuel 9:17; Al-Baqarah|2.247). At least a few people are not happy with Samuel's choice. Saul is going into battle with his army and is unsure about his victory. David
kills Goliath, a significant warrior in the opposing army (Samuel 17:50; Al-Baqarah|2.251). In the Bible, Goliath is the champion of the Philistine army. In the Qur'an, he is the leader. The account also bears similarity to when Gideon led an army. See Mixed Similarities.
consists of four chapters about Jonah's mission to Nineveh. The story is referenced three times in the Qur'an
: in verses 139–148 of Sura 37 (As-Saaffat) (Those who set the ranks), verses 87-88 of Sura 21: al-Anbiya' (The Prophets) and verses 48-50 of Sura 68: al-Qalam (The Pen)/Nun. It is mentioned in verse 98 of Sura 10: Yunus (Jonah) and verse 86 of Sura 6: al-An'am (The Cattle).
In the Qur'an, Jonah gets frustrated by his own people and abandons them to God's mercy, however without asking permission from God and thus going against his given responsibility. In the Quran, it is also mentioned that if Jonah had not prayed inside the belly of the fish he would have stayed in there until the Judgement day. In the Bible, Jonah pays a fare to sail to Tarshish. In both stories, he boards the ship loaded with passengers, lots are cast and Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by a large fish (Jonah 1:17, As-Saaffat 37|142). After praying, he is cast out of the fish and washed ashore, and God causes a gourd to grow (37|146) or weeds (2:5). In the Bible, Jonah continues into Nineveh, and the city is spared by God. In both Bible and Quran, God causes the gourd to grow to comfort Jonah after he lies on the shore in a sickly state, Jonah (4:6), (As-Saaffat 37|145). According to an Islamic tradition however, the big fish gets frightened at first, fearing it might have swallowed a holy person as it heard prayers and supplications read in a wonderful voice from her stomach, hearing which numerous sea creatures had surrounded it. But she comforts herself later since it was God's order to swallow Jonah. After two days the fish casts him out the beach of an island and he is very weak. The gastric juices with the hot sunlight burned his skin till the point he was about to scream of pain. God causes a vine to grow over him and provide him fruit and shade. He recovers and goes back to his people who had become good after he left. According to the Quran, the number of the people he was sent towards as a prophet exceeded a hundred thousand. They believed in his message and God granted them prosperity for a long time. (As-Saaffat 37|147–148).
of the empire under Persian King Ahasuerus
who desires to persecute the Jews. In the Qur'an, Haman is an adviser and builder under a Firaun
(Pharaoh) of ancient Egypt whose narrative relationship with Moses is recounted in the Qur'an.
The structure which Firaun commands Haman to build is similar to the Tower of Babel
in Genesis, unrelated to the narrative of Haman in the Bible. Both structures are made from burnt bricks for the purpose of ascending to the heavens.
1:5-80 and Luke 3:1-22 and in the Qur'an 19.2-15. Zechariah and his wife reached an old age without bearing children. God spoke to Zechariah and told him his wife would conceive, despite her barrenness, and his name would be John. As a sign that this would happen, God struck Zechariah mute until John was born though he communicated using signs. John became a great and righteous prophet and came to confirm God's Word. Both accounts mention John's death.
The two accounts never directly disagree, but each have unique elements: In the Bible Zechariah is a priest. God speaks to him on Yom Kippur
in the Holy of Holies
. He doubts that God will act and his muteness is a sign and punishment. Muslims regard Zechariah as a Prophet and therefore claim he would never doubt God's omnipotence although in the Quranic narrative he does question how would it come about since he is an old man and his wife long barren. Upon which he is told that for God it is indeed very easy and that haven't God created you already while you were naught. In the Quranic narrative Zechariah is also reminded that the sign he should seek for would be a muteness for three nights although without being restrained from speech, implying, he simply would not find an occasion to talk to anyone. Zechariah, therefore, is found emerging from his chamber and reminding his people to celebrate the praises of the Lord through an inspirational gesture (Surah Maryam 19|1-11).
1:26-37, 2:1-21, and Qur'an 19.16-35. In the Bible, in the sixth month after the conception of John the Baptist by Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin Mary, at Nazareth. Mary was of the house of David, and was betrothed to Joseph, of the same royal family. And the angel having taken the figure and the form of man, came into the house and said to her: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.' Mary having heard the greeting words did not speak; she was troubled in spirit, since she knew not the angel, nor the cause of his coming, nor the meaning of the salutation. And the angel continued and said: 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.' Not doubting the word of Godlike Zachary, but filled with fear and astonishment, she said: "How shall this be done, because I know not man?'
The angel to remove Mary's anxiety and to assure her that her virginity would be spared, answered: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' In token of the truth of his word he made known to her the conception of John, the miraculous pregnancy of her relative now old and sterile: 'And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth; she also has conceived a son in herold age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: because no word shall be impossible with God.' Mary may not yet have fully understood the meaning of the heavenly message and how the maternity might be reconciled with her vow of virginity, but clinging to the first words of the angel and trusting to the Omnipotence of God she said: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.'
In Luke, Mary is betrothed to Joseph but the Qur'an never mentions any man. In the Qur'an, 'her people' have a conversation with Mary accusing her of fornication. In the Bible, no such conversation happens but Joseph knows that people are thinking this.
The Quran states in the chapter named after Mary, verse 16-37:
In the Book, tell the story of Maryam, when she went away from her family (for Prayer) to a place in the East.
She placed a screen (to hide herself) from them; Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her in the form of a man of respect in every way.
She said: "Verily, I ask shelter from you with the Most Gracious (Allah):(Do not come near me) if you guard yourself against evil."
He said: "I am a messenger from your Lord, only to announce to you, the gift of a righteous son."
She said: "How shall I have a son, when no man has touched me, and I am not indecent?"
He said: "It will be so: Your Lord says 'That is easy for Me: And (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign to men and a Mercy from Us': It is a thing (already) ordained."
So she started to carry him (Jesus), and she went (to rest) with him to a far place.
And the pains of childbirth took her to the trunk of a palm tree: She cried "Oh! If I had died before this! If I was a thing forgotten and not seen!"
Then (a voice) cried to her from under the tree: "Do not feel sad! Because your Lord has made a stream underneath you; And shake towards yourself the trunk of the palm tree: It will drop fresh ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and cool (wet your) eye. And if you see any man, say, 'I have promised solemnly to the Most Gracious, and this day I will not enter into talk with any human being.'"
At the end she brought the baby to her people, carrying baby Jesus in her arms. They said "O Maryam! Truly an amazing thing have you brought! O sister of Aaron! Your father was not an adulterous man, and your mother was not an immoral woman!"
Then, she pointed to the baby. They said, "How can we talk to one who is only a child in the cradle?"
He (Baby Jesus) said, "Indeed I am a servant of Allah: He has given me the Injeel (Gospel) and made me a prophet; and he has made me blessed where ever I be, and has commanded for me prayer and charity as long as I live; Allah has made me kind to my mother, and not arrogant or miserable;And Peace is on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I will be raised again to life!"
Jesus, the son of Maryam was like this: It is a statement of truth, about which they dispute (uselessly).
It is not suited for Almighty Allah that He should father a son. Glory to Him! When He determines anything, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.
Jesus said: "And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him alone you therefore worship: That is the Straight Path."
Then, the groups differed among themselves: so this is a warning to the disbelievers because of the Judgement on a great Day!
(Translation: Syed Vickar Ahamed, 2007. Approved by Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy, Cairo, Egypt.)
s (Matthew
, Mark
, Luke
and John
) in the Bible, as well as being the focus of the subsequent books of the New Testament. He appears several times in the Qur'an: in verses 35-59 of Sura 3: al-Imran (The Family of Imran), verses 156-158 of Sura 4: an Nisa' (The Women), verses 109-120 of Sura 5: al-Ma'idah (The Repast), verses 16-35 of Sura 19: Maryam (Mary), verse 50 of Sura 23: al-Mu'minun (The Believers) verses 57-65 of Sura 43: az-Zukhruf (The Gold Adornments) and in verses 6 and 14 of Sura 61: as-Saff (The Battle Array). Reference is made to him several more times.
The Qur'an contains few narratives from Jesus' life, but does include many brief descriptions in common with the Bible:
-In the Qur'an Jesus is said to have created a bird out of clay and blown life into it; and he is also said to have spoken as an infant in the cradle to defend his mother from the false accusations of fornication. These two narratives are not found in the Bible, but are in the Infancy Gospels (Non-Canonical Gospels).
The Qur'an
rejects the Christian view of Jesus, specifically his divinity. According to the Qur'an, Jesus
did not ask to be worshipped and Jesus asked people to worship God. Also, according to the Qur'an, God "has no partners" and believing that God
took physical form is in of itself a sin
.
s, but they are never given a story. In the Bible, all these men are identified as righteous people but not prophets — except Ishmael who is not written of favorably.
There is also one person mentioned in the Qur'an, Dhul-Qarnayn
, who is not mentioned in the Bible by that name but whose story is similar to stories about Alexander the Great as mentioned in other Jewish and Christian writings (see Alexander the Great in the Qur'an). However Dhul-Qarnayn
may also be Cyrus the Great
who is mentioned in the Bible (see Cyrus (Bible) and Cyrus the Great in the Qur'an
).
, its first king, also made two golden calves and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." Later, around 700 BC, another people group occupies Samaria called the Samaritans.
The Qur'an tells the story of a calf while Moses is gone. A man called "the Samari" Yusuf Ali
or "the Samaritan" (Arberry
) is blamed for protagonizing their idolatry.
A verse in Hosea
8:5-6 contains the same content as Ta-Ha
|20.97 where Hosea refers to the Jeroboam calf and the Qur'an refers to the earlier calf. Both feature a prophet speaking to the Samaritan/Samaria promising to destroy the calf.
In the Qur'an, Moses' punishment that the Samari cannot be touched is the same as the modern Samaritan's punishment where no Jew was allowed to touch them because of their idolatry. In his commentary, Yusuf Ali
claims that the Samari is not a Samaritan.
, is one of the females who has her name mentioned in the Quran. While speaking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Qur'an also calls her as the sister of Aaron, since they are both among the righteous.
, Hannah
is grateful that God gave her a son, Samuel. She dedicated him to God by letting him live with Eli
the prophet and priest.
In the Qur'an, Mary's mother is grateful to God for Mary and dedicates her to God. Mary then lives in the household of Zechariah the prophet.
In the Bible, Zechariah is also a priest. Mary's mother has no name in the Qur'an. (This article is about narratives in the Quran not traditions.)
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
, the central religious text of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, contains references to over fifty people and events also found in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. While the stories told in each book are generally comparable in most respects, important differences sometimes emerge.
In the Qur'an, it is mentioned that the original Gospel (and original Torah) tells about Muhammad, the final prophet to whom will be given the last revelation of God. Anything in the Bible that agrees with the Qur'an is accepted, and anything in the Bible that disagrees with the Qur'an is not accepted. Many stories in the Bible are not mentioned at all in the Qur'an; with regard to such passages, Muslims are instructed to neither believe nor disbelieve in them, but they are allowed to read them and pass them on if they wish to do so.
Often, stories related in the Qur'an tend to concentrate more on the moral or spiritual significance of the event rather than the details (though significant details are often offered). The tales often assume that people already know the basic details of the stories, and thus use the stories to make moral and religious points, rather than simply relating history for its own sake.
Western secular scholars have tended to analyze similarities between Biblical and Quranic accounts of the same person or event as being evidence for the influence of pre-existing traditions on the composition of the Qur'an
Origin and development of the Qur'an
The study of the origins and development of the Qur'an can be said to fall into two major schools of thought, the first being a traditional Islamic view and the second being a secular view, finding its origins in the works of Western scholars....
. This has been denied by Muslims. From a traditionalist Muslim perspective, such a discussion would make no sense; Muslims believe that the Qur'an was sent from Allah (God) through the angel Jibrael
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an Archangel who typically serves as a messenger to humans from God.He first appears in the Book of Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions. In the Gospel of Luke Gabriel foretells the births of both John the Baptist and of Jesus...
(Gabriel) to the prophet Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
in a series of revelations, and this divinely inspired text was then progressively dictated (word for word, and over and over again to make certain that there were no mistakes) by Muhammad to the followers of Islam. Moreover, they believe that the Biblical tradition was corrupted over time, and hence it would be futile to use it as a basis for any sort of comparison with the allegedly infallible revelation of the Qur'an.
Adam and Eve (آدم Adam and حواء Hawwaa)
According to the Biblical creation story God initially created the first human, a man named Adam, from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; thereafter God created a woman named Eve from one of Adam's ribs. God placed them in the paradisiacal Garden of EdenGarden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is in the Bible's Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and his wife, Eve, lived after they were created by God. Literally, the Bible speaks about a garden in Eden...
, telling them to eat any food there they wished, except that from a single tree, the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". According to this tale, a serpent
Serpent (Bible)
Serpent is the term used to translate a variety of words in the Hebrew bible, the most common being , , the generic word for "snake"....
tempted them to partake of fruit from the tree, telling them that they would become like God by doing so; both then ate from it. Immediately thereafter, they became ashamed and covered their nakedness with leaves. God questioned them concerning their actions, reminding them of His command to not to eat of the tree. He next put enmity between the woman and man, and between humans and the 'tempter', then forced Adam and Eve to leave the garden, following which these two humans then populated the earth.
According to the Islamic creation story in the Qur'an, before creating Adam from clay by uttering the simple word "Be", Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
informed the Angels of His divine plan to "create a vicegerent on earth". When they asked him "will You place therein one who will do harm and shed blood, while we, we hymn Your praise and sanctify You?" He said: "Surely I know that which you know not." After creating Adam, Allah taught him the names of all things as well as those of the Angels, which Adam then repeated correctly after the Angels were unable to comply when Allah asked them to do so from their own knowledge. Allah next commanded all of the angels to prostrate before Adam, to honour God's new creation and to display obedience to Allah. All of them did except for Iblis (thereafter known as Shaitaan), a jinn
Jinn
Jinn are supernatural beings in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings.Jinn may also refer to:* Jinn , a Japanese band* Qui-Gon Jinn, a character in the Star Wars universe...
who was arrogant and rebelled against Allah and thus became a disbeliever. Shaitaan subsequently swore to mislead mankind from the straight path of Allah, and Allah responded to his arrogance and disobedience by expelling him from Paradise
Paradise
Paradise is a place in which existence is positive, harmonious and timeless. It is conceptually a counter-image of the miseries of human civilization, and in paradise there is only peace, prosperity, and happiness. Paradise is a place of contentment, but it is not necessarily a land of luxury and...
.
The Qur'an says that Adam and his wife were misled by Shaitaan, who tempted them with immortality
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
and a kingdom that never decays, saying: "Your Lord only forbade you this tree, lest ye should become angels or such beings as live for ever". Adam and Eve had been warned of Shaitaan's scheming against them, and had been commanded by Allah to avoid the tree Shaitaan referred to. Although Allah had reminded them that there was enough provision for them "not to go hungry nor to go naked, nor to suffer from thirst, nor from the sun's heat", they ultimately gave in to Shaitaan's temptation and partook of the tree anyway. Following this sin, their "nakedness appeared to them: they began to sew together, for their covering, leaves from the Garden", and were subsequently sent down from Paradise onto the earth with "enmity one to another". However, Allah also gave them the assurance that "when there come unto you from Me a guidance, then whoso followeth My guidance, he will not go astray nor come to grief."
Unlike Christianity, Islam believes that God thoroughly forgave Adam and Eve their transgression when they begged His mercy; thus, there was no "original sin" (as in Christian teaching) that was passed down from Adam to his descendants.
Among the many significant differences between the stories are:
- In the Bible, God tells the man to name the animals. In the Qur'an, Allah teaches Adam the names "of all things" and Adam repeats them.
- In the Bible, the woman is created from the rib of the man. In the Qur'an, Eve is not mentioned by name, but it states that women were created from one soul (Adam).
- In the Bible, the forbidden tree named is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil , and while its fruit is often depicted as an apple, the Bible does not describe the fruit. In the Qur'an the forbidden tree is not named but Shaitaan calls it The Tree of Eternity to deceive Adam and his wife.
- In the Bible, God creates man in His own image. In the Qur'an, Allah says "Surely the likeness of (ProphetProphetIn religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
) IsaISAIsa is the name by which Jesus is known in the Muslim world.Isa may also refer to:* Isha Upanishad, Hindu religious text* Isa , 2004 album by Enslaved* Isa , common Arabic and Turkish male name...
(JesusJesusJesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in Bible) is with Allah as the likeness of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, Be, and he was." - In the Qur'an, Allah tells the angels to prostrate before Adam (as a sign of respect and obedience), but Iblis (thereafter referred to as Shaitaan) refuses. In the Bible, no such account is given.
- According to the Bible, because of God's curse, serpents have to crawl and eat dust, women have to suffer in childbirth, and men have to sweat for a living. According to the Qur'an, no such curse was issued. The difficulties of life on earth are what makes it different from life in paradise.
(See Also: Bible: Book of Genesis:,, and Qur'an: Surah
Sura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
Al-Baqara
Al-Baqara
Sura al-Baqarah is the second and longest chapter of the Qur'an. It is a Medinan sura and comprises 286 verses, including the single longest verse in the Qur'an...
:30-39, Surah Al-A'raf
Al-A'raf
Sura Al-A'raf is the seventh chapter of the Qur'an, with 206 verses. It is a Meccan sura. Its final verse, verse 206, requires a sajdah, or prostration.-Verses:...
:19-27, and Surah Ta-Ha
Ta-Ha
Sura Ta-Ha is the 20th sura of the Qur'an with 135 ayat. It is a Makkan sura.It is named "Ta-Ha" because the sura starts with the Arab letters طه ....
:115.
Cain and Abel (Qābīl and Hābīl)
See Genesis and Al-Ma'idaAl-Ma'ida
Sura Al-Ma'ida is the fifth chapter of the Qur'an, with 120 verses. It is a Madinan sura. The sura's main topics are Isa's and Moses' missions, as well as the claim that their messages are distorted by non-believing Jews and Christians.-Animals:...
.
According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had two sons: Cain, the eldest, and Abel, his brother. Each made sacrifices to God, but God only accepted Abel's sacrifice, and not Cain's. God accepts Abel's offering and not Cain's because Abel gave the best of his flocks, indicating that God came first in his heart. Cain, on the other hand, gave a sacrifice from his crops, which shows that he was more focused upon only making a sacrifice rather than pleasing the Lord.(Gen. ; see Al-Ma'ida ). Although God attempted to remonstrate with Cain about his attitude, Cain refused to listen and ultimately murdered his brother, Abel (see Al-Ma'ida ; Gen. ). Cain was subsequently called to account by God, who condemned him to a lifetime of wandering and fruitless toil, while promising to take vengeance upon any who tried to avenge his brother's blood upon him. Abel, on the other hand was regarded by the Bible as righteous.
The Qu'ran relates a slightly different version:
Recite to them the truth of the story of the two sons of Adam. Behold! they each presented a sacrifice (to God): It was accepted from one, but not from the other. Said the latter: "Be sure I will slay thee." "Surely," said the former, "God doth accept of the sacrifice of those who are righteous.If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds. For me, I intend to let thee draw on thyself my sin as well as thine, for thou wilt be among the companions of the fire, and that is the reward of those who do wrong." The (selfish) soul of the other led him to the murder of his brother: he murdered him, and became (himself) one of the lost ones.Then God sent a raven, who scratched the ground, to show him how to hide the shame of his brother. "Woe is me!" said he; "Was I not even able to be as this raven, and to hide the shame of my brother?" then he became full of regrets. On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole mankind: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole mankind. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.
Compare the last part with the Talmud Yerushalmi (Mishnayot), Mishnah Sanhedrin Tractate 4:5, and Folia 23a, and in the Talmud Bavli Folia 37a.
לפיכך נברא אדם יחידי ללמדך שכל המאבד נפש אחת [מישראל] מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו איבד עולם מלא וכל'המקיים נפש אחת מישראל מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו קיים עולם
Therefore, humans were created singly, to teach you that whoever destroys a single soul [of Israel], Scripture accounts it as if he had destroyed a full world; and whoever saves one soul of Israel, Scripture accounts it as if she had saved a full world.
The term Scripture indicates that the Rabbi was citing the Law, indirectly confirming the Qur'an´s statement.
Noah (نوح Nūḥ)
See Genesis and mainly HudHud (sura)
Sura Hud is the 11th chapter of the Qur'an with 123 verses. It is a Makkan sura.-Contents and themes:...
as well as Al-A'raf
Al-A'raf
Sura Al-A'raf is the seventh chapter of the Qur'an, with 206 verses. It is a Meccan sura. Its final verse, verse 206, requires a sajdah, or prostration.-Verses:...
, Yunus
Yunus (sura)
Sura Yunus is the 10th chapter of the Qur'an with 109 verses. It is a Makkan sura. It is named after the prophet Jonah....
, Al-Muminun
Al-Muminun
Surah Al-Mu’minoon is the 23rd Surah of the Qur'an with 118 ayat .This Surah deals with the fundamentals of faith , Tawheed , Risalah , Resurrection and the supreme Judgement of God...
, Ash-Shu'ara
Ash-Shu'ara
Surat Ash-Shu'ara is the 26th sura of the Qurʾan with 227 ayat. Many of these verses are very short.Shu'ara is the 26th surah in the Qur'an. The name shuara means "poets". It talks about various prophets and their tribes. Also how the disbelievers were destroyed after threatening prophets with...
, Al-Qamar
Al-Qamar
Surat Al-Qamar is the 54th sura of the Quran with 55 ayat. Some verses refer to the Splitting of the moon. "Qamar" , meaning "'Moon" in Arabic, is also a common name among Muslims.-Arabic Text:...
, and all of Nuh
Noah
Noah
Noah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
is described in the Bible as a righteous man who lived among a wicked people. God decided to kill all the wicked through a vast flood, while saving the righteous; hence He commanded Noah to build an Ark, using God's own instructions. (Gen. ; Hud ) Noah did so and he, his family, seven pairs of birds and ″clean″ animals, and two of each other animal species (a female and a male) board the Ark (Gen. ; Hud ). Water gushes up from the ground and rains fall from the sky, flooding the earth and killing all the wicked. (Gen. ; Al-Qamar ). All aboard the Ark are safe until the waters retreat (Gen. ; Hud ). There is disagreement among Christians and Muslims concerning whether the flood was local or global.
There are several differences between the Biblical and Quranic versions of Noah's story:
- The Qur'an focuses on a dialogue between Noah and the wicked (Hud ), in which Noah unsuccessfully attempts to remonstrate with his countrymen, who reject his message. Genesis mentions no such dialogue.
- In the Qur'an, Noah's wife and one of his sons reject him (Hud ) and die in the flood, while some people outside his family are faithful and join him (Hud ). In Genesis, Noah's wife together with his three sons and their wives all board the Ark, but no others.
- In the Qur'an, the Ark rests on the hills of Al-Joudi (Judaea) (Hud ); in the Bible, it rests on the mountains of Ararat (Gen. ) The Al-Djoudi (Judaea) is a mount in the Biblical range Ararat. The Qur'an cites a particular mount in The Ararat Range and the Bible mentions The Ararat Range. Judaea is still present in the Ararat range in Turkey. Thus there is no conflict between the Bible and the Qur'an on this topic.
Abraham (Ibrāhīm ابراهيم) promised a son
See Genesis , and HudHud (sura)
Sura Hud is the 11th chapter of the Qur'an with 123 verses. It is a Makkan sura.-Contents and themes:...
, Al-Hijr
Al-Hijr
Sura Al-Hijr is the 15th sura of the Qur'an. It has 99 ayat. It is a Makkan sura believed to have been received by Muhammad shortly after the 12th sura , Muhammad's last year in Mecca. Like the other sura of this period it praises God....
, As-Saaffat
As-Saaffat
Surat As-Saaffat is the 37th sura of the Qur'an with 182 ayat....
, and Adh-Dhariyat
Adh-Dhariyat
Surat Adh-Dhariyat is the 51st sura of the Qur'an with 60 ayat.- Background :This sura contains 60 ayats. It means The Winnowing Winds....
. Several messengers come to Abraham on their way to destroy the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham welcomes them into his tent and provides them with food. They then promise their host that Isaac (ʾIsḥāq إسحٰق) will soon be born to Abraham's wife, Sarah (Sārah سارة). Sarah laughs at the idea because she is far too old to bear children.
- Genesis "After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"
- Hud
The angels rebuke her, telling her that by God's will she can bear a son. A conversation ensues in which Abraham admits that he wished God to have mercy on the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Abraham (Ibrāhīm ابراهيم) sacrifices his son
In another narrative, Abraham receives a command from God to sacrifice his son. Abraham agrees to this and prepares to carry out the sacrifice. Before he can do so, however, God tells him to stop and gives him a replacement sacrifice. Abraham is subsequently honored for his faithfulness to God. (As-Saaffat ; Genesis )However, there are several differences between the Biblical and Qur'anic accounts:
- In Genesis, the sacrificial son is Isaac, where as in the Qur'an it is Ishmael (Ismā'īl إسماعيل), since it first narrates this story, followed by the account (mentioned above) of Abraham receiving the tidings of a son, Isaac (As-Saaffat . Therefore, Muslims believe the sacrificial son was Ishmael (Ismā'īl إسماعيل) and that this event happened prior to Isaac's birth.
- While God seems to speak directly to Abraham in Genesis, He speaks through a vision in the Qur'an.
- In the Qur'an, Abraham directly tells his son that he intends to sacrifice him. In Genesis, Abraham avoids telling Isaac, saying instead that "God will provide the sacrifice."
Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah (Lūṭ لوط and "The People of Lot")
According to the Bible, after visiting Abraham, two angels go to the city of Sodom in which Abraham's nephew Lot is a foreigner. They tell him God will soon destroy the city because of the wickedness of the people. The men of the city, upon hearing that Lot is entertaining male visitors, converge upon his house and demand that the men be brought out so that they can have sex with them. Lot offers his daughters in their place, but the men insist upon raping the angels instead. After blinding the city's inhabitants, the angels tell Lot and his family to flee by night and to not look back. The following morning, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with a shower of fiery stones from the sky. Lot's wife looked back to see the burning city and was turned into a pillar of salt.The story continues further after the destruction of the twin cities, with Lot leaving Zoar (where he had fled for refuge) with his two daughters to live in a cave. Fearing that all the men were dead, the daughters decided that in order to 'preserve the seed of their father
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
' and procreate, they must have sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with him; they decide to get him into a drunken stupor so as to be able to 'lie with him' and obtain his seed
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
. And so they each sleep with their father (one each on successive nights), having intoxicated him to a point wherein he could 'perceive not', and thus get impregnated by him. The Bible then continues "And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day". The Biblical story of Lot ends here.
According to the Qur'an, Lot (or Lut, as he is called in the Qur'an) was a Prophet. He was also a nephew of Prophet Ibrahim (Abhraham). A group of Angels visited Ibrahim as guests and gave him glad tidings of a son "endowed with wisdom"; they told him that they had been sent by Allah to the "guilty people" of Sodom, to destroy them with "a shower of stones of clay (brimstone
Fire and brimstone
Fire and brimstone is an idiomatic expression of signs of God's wrath in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. In the Bible, they often appear in reference to the fate of the unfaithful. "Brimstone," possibly the ancient name for sulfur, evokes the acrid odor of volcanic activity...
)" and deliver Lot and those who believed in him. However, Lot's wife was specifically excluded, with the angels saying "she is of those who lag behind". The Qur'an draws upon Lot's wife as an "example for the unbelievers", as she was married to a righteous man but refused to believe in his words; hence, she was condemned to the Hell
Jahannam
Jahannam is the Arabic language equivalent to Hell. The term comes from the Greek Gehenna, itself derived from the Hebrew geographical name for the Valley of Hinnom.-Jahannam in the Qur'an:...
fire.
According to the Qur'an, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
, to which Lot had been sent with Allah's message, indulged in the abominable sin
Islamic views of sin
Muslims see sin as anything that goes against the commands of Allah . Islam teaches that sin is an act and not a state of being. The Qur'an teaches that "the soul is certainly prone to evil, unless the Lord does bestow His Mercy" and that even the prophets do not absolve themselves of the blame...
of homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
; upon Lot's exhorting them to abandon their transgression against Allah, they ridiculed him, threatening him with dire consequences. Lot prayed to Allah to be saved from doing as they did; when the Angels came to him, he became distressed. Knowing well the character of his people and feeling himself powerless to protect them, he said: "this is a distressful day." When his people—overjoyed at the news of new visitors in the village—came to snatch them away from Lot, he tried to convince them to refrain from practicing their lusts on the male visitors and offered his own daughters in marriage to them in exchange for the visitors release. However, the men of Sodom were unrelenting and replied: "we have no need of thy daughters: indeed you know quite well what we want!" The Qur'an describes the peoples' state then as "... they moved blindly in the frenzy of approaching death". Seeing that Lot was powerless to protect them, the visitors revealed to him that they were angels sent by Allah to punish his people for their transgressions. They advised Lot to leave the place during the night and not look back, informing him that his wife would be left behind due to her sinful nature and that they (the Angels) "...were about to bring down upon the folk of this township a fury from the sky because they are evil-doers". Keeping his faith in Allah, Lot left his home and the cities during the night with his family and others who believed in him; only his wife stayed behind.
When morning came, Allah "turned the cities upside down, and rained down on them Brimstones hard as baked clay, spread, layer on layer", putting an end to the lives of the people and exclaiming: "so taste ye My Wrath and My Warning!" according to the Qur'an. The Qur'an refers to the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah as "signs for those who understand by example", for those who "care to understand" and those who "fear a grievous penalty or a painful doom". The story of Lot in the Qur'an ends after describing this event, and thereafter is used by Allah as an example stating "and most surely you pass by them (Sodom and Gomorrah) by the day, and at night; do you not then understand?"
There are several differences between the Qur'an and Bible:
- In the Qur'an, Lot is described a prophet, like his uncle Abraham. In Genesis (Genesis 19:1-29), Lot is not described as a prophet. In the New Testament, (2 Peter 2:7,8) Peter the Apostle describes Lot as a righteous man who was daily tormented by the lawless deeds he saw in Sodom.
- In both the Bible and in the Qur'an, Abraham pleads for God to have mercy (Qur'an; Gen. 18:24-33). In Genesis, God agrees to spare Sodom if just ten righteous men can be found there (but they are not found). In the Qur'an, God commands Abraham not to ask for mercy on them.
- In Genesis, Lot's wife leaves with Lot but turns around briefly and God turns her into a pillar of salt (Gen. 19:26). In the Qur'an, there is no mention of her leaving; rather Lot and his followers were commanded by the angels not to turn, but Lot is informed that his wife will turn and look behind (quran hud 11:123), and thus be destroyed with the rest of the two cities.
- Following the destruction of Sodom, the Bible describes an incestIncestIncest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
ous event between Lot and his two daughters, at his daughters' behest, in Genesis 19:30-38. The Qur'an does not describe any such event, and Muslims emphatically deny any such occurrence.
(See Also: Bible: Genesis 19:1-26 . Qur'an: Surah Al-Hijr
Al-Hijr
Sura Al-Hijr is the 15th sura of the Qur'an. It has 99 ayat. It is a Makkan sura believed to have been received by Muhammad shortly after the 12th sura , Muhammad's last year in Mecca. Like the other sura of this period it praises God....
57-77, Surah Hud
Hud (sura)
Sura Hud is the 11th chapter of the Qur'an with 123 verses. It is a Makkan sura.-Contents and themes:...
74-83, Surah Al-A'raf
Al-A'raf
Sura Al-A'raf is the seventh chapter of the Qur'an, with 206 verses. It is a Meccan sura. Its final verse, verse 206, requires a sajdah, or prostration.-Verses:...
80-84, Surah Ash-Shu'ara
Ash-Shu'ara
Surat Ash-Shu'ara is the 26th sura of the Qurʾan with 227 ayat. Many of these verses are very short.Shu'ara is the 26th surah in the Qur'an. The name shuara means "poets". It talks about various prophets and their tribes. Also how the disbelievers were destroyed after threatening prophets with...
160-174, Surah An-Naml 54-58, Surah Al-Ankabut
Al-Ankabut
Surat al-‘Ankabūt is the 29th sura of the Qur'an with 69 verses. It is a meccan surah due to the introduction concerning the persecution of the Muslims. The early Muslims were persecuted in Mecca, where the Prophet Muhammed was not a head of state and not persecuted in Medina, where he was a head...
28-35, Surah As-Saaffat
As-Saaffat
Surat As-Saaffat is the 37th sura of the Qur'an with 182 ayat....
133-138, Surah Adh-Dhariyat
Adh-Dhariyat
Surat Adh-Dhariyat is the 51st sura of the Qur'an with 60 ayat.- Background :This sura contains 60 ayats. It means The Winnowing Winds....
31-37, and Surah Al-Qamar
Al-Qamar
Surat Al-Qamar is the 54th sura of the Quran with 55 ayat. Some verses refer to the Splitting of the moon. "Qamar" , meaning "'Moon" in Arabic, is also a common name among Muslims.-Arabic Text:...
36-39.)
Joseph (Yusuf يوسف)
The narratives of Joseph can be found in Genesis 37-50 and in the Qur'an 12.4-102.In both the Bible and the Qur'an, Joseph has a vision of eleven stars and the sun and the moon all bowing to him which he shares with his family.
(Genesis 37:9) And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me."
(Yusuf|12.4) Behold! Joseph said to his father: "O my father! I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon: I saw them prostrate themselves to me!"
Joseph's brothers became jealous that their father preferred Joseph over them, and so they form a plot to kill Joseph. However, one brother convinces them not to kill him but throw him down a well while they are alone. (Yusuf|12.8-10; Genesis 37:20-22) They agree. They subsequently lie to their father as to Joseph's whereabouts, covering his clothing in blood and asserting that a wild animal had attacked him. A caravan passing the well inspires the brothers to pull Joseph out of the well and to sell him as a slave to traders in the caravan. Later the traders sell him to a wealthy Egyptian. (Genesis 37:27-36; Yusuf|12.20-22)
Joseph grows up in the house of the Egyptian. When Joseph is a grown man, his master's wife tries to seduce him. Joseph resists and runs away, but is caught by other servants and reported to his master. The wife lies to her husband, saying that Joseph tried to rape her. (Yusuf|12.25; Gen. 39:12); At this point the two stories differ.
- In the Bible, Joseph's master (named as Potiphar) refuses to believe Joseph's denial and imprisons him.
- In the Qur'an, Joseph's master (who is only identified as "the Vizier") accepts the suggestion of another servant to check Joseph's tunic. If it is torn from the front, the servant asserts, it will prove Joseph a liar; but if it is torn from the back (as proves to be the case), Joseph will be vindicated and the master's wife proven a liar. The Vizier reprimands his wife, and permits Joseph to remain in his household. However, during a subsequent dinner party thrown by the Vizier's wife, Joseph is commanded to appear before the wife and her ladyfriends; they cut their hands with knives out of lust for him, and although the Vizier again recognizes Joseph's innocence, he orders him imprisoned nevertheless.
In prison, Joseph meets two men. One has a dream of making wine and the other dreams of carrying a stack of breads that birds are eating. Joseph tells the first that he will serve the Pharaoh again and the second will be executed. Both things happen, precisely as Joseph foretold. Although Joseph asks the first man to bring his name and unjust imprisonment to the attention of the Pharaoh, the first man quickly forgets about him once restored to the royal favor.
Sometime thereafter, Pharaoh had a dream:
(Genesis 41:17-19) And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river; 18 And, behold, there came up out of the river seven kine, fatfleshed and well favoured; and they fed in a meadow; And, behold, seven other kine came up after them, poor and very ill favoured and leanfleshed, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for badness:
(Yusuf|12.43) The king (of Egypt) said: "I do see (in a vision) seven fat kine, whom seven lean ones devour, and seven green ears of corn, and seven (others) withered. O ye chiefs! Expound to me my vision if it be that ye can interpret visions."
Pharaoh's cup-bearer, who had been previously imprisoned with Joseph, suddenly remembers his promise and tells Pharaoh about the man who foretold his own restoration to favor. Pharaoh sent to the prison, asking Joseph to interpret his dream. In the Qur'anic account, Joseph insists that the Vizier's wife vindicate him before Pharaoh before Joseph will agree to do so (this is not mentioned in the Bible); Pharaoh summons the Vizier's wife, who admits her lies about Joseph and proclaims his innocence. The Qur'an now rejoins the Biblical narrative, where Joseph reveals the meaning of Pharaoh's dream: Egypt will have seven years of good crops followed by seven years of famine and the famine will be worse than the abundance. Pharaoh rewarded Joseph by giving him charge over the store houses and the entire land of Egypt.
In the Qur'an it is important to note, that unlike the references to Pharaoh in the account of Moses, the account of Joseph refers to the Egyptian ruler as a "king", not a pharaoh.
During the famine, Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy food, but the youngest was left with their father. While Joseph recognized them, they did not recognize him. He demanded that they return with the missing brother. The brothers return home and find that Joseph had hidden in their packs more than they paid for. They asked their father if they might return with the youngest brother. Reluctantly, their father allows this. They return, and after some further incidents Joseph ultimately reveals himself to his brothers. (Genesis 45:1; Yusuf| 12.90).
In the Bible, the missing brother is Benjamin, Joseph's only full blood brother. The others are half-brothers.
Moses (Mūsā موسى)
In the Bible, the narratives of Moses are in Exodus, LeviticusLeviticus
The Book of Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, and the third of five books of the Torah ....
, Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
, and Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible, and of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch...
. The narratives here are mostly in Exodus 1-14 and 32. In the Qur'an, the Moses narratives are in the following passages: 2
Al-Baqara
Sura al-Baqarah is the second and longest chapter of the Qur'an. It is a Medinan sura and comprises 286 verses, including the single longest verse in the Qur'an...
.49-61, 7
Al-A'raf
Sura Al-A'raf is the seventh chapter of the Qur'an, with 206 verses. It is a Meccan sura. Its final verse, verse 206, requires a sajdah, or prostration.-Verses:...
.103-160, 10
Yunus (sura)
Sura Yunus is the 10th chapter of the Qur'an with 109 verses. It is a Makkan sura. It is named after the prophet Jonah....
.75-93, 17
Al-Isra
Sura Al-Isra , also called Sura Bani Isra'il , is the 17th chapter of the Qur'an, with 111 verses.-Content:...
.101-104, 20
Ta-Ha
Sura Ta-Ha is the 20th sura of the Qur'an with 135 ayat. It is a Makkan sura.It is named "Ta-Ha" because the sura starts with the Arab letters طه ....
.9-97, 26
Ash-Shu'ara
Surat Ash-Shu'ara is the 26th sura of the Qurʾan with 227 ayat. Many of these verses are very short.Shu'ara is the 26th surah in the Qur'an. The name shuara means "poets". It talks about various prophets and their tribes. Also how the disbelievers were destroyed after threatening prophets with...
.10-66, 27.7-14, 28
Al-Qisas
Surat Al-Qasas is the 28th sura of the Qur'an with 88 ayat.According to Syed Maududi's commentary, the Surah takes its name from verse 25 in which the word Al-Qasas occurs. Lexically, qasas means to relate events in their proper sequence...
.3-46, 40
Al-Ghafir
Al-Ghāfir is one of the titles of God in Islam, translated as "The Forgiver".It is deried from the root gh-f-r . The basic meaning of the root is "to cover, to shield, to protect", besides "to forgive"....
.23-30, 43
Az-Zukhruf
Surat Az-Zukhruf is the 43rd sura, or chapter, of the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam. It contains 89 ayat, or verses....
.46-55, 44
Ad-Dukhan
Surat Ad-Dukhan is the 44th sura of the Qur'an with 59 ayat.-Summary:This Surat begins by glorifying Allah's power. It contains a prophetic description of a day, described as occurring before the Day of Judgment, in which the sky fills with a great smoke. The smoke is prophesied to cause enough...
.17-31, and 79
An-Naziat
Sūrat al-Naziʿāt is the 79th sura of the Qur'an with 46 ayat.- External links :* at Sacred Texts...
.15-25.
Pharaoh slew the young male children of the Israelites (II:46). Moses' mother
Jochebed
According to the Torah, Jochebed was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life. According to Jewish legend, Jochebed is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias.-Birth of Moses:The...
cast Moses as an infant into a small ark. God protected him. Moses was found by the household of Pharaoh. They adopted him. Moses' sister, Miriam, had followed Moses. When he was found, she recommended that his own mother serve as nurse to him. When Moses became an adult, he saw an Egyptian fighting with an Israelite. Moses interceded and killed the Egyptian. The next day Moses saw the Israelite whom he saved. "Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" he asks. Pharaoh tried to have Moses killed and Moses fled. He went to a watering place in Midian
Midian
Midian , Madyan , or Madiam is a geographical place and a people mentioned in the Bible and in the Qur'an. It is believed to be in northwest Saudi Arabia on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba and the northern Red Sea...
. He met some sisters and watered their herd. When the women's father, Jethro
Jethro
In the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible, Jethro |Shu-ayb]]) is Moses' father-in-law, a Kenite shepherd and priest of Midian. He is also revered as a prophet in his own right in the Druze religion, and considered an ancestor of the Druze.-In Exodus:...
, learned of Moses, he invited him to stay and gave him a daughter, Zipporah
Zipporah
Zipporah or Tzipora is mentioned in the Book of Exodus as the wife of Moses, and the daughter of Reuel/Jethro, the priest or prince of Midian...
, to marry.
In Midian, Moses saw a fire and approached it. God spoke to him, and told him to remove his shoes. God said that he had chosen Moses. God said to throw down his staff and to stretch out his arm as signs. His staff turned into a serpent and then returned to the form of a staff. His arm became white although he was not sick. God commanded him to go to Pharaoh to deliver a message. Moses said that he could not speak well. So God provided Aaron, his brother, to help Moses speak.
God sent Moses to the court of Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
. Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses. Moses threw down his staff. It became a serpent. He extended his hand, and it turned white. Pharaoh's magicians performed a magic feat also but the feat was swallowed by Moses' serpent. God caused a famine. God sent plagues of locusts, frogs, blood, and death. God sent at least nine signs to Pharaoh. Each time the Egyptians agreed to let the Hebrews leave and God stopped the plague. When they broke their word. God told Moses to lead the Israelites across a sea. Moses struck the sea with his staff and the sea dried up. Pharaoh's army pursued them but the water returned and they are drowned. (Exodus 14:7, II:47)
Moses left the Hebrews for forty nights. He put his brother Aaron in charge of the people (Al-Baqara|2.48) On a mountain, God gave Moses a revelation of precepts for Israel to follow. God made tablets with writing on them which Moses carried back to Israel.
Moses asked to see God. The people saw the fire and lightning and the mountain and are afraid. While Moses is gone, the Israelites demanded to worship an idol. They used the gold from their ornaments to construct a golden calf whom they said was the god who rescued them from Egypt. Aaron does not stop them. Then Moses returned and chastised them and Aaron. Many were killed for their action. God sent down manna and quail to eat but the Hebrews still rebelled against God, and complained about the food. Moses asked God for water and God answered him. Moses struck a stone with his staff and water came forth. The Israelites were divided into twelve tribes.
God gave the Israelites a bountiful land, but this occurred at different times in the two scriptures. Besides that and the many additional details in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
, there are other differences:
- The Biblical Moses is reluctant to become a prophet and makes excuses. He eventually agrees and Aaron speaks and performs miracles at first until Moses is ready and takes over. In Quran, Aaron was made Allah's messenger on Moses' request to back him up in the difficult task. Moses asked Allah to give him human support from Family, then ask for Aaron (his brother) praising Aaron by saying that he (Aaron) is better speaker than him (Moses).
- The sorcerers, in the Quranic story, repent after seeing Moses' signs and submit to Allah at the anger of Pharaoh.
- In the Quran, Pharaoh didn't repent but tried to deceive Moses and Allah by saying that now he believes in one God, God of Moses and Aaron (while drowning). But all knowing Allah didn't accept this because he sought repentance at the time of death after seeing the angels.
- In the Bible, Moses first goes to Pharaoh without showing any signs.
- In Exodus, Aaron helps make the golden calf. In the Quran, Aaron himself was a messenger of Allah and was representing Moses in his absences. He opposed that idea with all his might and warned the Israelites that God will be angry with them.
- Pharaoh drowns in Exodus. In the Quran, Pharaoh drowned as well, and Allah said in the Qur'an that he kept pharaoh's body as an example for generations to come (or made an example for coming generations)
See also Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
, Islamic view of Aaron, and Islamic view of Pharaoh.
Destruction of Korah (Qarun)
The story of the destruction of KorahKorah
Korah or Kórach Some older English translations, as well as the Douay Bible), spell the name Core, and many Eastern European translations have Korak...
appears in Numbers 16:1-50 in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and in Al-Qasas 76-82. Korah was an Israelite living during the time of Moses. Because of his wickedness, God caused him to die by opening the ground and swallowing him and his home (Numbers 16:31-33; Al-Qasas|28.81). In the Qur'an, Karon is simply a rich man who is too arrogant. In the Torah, he leads a minor rebellion against Moses. God also kills the others who rebel with him and their homes.
Gideon
In the Bible, both Gideon and Saul are military leaders of Israel between the Exodus and Exile. In the Book of JudgesBook of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
in the Bible, Gideon is hesitant about leading the Hebrews to battle. To demonstrate God's power, God tells Gideon to observe when the troops reach a river and whoever drinks without his hands Gideon must send home. The Hebrews later have victory.
In the Qur'an, the same event happens to Saul on the way to meet Goliath. In the Biblical account of Saul and Goliath, Saul is also hesitant about the battle with Goliath's army but David wins the battle for Israel.
Saul, David and Goliath (Tālūt طالوت, Dāwūd داود and جالوت Galut)
The story appears in 1 Samuel 8-12 and 17:1-58 and in Surah 2 246-248 and Surah 2 249-251.A prophet of Israel appoints Saul
Saul the King
According to the Bible, Saul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He commited suicide to avoid arrest in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed...
as king after the Israelites petition the prophet for a king (Samuel 9:17; Al-Baqarah|2.247). At least a few people are not happy with Samuel's choice. Saul is going into battle with his army and is unsure about his victory. David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
kills Goliath, a significant warrior in the opposing army (Samuel 17:50; Al-Baqarah|2.251). In the Bible, Goliath is the champion of the Philistine army. In the Qur'an, he is the leader. The account also bears similarity to when Gideon led an army. See Mixed Similarities.
The Queen of Sheba
The story appears in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and 2 Chronicles 9: 1-13 and in verses Surah 27 20-44. The two stories have almost nothing in common. In each, the Queen of Sheba comes to visit Solomon and is impressed by his wisdom and riches. In the Bible, the visit is only diplomatic. In the Qur'an, the Queen becomes monotheist and peace is established in the kingdoms. Although not part of the Qur'an, Islamic tradition holds that the name of the Queen of Sheba is Bilqis or Balqis.Jonah (Yunus يونس) and the "whale"
In both the Bible and the Qur'an, Jonah is swallowed by a "big fish", usually inferred to be a whale. The Book of Jonah in the BibleBible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
consists of four chapters about Jonah's mission to Nineveh. The story is referenced three times in the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
: in verses 139–148 of Sura 37 (As-Saaffat) (Those who set the ranks), verses 87-88 of Sura 21: al-Anbiya' (The Prophets) and verses 48-50 of Sura 68: al-Qalam (The Pen)/Nun. It is mentioned in verse 98 of Sura 10: Yunus (Jonah) and verse 86 of Sura 6: al-An'am (The Cattle).
In the Qur'an, Jonah gets frustrated by his own people and abandons them to God's mercy, however without asking permission from God and thus going against his given responsibility. In the Quran, it is also mentioned that if Jonah had not prayed inside the belly of the fish he would have stayed in there until the Judgement day. In the Bible, Jonah pays a fare to sail to Tarshish. In both stories, he boards the ship loaded with passengers, lots are cast and Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by a large fish (Jonah 1:17, As-Saaffat 37|142). After praying, he is cast out of the fish and washed ashore, and God causes a gourd to grow (37|146) or weeds (2:5). In the Bible, Jonah continues into Nineveh, and the city is spared by God. In both Bible and Quran, God causes the gourd to grow to comfort Jonah after he lies on the shore in a sickly state, Jonah (4:6), (As-Saaffat 37|145). According to an Islamic tradition however, the big fish gets frightened at first, fearing it might have swallowed a holy person as it heard prayers and supplications read in a wonderful voice from her stomach, hearing which numerous sea creatures had surrounded it. But she comforts herself later since it was God's order to swallow Jonah. After two days the fish casts him out the beach of an island and he is very weak. The gastric juices with the hot sunlight burned his skin till the point he was about to scream of pain. God causes a vine to grow over him and provide him fruit and shade. He recovers and goes back to his people who had become good after he left. According to the Quran, the number of the people he was sent towards as a prophet exceeded a hundred thousand. They believed in his message and God granted them prosperity for a long time. (As-Saaffat 37|147–148).
Haman
In the Bible, Haman was a Persian noble and vizierVizier
A vizier or in Arabic script ; ; sometimes spelled vazir, vizir, vasir, wazir, vesir, or vezir) is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in a Muslim government....
of the empire under Persian King Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible, as well as related legends and Apocrypha. This name is applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to three rulers...
who desires to persecute the Jews. In the Qur'an, Haman is an adviser and builder under a Firaun
Firaun
Fir'awn is Arabic for "pharaoh". The Qur'an tells the story of Musa and the Pharaoh also known as Fir'awn.-Qur'anic narrative:Musa and Harun went to the Firaun, and when they arrive he is told about their divine mission and that he should let the Israelites go. Firaun rebukes him by saying that...
(Pharaoh) of ancient Egypt whose narrative relationship with Moses is recounted in the Qur'an.
The structure which Firaun commands Haman to build is similar to the Tower of Babel
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel , according to the Book of Genesis, was an enormous tower built in the plain of Shinar .According to the biblical account, a united humanity of the generations following the Great Flood, speaking a single language and migrating from the east, came to the land of Shinar, where...
in Genesis, unrelated to the narrative of Haman in the Bible. Both structures are made from burnt bricks for the purpose of ascending to the heavens.
Zechariah and John (Zakariya (زكريا) and Yahya (يحيى))
The story of Zechariah is told in the Gospel of LukeGospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
1:5-80 and Luke 3:1-22 and in the Qur'an 19.2-15. Zechariah and his wife reached an old age without bearing children. God spoke to Zechariah and told him his wife would conceive, despite her barrenness, and his name would be John. As a sign that this would happen, God struck Zechariah mute until John was born though he communicated using signs. John became a great and righteous prophet and came to confirm God's Word. Both accounts mention John's death.
The two accounts never directly disagree, but each have unique elements: In the Bible Zechariah is a priest. God speaks to him on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
in the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
. He doubts that God will act and his muteness is a sign and punishment. Muslims regard Zechariah as a Prophet and therefore claim he would never doubt God's omnipotence although in the Quranic narrative he does question how would it come about since he is an old man and his wife long barren. Upon which he is told that for God it is indeed very easy and that haven't God created you already while you were naught. In the Quranic narrative Zechariah is also reminded that the sign he should seek for would be a muteness for three nights although without being restrained from speech, implying, he simply would not find an occasion to talk to anyone. Zechariah, therefore, is found emerging from his chamber and reminding his people to celebrate the praises of the Lord through an inspirational gesture (Surah Maryam 19|1-11).
Mary ("Maryam" مريم),
Mary's story is told in the Gospel of LukeGospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
1:26-37, 2:1-21, and Qur'an 19.16-35. In the Bible, in the sixth month after the conception of John the Baptist by Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin Mary, at Nazareth. Mary was of the house of David, and was betrothed to Joseph, of the same royal family. And the angel having taken the figure and the form of man, came into the house and said to her: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.' Mary having heard the greeting words did not speak; she was troubled in spirit, since she knew not the angel, nor the cause of his coming, nor the meaning of the salutation. And the angel continued and said: 'Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end.' Not doubting the word of Godlike Zachary, but filled with fear and astonishment, she said: "How shall this be done, because I know not man?'
The angel to remove Mary's anxiety and to assure her that her virginity would be spared, answered: 'The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' In token of the truth of his word he made known to her the conception of John, the miraculous pregnancy of her relative now old and sterile: 'And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth; she also has conceived a son in herold age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: because no word shall be impossible with God.' Mary may not yet have fully understood the meaning of the heavenly message and how the maternity might be reconciled with her vow of virginity, but clinging to the first words of the angel and trusting to the Omnipotence of God she said: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word.'
In Luke, Mary is betrothed to Joseph but the Qur'an never mentions any man. In the Qur'an, 'her people' have a conversation with Mary accusing her of fornication. In the Bible, no such conversation happens but Joseph knows that people are thinking this.
The Quran states in the chapter named after Mary, verse 16-37:
In the Book, tell the story of Maryam, when she went away from her family (for Prayer) to a place in the East.
She placed a screen (to hide herself) from them; Then We sent to her Our angel, and he appeared before her in the form of a man of respect in every way.
She said: "Verily, I ask shelter from you with the Most Gracious (Allah):(Do not come near me) if you guard yourself against evil."
He said: "I am a messenger from your Lord, only to announce to you, the gift of a righteous son."
She said: "How shall I have a son, when no man has touched me, and I am not indecent?"
He said: "It will be so: Your Lord says 'That is easy for Me: And (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign to men and a Mercy from Us': It is a thing (already) ordained."
So she started to carry him (Jesus), and she went (to rest) with him to a far place.
And the pains of childbirth took her to the trunk of a palm tree: She cried "Oh! If I had died before this! If I was a thing forgotten and not seen!"
Then (a voice) cried to her from under the tree: "Do not feel sad! Because your Lord has made a stream underneath you; And shake towards yourself the trunk of the palm tree: It will drop fresh ripe dates upon you. So eat and drink and cool (wet your) eye. And if you see any man, say, 'I have promised solemnly to the Most Gracious, and this day I will not enter into talk with any human being.'"
At the end she brought the baby to her people, carrying baby Jesus in her arms. They said "O Maryam! Truly an amazing thing have you brought! O sister of Aaron! Your father was not an adulterous man, and your mother was not an immoral woman!"
Then, she pointed to the baby. They said, "How can we talk to one who is only a child in the cradle?"
He (Baby Jesus) said, "Indeed I am a servant of Allah: He has given me the Injeel (Gospel) and made me a prophet; and he has made me blessed where ever I be, and has commanded for me prayer and charity as long as I live; Allah has made me kind to my mother, and not arrogant or miserable;And Peace is on me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I will be raised again to life!"
Jesus, the son of Maryam was like this: It is a statement of truth, about which they dispute (uselessly).
It is not suited for Almighty Allah that He should father a son. Glory to Him! When He determines anything, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.
Jesus said: "And surely Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him alone you therefore worship: That is the Straight Path."
Then, the groups differed among themselves: so this is a warning to the disbelievers because of the Judgement on a great Day!
(Translation: Syed Vickar Ahamed, 2007. Approved by Al-Azhar Islamic Research Academy, Cairo, Egypt.)
Jesus (Isa عيسى)
Jesus takes up the whole of the four GospelGospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s (Matthew
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
, Mark
Gospel of Mark
The Gospel According to Mark , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Mark or simply Mark, is the second book of the New Testament. This canonical account of the life of Jesus of Nazareth is one of the three synoptic gospels. It was thought to be an epitome, which accounts for its place as the second...
, Luke
Gospel of Luke
The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...
and John
Gospel of John
The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
) in the Bible, as well as being the focus of the subsequent books of the New Testament. He appears several times in the Qur'an: in verses 35-59 of Sura 3: al-Imran (The Family of Imran), verses 156-158 of Sura 4: an Nisa' (The Women), verses 109-120 of Sura 5: al-Ma'idah (The Repast), verses 16-35 of Sura 19: Maryam (Mary), verse 50 of Sura 23: al-Mu'minun (The Believers) verses 57-65 of Sura 43: az-Zukhruf (The Gold Adornments) and in verses 6 and 14 of Sura 61: as-Saff (The Battle Array). Reference is made to him several more times.
The Qur'an contains few narratives from Jesus' life, but does include many brief descriptions in common with the Bible:
- Made the dead to live
- Is the MessiahMessiahA messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
(the Christ) - Had disciples
- His disciples were successful over disbelievers
- Healed the blind and lepersLeprosyLeprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...
- Filled with the Holy SpiritHoly SpiritHoly Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
- Is alive in heaven now
-In the Qur'an Jesus is said to have created a bird out of clay and blown life into it; and he is also said to have spoken as an infant in the cradle to defend his mother from the false accusations of fornication. These two narratives are not found in the Bible, but are in the Infancy Gospels (Non-Canonical Gospels).
The Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
rejects the Christian view of Jesus, specifically his divinity. According to the Qur'an, Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
did not ask to be worshipped and Jesus asked people to worship God. Also, according to the Qur'an, God "has no partners" and believing that God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
took physical form is in of itself a sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
.
Other figures
The Qur'an and Bible have over 50 people in common, typically in the same narratives. The Qur'an identifies Enoch and Ishmael as prophetProphet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...
s, but they are never given a story. In the Bible, all these men are identified as righteous people but not prophets — except Ishmael who is not written of favorably.
There is also one person mentioned in the Qur'an, Dhul-Qarnayn
Dhul-Qarnayn
Dhul-Qarnayn , literally "He of the Two Horns" or "He of the two centuries" is a figure mentioned in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, where he is described as a great and righteous ruler who built a long wall that keeps Gog and Magog from attacking the people who he met on his journey...
, who is not mentioned in the Bible by that name but whose story is similar to stories about Alexander the Great as mentioned in other Jewish and Christian writings (see Alexander the Great in the Qur'an). However Dhul-Qarnayn
Dhul-Qarnayn
Dhul-Qarnayn , literally "He of the Two Horns" or "He of the two centuries" is a figure mentioned in the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam, where he is described as a great and righteous ruler who built a long wall that keeps Gog and Magog from attacking the people who he met on his journey...
may also be Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
who is mentioned in the Bible (see Cyrus (Bible) and Cyrus the Great in the Qur'an
Cyrus the Great in the Qur'an
Cyrus the Great in the Qur'an is a theory that holds that the character of Dhul-Qarnayn, mentioned in the Qur'an, is in fact Cyrus the Great. Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned in the Qur'an. The story of Dhul-Qarnayn appears in sixteen verses of the Qur'an, specifically the 16 verses 18:83-98...
).
Mixed similarities
In several cases, the Qur'an and the Bible have common events but occur in different narrations.Idol calf and Samaritan
In the Bible, in Moses' absence certain people who went out of Egypt with the Hebrews worship a golden calf saying "This is your God, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." Hundreds of years later, Samaria was founded and became the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. King JeroboamJeroboam
Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy....
, its first king, also made two golden calves and said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." Later, around 700 BC, another people group occupies Samaria called the Samaritans.
The Qur'an tells the story of a calf while Moses is gone. A man called "the Samari" Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, FRSL was an Indian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an is one of the most widely-known and used in the English-speaking world....
or "the Samaritan" (Arberry
Arthur John Arberry
Arthur John Arberry was a respected British orientalist. A most prolific scholar of Arabic, Persian, and Islamic studies, he was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge...
) is blamed for protagonizing their idolatry.
A verse in Hosea
Hosea
Hosea was the son of Beeri and a prophet in Israel in the 8th century BC. He is one of the Twelve Prophets of the Jewish Hebrew Bible, also known as the Minor Prophets of the Christian Old Testament. Hosea is often seen as a "prophet of doom", but underneath his message of destruction is a promise...
8:5-6 contains the same content as Ta-Ha
Ta-Ha
Sura Ta-Ha is the 20th sura of the Qur'an with 135 ayat. It is a Makkan sura.It is named "Ta-Ha" because the sura starts with the Arab letters طه ....
|20.97 where Hosea refers to the Jeroboam calf and the Qur'an refers to the earlier calf. Both feature a prophet speaking to the Samaritan/Samaria promising to destroy the calf.
In the Qur'an, Moses' punishment that the Samari cannot be touched is the same as the modern Samaritan's punishment where no Jew was allowed to touch them because of their idolatry. In his commentary, Yusuf Ali
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
Hafiz Abdullah Yusuf Ali, CBE, FRSL was an Indian Islamic scholar who translated the Qur'an into English. His translation of the Qur'an is one of the most widely-known and used in the English-speaking world....
claims that the Samari is not a Samaritan.
Miriam and Mary
In Arabic, both the names Mary and Miriam are called Maryam. Mary, mother of JesusJesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
, is one of the females who has her name mentioned in the Quran. While speaking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Qur'an also calls her as the sister of Aaron, since they are both among the righteous.
Hannah and Hannah
In the Books of SamuelBooks of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
, Hannah
Hannah (Bible)
Hannah is the wife of Elkanah mentioned in the Books of Samuel. According to the Hebrew Bible she was the mother of Samuel...
is grateful that God gave her a son, Samuel. She dedicated him to God by letting him live with Eli
Eli (Biblical Priest)
Eli was, according to the Books of Samuel, a Jewish High Priest of Shiloh, and one of the last Israelite Judges before the rule of kings in ancient Israel.-Biblical narrative:...
the prophet and priest.
In the Qur'an, Mary's mother is grateful to God for Mary and dedicates her to God. Mary then lives in the household of Zechariah the prophet.
In the Bible, Zechariah is also a priest. Mary's mother has no name in the Qur'an. (This article is about narratives in the Quran not traditions.)
See also
- Origin and development of the Qur'anOrigin and development of the Qur'anThe study of the origins and development of the Qur'an can be said to fall into two major schools of thought, the first being a traditional Islamic view and the second being a secular view, finding its origins in the works of Western scholars....
- Legends and the Qur'anLegends and the Qur'anThis article considers the relation of the Qur'an, the central religious text of Islam, and pre-Islamic mythology and legends.Early in Islamic history, debates over the role of Jewish mythology, as well as Christian Biblical apocrypha references in the Qur'an, the sacred text of Islam, existed...
- Alexander the Great in the Qur'an
- Source criticismSource criticismA source criticism is a published source evaluation . An information source may be a document, a person, a speech, a fingerprint, a photo, an observation or anything used in order to obtain knowledge. In relation to a given purpose, a given information source may be more or less valid, reliable or...
- Islam and JudaismIslam and JudaismIslamic–Jewish relations started in the 7th century CE with the origin and spread of Islam in the Arabian peninsula. The two religions share similar values, guidelines, and principles. Islam also incorporates Jewish history as a part of its own. Muslims regard the Children of Israel as an important...
- Isra'iliyatIsra'iliyatIn the hadith studies of Islamic theology, Isra'iliyat is the body of hadith originating from Judeo-Christian traditions, rather than from other well-accepted sources that quote the Islamic prophet Muhammad...
- Abrahamic religion
- Christianity and Islam
- Christianity and Judaism
- Comparative religionComparative religionComparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
- Cyrus (Bible)
- Cyrus the Great in the Qur'anCyrus the Great in the Qur'anCyrus the Great in the Qur'an is a theory that holds that the character of Dhul-Qarnayn, mentioned in the Qur'an, is in fact Cyrus the Great. Dhul-Qarnayn is mentioned in the Qur'an. The story of Dhul-Qarnayn appears in sixteen verses of the Qur'an, specifically the 16 verses 18:83-98...