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  • Writer's pictureBible Brian

Comparing the arguments the Qur'an and the Bible make for themselves


If you're a Theist, the chances are you believe your god is omniscient. Otherwise, why would you bother following them? It makes sense, therefore, that when your own god provides an argument in their defence, that argument will be the best possible argument, or at the very least it will be completely solid. As it happens, both the God of the Bible and the god of the Qur'an give arguments for their legitimacy. In the Qur'an, there are three main arguments.

The first argument is that Muhammad is prophesied in the Bible. According to the Qur'an, Muhammad is found mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel, and those who follow him will prosper (Qur’an 7:157), and Jesus Himself allegedly prophesied of a messenger who would come after Him, whose name would be Muhammad (Qur’an 61:6).


Because this argument is Qur'anic, many Islamic apologists, such as Zakir Naik and Shabir Ally, attempt to find Muhammad in the Bible. But of course, he's not there. No amount of wishful thinking will add Muhammad into the Bible. So, this argument falls short, which is enough to say the Qur'an fails, and therefore Islam is false.

Qur'an 4:82 gives us our second argument. Apparently, if the Qur'an had been from anyone except Allah, there would be many contradictions found in it. Now, the logic in this is absurd. Many things of human origin do not contain contradictions, even when those things are actually wrong. But as it happens, the Qur'an does contain many contradictions. However, rather than list them, I think it's more interesting to note that Qur'an 2:106 actually explains a concept that requires the Qur'an to be contradictory: The concept of abrogation. Abrogation, as defined by the aforementioned verse, is when Allah causes a previous revelation to be forgotten and replaces it with something that is either similar, or "better". In other words, not only does the Qur'an have contradictions, but it even has a strange method of dealing with them. When you find two verses that contradict, you just figure out which one was made up later, and that's the one you have to believe. So, Allah's argument is illogical and wrong.

The third argument for the Qur'an is the argument from literary excellence. This one seems to have been Muhammad's favourite. In Qur'an 2:23, 10:37-38, 11:13, and 17:88, Muhammad claims that the Qur'an must be true because neither man nor angels can write so much as a chapter like it. Now, again, this argument is illogical. The conclusion does not stem from the premise.

Second, this challenge has actually been met several times. A recent example is a book called The True Furqan. The True Furqan is a book designed to imitate the Qur'an, and it does such a good job that when the authors read it aloud on a train, a Muslim actually thanked them for reading the Qur'an. So again, Allah's argument is both wrong and illogical.


All three arguments the Qur'an presents for its own authenticity fail miserably, to the point where Muslim apologists really only try (and fail) to use the first one. By contrast, the Bible gives one main argument for its authenticity. That argument is one that has held true from the first century right up until today: Jesus is the only prophet who is still alive. Not even Moses (who demonstrated his authority by performing miracles, as well as God actually visibly following him around) is still alive today, at least not bodily.


But Jesus, having been nailed to a cross and stabbed in the side, was demonstrably dead, and yet He successfully conquered death, rising again on the third day. Buddha is dead. Joseph Smith is dead. The Guru Nanak is dead. Charles Darwin is dead. Charles Taze Russel is dead. Muhammad is dead. Of all the world's most famous prophets, only one proved His worth by rising from the dead.

By confessing this, we can be forgiven for all our sins. Christianity, unlike Islam, does not present a message of salvation by works, neither does it present a God who doesn't promise Heaven even to believers. No, God is a God of love, who forgives us for our sins by laying them on the cross of Christ, meaning all of the work is done. We are guaranteed salvation simply by faith. The resurrection that proves the Bible is the resurrection that saves.

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