Muhammad in the Bible

[good]

[Pazuzu bin Hanbi]

One thing is for sure: Mahomet did not receive it from an angel.

That much is plain. Also for your consideration: tales about the baby Jesus taken from people who must have believed in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Jesus speaks in his crib, turns clay birds into living things, etc).

[Darias]

The similarity between Christianity and Islam, is that both of our religions borrow from the same principles found in Judaism.

Both of our faiths assume the continuation of the previous. Whereas some Christians see Christianity as the natural evolution of Judaism for all people -- some Muslims believe that Islam is the final and complete expression of the Abrahamic religions.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm just making observations; I like to compare things.

I think you are giving out the propaganda of Islam. Most "Christians" of the traditional mold, at least over the past five hundred years of so - perhaps not so much now with the modern fuzzy approaches to human rights - regard Islam as only an imposture religiion, whereas Judaism effectively stopped in AD70, but continued on in the form of a completely new religion.

You will actually find it very hard indeed to reconcile Islam with the Old Testament, let alone the New Testament.

1.) I am not giving out propaganda.

I was simply stating, from what I learned about Islam, beliefs of Muslims, from their perspective of what their religion is to them.

I did this, rather than typecast Islam from a fundamentalist Christian perspective, as a pseudo religion created by a pseudo prophet. Such language is very subjective and cannot be used to accurately discuss another faith different from one's own. One cannot begin to have dialogue with people of another religion if they do not understand their religion from their point-of-view. Otherwise, debates turn into arguments such as this:
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"This is what you believe!"
"No, that is not what my faith teaches!"


2.) No, actually it is quite easy to compare the Qur'an and the Bible.

In fact there are so many similarities that it is difficult to list them all. Here are a few examples:

Mary ("Maryam" مريم),
Main articles: Mary mother of Jesus and Islamic view of the Virgin Mary

Mary's story is told in the Gospel of Luke 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: And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East, And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man. He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son. She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste? He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained. And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place. And the pangs of childbirth drove her unto the trunk of the palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died ere this and had become a thing of naught, forgotten! Then (one) cried unto her from below her, saying: Grieve not! Thy Lord hath placed a rivulet beneath thee, And shake the trunk of the palm-tree toward thee, thou wilt cause ripe dates to fall upon thee. So eat and drink and be consoled. And if thou meetest any mortal, say: Lo! I have vowed a fast unto the Beneficent, and may not speak this day to any mortal. Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? He spake: Lo! I am the servant of God. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me the Messiah, And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and alms giving so long as I remain alive, And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. It befitteth not (the Majesty of) God that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. And lo! God is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path. The sects among them differ: but woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of an awful Day. (translation: Pickthal)

Jesus (Isa عيسى)
Main articles: Jesus and Islamic view of Jesus

Jesus takes up the whole of the four Gospels (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:

* Made the dead to live[77]
* Is the Messiah (the Christ)[78]
* Had disciples[79]
* His disciples were successful over disbelievers[80]
* Healed the blind and lepers[77]
* Filled with the Holy Spirit[81]
* Is alive in heaven now[82]

-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).

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SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_n ... 9.85.29.2C

Despite many similarities, there are several differences -- theological concepts of Jesus and God are not exactly the same. The differences are enough to make Islam a distinct religion, but to suggest that it is "very hard indeed to reconcile Islam with the Old Testament, let alone the New Testament," is not at all accurate.

A few select samplings of the Qur'an, say Surah 9:5 taken out of its historical narrative and scriptural context, when juxtaposed to the teachings of Christ(Matthew 5:44) - paints a false picture of a "Moral Religion" vs. "A Violent Religion."

This picture is easily dismantled when one realizes that it is possible to stereotype Judaism as backwards by comparing Christ's saving a prostitute from being stoned(John 8:11), with the ancient practice of stoning disobedient children to death(Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

Normally, the latter comparison would not be made by a number of Christians - because it would not support their world-view that the Bible is totally inerrant and non-contradictory. Unfortunately, the former comparison would readily be made by Christians who:
* have a personal disdain for a religion they do not understand.
* have a world-view which suggests all other faiths are "False," or "of the Devil."

[EduChris]

...it is quite easy to compare the Qur'an and the Bible...

Here is a good book on this subject:

Claiming Abraham: Reading the Bible and the Qur'an Side by Side

There are superficial similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an, but the deeper you dig down, the more the differences become obvious.

[Baron von Gailhard]

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[77]
* Is the Messiah (the Christ)[78]
* Had disciples[79]
* His disciples were successful over disbelievers[80]
* Healed the blind and lepers[77]
* Filled with the Holy Spirit[81]
* Is alive in heaven now[82]

Yes, this is just childish musings, which is why we can be sure the Koran is a fraud. Ever try reading the epistles of Paul, and then contrast them with the sayings of Mahomet. The Koran comes across as backward, ignorant, disbelieving.

The fact that God has no son, says the Koran, is fundamentally in contradiction with one of the most famous bible prophecies:

"Ps. 2:7 I will proclaim the decree of the Lord: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father."

-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). [/color]

I agree that this is interesting. The opinion of Christians of old is that the Christian bits in the Koran were inserted by a Nestorian monk named Bahira. Being a monk, he would have had access to these fables that were dreamt up in the monasteries.