Q. Is the Qur’an Credible?
A. According to Islam, the Qur’an is not only credible; it is God’s only uncorrupted revelation. Thus, according to Muslim scholars, if it is to be compared with anything in Christianity, it is to be compared with Christ rather than the Bible. In truth, while the Bible can be demonstrated to be divine rather than merely human in origin, the same cannot be said for the Qur’an. Unlike the Bible, the Qur’an is replete with faulty ethics and factual errors.
The Qur’an is replete with questionable ethics—particularly when it comes to the equality of women. For example, in Sura 4:3 Muhammad allegedly received a revelation from God allowing men to “marry women of your choice, two, three, or four.” Ironically, in Sura 33:50 Muhammad receives a divine sanction to marry “any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her.” Thus, while other men were only permitted to marry up to four wives, Allah provided Muhammad with a divine exception for his marriage to at least twelve women—including Aishah, who was nine years of age when Muhammad consummated his marriage to her (Sahih Al-Bukhari, volume 5, #234). Also troubling is the fact that the Qur’an allows men to “beat” (lightly) their wives in order that they might “return to obedience” (Sura 4:34). When we compare the personal morality of Muhammad in the Qur’an with that of Jesus in the Bible, the difference is remarkable. The Qur’an exhorts Muhammad to ask “forgiveness for thy fault” (Sura 40:55). Conversely, Christ’s ethics with regard to every aspect of life—including His treatment of women—were so unimpeachable that He could rightly ask: “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” ( John 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5).
Finally, unlike the Bible, the Qur’an is riddled with factual errors. A classic case in point involves the Qur’an’s denial of Christ’s crucifixion. This denial chronicled in Sura 4:157 is explicit and emphatic: “They killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them…for of a surety they killed him not.” In reality, however, the fatal suffering of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is one of the most well-established facts of ancient history.
In short, faulty ethics and factual errors demonstrate that the Qur’an is devoid of divine sanction. The distance between the Muslim Qur’an and the Christian Scriptures is the distance of infinity.
