Nineteen

Is the Qura'n an Imitation of the Bible

''Muhammad learned certain things from the Christian and Jewish scholars of his time, and then presented them in his own language and style. For this reason the descriptions of the Qura'n and the Bible about the former people are alike''. I happened to read such views in several books in English. What is your response?
This is a baseless charge created and spread by some western writers who have bitter hatred, and hostility to Islam. Just one reading of the Bible and the Quran will reveal that this charge is far from truth.
Prophets are the messengers of God appointed to guide the humanity and to introduce the divine way of life to them. So the divine paths which were revealed through his messengers will naturally look alike. Had the followers of the prophets been not strayed from their teachings, there would have been no contradictions and diversions among religions. Infact the successive and frequent appointment of the prophets became necessary, when the people deviated from the right path of their predecessors.
When Muhammad was appointed as the prophet of God the teachings and messages of Moses and Jesus had not existed in its original form. The Jewish and Christian communities had made serious interventions and made additions and deletions to it which resulted in artificiality. So Bible at that time contained only a very small part of their teachings and the revelations to Prophet Muhammad quite naturally agreed with it. This is the reason for certain similarities in the Bible and the Qura'n.
However there is considerable difference in the Christian and Jewish views and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad about the belief in God which is a basic aspect of religion. However the Quran declared that they said (in boast), "We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Apostle of God": - But they killed him not, nor crucified him, but so it was made to appear to them, and those who differ therein are full of doubts, with no (certain) knowledge, but only conjecture to follow, for of a surety they killed him not'' (4:157)
The Bible contains many wrong statements about God and his apostles humiliating them. None of these statements can be seen in the Qura'n. Moreover, the Quran has given their exact and truthful descriptions. Some statements of the Bible are given below.
"And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." (Genesis 3:8, 9)
''Then the Lord God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever'' (Genesis 3:22)
Such statements in the Bible are against the Islamic concept of God and belief in Him. Many statements about the messengers of God in the Bible are not only unbelievable, but also derogatory. About Noah, the Bible says:
"And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.''! (Genesis 9:21-26).
Noah who was drunk and naked, and who cursed his grandson without any reason is very different from most virtuous Noah, introduced by the Qura'n.
The Bible says about Prophet Abraham thus: "And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.'' (Genesis 12:10- 16)
Abraham, who is the meanest of the mean by presenting his wife to the king as described in the Bible, is an entirely different person in the Quran, that there is no comparison at all between them. The Quran introduces him as a very bold, and a revolutionary idealist willing to sacrifice anything that is dear to him.
About Prophet Lot the Bible says:
''And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yester night with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. 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 have a son and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.'' (Genesis 19:30-38)
According to Holy Quran, Lot who did the most heinous and the worst of all deeds-incest - as described in the Bible, is very different from the description of the Quran. As described by the Quran, Lot, throughout his life, was a symbol of purity, and his life was a relentless struggle against sexual anarchy. Actually the lies made up by the lustful anarchists were imposed by the Bible on the holy and virtuous prophets. The holy Quran is completely free from all such aberrations.
According to the Biblical story Jacob purchased prophethood from Esau, the rightful one for that position, by giving him bread and bean soup.
''And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore unto him and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentils; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way thus Esau despised his birthright''. (Genesis 25:29-34).
Jacob, according to the Biblical description, is a cruel who, when his own elder brother was hungry exploited him and robbed his right. Jacob, as described in the Quran, is very gentle, patient and pure. The Bible has described Jacob's father Isaac as a liar ''And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister, for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon'' (Genesis 26:6-7)
Jacob got his father's blessing and prayer through trickery and crooked means. He robbed his elder brother Esau, of his rights quite unjustly. (Genesis 27:1-38)
According to the Biblical description, Jacob's father - in - law Laban was a big cheat and his wife an idol worshipper (Genesis 29:25- 30, 31:17-23). The Bible has also portrayed Prophet Jacob's daughter as having illegal relationship, and Judah having intercourse with his own daughter - in - law. (Genesis 38:13-30)
The Bible has also said of Prophet David making love to Bathsheba, who was wife of Uriah. According to the story David sent Uriah to the war front, so that he will get killed, and then he can claim Bathsheba as his own (Samuel 11:1-16) The Bible has also mentioned prophet Solomon married many women against God's command (Kings 11:1-14)
The followers of the prophets who came later on deviated from the teachings of their prophets and yielded themselves to the voice and temptations of the Satan, and then they imposed their immoral deeds and other evils on the prophets, and they were then added on to the scriptures. Anyone who knows the Qura'n will not say that it is an imitation of the early scriptures. There were several human interventions with the scriptures. On the other hand, the Qura'n has corrected the lies about the prophets and has revealed the truth. So while some prophets are introduced by the Bible as rogues, cheaters, criminals and cruel, the same prophets are introduced by the Qura'n as great, who possessed all virtues, who are good models for all people; and who are the best guides for humanity.