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STORIES OF THE PROPHETS:
Bible vs Qur'an
Video: https://islamic-invitation.com/book_details.php?bID=3348
Prophethood is a concept that is common to Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam.
Both the Bible and the Qur'an defined the concept of
prophethood in highly noble terms, so we should expect
God’s prophets to embody these ideals by being the best of
people with their behavior and lives representing a
practical example for mankind to follow in order to come
closer to God.
When we look at the stories of the Prophets in the
Bible and the Qur'an, what we find however is that only
one book represents the lives of the Prophets in such a way
that does justice to the noble concept of prophethood.
The Bible tarnishes Aaron with the involvement in
the worst of sins, idolatry.
The people gathered around Aaron and said: "Come,
make us gods”1, Aaron answered them, “Take off the
1 Exodus [32:1].
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gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your
daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”2
So all the people took off their earrings and brought
them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it
into an idle cast in the shape of a calf.
Monotheism (worshiping only one God) was the very
essence of the message that God test Moses and Aaron to
impart on Israelites.
So, from this point of view a prophet of God failed in
the most basic of duties.
The Bible goes on to tell us that God punished the
Israelites who worshiped the calf idol with a plague, and
the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what
they did with the calf Aaron had made.
Aaron however was spared any such punishment, even
though it is said that he was the individual that made the
idol.
Shouldn’t prophets be more accountable than common
people due to the greater knowledge that they possess and
their higher positions of responsibility?
By comparison, in the story that the Qur'an narrates,
Aaron is free of the major sins of idolatry, it was in fact an
individual called "Samiri" who made the idol. 2 Exodus [32:2].
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In the Qur'an it says that Aaron even orders the
Israelites not to worship the golden calf.
“Aaron did say to them, ‘My people, this calf is a
test for you. Your true Lord is the Lord of Mercy, so
follow me and obey my orders,”3
We can see that the Qur'anic account not only presents
Aaron in a manner that is befitting of a great prophet of
God, but it also does not contain any of the inconsistencies
present in the Biblical narrative.
Prophet David and the accusation of adultery
The Bible relates a story about David in which he is
accused of committing some very serious sins. From the
roof he saw a woman bathing, the woman was very
beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her.
She, Bathsheba came to him and he slept with her. Then
she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word
to David saying, I am pregnant.
Bathsheba was married and so when David found out
she was pregnant with his child, instead of taking
responsibility and publicly confessing his sins, he instead
compounds his sins by having her husband killed.
3 Surah Taha [20:90].
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Perhaps even more strangely, God allegedly struck the
child that was born from the adulterous relationship with a
lethal illness. “But because by doing this you have shown
utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will
die.”4
This contradicts a basic principle of justice laid out in
the Bible: “Parents are not to be put to death for their
children, nor children put to death for their parents;
each will die for their own sin.”5
So according to Old Testament law, it was David and
Bathsheba that both deserve death for their sins, not their
innocent child.
Such stories don’t just reflect badly on David, they
also portray God as being unjust.
The Qur'an narrates a similar story about David.
However, unlike the Bible, he doesn't commit the sins
ADULTERY and MURDER. Rather he makes a mistake
when judging a dispute between two parties and
immediately turned (to Allah) in repentance.
[Then] David realized that We had been testing
him, so, he asked his Lord for forgiveness, fell down on
his knees, and repented: “We forgave him [his 4 2 Samuel [12:14]. 5 Deuteronomy [24:16].
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misdeed]. His reward will be nearness to Us, a good
place to return to.”6
The Qur'an not only rejects the Accusations of
Adultery and Murder, but it also Portrays David in a Noble
Light. As someone who takes responsibility and seeks
God's forgiveness for the smallest mistakes.
Prophet Noah and the accusation of drunkenness.
The Bible tells us that after the great flood, one of the
first things Noah did was to plant a vineyard and fall into a
state of naked drunkenness:
“Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a
vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became
drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.”7
It is difficult to believe that Noah, who had the self-
discipline to build a giant arc by hand, would lose all his
self-control by getting into a state of naked drunkenness
soon after he set foot off the ark.
The Bible goes on to tell us that Noah cursed his own
grand children! when he found out that his youngest son
Ham had informed his siblings about Noah's sorry state.
When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what
his youngest son Ham had done, he said, “Cursed be
6 Surah Ṣād [38:24-25].
7 Genesis [9:20-21].
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Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his
brothers.”8
One can’t help questioning Noah’s conduct even if
cursing was justified, wouldn’t it make more sense for
Noah to curse Ham rather than Ham’s son Canaan who is
an innocent party?
The Qur'an paints a very different picture of Noah,
after the water subsided, He enquires about his son who
refused to board the ark:
“It sailed with them on waves like mountains, and
Noah called out to his son, who stayed behind, ‘Come
aboard with us, my son, do not stay with the
disbelievers.’ … The waves cut them off from each
other and he was among the drowned. … Noah called
out to his Lord, saying, ‘My Lord, my son was one of
my family, though Your promise is true, and You are
the most just of all judges.”9
Again, notice the stark contrast with the Biblical
portrayal, rather than getting into a naked drunken state and
cursing innocent family members.
The Qur'an tells us that Noah, the great prophet and
leader of men, but also a father, turned to God with sadness
for his dead son.
8 Genesis [9:25]. 9 Surah Hud [11:42-45].
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Job and his many alleged blasphemies
The story of Job in the Bible, was one of a prophet
being severely tested. The story begins with God highly
praising Job for his righteousness.
God says to Satan:
“Have you considered my servant Job? There is no
one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a
man who fears God and shuns evil.”10
Satan proceeds to challenge God stating that the only
reason Job is upright is because Job has a good life. Satan
predicts that, if God were to test Job properly, then Job
would curse God:
“But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh
and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”11
God allows Satan to test Job and once the trials
commence, Job fails to remain patient and even goes so far
as to blaspheme against God numerous times.
“then know that God has wronged me and drawn
his net around me.”12
10 Job [1:8]. 11 Job [2:5]. 12 Job [19:6].
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“I am innocent, but God denies me justice.”13
“There is no profit in trying to please God.”14
Now the way the story unfolds is highly problematic,
there is the issue of a prophet of God committing
blasphemy one of the worse sins imaginable.
Also the Bible is alluding that Satan knows more than
God in this incident by correctly predicting what would
happen.
Recall that God said that Job was “a man who fears
God and shuns evil”15 Satan challenged God when he
predicted that Job would curse God, and so haven’t Job’s
blasphemies proven Satan to be correct? Satan has
proven that God was wrong! Can Satan a limited finite
being have more insight into Job than God? The Creator
and the Sustainer of the universe.
The Qur’an resolves all of these inconsistencies and issues
in just a few short verses. Job doesn’t blaspheme against
God; rather, he blames Satan for his hardship:
“Bring to mind Our servant Job who cried to his
Lord, ‘Satan has afflicted me with weariness and
suffering.”16
13 Job [34:5]. 14 Job [34:9]. 15 Job [1:8]. 16 Surah Sad [38:41].
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God compliments Job for his patience in the face of
such trials.
“We found him patient in adversity; an excellent
servant! He, too, always turned to God.”17
Jobs righteous conduct in the Qur'an is exactly
what we would expect of a prophet of God.
Analysis of the stories of the prophets
Both the Bible and the Qur'an define the concept of
prophethood in highly noble terms, after examining the
stories of the prophets we've seen that it's only the Qur'an
that portrays the prophets in such a way that satisfies this
ideal.
By contrast the Bible shows the prophets in an
extremely negative light, it seems that no sin is to great for
them to commit, yet the Bible states:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness,”18
What morals could be derived from stories that are
filled with prophets committing idolatry, murder, adultery,
and blasphemy?!
17 Surah Sad [38:44]. 18 2 Timothy [3:16 ].
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Another issue with the Bible is that God states that his
commandments are easy to follow:
“Now what I am commanding you today is not too
difficult for you or beyond your reach.”19
This message of encouragement was proclaimed to the
whole of Israel, prophet and commoner are alike.
But how can the Israelites have been expected to keep
the commandments when the prophets those who were
divinely handpicked and tasked with the holding and
teaching the commandments failed to keep even the most
basic of God’s laws? Does this not make a mockery of
God?
One of the names of the Qur'an is: "Al-Furqan"
meaning the criterion between truth and false hood, so, the
Qur'an not only confirms the scriptures that came before it,
but it also corrects the distortions:
“We sent to you [Muhammad] the Scripture with
the truth, confirming the Scriptures that came before
it, and with final authority over them: so judge between
them according to what God has sent down.”20
19 Deuteronomy [30:11]. 20 Surah Al-Mai'dah [5:48].
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The Qur'an defends God’s righteous prophets against
the slander and false hood attributed to them in the Bible,
it provides the best guidance for those who want good
examples to follow in order to become closer to God and
be successful in the hereafter.
“There is a lesson in the stories of such people for
those who understand. This revelation is no fabrication:
it is a confirmation of the truth of what was sent before
it; an explanation of everything; a guide and a blessing
for those who believe.”21
This video is based on a book "Jesus – Man,
Messenger, Messiah".
To know more about the prophets in Christianity and
Islam, please click on the link below to download the
book:
https://islamic-invitation.com/book_details.php?bID=3350
21 Surah Yusuf [12:111].
