Muslims believe the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) gave the prophet Muhammad the Qur’an. The Qur’an claims to be perfect. The angel Gabriel was also involved in bringing some of God’s messages to prophets and others in the Bible. The Bible claims to be perfect. If the angel Gabriel was involved in the writing of both the Qur’an and portions of the Bible and both are perfect, then both would agree on every point. Right?

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

There’s just one catch. Much of what’s written in the Qur’an does not agree with the Bible. How can that be? Which one should we believe to be true? Muslims believe the Qur’an is accurate and the Bible we have was corrupted by early Christians. Christians believe the Bible is accurate and the Qur’an is not. Which one is it?

As we saw in the last part of our study, the Qur’an says Allah confirmed the text of the Bible and the text of the Bible Muhammad had available to him in the 6th and 7th centuries was the same Bible that Christians had available to them in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th centuries. The Bible had also been translated into multiple languages and the translations agreed with the original Hebrew and Greek texts. There was no time or way for the Bible to be corrupted as Muslims believe and, as we mentioned, the Qur’an confirmed the accuracy of the text of the Bible.

As we promised in the last part of our study, we will look at what may be the number one difference between the Bible and Qur’an. There are many differences, but there is one that stands out from all others. That’s about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Bible

The New Testament is quite clear about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, along with His physical appearance to His disciples following His resurrection.

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

Paul makes it clear throughout his preaching and writing that Jesus died on the Cross as a “propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26) However, many Muslims argue that Paul was a renegade and his teachings can’t be trusted. However, the Qur’an does endorse the Gospel accounts (Injeel or Injil), even though some Muslims believe the Injeel was lost or that the Gospel accounts were corrupted. We addressed in the last part of our study that the Gospel accounts available to Muhammad and the earliest Muslims are the same Gospels we have today. Those arguments aren’t valid when we look at the evidence.

Each one of the Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) includes the death of Jesus on the Cross, His burial and resurrection from the dead, and His physical appearance to His disciples. That is the message from all of the Gospels in the New Testament. Some Muslims believe the Injil may have really been the Gospel of Thomas, but we’ve already demonstrated in previous articles that it is a false gospel.

The Qur’an

The Qur’an encourages Muslims to read the Bible that was available to Muhammad and his followers in the 6th and 7th centuries .. the same Bible Jews and Christians use today.

Those to whom We have sent the Book study it as it should be studied: They are the ones that believe therein: Those who reject faith therein,- the loss is their own. Surah 2:21, Yusuf Ali Translator

And in their footsteps We sent Jesus the son of Mary, confirming the Law that had come before him: We sent him the Gospel: therein was guidance and light, and confirmation of the Law that had come before him: a guidance and an admonition to those who fear Allah. Surah 5:46, Yusuf Ali Translator

It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong). Surah 3:3, Yusuf Ali Translator

If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt. Nor be of those who reject the signs of Allah, or thou shalt be of those who perish. Surah 10:94-95, Yusuf Ali Translator

And before thee also the messengers We sent were but men, to whom We granted inspiration: if ye realise this not, ask of those who possess the Message. Surah 16:43, Yusuf Ali Translator

O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray. Surah 4:136, Yusuf Ali Translator

Muslims who do follow the direction of the Qur’an and study the Bible face some difficult problems, especially when it comes to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Qur’an states that Jesus was not crucified:

That they said (in boast), ‘We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah’;- 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. Surah 4:157, Yusuf Ali Translator

The next verse in the Qur’an is interesting in light of the claim that Jesus was not killed:

Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise. Surah 4:158, Yusuf Ali Translator

The next verse is also confusing in light of that:

And there is none of the People of the Book but must believe in him before his death; and on the Day of Judgment he will be a witness against them. Surah 4:159, Yusuf Ali Translator

The Qur’an teaches that Jesus wasn’t killed, but Allah raised Him up to Himself and people need to “believe in him before his death.” That’s all in three consecutive verses, so we’re not taking anything out of context. So, which is it? Did Jesus die or didn’t He?

Most Muslims believe Jesus died a natural death after someone else took His place on the Roman cross. Some believe that God placed Jesus’ visage on another person who died on the cross causing people to believe Jesus had died on the cross. They believe Jesus continued to live His life until He died naturally. They believe God then raised Jesus from the dead as was befitting a holy man.

Behold! Allah said: ‘O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme; I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith, to the Day of Resurrection: Then shall ye all return unto me, and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute. Surah 3:55, Yusuf Ali Translator

This Muslim “substitutionary theory” includes the possibility that Judas Iscariot, Simon Cyrene, a Roman soldier or even one of the apostles died on the cross instead of Jesus. Many Muslims will agree that someone was crucified, as the Gospels record, but it wasn’t Jesus. The problem with that is it contradicts the plain statement of the Gospels that Jesus died in front of the Apostle John and several women, was buried by two members of the Sanhedrin, and seen by all the apostles and hundreds of disciples after His resurrection.

What the Qur’an teaches about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus is contrary to what the Gospels teach — the same Gospels the Qur’an encourages Muslims to read and study. That raises many important questions.

Gabriel or ???

One is why the angel Gabriel would reveal information about the death, burial and resurrection to Muhammad when that clearly contradicts what we read in the New Testament. Remember that Gabriel is the same angel who appeared to Mary and Joseph to tell them about the special Child who God would bring into their lives through the Virgin Birth.

This raises an important question about the identity of the angel Muhammad said revealed the Qur’an to him. Was it the same Gabriel who stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19)? Was it a different angel? If so, which angel? Or did Muhammad invent the Qur’an himself?

From everything I’ve studied through the years, along with conversations I’ve had with Muslims, including Muslims who became Christians, it would appear that Muhammad did encounter an angel. It would also appear that the name of the angel who appeared to Muhammad was not Gabriel. Gabriel stood in the presence of God and delivered only those messages that came from God. God does not lie and does not make mistakes. Either the Bible is correct or the Qur’an is correct. It can’t be both.

We do know from the Bible that the angel Satan is the great liar and deceiver. Could it be that the angel who spoke to Muhammad was Satan?

The Target

There are many other differences between the Bible and the Qur’an, but the primary target seems to be the Person of Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for the human race. God told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden that the seed of the serpent (Satan) would target the Seed of the woman (Jesus). Satan went after Jesus with a passion unlike anything we’ve ever seen in history. Why? Because Satan knew that Jesus, the eternal Son of God, would destroy him and his works one day (1 John 3:8) and he has been doing everything in his power to find a way to keep that from happening. Satan’s attempts will ultimately fail and God will cast him into the eternal lake of fire “to be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

Satan has used many methods to accomplish his goals, including false religions. Satan has appeared to many men through the centuries disguising himself and pretending to bring them a “new message” from God. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived.

In addition to Jesus’ death on the Cross, Satan also targeted two other major aspects about the Person of Jesus Christ.

The Qur’an confirms that Jesus was born to a virgin (Surah 19). However, the birth narrative in the Qur’an differs greatly from that of the Gospels in the New Testament. The Qur’an confirms that Jesus is a prophet of God, but not the Son of God. The Qur’an specifically says:

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not ‘Trinity”‘: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs. Christ disdaineth not to serve and worship Allah, nor do the angels, those nearest (to Allah): those who disdain His worship and is arrogant,-He will gather them all together unto Himself to (answer). Surah 4:171-172, Yusuf Ali Translator

That disagrees with the New Testament which identifies Jesus as the eternal Son of God, Co-Equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. It also disagrees with the clear teaching that we are reconciled to God through the blood Jesus shed on the Cross. If Jesus did not die on the Cross, then there can be no reconciliation with God, no peace.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. Colossians 1:15-20

God is not speaking through the Qur’an today. He never has. He spoke in past times through the Hebrew prophets and is speaking in these last days by His Son, Jesus Christ.

God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:1-4

Jesus Christ is the target and Satan, who is the liar and deceiver shooting “fiery darts” at all of us. We must be ready to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) We also need to remember that Muslims are not the enemy. Our battle is with Satan, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). Muslims are people we need to reach with the truth of the Gospel message as recorded in the New Testament.

[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]

Next Time

We will conclude our series in the next part of When Angels Speak.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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