According to the Qur’an, the Qur’an is false

Inevitably when in discussions with people who reject religious convictions, I will be told that that all religious systems have roughly the same evidence for and against it being true.  I can’t even begin to count the number of times it has been implied that my being a Christian is one of preference and my rejection of other religious systems and their Holy Writ are a result of mere preference.  Depending on how receptive the accuser is I might try to explain why my conviction that Christianity is true and competing religions are false is rooted in the religions themselves, and not my internal comfort.

One good reason to reject a belief system is if it fails internally.  Previously I wrote about Mormonism and how according to their own authoritative writings salvation is literally impossible.  Now this isn’t the only reason I believe the claims of Mormonism and its founder to be false, but it’s quite a significant one.  Islam suffers from many of the same kinds of problems as Mormonism.  One example is the found in the Qur’an itself.  Amazingly, according to the Qur’an, the Qur’an is false (and therefore, so is Islam).

According to the Qu’ran, God’s word is unalterable, no one can change what God has decreed

1. (Sura 6:34) — Rejected were the messengers before thee: with patience and constancy they bore their rejection and their wrongs, until Our aid did reach them: there is none that can alter the words (and decrees) of Allah. Already hast thou received some account of those messengers.
2. (6:115) — The word of thy Lord doth find its fulfilment in truth and in justice: None can change His words: for He is the one who heareth and knoweth all.
3. (10:64) —  For them are glad tidings, in the life of the present and in the Hereafter; no change can there be in the words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme felicity.
4. (18:27) — And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.

The Bible is the “Book of God”

1. (2:101) — And when there came to them a messenger from Allah, confirming what was with them, a party of the people of the Book threw away the Book of Allah behind their backs, as if (it had been something) they did not know!
2. (3:23) — Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those who have been given a portion of the Book? They are invited to the Book of Allah, to settle their dispute, but a party of them Turn back and decline (The arbitration).
3. (5:44) — It was We who revealed the law (to Moses): therein was guidance and light. By its standard have been judged the Jews, by the prophets who bowed (as in Islam) to Allah’s will, by the rabbis and the doctors of law: for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah’s book, and they were witnesses thereto: therefore fear not men, but fear me, and sell not my signs for a miserable price. If any do fail to judge by (the light of) what Allah hath revealed, they are (no better than) Unbelievers.

The Bible was given to us by God

1. (3:3) — 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).
2. (3:84) — Say: “We believe in Allah, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses, Jesus, and the prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah do we bow our will (in Islam).”
3. (5:66) — If only they had stood fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There is from among them a party on the right course: but many of them follow a course that is evil.
4. (5:68) — Say: “O People of the Book! ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord.” It is the revelation that cometh to thee from thy Lord, that increaseth in most of them their obstinate rebellion and blasphemy. But sorrow thou not over (these) people without Faith.
5. (6:89) — These were the men to whom We gave the Book, and authority, and prophethood: if these (their descendants) reject them, Behold! We shall entrust their charge to a new people who reject them not.
6. (6:155-157) —  And this is a Book which We have revealed as a blessing: so follow it and be righteous, that ye may receive mercy:  Lest ye should say: “The Book was sent down to two Peoples before us, and for our part, we remained unacquainted with all that they learned by assiduous study:” Or lest ye should say: “If the Book had only been sent down to us, we should have followed its guidance better than they.” Now then hath come unto you a clear (sign) from your Lord,- and a guide and a mercy: then who could do more wrong than one who rejecteth Allah’s signs, and turneth away therefrom? In good time shall We requite those who turn away from Our signs, with a dreadful penalty, for their turning away.

Muslims are encouraged to consult and learn from the Bible

1. (3:23) – Hast thou not turned Thy vision to those who have been given a portion of the Book? They are invited to the Book of Allah, to settle their dispute, but a party of them Turn back and decline (The arbitration).
2. (6:114) — Say: “Shall I seek for judge other than Allah? – when He it is Who hath sent unto you the Book, explained in detail.” They know full well, to whom We have given the Book, that it hath been sent down from thy Lord in truth. Never be then of those who doubt.
3. (10:94) — 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.
4. (18:27) — And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.

There are fundamental differences between the theologies of the Qur’an and the Bible

1. The Qur’an claims Jesus is not God: (5:17) — In blasphemy indeed are those that say that Allah is Christ the son of Mary. Say: “Who then hath the least power against Allah, if His will were to destroy Christ the son of Mary, his mother, and all every – one that is on the earth? For to Allah belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and all that is between. He createth what He pleaseth. For Allah hath power over all things.”  —  (5:75) — Christ the son of Mary was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth. They had both to eat their (daily) food. See how Allah doth make His signs clear to them; yet see in what ways they are deluded away from the truth!
2. Jesus was not crucified: (4:157) — 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:-
3. The Qur’an denies the Trinity: (5:73) — They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them.

Putting it all together

1. The Old Testament (the Book) and the Gospels (the Injil) were written chronologically prior to the Qur’an.
2. The Qur’an claims that the Book and the Injil are the Word of Allah.
3. The Word of Allah cannot be changed.
4. The manuscripts of the Book and the Injil prior to and in the time of Muhammad and at the time the Qur’an was compiled bear the same message as the Bible we have today.
5. The Bible makes theological claims in direct opposition to the theological claims of the Qur’an.
6. The Qur’an insists we can and should trust the Bible (which is God’s Word and cannot be changed or corrupted).
7. Since the Bible came before the Qur’an, and the Bible is the incorruptible word of God, then anything coming after the Bible which claims to be the Word of God but is different from the Bible, it is therefore false and not of God.
8. Therefore, if the Bible is accurate (from 2, 3, and 5) then the Qur’an is false (from 2, 3, 6, and 7).
9. Put more briefly: If the Qur’an is true, then the Bible is true, which means the Qur’an is false — and by extension, so is the religion of Islam.