The Quran in the light of the Bible
The Quran consist of 114 Surah. And it starts with the Fatiha the opening Surah, and in that opening Surah, there is something very interesting. You know, it is a prayer, that the Muslims recite in each of the five daily prayers assigned to the Muslims. A verse in this opening prayer says, "Guide us to the straight way." I will repeat, "Guide us to the straight way." If we are already in the straight way, how could we pray 'guide us in the straight way'? If I am in the right street, I would not say, "Please, guide me to the right street." I am already there. But the Muslims are praying every day, seventeen times, "Guide us to the straight way." What does that mean? It's not yet in the straight way. You know why? Because Jesus Christ is the only way. He said, "I am the way." He didn't say, "I am a way." He said, "I am THE way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father, but by me." I wish that every Muslim will know the straight way, who is Jesus Christ. "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
Then we go, and we'll see something of interest in the Quran. And that is the name of the Surah in the Quran. As I said, when they organize the Quran in the days of Ottoman the Kalif, they put the longest Surah in the beginning, and the shortest surah in the end. It is not categorial, no, it's not historical, no, it's just this way. It goes that way. They started with the long Surahs, and they ended with the shortest surah. That is what we see in the Quran. And another thing that is of interest, when you read the Quran, you will find that many of the Surahs of the Quran were named after animals, after incense, after rocks, after so many things. And I will name some of these surah: in the second surah, surah number two is named 'the cow,' surah (Albakarah) in Arabic. And then, surah number six 'the catle (Alinaam) in Arabic. And then surah number 16, (Alnahel) 'the bee'. And then surah number 27, (Alnamel) 'the ant.' Then surah 52 (Altawr) that is 'Mount Sinai.' And in the end, surah 57 (Alhadid) 'the iron.' Then surah 95 (Alteen) 'the fig.' And then surah 105, (Alfeel) 'the elephant.' And then surah 72, 'the demon' (Algin).
And then you read the Quran, and when you read it, and you ask yourself, is it reasonable that the God of heaven will name the books, or the chapters of his books, and as I mentioned, the Quran is 114 surah, the surah is a chapter. Will he name a chapters of his books according to the cow, and the ant, and the bee, and the elephant? What are these things?
And when you come to the Bible, you see the book of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers. Then you come to names like Ruth, Esther. You come to Samuel, 2 Samuel. When you come to the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. But the elephant, iron, fig? I really cannot understand. I cannot say that these indicate that this book is really the book of God.
Then I would say that the Quran is not self-interpreted. This is different from the Bible. In surah Abasa, surah 80, we read this word, and again, I read from the Quran because I like always to refer to the original. And it is here, "he frowned and turned away because it came to him the blind man." We'll now stop. Who frowned? Who is that blind man? No answer! The Quran will not give you an answer. You have to go to the biography of Mohammed, by Ibn Hisham, to really know who frowned. Prophet Mohammed frowned. Why did he frowned? Because he was talking to some of the rich people of Kuraish, and then this blind man came. Who was that blind man? Again, in the biography, not in the Quran. And that is Ibn Maktoob, and he came, and interrupted Mohammed, and Mohammed frowned. You cannot understand it then, without going to the biography of Mohammed. That is contrary to the Bible. You cannot understand the book of Hebrews unless you read the book of Leviticus. You cannot understand the book of Revelations unless you read the book of Genesis. There is a big difference. The Bible is self-interpreted. You take the Bible as a whole, you read it as a whole, you don't need any biography outside the Bible to understand the Bible. It is not self-interpreted.
Then I go and I say here, that the Quran, also, contradicts in many, many ways what God said, in marriage and divorce, in law. I will talk about that later. In dealing with wife, when the Quran permits the Muslim to beat his wife. Banish her from bed. Don't have sex with her, because this is punishment. And then, you come to the Bible, and you see a totally different concept and command.
And then we go to the names of God in the Quran. You'll not find in the Quran the name of God as 'father'. And you cannot find in the Quran the name of God as 'love'. God the Father, God is love, there are not mentioned in the Quran. You know why? Because if we admit that God is the eternal Father, He must have an eternal son, and that means that we have to profess and declare that Jesus is the eternal Son of God.
Read more here at www.thespiritofislam.com about differences then between The Quran and The Bible.
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