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STORIES OF THE PROPHETS: Bible vs Qur'an
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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 18 righteousness,”
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].
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