THE QUR'AN!

In the 57^th surah of the Qu’ran, many of the moral teachings present are comparable to the teachings of the Bible. For example, the first six verses describe the sovereignty and all-knowingness of God.  Although the exact wording may be different from that of the Bible, the idea is the same. God is all-knowing, God is sovereign. Another instance of similarity is when it says, “. . . but then it withers, and thou canst see it turn yellow; and in the end it crumbles into dust” (Surah 57). This is very similar to the verse in Genesis, when God says, “To dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Again, the metaphor is similar. Man is mortal, and eventually decomposes. However, not every piece of the Qur’an directly relates to the Bible, and many portions are in direct contrast.

In the 58^th surah, there is a portion that warns against befriending those “people whom God has condemned” (Surah 58). The text explains that those who reject God are the condemned ones. Let us now examine how this compares to the Bible. The second main assertion, that rejecting God in life leads to condemnation is certainly present in the Bible. The first point is more difficult to find. Something similar is said in the Old Testament, where God commands the Israelite not to “. . . intermarry with them (other nations) because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods” (1 Kings 11:2). This is similar to what is described in the Qur’an; though marriage and friendship are slightly different relationships. The main reason for the Israelites to avoid non-Israelites is to avoid temptation. This may not be the reasoning the Qur’an uses, so an examination of the context shall be required. Although only a relatively small sample of the book is available to provide said context, there is likely enough for accurate conclusions to be drawn.

In the passage in question (Surah 58:14-22), it is important to note that the main idea is a description of God’s coming wrath to those condemned. The last paragraph describes he coming glory for God’s followers, but otherwise the passage centers on wrath. There is no mention of the temptation that comes with befriending such people, it is instead implied (as far as I can tell) that because a person rejects God, it is a defilement to associate with them. This implication is strongly disputed by the Bible, which teaches to love neighbors and enemies (Mark 12:31, Matthew 5:44). There are no conditions given for this love, while the Qur’an indicates conditional love. Therefore, there is only a slight convergence here between the Qur’an and the Bible. For different reasons, and at different times, the followers of either texts are to avoid familiar relationships for those who reject God.

There are many elements of the Qur’an that display Bible-esque qualities. However not every aspect is comparable to the Bible. One instance of this occurs in the 60^th surah, which says that it is not forbidden to show kindness to unbelievers that do not persecute members of Islam, because God loves people that behave fairly (Surah 60). This instance implies several points that are contrary to biblical tradition. One of the large differences is that kindness to unbelievers is only ‘not forbidden’ when the unbeliever is not an enemy to the believer. This is contrary to the aforementioned biblical teaching of loving enemies (Matthew 5:44). The other main difference is that there is an implied limit to God’s love. God appears to love believers and those that behave nicely towards them. This indicates that God is out of patience with evil people, and that God’s love can be earned. This is in contrast to the classic go-to of John 3:16 as well as Romans 5:8. Both indicate that God loved the entirety of fallen humanity (no decency required) and therefore made salvation an option for anyone so desiring it. This portion of the surah is in clear contrast to biblical principles.

NOTE: I wasn’t sure how to cite the Qur’an, so for specific verses I used the Surah number, colon, and then the number given in the squiggly parentheses things.