message for thousands of years. It contains many truths from God.
Throughout history many prophets were sent by God to guide humankind.
The Qur'an teaches that prophets were sent to every people to call
them to shun false gods and worship only the one trueGod. Some of the
truths which those prophets taught are recorded in theBible. A seeker
of truth cannot deny those truths.
The Bible has had more impact on western civilization than any
otherbook. The Bible's emphasis on the belief in the one and only God
has helped millions of people to turn away from worshipping idols and
other false gods. Famous commandments like 'you shall not murder' have
become universal principles. Many of the Bible's moral principles have
helped to convert some of the worst people into compassionate, good
citizens.
Obviously, if the Qur'an were to disagree with these moral and
theological truths the Qur'an would have to teach the opposite of
truth. This the Qur'an doesnot do. Where the Bible is true the Qur'an
is also true, since they agree on many fundamental truths.This
agreement, however,does not mean that one book copied out of another
as some individuals are quick to conclude. This we have already
demonstrated in our answer to Question 6. The reason the Qur'an agrees
with the truths in the Bible is that those truths and the Qur'anic
passages all come from the same source, namely God. Since He alone
revealed the Qur'an and all the truths of the Bible, it is only
logical that the truth will be one, regardless in which book it is
found.
When the Qur'an disagrees with the Bible itis also for a reason. The
Qur'an was revealed at a time when people knew the art of writing, and
so designated scribes were able to write down the revelation
immediately toensure its preservation in written form. At the time
people were also accustomed to memorizing eloquent compositions. With
God's help they began a practiceof memorizing the Qur'an,thus ensuring
its preservation also in the hearts of millions of believers
throughout history. Due to these two preservation methods, theQur'an
available all over the world today is the same in its original
language whether you buy a copy in Canada, Australia, or China.
Therefore the Qur'an can be trusted in its entirety, and a believer
can confidently say, "All of it isfrom our Lord" as the Qur'an states
in 3:7. God has promised that He will safeguard the book (Qur'an
15:9). He further says that no falsehood can get into the Qur'an
(Qur'an 41:42). He tells us that He sent the Qur'an to confirm the
truth of what is in the previous scriptures and also to expose the
errors that crept into those scriptures(Qur'an 5:48). So one reason
the Qur'an differs from the Bible can be understood best in light of
the transmission history of the two books.
Another type of differencebetween the two books pertains to the
specific instructions that God gave. God always gives instructions
which are suitable for the varying conditions of human life. Some of
the instructions in the Bible, were meant for a particular historical
circumstance, and are therefore no longer applicable. Since the Qur'an
is newer, it contains God's latest instructions which are
stillapplicable to our present conditions, and which provide the best
solution for some of life's most pressing problems today.
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