The Bible, meaning book, actually contains 73 books written by a number of authors from 1000 BC to 100 AD. They were written within the tradition of the Covenant begun by Abraham c. 2000 BC. The Koran, on the other hand, is the impression of Muhammad's mind with its enthusiasm and limitations recited over a period of c. 22 years during the the 7th Century AD. At first his revelations were written on whatever was available by his followers and scribes selected by Muhammad. Only during the caliphate of Uthman 644-656 CE were authenticated copies of the Koran made.

Muhammad accepted the writing of the Bible as he states:

"O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger,

and the scripture which He sent to those before (him).

Any who denies Allah, His angels, His books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment,

has gone far, far astray." (Sura 4:136)

As a matter of fact, Muhammad made extensive use of the Biblical stories of the Old Testament. The stories such as Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jonah, etc. are retold with the purpose of making a point dealing with faith or morals. Here and there in the Koran, distortions of these stories appear. For example, in the account of Noah he says to one of his sons,

"O my son! embark with us and be not with the unbelievers.!"

The son replied: "I will betake myself to some mountain: it will save me from the water."

Noah said: "This day nothing can save from the Command of Allah, any but those on whom He has mercy!" And the waves came between them, and the son was among those overwhelmed in the Flood." (Sura 11:42-43)

The above event is not found in the Biblical Genesis. Was Muhammad misinformed? Possibly! Or, was he merely changing the story to make the point that no one could be saved from the flood?

In Sura 3:49 the following words are placed into the mouth of Jesus:

"I have come to you, with a Sign from your Lord, in that I make for you out of clay, as it were, the figure of a bird, and breathe into it, and it became a bird by Allah's leave:...." (Sura 3:49)

This account is not found in the gospels Christians accept but is found in the apocrypha or writing on the life of Jesus which the Church rejected. Further, Muhammad did not believe that Jesus was God's son. In spite of this, he says that Allah gave Jesus the power to beget life. This is contrary to the nature of things. It was God and only God in the beginning who created from "dust" and no prophet or creature could be given this power. The act of creation belongs solely to God.

In Sura 7 Mohammad retells the story of Moses delivering the Israelites from Egypt. During the confrontation of Pharaoh, Aaron's staff turned into a serpent eating up all the serpents of Pharaoh's magicians. Muhammad adds:

"The sorcerers fell down in prostate in adoration. Saying: 'We believe in the Lord of the Worlds',

'the Lord of Moses and Aaron.'" (Sura 7:120-121)

Here again this is not found in Exodus 7:8-13. Perhaps Muhammad was trying to tell his listeners that they should believe when they see signs from the Lord. But Muhammad distorts the scriptures also by what he leaves out. The most important event of the Exodus is the Passover. Moses tells each Israelites family to kill a lamb and to smear their door posts with its blood so as to save the first born of the Israelites from the angel of death. Why does he leave out this most important event? Maybe because this event points to the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (Jn 1:29), that is, Christ's death on the Cross which Muhammad did not believe.

The Word of God

Both the Bible and the Koran claim to be the Word of God but they are understood in a different way. Muslims believe that the Koran is literally the Word of God spoken by Muhammad. Christians and Jews believe that the Bible is the Word of God but in the words of men. The authors of the Bible were inspired to express the truths of faith but they give expression to these truths in may literary forms, according to each author's ability.

(Codex Vaticanus 325-350 AD)

Is the Bible the corrupted Word of God?

Muslims believe that the Koran in authentic scripture and that the Bible is corrupted. It appears that this view was first presented in 1064 AD by Ibn-khazem. He noted that there were contradictions between the Koran and the Bible and since he believed the Koran to be true, the Bible must have been wrong or corrupted.

When was the Bible corrupted? Before or after Muhammad? There is no mention in the Koran that the Bible had been altered or corrupted. There are in the world thousands biblical manuscripts including the Codex Vaticanus (325-350 AD) in the Vatican Library and the Codex Siniaticus (350 AD) located in the British museum. Obviously all these manuscripts could not have been changed and they confirm the fact that the Bible has not been altered.

Value of the Koran