The third premise — that Islam is counterfeit — requires much more
study, but it can be done entirely on the basis of logic.
For example, a paper product is counterfeit money, if it is made to have the appearance of true money and ① it is presented as if viable money, while actually being unauthorized ② false money.
It remains to be proven that the Qur’an, the foundation of Islam, is false.
Firstly, the Qur’an affirms three things about the Bible: The divine inspiration
(3:3), the preservation (18:27, 7:157), and the authority (5:43-48,
10:94). Therefore, if the Bible is false, or if the Bible has not been
preserved, Qur’an is false because Qur’an claims that Bible was and
is and will be true.
3:3 He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book in truth,
confirming what was before it. And He revealed the Torah and the Gospel.
Once printing was invented and Bibles became more accessible than they
were in the illiterate Muhammad’s day, Muslims who actually began
reading what the Bible says, saw the obvious contradictions between
the Bible and the Qur’an, and they invented a teaching that the Bible
has been corrupted.
Today, almost every Muslim has been taught to believe this popular theory.
18:27 And recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord,
there is none who can alter His words; and you shall not find any refuge besides Him.
Islamic scripture does not support this theory.
Muhammad
vouched for the Torah that the Jews had
in their hands (Sunan Abu Dawud 38:4434).
Qur’an tells Jews to judge according to the Torah that
they have (5:43, 5:68).
Qur’an tells Christians to judge according to the Gospels that
they have (5:46—47, 5:68).
The exact phrase used by Islamic writings is بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ [baina jadaihi],
“in between their hands”, emphasizing their physical present possession of it,
as opposed to something metaphorical such as legacy.
5:43 But why do they [Jews] come to you [Muhammad] for judgement when
they have the Torah [in between their hands],
which enshrines God's own judgement? […]
We also have 5th century manuscripts (and earlier) of most of the books in the Bible,
showing that the scriptures that the Jews and Christians had,
when Muhammad told
them to judge by those very same scriptures, are
same as what we have today.
The author of Qur’an even tells
Muhammad to judge by those same scriptures (5:48, 10:94).
10:94 So if you are in doubt, [O Muhammad], about that which We have revealed to you, then ask those who have been reading the Scripture before you. The truth has certainly come to you from your Lord, so never be among the doubters.
It is true that the author of Qur’an chastises
those Jews who do
not follow their scriptures
but instead distort them, but never does it say that the scriptures themselves
are distorted, nor that the Jews as whole have abandoned the Torah.
Why would Allah tell Jews to continue judging by the Torah that
they have,
if they didn’t have it?
5:68 Say, ‘People of the Book [Jews and Christians], you have no true basis [for your religion] unless you uphold the Torah, the Gospel, and that which has been sent down to you from your Lord’ […].
So it is clear that the scriptures have
are still authoritative.
The Qur’an affirms the divine inspiration, the preservation and the authority
of the Bible, as Allah’s eternal word, consistently and repeatedly.
If the Bible is false, Qur’an is lying because it vouches for Bible.
The only way that remains for Qur’an to be true, is that the Bible is also true.
However, the Qur’an contradicts the Bible in many parts.
- The Qur’an explicitly says God is not father to anyone (5:18; 19:88-93; 21:26). In the Bible, Jesus refers to God as the father of both himself and the whole humanity (Matt. 6:9). Jesus even urges his followers to pray to “our Father in Heaven” (Matt. 6:9). Qur’an affirms Jesus (Isa) as a true prophet of God.
- The Qur’an claims that Jesus did not actually die, it just appeared that way (4:157). In the Bible, Jesus says that one who claims, that Jesus would not die on cross, is none other than Satan himself (Matt. 16:21-23, Mark. 8:31-33).
- Muhammad proclaimed that he was foretold in the Bible, but the only prophecies that even remotely match his characteristics are Jesus’s warnings about false prophets and antichrists. (If John 14:16-17 spoke about Muhammad, then Muhammad was invisible, among many other things.)
Furthermore, according to the Bible, if anyone speaks in God’s name
something that God has not commanded them to speak, that man is a
false prophet and shall be put to death (Deut. 18:20-22).
Muhammad did speak things in Allah’s name that came from Shaitan,
but later came and said that Devil tricked him.
Therefore, if the Bible is
true, Qur’an is false because Qur’an
contradicts the Bible, and the man who delivered Islam’s teachings
was a false prophet according to the Bible.
In summary, if Bible is false, Qur’an is false. If Bible is true, Qur’an is false.
We could also study the many claims that the Islamic scripture makes about the world.
- The Qur’an claims the sun sets in a muddy pool of water, and that an explorer went there and found people living in that very physical location. (18:86,90)
- Whereupon it prostrates upon Allah’s throne and asks for a permission to rise again; one day, it will not be permitted, and it will rise in the opposite direction instead. (Sahih al-Bukhari 4:54:421)
- The Qur’an claims the sun and moon are in a shared orbit around the Earth, one chasing the other but never one passing the other. (21:33, 36:40)
- The Qur’an claims the semen is created between the backbone and the ribs (somewhere around the kidneys or chest depending on interpretation). (86:5—7)
And so on. All of these are completely false according to modern understanding of biology, astronomy etc.
Therefore it is proven that Qur’an is false.
Regardless of whether Bible is true or not, Qur’an is still false.
If the Qur’an falls, Islam falls.
