A DISCOURSE ON DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE QUR ’ ĀN AND THE

The guidance of Allah for mankind is contained in the scriptures se t down by Him through the Prophets and Messengers. These scriptures are numerous due to the number of the Prophets. But, the mentioned and prominent ones include Zabur which was given to Prophet Dāwūd, Suhuf which was given to Prophet Ibrahim, Tawrāh which was given to Prophet Musa, Injil which was given to Prophet Isā and the Qur'ān which was given to Prophet Muhammad. However, the most circulated ones in the contemporary world are the Qur’ān and Bible. These two contain direct and indirect information about different issues and concepts. In spite of the similarities in few areas, the points of divergence are substantial. Hence this paper is aimed at examining five out the areas of convergence as well as the areas of divergence of both the Qur’ān and Bible with empirical examples from both scriptures. Conclusion is made to juxtapose their similarities which are due to their divine qualities and their differences which are as a result of the abrogation and interpolation by the people. Thus, the people are encouraged to show due respect to these heavenly scriptures.


A. Introduction
The word Qur'ān is an Arabic word of an infinitive noun derived from the verbal root -‫رأ‬ ‫ق‬ ‫قر,‬ ‫ي‬ ‫أ‬ -qara'a, yaqra'u which literally means to collect things together initially.But later on, it was used for reading or reciting1.This is so because the words and letters are gathered together while reciting something2.Technically, it is the word of Allah revealed to the Prophet Muhammad and its recitation serves as a worship3.It can also and physical diseases of humanity, an-Nur {The light} which is an indication that it absolutely expels all darkness from the surface of the earth.

B. The Bible
The word Bible literally according to Hornby9 is a book containing important information on a subject that is often referred to.Technically, it is the holy book of the Christian religion consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament.10It is also referred to as the Jewish and Christian sacred book or collection of sacred books.11It is a combination of the old Testament which is referred to as the Hebrew Bible, and the New Testament which is the second part of the Christian Bible.12Unlike the Qur'ān, the Bible consists of the words of God, Prophets and man which were compiled for over thirteen centuries.There is no other names given to Bible as it has not been mentioned in itself.13Itcontains history, laws, prophecies, prayers, songs, love poems, stories e.t.c.14.
In addition, it is divided into books which number varies according to the different version of the Bible like King James Version, New American Bible, and Catholic Bible e.t.c.This varieties cut across both the Jewish Book Called the Tawrah (Law) which is usually referred to in Christianity as the Old Testament and the Gospel that is commonly called the New Testament in the Greek Language.15.

C. Differences Between the Qur'ān and Bible
Undoubtedly, there are lots of points that differentiate the Qur'ān from the Bible.However, five of them are to be discussed and examined between these two world religious scriptures as follows:

VERSION
In the case of the Qur'ān, there are no other versions of it in Arabic Language which is its Language of revelation.One can only have different versions of the translation of its meaning into another Language for non Arabic speakers so as to understand it.However, none of these translations would be considered to hold the value and authenticity of the Arabic version.What is meant by a version of the Qur'ān is the content which has been preserved in its original form of Arabic Language.The published Qur'ān from different countries can be compared to know the basis of Uniqueness of the Qur'ān.In Q15: 9, Allah says: Verily, we, it is we who have sent the (i.e the Qur'ān) and surely, we will guard it (from corruption)16 From the above, it can be deduced that the Qur'ān is being protected from any form of alteration from anybody and even the Jinn.In his commentary on the above quoted verse, Muhammad 'Ali says: The statement is first made in connection with the powerful position of the disbelievers, and is then made generally, that the Qur'ān will for all time be reservedly saved against all attempts to destroy it all and from every kind of corruption17.
It is the Arabic version that is regarded as the real Qur'ān and that is why the Muslims are learning it from childhood which has made it to maintain its nature, contents and mode of recitation since the era of revelation.In their commentary on the above quoted verse, Taqiud-Din and Muhsin Khan say: It is a clear fact that more than 1400 years have elapsed and not a single word of this Qur'ān has been changed, although the disbelievers tried their utmost to change it in every way, but they failed miserably in their efforts.As it is mentioned in this holy verse: "We will guard it."By Allah!He has guarded it.On the contrary, all the other holy Books [the Taurah(Law), the Injeel (Gospel)] have been corrupted in the form of additions or subtractions or alterations in the original text18.
The Glorious Qur'ān has passed through different ages, civilizations and cultures without the letters, words, or ideas there in being changed or altered.Thus, it is worthy of honored and respected.
The Bible, on the other hand, has different and several versions, even in the original Hebrew language19.These several versions cut across the English Translations, some of which are20.English version, American King James version and so on 21.
In conclusion, there is only one version of the Qur'ān just because, it is being preserved in its original form and language.While the original form of Bible is no more let alone the preserved one in the Hebrew Language.It should also be noted that the Hebrew Bible is a complication of works of different personalities which were considered by the Jewish community to be closer to the vision of God.

AUTHOR
It is believed by the Christians that Bible has one author.22 However, the books in the Bible clarify it that they were written by men, some of whom were not known.In his own submission, Maurice Bucaile sees the author of the Bible to be many men when he says: In the Bible, you have many men writing about God and you have in some places the word of God speaking to men and still in other places, you have some men simply writing about history or personal exchange of information to one another23….
In order to buttress the above statement of Maurice Bucaile, an empirical example is hereby taken from the book of Luke which begins by saying: For as much as many have taken in hand To set forth in order a declaration of these things which are most surely believed among us.
Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus.That thou mightiest know the certainty of those things where in thou last been instructed.…(Luke It is because of the different authors that make the Bible to have a lot of mistakes and errors as well as contradictions Hence, it can be concluded that the bible does not have a single author because it is a collection of seventy-three books that were written by many men over a period of one thousand years25 or thirteen centuries.26 The Qur'ān, on the contrary, has one author authoritatively.All Muslims in the world believe that Allah is the one and only Author of the Qur'ān.He, the Most Perfect, cannot make mistake and that is why the Qur'ān is also perfect.The Qur'ān itself claims that it is from God in many verses of the Qur'ān.For example, the Qur'ān says: Do they not then consider the Qur'ān Carefully?Had it been from other than Allah, They would surely have found there in many a contradiction. (Q4 : 82)27 It should also be noted that the Qur'ān is a dictation of instruction and not a collection of writings or the memories of some men like the Bible.By this, the speaker in the Qur'ān is the first person pronoun and that is Allah, the Almighty.It is because of its perfection from the Most Perfect that makes it to challenge anybody at any level of knowledge or research to look for fault in it, if he is able to find any fault.
Moreover, it is not possible that the Qur'ān was written by the Noble Prophet Muhammad as claimed by some Christians like Jochen katz28 and some western authors29 because the prophet was illiterate, unlettered and unlearned.He (Muhammad) was well known unlike the authors of Bible who were majority unknown.He had a reputable personality to the extent that he was being qualified by his people with nickname "Al-Amin" i.e the Trustworthy.It was a known fact among the people of Mecca then that Muhammad was an unlettered prophet who knew nothing about the earlier scriptures which were given to the people of the Book (i.e the Jews and the Christians).Yet there are many verses of the Qur'ān that are speaking about his characters in form of correcting him or praising him.By this, how will an author talk or correct and rebuke himself as well as exposing his hidden decision as can be seen in Q80:1-2 where Allah is reporting his action by saying: "(The prophet) frowned and turned away.Because there came to him the blind man." From this quotation, it can be deduced that Muhammad, the Prophet, was being corrected of his attitude towards the blind man, 'Abdullahi bin Ummi-Maktum, who came to the Prophet while he was addressing one of the Chiefs of the Quraish, who was a Polytheist while another narration says the Prophet was preaching to a group of reputable people among the Quraish chiefs like Ubayy bin Khalaf, Utbah bin Rabi'ah, Abu Jahl and and others.30Afterthis revelation, the Prophet used to greet and honor the blind man with these words of humility and respect: "Welcome unto him on whose account my Lord has rebuked me".
In his own commentary on these verses, Muhammad Asad says: Indirectly, the sharp Quranic rebuke (stressed,in particular, by the use of the third-person form in verses 1-2) implies, firstly, that what would have been a minor act of discourtesy on the part of an ordinary human being, assumed the aspect of a major sin, deserving a divine rebuke, when committed by a Prophet; and, secondly, it illustrates the objective nature of the Quranic revelation: for obviously, in conveying God's reproof of him to the world at large, (that) the Prophet "does not speak out of his own desire" Q 53:3.31 The quotation from Muhammad Asad, is another proof buttressing the impossibility of prophet Muhammad to be the author of the Glorious Qur'ān.Another good example to be cited on this issue is the decision nurtured by the Prophet in his mind to marry Zainab bint Jahsh, the wife of his adopted son when she finished her waiting period as contained in Q33:37-38.It is on this incident that Anas bin Malik said: "if there is anything the messenger of Allah could hide in the Qur'ān, it would have been this verse and then later married her "32 In conclusion, Bible has different authors in which some of them are known like Mathew, Mark, Luke, John and others, but the majority is unknown such as Gospel, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and others according to Encyclopedia Britannica, while the Qur'ān has just one author, Allah the Almighty.Also, the Qur'ān is not authored by the Prophet Muhammad and to be saying otherwise will be tantamount to forgery against him, since the Qur'ān itself has made it clear that it is a revelation from Allah.

MEMORISATION
Among the miracles of the Qur'ān which proves its uniqueness among other books and scriptures is the ability and ease of memorizing it by the Muslims according to Q 54:17 which say: And We have indeed made the Qur'ān easy to understand and remember; is their any who will remember (or receive admonition)?.
This is due to the nature of its ideas and beauty of its style.The fluency of its language makes it the foremost scripture to be memorized from the beginning to the end.It is the uniqueness of its memorization among other things that influences its preservation since fourteen centuries ago.This memorization has made the transmission of the Qur'ān from one generation to another easy, just as it was revealed to Muhammad through Angel Jubril from Allah the Almighty.It was learned and memorized, in the same way, by the companions of the Prophet, who in turn passed it across to their followers and it continued like this till today and so it shall be till the last hour.
More so, it has been committed to memory by millions of Muslim which has saved it from errors or pollutions.Also, the poetic form of the Qur'ān makes it easy to be committed to memory.Hence, the Qur'ān become a literary miracle that not only the Arabs but also mankind in general as well as the jinn could not and will never reproduce the like of it 33.Some of the orient lists have made some statements concerning the Is only realized in its fullness and Perfection when it is correctly recited.
These two quotations are emphasizing the uniqueness of the Qur'ān among others books of the world which is based on the preservation of the Quranic text due to its easy memorization among the Muslims.This also shows that it is not only the Arabs that affirm the authoritativeness of the Qur'ān as well as praising it but also the western authors.
On the other hand, the Bible has not been mentioned to have been committed to memory as much as that of the Qur'ān, due to the varieties of versions of the Bible in circulation.If a person memorizes King James Version in the presence of another who had memorized Revised Standard Version then there is going to be chaos and misunderstanding in their preaching because of the English Language.This difference also makes it difficult to correct someone who had memorized the Bible in case of errors in quotation.
In conclusion, it is Allah, being the Author of the Qur'ān that promises the preservation of the Qur'ān.And one of its preservation is memorization.While the inability of the majority to memorize the Bible which will to its preservation is due to its different authors and versions.
And even those (very minute) that have memorized it cannot boldly present it before others because of the differences in the translations.

ARRANGEMENT
The Bible was arranged in a chorological way, 35 that is, it was arranged according to the occurrences of events or dates.This argument is based on the fact that the Bible begins with the creation of the world as contained in the book of Genesis and ends with the coming to an end of the world in the last book of the Bible, book of Revelation.The records of stories are taken as the events happened, and that is why the historical narration of the The attempt to give a chronological order Is an undoubted failure as even the shorter Chapter were not revealed entirely…39 From the above quotation, it is clear that arranging the Qur'ān according to the events or revelation is impossible for the revelation of verses and chapters are interwoven, thus there will be disorderliness in the Book of Allah.For example if the arrangement of the Qur'ān is to follow chronological order, then Suratu'l-'Alaq (Qur'ān Chapter 96) would have been the first chapter in the Qur'ān, but the whole of this Surah was not revealed at once.So, following the chronological order in the arrangement of the Qur'ān will bring about confusion and chaos.Even it will not show the perfection of Allah, who is devoid of any negative quality.Rather, the arrangement of the Qur'ān followed the wills and wishes of Allah through inspiration to His messenger ‫لى‬ ‫ص‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫يه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ع‬ ‫لم‬ ‫س‬ ‫و‬ which was seen by his companions in his mode of recitation.
This means that its arrangement is Tawqĩf 40 i.e based on Divine guidance from Allah to the Noble Prophet.It has been reported that the Prophet recited Suratu'l-Baqarah in his night prayer one day; he then followed it with Suratu'l-Imran and then Suratu-n-Nisai.Hence, the arrangement was inspirational and not chronological.
In conclusion, the arrangement of the Bible is either chronological by historical narration or canonical by type of writing and literature while the Qur'ān was neither arranged chronologically nor canonically but through inspiration under the Divine guidance of the Author, Allah.

CONTRADICTIONS AND CORRUPTION
The Qur'ān is a book that is neat and clear as well as free from any error, mistake or contradiction.This is because it is from an author that is perfect and unique in everything He does, has done and will be doing.
These qualities only belong to the Supreme Being, Allah as nobody is perfect except Him.It is the last book which its authenticity is not doubtful by elites but by ignoramus.It has never been corrupted or adulterated since fourteen centuries back and will never be corrupted or altered.This is because; it is being guarded by Allah through its memorization by the Muslims.The Qur'ān attests to its soundness as well as the absence of contradiction in it as it says: Do they not then consider the Qur'ān carefully?Had it been from other than Allah, they would Surely have founded there in many a contradiction.(Q4:82).
Its contents has been guaranteed by Allah in many verses and chapters such as Q2:2 which read thus: "This the Book (the Qur'ān), whereof there is no doubt….".Also, in Q18:1 which read: "All praise and thanks are Allah's, who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad ‫لى‬ ‫ص‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫يه‬ ‫ل‬ ‫ع‬ ‫لم‬ ‫س‬ ‫)و‬ the Book (the Qur'ān), and has not placed therein any crookedness".However, there are some verses like Q41:11-12 and Q21:30 taken to be contradictory by some critics or orientalists.41 But it should be noted that the arguments on these verses and others are based on their whims and caprices and not on the explanation given by the Quranic exegetes, who are experts in the explanation of the Qur'ān and even the science is also in support of their arguments.42 On the contrary, the Bible as said earlier was a collection of writings from different authors which gives room for differences of opinions and ideas which led to a lot of contradictions in it 43.The authenticity of the Bible being from God is questionable because of the contradictions found in it in several books.According to Dionysius, a Bishop of Corinth in the latter part of the second century, he says: As the brethren desired me to write epistles (letter), I did so, and these the apostles of the devil have with Adding others, for whom there is a woe wonder if some Have also attempted to adulterate the sacred writings Of the Lord, since they have attempted the same in other Works that are not to be compared with these 44.
This quotation is pointing to the fact that changes and alternations have been done to the Bible as far back as second century.This can also be For what I received I passed on you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture.This Biblical verse is contradicting another verse in Deuteronomy 24:16 which read thus: Father shall not be put to death for their children, nor did children put to death for their fathers: each is to die for his own sin.The difference there in is the death of individual for his own sin as contained in Deuteronomy while I Corinthians is saying that Jesus died for the sins of man instead of dying for his sins only.
(2) II Samuel 24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.This Biblical verse goes in contrary to I Chronicles 21:1 which says: And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.The question to be raised from these two books is who prov0ked or asked David to number Israel?Is it the Lord or Satan?In Conclusion, the Qur'ān is devoid of any contradiction whatsoever while the Bible has conflicting verses in both Old and New Testament.

D. Similarities Between the Qur'ān and the Bible
Despite the discrepancies between these two religious scriptures, they still share some things in common in their contents.Some of these are as follows:

CREATION OF THINGS
Both scriptures teach on the creation of the world by a single Almighty.God is described as the Creator of the Universe and what it contains.He is the Creator of man and other creatures.In Q6:1, the Qur'ān says: "Praise be to God, Who created the heaven and the earth and made the darkness and the light".Also, in Genesis 1:1, the Bible says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." More so, on the creation of man from dust, the Bible says in Besides, in Q5:6 the Qur'ān says: " O you who believe when you prepare for prayer then wash your face, hands to the elbows, rub your head and wash your leg.." while Q22:77 says concerning bowing and prostrating that : "O you who believe, Bow down and prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord...".Thus, both scriptures explain the same way of worshipping God, the Supreme.Thus, if that is the case, then why is the discrepancy in the mode of worship of the Christians?
This call for review by the Christians, so as to work in line with the Bible.

LAW
The laws legislated by the Sharicah i.e the Qur'ān are also found in the Bible which shows the cordial relationship between them.For examples, the Bible prohibits the eating of pork in Deuteronomy 14:8 which say: And the Swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you : ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.While the Qur'ān says: "Forbidden to you (for food) are : Al-Maitah (the dead animals-cattle-beast not slaughtered),blood, the flesh of swine.." Q5:3.
More so, the women are commanded to cover their head in the Bible as contained in 1 Corinthians 11:6-10 which says: For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but If it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her Be covered...For this cause ought the woman to have power On her head because of the angels.
While the Qur'ān says in Q33:59 that: "O Prophet!Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over bodies.".Hence, the above mentioned laws and others are therein in the two scriptures.But are these laws not being implemented by the Christians?The pig meats are circulated and consumed in the restaurants.Also, the majority of the Christian ladies even in the church are not only uncovering their heads but also their bodies.These actions need to be corrected in line with the Biblical injunctions quoted above.

HISTORICAL FACT
Both Scriptures talk about the history of the past Prophets and their people even though the Qur'ān is not a history book unlike the Bible that was arranged according to the historical events.The stories contained in the two Books are generally comparable in most cases even though there are noticeable differences.This is why, the Muslims are taught to accept whatever story that is in line with the Qur'ān from the Bible and to reject anyone in contrary.However, in the case of a story not related in the Qur'ān, the Muslims are encouraged to neither accept nor reject but to read and pass over it.For instance, the Creation of Adam and Eve (Hawā') as well as their disobedience to Allah which led them to leave the Paradise for this World are contained in both the Qur'ān and Bible with little differences like the Bible states that it was the Serpent that tempted them (both Adam and Eve) while the Qur'ān states that it was Shait n (i.e the devil).

E. Conclusion
It should be noted that both the Qur'ān and Bible have come to mankind from the same source i.e from God, the Almighty through angel Jubril.It was later that error of omission and addition entered into the Bible but the Qur'ān was saved from these anomalies.It is the preservation of the Qur'ān by its memorization that makes the Qur'ān to stand out of all the religious books in the world, including the Bible.Thus, the Qur'ān differs from the Bible in many areas among which are: a) It has only one version in Arabic Language which is the original source.
b) It has only one author, Allah the Almighty.
c) It is easy to memorize; d) Its arrangement is neither chronological nor canonical but inspirational; e) Its information is not contradictory.
However, it has some similarities with the Bible in the area of the Oneness of God, way of worship, Creation of things and so on.
The Muslims are therefore encouraged to respect the Bible because it still contains some facts from God and because Q2:285 enjoin them to do so.However, preference is not to be given to it over the Qur'ān being the last Book of God to mankind and because it is enough as a guide and a way of life for the chosen one.
(a) The Catholic Bible (c.325 A.D.) which contains seventy-three books in totality (b) The Protestant Bible which contains sixty-six books The most amazing part of it is the fact that the Protestant version was taken from the Catholic Bible.Still, they do not match completely with each other.Some other English translations are King Alfred's translation, Wycliffe's English translation and many others.It is not only that there are different translations of different versions of the Bible but also different contents of these translations.Recently, translations of the Bible have proliferated which leads to dozens of versions of the Bible in the English Language alone such as Good News Bible, Contemporary memorization and preservation of the Glorious Qur'ān as follow:34 a) Kenneth cragg said, as quoted by Abu Ameenah in his usool at-Tafseer, that: This phenomenon of Quranic recital means That the text has traversed the centuries In an unbroken living sequence of devotion It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian Thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past.b) In his opinion, William Graham said: For countless millions of Muslims over More than fourteen centuries of Islamic History, scripture, al-kitab, has been a book learned, read and passed on by vocal repetition and memorization.The Written Qur'ān may "fix" visibly the authoritative text of the Divine Word in a way unknown in history, but the authoritativeness of the Qur'ānic book supported by another quotation which says: History has shown that the Bible suffered Changes throughout the ages.The Revised Standard Version (1952 and 1971), the New American standard Bible and The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures have expunged certain Verses compared with the King James Version.Readers Digest has reduced the Old Testament by about 50 percent and the New Testament condensed by about 25 percent.45 Hence, there are many conflicting verses in the bible 46 such as:-

Genesis 2 :
7 that : " The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils, the breath of life and man became a living being".And on this the Qur'ān says: in Q15:29 that : "So, when I have fashioned him completely and breathed into him (Adam) the soul which I created for him, then fall (you) down prostrating yourselves to him" while Q32:7 further says : " Who made everything He has created good and began the creation of man from clay".02CONCEPTOF GOD Both scriptures contain verses that affirm the oneness of God and not in Trinity which was later invented into the Bible towards the last quadrant of the fourth century.47Undoubtedly, the message of both Prophet Moses and Jesus as well as others were centered on the Divinity of the Supreme Being.It has not been equivocally reported that these Prophets say they are God.Rather what is being reported of them is that they say: the Lord the God is One as contained in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 which says: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One!You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.From the above, it means that other Biblical verses that are preaching Trinitarian are reported speeches of the authors of the books in the Bible.The New Catholic Encyclopedia states:When one does speak of an unqualified Trinitarianism, One has moved from the period of Christian origins to, say, The last quadrant of the 4th century.It was only then that What might be called the definitive Trinitarian dogma 'One God in three persons' became thoroughly assimilated into Christian life and thought...It was the product of the three Centuries of doctrinal development.48This means that, it was Paul, who wrote some of the books that started the doctrine of trinity as contained in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 49.The Bible says concerning the Oneness of God in Mark 12:28-30: "Which law is the first of all?Jesus said in answer, the first is give ear, O Israel: the Lord our God is One Lord..".While the Qur'ān affirms both the Unity of God as well as His names and attributes in Q112:1-4 which reads: Say: "He is the One God.God the Eternal, the uncaused cause of all that Exists.He begets not, and neither is He begotten, and there is nothing that could be compared to Him."The names and attributes of God can be found in the following books of the Bible: Exodus 3:14, 6:3, 20:7, John 8:58 and Genesis 17:1 e.t.c.The question for thought here is that: why are the Christians upholding the fourth century doctrine; Trinitarian and abandoning their foundation belief which is the oneness of God? 03 CONCEPT OF WORSHIP Both scriptures describe the way of worship which was brought and practiced by the Prophets of God.All the Prophets came with the same formats of worshipping God, the Almighty.This can be buttressed by the following verses with regards to ablution, bowing, kneeing and prostrating: According to the Bible in Exodus 40:31-32, ablution was performed by Moses and Aaron: "And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat...".Also, in Joshua 5:14, the mode of worshipping God is described thus: "...and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship" while Mathew 26:39 says: "And he (Jesus) went forward a little and falling down on his face in prayer."