Are there discrepancies between the Quran and the other holy books?

- Some atheists claim that there are discrepancies between the Quran and the other holy books. How can we answer them? Will you write a detailed refutation?
- For example: Revelation Difference
- Those who speak (narrate) in the Torah, Bible and Psalms are the authors of those books. On the other hand, we see that the Quran is written in the form of the speech of Allah except for a few paragraphs.
- While the narrators in the previous books are third parties, Allah speaks directly in His last book.
-  In that case, Muslims must either claim that previous books are not from Allah, or accept that Allah changed the method of sending books. However, they only claim that the previous books were distorted.

Dear Brother / Sister,

1) In Islam, it is obligatory to believe that the previous books such as the Torah and the Gospel are also revelations from Allah and that those messengers are true prophets. He who does not believe in them cannot be a Muslim.

However, not all collections of the books of the Torah and the Gospel known as the Bible (like the original Torah and Gospel) are divine revelations. The Jews and Christians do not claim that those books are revelations of Allah from the beginning to the end.

The authors of the four Bibles are certain people. It is accepted by the scientists of those religions that there is some wrong information along with true information coming verbally from Hz. Isa (Jesus) in the Bibles.

It is also accepted that by the Jews that the other parts of the Torah collection except the part called “Torah” are not revelations from Allah.

2) All prophets, from the Prophet Adam to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), were subject to the same principles in terms of creed but different shari’ahs in terms of deeds. This fact is underlined in the verses of the Quran and hadiths that we will quote below:

“Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore, worship and serve Me.” (al-Anbiya, 21/25)

We can understand from the verse above that all prophets learned and taught the creed of oneness through divine revelation.

“For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil".” (an-Nahl, 16/36)

The creed of oneness and worshipping only Allah are taught in the verse above, along with keeping away from taghut (evil), which expresses all kinds of shirk (polytheism).

- The Prophet states the following: “All prophets are paternal half-brothers; their mothers are different but their religion is the same.” (Hakim, 2/648)

Bukhari includes a shorter version of the same hadith. The meaning of the hadith is as follows: The religion (the issues of creed that form the basis of the religion, principles of belief) of all prophets is the same but their shari’ahs are different. (see Ibn Hajar, 6/489)

As it is seen, the issues of creed that form the basis of the principles of belief are expressed with the title of “religion” and it is pointed out that they are like a father for the prophets and that they are all the sons of this father, that is, they teach the products of the same truth.

The shari’as, which are called the subsidiary issues of the religion (which are outside the principles of belief), are likened to mothers.

Thus, it is a requirement of divine wisdom that the decrees related to deeds differ in different religions.

The fact that a teacher who teaches mathematics in an elementary school explains the same lesson differently at a university does not indicate that the teacher has learned new things but that he displays a wise attitude considering the situation of his addressees.  

The existence of different shari’ahs, different revelations, orders and prohibitions in different ages and times is a reflection of this wisdom.

c) What matters is to believe in a religion that exists now and that preserves its trueness because it is vital to believe in the true religion. The bliss of the world and the hereafter depends on it. There is no doubt that this religion is the religion of Islam.

The fact that hundreds of thousands of people, including thousands of clergymen and scientists from other religions, have embraced Islam throughout history is an indication of the trueness of this religion.

d) If the moon stayed in the shadow of the world and did not give light, would it harm the existence of the sun? Likewise, if the other heavenly religions that are like the moon stayed in the shadow of the desires and wishes of people, could they harm the religion of Islam, which shines like the sun?

Definitely not, because

- “Islam is like the sun; it does not go out by blowing. It is like the day; it is not transformed into the night when one closes his eyes. He who closes his eyes makes it dark only for himself.” (see Münazarat, p. 9)

- The religion of Islam is the true religion. It is a necessity of the mind to approve what is right.  

- The religion of Islam invites all people to believe. Nobody has the luxury of staying out of Islam.

- He who believes in Islam gains an eternal life like Paradise. He who does not believe is sentenced to the eternal imprisonment in Hell.

- The religion of Islam says, "a person who believes in all religions but does not believe in Islam" cannot enter Paradise.

Since Islam is the true religion, the words of the Quran are the words of Allah. Therefore, it is our duty to use our mind in order to guarantee our eternal life.

To sum up:

It is necessary to prefer the religion of Islam because it provides guidance to the lives of all men and women, foresight to their minds, love to their hearts, justice to their individual and social deeds, light to their graves, salvation and joy in the hereafter, and Paradise and eternal happiness in the hereafter.

Questions on Islam