Refuting Islam

If Allah Sent the Same Message to All Prophets, Why Does the Qur’an Contradict the Bible So Often?

April 15, 2025

One of Islam’s core claims is that it stands in a line of unbroken prophetic tradition. Muslims are taught that Allah sent the same essential message through all the prophets — from Adam to Noah, from Abraham to Moses, from Jesus to Muhammad.

The Qur’an states:

“Nothing is said to you [O Muhammad] except what was said to the messengers before you.”
— Qur’an 41:43

And again:

“Indeed, We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him…”
— Qur’an 4:163

So according to the Qur’an, its message should be a confirmation of earlier revelations — not a contradiction.

But here’s the problem:

The Qur’an frequently contradicts the very scriptures it claims to affirm.

This is not just a minor discrepancy — it is a fatal theological paradox. Because if the same God revealed both the Bible and the Qur’an, they should not disagree. And yet, they do — repeatedly, dramatically, and irreconcilably.

Let’s explore the depth of this contradiction — and why it undermines the Qur’an’s entire foundation.

1. The Qur’an Claims to Confirm the Bible

Muslims are taught that the Qur’an affirms the Torah and Gospel:

“And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus… and We gave him the Gospel. And We gave him the Torah before it, as guidance and light… confirming what was before it.”
— Qur’an 5:46

“If you are in doubt about what We have revealed to you, ask those who read the Scripture before you.”
— Qur’an 10:94

So the Qur’an explicitly appeals to earlier scripture to validate its message.

But what happens when the messages don’t match?

2. Key Contradictions Between the Qur’an and the Bible

❖ The Nature of God

Bible: God is love (1 John 4:8), a relational being who seeks personal connection with humanity.
Qur’an: Allah is transcendent, remote, and explicitly denies being “father” to anyone (Qur’an 112:3).

The Qur’an reduces God to sheer power — stripping away the deeply relational character that defines the biblical God.

❖ Jesus: His Identity and Mission

Bible: Jesus is the divine Son of God, crucified for the sins of the world, and raised in glory (John 1:1, John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15).
Qur’an: Jesus is a prophet, not divine, was never crucified, and is not a savior (Qur’an 4:157, 5:72).

This is not a “correction.” It’s a wholesale rejection of the central Christian gospel.

❖ The Means of Salvation

Bible: Salvation is by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Qur’an: Salvation is by righteous deeds weighed on a scale (Qur’an 23:102–103, 21:47).

These are incompatible systems. You can’t say both are true.

❖ Prophetic Lineage

Bible: The covenant flows through Isaac, the child of promise (Genesis 17:19–21).
Qur’an: Islamic tradition shifts the spotlight to Ishmael, making Arabs the new covenantal heirs.

This is a revision of the entire redemptive arc of Scripture — not an affirmation of it.

3. Muslim Response: “The Bible Was Corrupted”

Faced with these contradictions, Muslims are often taught a simple escape hatch:

“The Bible has been corrupted.”

But this creates more problems than it solves.

❖ The Qur’an never clearly says the Bible was textually corrupted. In fact, it consistently speaks of the Torah and Gospel as reliable and authoritative during Muhammad’s time:

“Let the People of the Gospel judge by what Allah has revealed therein…”
— Qur’an 5:47

❖ If the Bible was already corrupted, why does Allah refer people to it?

❖ If Allah sent the same message to all prophets, and humans managed to destroy that message, does that mean God failed to preserve His word?

This destroys the Islamic claim of a consistent, preserved revelation across time.

4. Contradiction Isn’t Confirmation — It’s Rejection

The Qur’an does not confirm the earlier scriptures — it replaces them. It:

Denies Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
Contradicts the biblical means of salvation.
Reverses prophetic lineage and theological meaning.
Rejects the divine sonship of Christ.

You cannot affirm the Bible and simultaneously declare its core message false. That is not continuity. That is contradiction.

And by the Qur’an’s own standard:

“Do they not reflect upon the Qur’an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.”
— Qur’an 4:82

The Qur’an condemns itself by the very logic it presents.

5. The Real Explanation: Reinventing the Past to Legitimize the Present

What we see in the Qur’an is not the seamless voice of God echoing through time — but the selective adaptation of previous religious ideas to legitimize a new prophetic movement.

Muhammad encountered Jews and Christians, heard their scriptures, and sought to position himself as the heir to their traditions — while simultaneously reshaping their beliefs to suit his theological and political needs.

That’s not revelation. That’s revisionism.

6. Conclusion: A Broken Chain of Revelation

Islam’s central claim — that Allah sent the same message through all prophets — collapses under scrutiny.

The Bible and the Qur’an do not teach the same message. They contradict each other at every major theological turn.

And when two books disagree on foundational truths, they cannot both be from the same God.

So Muslims face a choice:

Either the Bible is true, and the Qur’an is a revision.
Or the Bible was corrupted — and Allah failed to preserve His own revelations for over a thousand years.

Either way, the claim of consistent, divine revelation from Adam to Muhammad does not hold up.

And if the foundation is false — how can the house stand?