Apologetics/Mythology: Flippin’ Fatwa Friday – The Quran vs. The Bible: Surah Al-Baqarah Verses 30-39 and Surah Al-A’raf Verses 11-25

You may have noticed that I included the category “Mythology” to this one and be wondering why. Well, I added it because we’re talking about the Quranic creation account. Though it’s fairly similar to the Biblical creation story, it’s different in some very important ways that shine a light on some key differences between what Muslims and Christians believe.

Instead of writing all the verses here, I will summarize the creation account from the Quran and provide links to where you can read the verses for yourself (everything in red is a direct quotation from my translation of the Quran; other translations will vary somewhat). The reason for this is because apparently Allah, in his supposed wisdom and amazing writing skill, decided to narrate the creation account to Muhammed in different parts, so the version we get in Al-Baqarah (Surah 2) is shorter and less detailed than the also short account we get in Al-Araf (Surah 7). Why this was a good idea, I don’t know, but that’s just how it is, unfortunately. But onto the summary….

In the beginning, there was Allah and his angels, and while it doesn’t state this in the creation account, according to several other verses in other surahs (especially Surah 50:38), Allah had already created the world over the course of six aeons (because Muhammed didn’t want to be sued for copyright infringement if he said seven 24-hour days). While looking at what he had made, Allah then said, “I am (according to My usual practice) going to appoint a supreme religious head in the land (to convey My Message to human beings and to execute My will in the universe).” (2:30)

After Allah declared this, I imagine the angels got confused as they considered the implications of this, talked about it quietly amongst themselves, and finally asked, “Will You create (also) therein such (people) as will cause disorder in it and shed blood while we already glorify You with Your true praise and extol Your holiness?” (2:30).

This was a fair question, and Allah responded, “I know that which you do not know.” (2:30)

With that very clear answer that basically translated to “Shut up and go with it,” Allah proceeded to create Adam and his wife. Adam then became kind-of like Allah’s vice-regent on Earth who immediately got a homework assignment as Allah taught him the names of everything he had created.

Proud of his creation, Allah then brought Adam to the angels, and said, “Tell Me the names of these (things) if what you say is right.” (2:31)

The angels, probably sensing that this was a trick question, then answered, “Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except that which You have given us; You, indeed, only You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.” (2:32)

Happy with that answer, Allah then had Adam recite all the names of the angels and the things in creation (2:33), at which the angels marveled and when Allah told them all to make obeisance to Adam and all Adam’s future kids, they did, except for one angel, named Iblis (2:34, 7:11). Iblis, seeing that this was stupid, refused to bow to mankind (2:34, 7:11).

“What prevented you from submitting when I commanded you (to submit)?” Allah demanded. (7:12)

“I am better than he (the human being),” Iblis replied, fuming. “You created me from fire, whereas You created him from clay.” (7:12)

Angered by this, Allah then threw Iblis out of heaven (7:13-18), but not before Iblis promised to torment mankind and lead them astray (7:16-17). Seeming not at all concerned by this, Allah then turned to Adam and his wife and told them to go live in the Garden with the understanding that they were not to eat of or even approach the Tree of Evil (2:35, 7:19). However, similarly to the Biblical account, Iblis (Satan), tricked Adam and his wife into eating of the tree (2:36, 7:20-22), and Allah got angry with them and kicked them out of the garden (2:37-39, 7:23-25).

While the Quranic creation account is somewhat similar to the Biblical account, it is a clear perversion of it. The first difference is that in the Bible, man was created to be God’s friend, His steward on Earth (Genesis 1:26-30), not His vice-regent to be the supreme religious head of the land or something. If man is the supreme religious head over Earth, unless Allah is referring to Adam being a prophet or something, it raises man to an almost god-like status.

That leads me to the second difference, which is why Satan got kicked out of heaven. In the Bible, we know Satan got kicked out because he refused to bow to God and believed that he could be God (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:16-18). In the Quran, mankind is once again raised to a god-like level as Iblis is thrown down because he refuses to bow to man (which highlights another difference since the Bible says that man was made a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5, Hebrews 2:7-9).

Then there’s the third difference, which is the Tree of Good and Evil vs. the Tree of Evil. In the Bible, the Tree of Good and Evil was a way for man to learn the difference between good and evil and as long as they didn’t eat of the fruit, they could learn that without actually experiencing evil. However, the Quranic Tree of Evil implies that the tree was just pure evil (i.e. a grapefruit tree) and so the only thing that could be learned from it was evil. This makes Allah’s decision to put it there not one of an intent to teach, but one of overall stupidity.

Finally, there’s what each story teaches about the doctrine of sin and sin nature. The Biblical account is very clear that Adam and Eve’s disobedience put a curse on all humanity, where every person after them would be sinful and would suffer for it (Genesis 3:13-19). This then explains why humanity is the way it is and sets up why we need Christ.

Meanwhile, the Quran seems very confused about whether we have a sin nature or not. On one hand, this creation account (especially as told in Surah 7) seems to vaguely imply that humans have a sin nature at best or tiptoe around the subject at worst. On the other hand, because Adam and his wife are almost immediately forgiven because the entire thing was just a misunderstanding, the essential doctrine of original sin is lost. Thus, sin is something that just happens and unless you commit shirk (their version of blasphemy), Allah will just forgive you…maybe.

The reason why this is a dumb belief is because if the doctrine of original sin is lost, then we cannot explain why so many humans do bad things. For example, Islam teaches that everyone is born pure, not inherently corrupt, but if this is true, then how does a toddler know how to lie, or how do you explain an 8-year-old murdering three babies for fun. But I suppose that that would get in the way of man believing that he’s almost God.

Until next time,

M.J.