Is the Koran based on the Bible?

No, it is not. It is based on the (alleged) statements of Mohammed (as in The Prophet), which were said to have been written down by his followers--he was himself illiterate. The earliest known copies of the Qu'ran date from about two centuries after the death of Mohammed, so it cannot be said with any certainty that all the material is genuine.

That Mohammed, and the Companions (a specific, honorific title for his followers who joined him in exile) were influenced by what christians call the old testament is highly likely. Confessional Judaism--which means being religiously Jewish without being ethnically Jewish--was very wide-spread in the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century. The Jews and Arabs are Semitic people, and there was another, far more influential Semitic people who had spread throughout the middle east and into central Asia, and eventually all the way to China, know as the Aramaeans. They were influential in the middle east and central Asia because they became the most prominent group of merchant traders in the region--which also explains how they got as far away as China. Their influence was so great that long before the time when the putative Jesus is alleged to have lived, Aramaic (their language) had become the lingua franca of the middle east, and was the language spoken in Palestine at the time when your boy Jesus is alleged to have lived.

Most of the Aramaeans became confessional Jews, and they spread their new religious beliefs along with their language as they traveled from the shore of the Mediterranean to the China Sea. After christianity got all fired up, Nestorian christians followed the path of the Aramaic merchants, and they also ended up in China. Some of the evidence of this is to be found in Marco Polo's account of his journeys, where he talks about christians, Jews and "Saracens" (i.e., muslims) living in the lands controlled by the Great Kahn. There is no evidence, though, that christianity ever became particularly popular among the Aramaeans, who were dwindling and being absorbed by other populations then, anyway.

The Aramaeans hung on in the largest numbers in the Arabian peninsula, an important trade nexus. At the time of Mohammed, the great majority of Arabs were either pagan, or confessional Jews--christianity had made almost no headway among them, with only tiny communities of Syriac and Nestorian christians. There is no good reason to assert that the Qu'ran is "based" on Jewish or christian texts--and lost of good reason to deny it. However, it is entirely reasonable to point to the strong influence of confessional Judaism in the Arabian peninsula in the 7th century.

"Is the Qur'an based on the Bible?"
This is indeed a very important question and I thank you very much, cello, for asking it.
Here is a logical answer, provided by an Islamic Scholar (and I totally agree with him on it):


I. LOGICAL GROUNDS TO PROVE THAT THE PROPHET DID NOT LEARN THE QUR'AN FROM JEWS OR CHRISTIANS

1. The day-to-day life of the Prophet was an open book for all to see. In fact a revelation came asking people to give the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) privacy in his own home. If the Prophet had been meeting people who told him what to say as a revelation from God, this would not have been hidden for very long.
2. The extremely prominent Quraish nobles who followed the Prophet and accepted Islam were wise and intelligent men who would have easily noticed anything suspicious about the way in which the Prophet brought the revelations to them - more so since the Prophetic mission lasted 23 years.
3. The enemies of the Prophet kept a close watch on him in order to find proof for their claim that he was a liar - they could not point out even a single instance when the Prophet may have had a secret rendezvous with particular Jews and Christians.
4. It is inconceivable that any human author of the Qur'an would have accepted a situation in which he received no credit whatsoever for originating the Qur'an.

Thus, historically and logically it cannot be established that there was a human source for the Qur'an.


II. MUHAMMAD (PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON HIM) WAS UNLETTERED

The theory that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) authored the Qur'an or copied from other sources can be disproved by the single historical fact that he was illiterate.

Allah testifies Himself in the Qur'an:
"And thou was not (able) to recite a Book before this (Book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: in that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted."
[Al-Qur'an 29:48]

Allah Almighty knew that many would doubt the authenticity of the Qur'an and would ascribe it to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore Allah in His Divine Wisdom chose the last and final Messenger to be an , i.e. unlettered, so that the talkers of vanity would not then have the slightest justification to doubt the Prophet. The accusation of his enemies that he had copied the Qur'an from other sources and rehashed it all in a beautiful language might have carried some weight, but even this flimsy pretence has been deprived to the unbeliever and the cynic.
Allah reconfirms in the Qur'an in Surah A'raf chapter 7 verse 157:
"Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in their own (Scriptures) in the Law and the Gospel"

The prophecy of coming of the unlettered Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is also mentioned in the Bible in the book of Isaiah chapter 29 verse 12:
"And the book is delivered to him that is not learned."
[Isaiah 29:12]

The Qur'an testifies in no less than four different places that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was illiterate. It is also mentioned in Surah A'raf chapter 7 verse 158 and in Surah Al-Jumu'a chapter 62 verse 2.



III. ARABIC VERSION OF THE BIBLE WAS NOT PRESENT

The Arabic version of the Bible was not present at the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). The earliest Arabic version of the Old Testament is that of R. Saadias Gaon of 900 C.E. - more than 250 years after the death of our beloved Prophet. The oldest Arabic version of the new Testament was published by Erpenius in 1616 C.E. - about a thousand years after the demise of our Prophet.



IV. SIMILARITIES IN THE QUR'AN AND THE BIBLE DUE TO COMMON SOURCE

Similarities between the Qur'an and the Bible does not necessarily mean that the former has been copied from the latter. In fact it gives evidence that both of them are based on a common third source; all divine revelations came from the same source - the one universal God. No matter what human changes were introduced into some of these Judeo-Christian and other older religious scriptures that had distorted their originality, there are some areas that have remained free from distortion and thus are common to many religions.

It is true that there are some similar parallels between the Qur'an and the Bible but this is not sufficient to accuse Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) of compiling or copying from the Bible. The same logic would then also be applicable to teachings of Christianity and Judaism and thus one could wrongly claim that Jesus (peace and blessings be upon him) was not a genuine Prophet (God forbid) and that he simply copied from the Old Testament.

The similarities between the two signify a common source that is one true God and the continuation of the basic message of monotheism and not that the later prophets have plagiarized from the previous .

If someone copies during an examination he will surely not write in the answer sheet that he has copied from his neighbor or Mr. XYZ.
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) gave due respect and credit to all the previous prophets (peace and blessings be upon them). The Qur'an also mentions the various revelations given by Almighty God to different prophets.

Its the other way around.
The Bible is the christians own interpretation of what the Qur'an says. They took away what they don't like and added what they like and there you go you have the Bible. The bible is in fact fake but people don't know that. The Bible was made after the Quran was finished.

lmao Yuh! Okies...

That's a rather weird statement. The bible is fake? Fake how?
Fake as in; not the word of God or ...? Care to elaborate?

It is not what people believe it to be.

Setanta,

Your explanation does not explain the fact that many Biblical characters... from Abraham to Jesus and John the Baptist, made their way into the Koran.

The people responsible for the Koran were certainly aware of Biblical (both Jewish and Christian) stories.

Did you actually read it, or did you just skim it? I pointed out repeatedly that Confessional Jews were a major, significant portion of the population of the Arabian peninsula in the late 6th and early 7th century. Did you need a road map?

Set,

I am unfamiliar with the term "Confessional Jews" and a cursory Google search came up with not-too-surprising garbage.

I have read parts of the Koran, but I claim no expertise. I do have Biblical training (from my earlier foray into Evangelical Christianity, but that is another story altogether).

Still it seems obvious to me that there was Christian (if not Biblical) influence in the writing of the Koran. The very fact that John the Baptist and the Virgin birth of Jesus exist in the Koran strongly suggests this is the case.

A confessional Jew is someone who practices Judaism as a religion without being ethnically a Jew. The point is that all of the characters of the "stories" which make up the bible were known to Arabs in the late 6th and early 7th centuries. Which is no reason to assume that the illiterate goatherd who is alleged to have been Allah's conduit for revealed truth based his pronouncements on the text of the bobble.

The fact that he was illiterate strongly suggests that he did not. The prevalence of confessional Judaism in the Arabian peninsula provides more than enough evidence for the familiarity with biblical "stories" which is shown in the text of the Qu'ran.

In case you need a road map for that, the title of this thread is: "Is the Koran based on the Bible?" The title is not: "Was the text of the Qu'ran influenced by biblical stories?"

Thank you very much for your explanations, Setanta, Muslim1 and EBrown-p.

I would like to say first that the word "based" was used loosely as I really did not know what to expect. "Based" I meant like the NT was based on the OT, since it is a "continuation". Kind of like a sequel. So both of you, Setanta and Ebrown-p could interpret the way you did and it is perfectly fine with me. I guess references to the persons mentioned in the Bible could easily make one think there is a "relation" between the Koran and the Bible.

I agree with you, Setanta, that because of the background of knowledge of the Confessional Jews, that when the Koran was written, of course, the writers would have been influenced by such knowledge. It is the same thing with the story of the flood in the OT, apparently there were similar older versions of the flood (but maybe without Noah) and that would have been reflected in the OT.

Interesting your quote about the Prophet in the OT, Muslim1. What means a Prophet, by the way?