By Michael Hildreth

(All Koran quotations are taken from Pickthall’s translation of the Koran. All Bible quotations are taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible.)

Obliviously, many seekers of truth have gone about investigating the legitimacy of Christianity and Islam with a skewed impression of what their respective praised books have to offer. As we have examined, the evidences from a lack of moral principles and the conflicting doctrines of hate and malice to those with dissimilar views about religion point to the human origin of the Koran. Furthermore, the abundance of scientific errors points to the human fallacies evident within this depraved piece of literature. Contrastingly, the Bible is profuse with tender mercies, love and kindness toward one’s fellow man and contains scientific foreknowledge unprecedented in antiquity.

Let us examine some further considerations pertaining to the carnal derivation of the Muslim holy book.

Evidences from Human Sexuality and Gender Inequality

Both the Koran and the Bible speak to the sexual conduct of man and legislate what the faithful adherent of religion must and must not do in the bedroom. The standards of sexual behavior, however, contain colossal differences. The instructions of Mohammed about marriage, quite noticeably, are irreconcilably dissimilar to the teachings of Christ and his apostles in the New Testament. Christ’s expectation that all pious married persons remain married for life except in the case of unfaithfulness by the other spouse, is a high standard of morality (Matt 5:32; 19:9-12; Mk 10:10-12). This same edict is not reflected in the teachings of the Koran but is actually quite opposite to the instructions of Christ.

While the Patriarchs and Israel’s Kings practiced unencumbered polygamy, it is noteworthy that the God of the Bible never explicitly permitted such behavior. From the beginning of Creation, it was intended that one man and one woman would enjoy an enduring marriage relationship (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:4-8). Polygamy and divorce were later perversions of the life-long sexual relationship God had designed for humankind. These distortions of marriage were introduced because of the unwillingness of man to observe God’s pattern for human sexuality and marriage. Christ reaffirmed what was instituted by Jehovah God in the beginning. Mohammed, however, undermines Heaven’s design and institutes a contrasting marriage law which is unparalleled in depravity.

The Koran’s teaching exploits women with abhorrent regulations of extreme leniency for men and utter bondage and abuse reserved for the weaker vessel. Consider the commands from Surah 2:34,

Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great.

Several considerations should be made by the seeker of truth as he considers the instruction of this text:

  1. Men are considered excellent above women in the Koran. Whereas, the status of the genders, as it is presented in the Bible, is overwhelming with compassion and fairness for the weaker vessel (Gal 3:28; 1 Pe 3:7).
  2. A man is commanded, in the Koranic text, to withhold sexual gratification from his wife in retaliation for her “rebellion.” Banishing to a separate bed and scourging (beating) one’s wife seems hardly a moral standard instituted by a divine standard-bearer. It is clear that the source of this instruction is the repulsive imagination of a false prophet. In pronounced contrast, the God of the Bible commands Christians to never withhold sexual fulfillment from a spouse, except for agreed-to spiritual purposes. Notice this difference in divinely inspired Christian literature: “Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power over her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power over his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency. But this I say by way of concession, not of commandment.” (1 Cor 7:3-6)
  3. The command that a woman be obedient (submissive) to her husband is also expounded within the Bible. However, it is equally stressed that a Christian man love and honor his wife (Eph 5:25, 28; Col 3:19). The Koran contains no such equivalent instruction concerning the husband’s duty to his wife. Admonishments, beatings and depriving sex are the authorized tools for dealing with an unruly wife.

The sanction for Muslims to participate in the corrupt institution of polygamy is a further evidence of the Koran’s human shortcomings. The supposed prophecies of Mohammed conveniently gave him the special privileges to take other men’s wives, marry divorced women and even take a six year old girl in marriage (Surah 33:37, 50-53). As if this unrestrained sexual indulgence weren’t enough for the so-called prophet, his revelations further permitted him and other Muslim men to sexually subjugate female slaves captured in war (Surah 4:24). History and the Koranic tradition maintain that Mohammed had, at least, twelve wives and many female concubines acquired in victorious battles. Other Muslims were permitted to take up to four wives (Surah 4:3). The unbiased seeker of truth most certainly acknowledges the perversion of this unrestricted pedophilia and sexual objectifying of women.

Concerning divorce, the Koran gives Muslim men the authority to end a marriage for any cause (Surah 4:129, 130). A Muslim woman, however, may never divorce her husband regardless of the severity of his offenses against her. A divine author would surely not create such a degenerate and prejudicial social law. The dictums of the Koran concerning wedlock and the treatment of women are detestable to any unbiased person, especially from the perspective of one familiar with the law of Christ.

Anthropological Considerations

The Koran is a collection of writings with a similar theme throughout. The greatness of God is pronounced with monotonous repetitions. Nevertheless, it is a book which glorifies the wicked ways of man. In every chapter (Surah), man is being encouraged to continue in activities which man has always done in modern and ancient history alike: Fight, kill, molest, cut off limbs, lie, and impose coercive taxes on “unbelievers.” There is no difficult, yet higher path which is made possible to attain with the help of a powerful God. In the Koran, God’s expectations are incomprehensible for an omnibenevolent being to demand. There are many examples of this inexplicable behavior of the God of the Koran. Notice Surah 15:26-34,

“’Verily We created man of potter’s clay of black mud altered, And the jinn did We create aforetime of essential fire.’ And remember when thy Lord said unto the angels: ‘Lo! I am creating a mortal out of potter’s clay of black mud altered, so, when I have made him and have breathed into him of My Spirit, do ye fall down, prostrating yourselves unto him.’ So the angels fell prostrate, all of them together Save Iblis. He refused to be among the prostrate. He said: ‘O Iblis (Satan, MH)! What aileth thee that thou art not among the prostrate?’ He said: ‘I am not one to prostrate myself unto a mortal whom Thou hast created out of potter’s clay of black mud altered!’ He said: ‘Then go thou forth from hence, for lo! thou art outcast.’”

The Bible teaches that man was made lower than the angels (Psa 8:5; Heb 2:6, 7). It is inconceivable that God would command the angels to worship mortal man. As Jesus stated,

“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt 4:10b).

Nevertheless, the Koran is a book which presents the world from a lascivious perspective and glorifies man (centrally Mohammed) as the supreme ruler of earth. “Allah” is used as his justification for engaging in the most heinous acts of uninhibited iniquity. It is under this guise of piety that almost one sixth of the world has suffered under a repressive religion of intolerance and hate. Instead of honoring a God of immensely great virtues, the Koran honors the whimsical lusts of man – all in the name of God and religion. In this sense, it may be said that Islam has more in common with humanism than with Christianity.

In contrast to the near deification of Mohammed in the Koran, the Bible presents man with a full picture of his existence. The triumphs and failures of Bible figures are made evident in the text of the Bible. Jacob deceived his father and stole his brother’s blessing. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Peter denied his Lord three times. Thomas doubted the resurrection. These people of faith have revealed that they fail, at times, as well. They have done much good for God and his Kingdom but the Bible clearly teaches that the glory belongs to God and his Son, Jesus the Christ. As an alternative, the Koran is a book which glorifies sinful man along with a feeble attempt to justify his repugnant behavior. The Koran is replete with examples of obviously sinful behavior being condoned and supposedly sanctioned by the Almighty.

Further evidences for the human origin of the Koran will be presented in the third and final part of this critique.