​In 610 AD, the Prophet Muhammad received revelation from the angel Gabriel who instructed him to recite (qura) to his companions called Hafiz, who memorized the recitations.

• He continued with the revelations until his death in the year 632. 

The According to Qur’an 7:157, the Prophet himself was illiterate.

• These recitations were finally canonized either before or after the death of Muhammad.

• As with the Bible, there are scholarly debates as to the details, years and method of collection of the 6,236 verses.

Biblical characters the Qur’an talks about:

• Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel,
• Abraham, Mount Sinai, Noah, Job, Aaron, David
• Solomon and Sheba, Moses, Elijah, Lot
• Heaven, Satan, Hell, Angels,
• End Times, Judgment Day, Sin,
• Zechariah, Joseph, John the Baptist,
• Mary and Jesus (or Isa in Arabic).

The Qur'an endorses the Bible:

• The Qur’an endorses both holy books of Jews and Christians, giving them a place of honor.
• Christians and Jews are referred to as "the people of the book" 

In the Qur'an, there are over 100 references asserting the same stories and validity of spiritual truths in the al-Turat (Torah), Zubor (Psalms), and Injil (New Testament).

Examples Include:

• Say, “O People of the Book (Christians)! Ye have no ground to stand upon unless ye stand fast by the Turat (Torah), the Injil (Gospel), and all the revelation that has come to you from your Lord. Sura 5:68

• Dispute ye not with the People of the Book (Christians)... but say, “We believe in the revelation which has come down to us and in that which has come down to you; our God and your God is one; and it is to Him we bow.” Sura 29:46

• "And We gave them The Book which helps to make things clear." Sura 37:117

• "And He sent down the Turat (Torah) and Injil (Gospel) before this, as a guide to mankind." Sura 3:3-4

• Before this We wrote in the Psalms, after the Torah: “My servant, the righteous, shall inherit the earth.” Sura 21:105

• We believe in Allah, and the revelations given to us, and to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the descendants and that given to Moses and Jesus and that given to all Prophets from their Lord... Sura 2:136

• "We gave Moses the Book." Sura 2:87

• Each one believeth in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers... Sura 2:285

• "Those to whom We have sent The Book study it as it should be studied." Sura 2:121

You decide:

When one examines the context, the so called violent verses are they any different than the so-called violent verses in the Bible?

Violence in the Qur’an:  What about the verses saying to rise up and go slay the infidels?

• They are there! They are quoted repeatedly both by Muslim militants for purposes of exploitation & by their critics for purposes of denunciation.

A Shocking Comparison:

If we compared the violent verses in the Bible to a similar list drawn from the Qur’an, shockingly to most Christians, the Bible comes out as 3-5 times more violent. (See list of these verses INSERT LINK)

Qur’an Example: Qur’an’s “verse of the sword” is one of the most infamous verses:

• “But when the forbidden (sacred) months are past, slay the pagans wherever ye find them. And seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem.”

Context: In A.D. 632, Muhammad and his followers signed a peace treaty with a neighboring tribe, the Quraysh.

• Two years later, the Quraysh betrayed the treaty and went on the attack against the Muslims’ allies, the Khuzzas, nearly annihilating them.

• In fact, the term “pagans” in these suras does not refer to all people in the world who do not follow Islam; it refers specifically to the Muslims’ military opponents of the time, who’d just abrogated a peace treaty and were massacring their friends.

Back to sura 9:5 ....Sounds like a pretty unequivocal, unambiguous order for a mass execution . . . until one realizes that those who quote it usually leave out the second half of the verse:

• “But if they repent and establish regular prayers and practice regular charity, then open the way for them (let them go on their way). For Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful.”

Homicide is against the Qur’an: Much like the 10 commandments of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible), the Qur’an expressly forbids homicide:

• Example 1: Take not life, which Allah hath made sacred, expect by way of justice and law: thus doth He command you, that ye may learn wisdom. sura 6:151

• Example 2: If anyone slew a person-unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land-it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. sura 5:32

Old Testament Examples: 

• Now go and smite the Amalekites, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both men and women, young people and infants, oxen and sheep, camels, and asses. 1 Samuel 15:3

• You shall defeat them; then you shall utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant (peace treaty) with them, nor show mercy to them. Deuteronomy 7:2

And perhaps most most poignant of all, the telegraphically brief commentary on what Joshua did upon conquering the little kingdom of Hazor:

• They...annihilated them, and they did not leave a soul among them Joshua 11:14
• Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks. Psalm 137:9

• Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks. Psalm 137:9

BUT there is a "metaphorical, cultural, or historical context for those verses,” argue Christian apologists.

• There are some 600 passages of explicit violence in the Old Testament attributed directly to God (“But they had their reasons!” “Those people were being persecuted by ungodly neighbors!”
• The pre-flood corruption, the fallen angels corrupting God's creation (see Genesis 6, Jude, Enoch) and the remnants (or repeat) after Noah's generation also gives context to this violence.

COMMON GROUND

Can Christians give the same deference of explanation to the contextual and ​metaphorical interpretations of the Qur'an to Muslims arguing for peaceful renderings of their text as they do with their own?