Summary
The Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, were written before the Holy Quran. The Old Testament of the Bible was completed approximately 500-100 BCE (Humayun, 1992), and the New Testament was completed approximately 50–130 CE (Nasir, 2003). The Quran, on the other hand, was written more recently, during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa), from 610 CE to 632 CE (“History of the Quran,” 2024). Therefore, the writing of the Bible predates the revelation of the Quran.
Table of Contents
Was the Bible written before the Quran?
Yes, the Bible was written before the Quran. The Bible was written over several centuries between 450 BCE and 95 CE, whereas the Quran was written in 610 CE. Therefore, the Bible predates the Quran by several centuries.
Jews and Christians believe and follow the guidance from the Bible. Muslims believe in both the Bible and Quran. However, they follow the guidance from the Quran as it is believed to be the unchanged Word of God. The words of the Quran are believed to have been preserved for 1400 years.
What is the Bible?
The Bible is the sacred book of Jews and Christians. It is composed of two main parts: the Old Testament, and the New Testament.
The Old Testament, known as the Hebrew Bible, is sacred in Judaism and Christianity. It includes five books that are referred to as the Torah in Judaism or Pentateuch in Christianity. The five books are:
The New Testament, specific to Christianity, focuses on Jesus Christ. It includes four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, letters from leaders, and the Book of Revelation. The Bible is a compilation of many texts combined together to form one sacred book.
What is the Quran?
The Quran is the sacred book of Islam. Muslims believe it to be the Word of God, revealed to Prophet Muhammad (as) through the angel Gabriel. It is written in Arabic and consists of 114 chapters.
The Quran covers various aspects of life and explains stories of the past. It is the primary source of guidance for Muslims. Its contents are believed to be conserved as they were revealed. Muslims believe the Quran is the final and complete book for all time. They also believe that it follows sequentially after the Torah and the Bible.
When was the Bible written?
The Bible was written over several centuries (between 450 BCE and 95 CE). It is composed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. It has many authors and the contents of the Bible have changed over time. In fact, the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox versions of the Old Testament are larger (Britannica).
The Old Testament was passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation since the time of Moses. No original manuscript of the Old Testament is found (Humayun, 1992).
It was composed by Ezra and some other scribes 450 years before the time of Jesus (as). They composed 204 books of the Old Testament. In 370-420 AD, a notable priest was assigned the task to edit the Bible to bring it to its current state. The priest himself noted that his recommendations for the edits were based on the fact that no original Hebrew text exists (Humayun, 1992).
The New Testament is made up of several parts. The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written between 60 and 95 AD. The Acts were written by Luke in 65 AD and contain history of the Church. The Epistles are letters which were written primarily by Paul. Revelation was written by John in 95 AD (Khan, 2009).
The New Testament is considered canon for Christians. It contains instances from the life of Jesus (as) and his sayings. It also contains details of the early years of the Christian church (Britannica).
Who wrote the Bible?
The Old Testament, or the Hebrew Bible, is the sacred book of Judaism, composed of five books of the Torah and many additional books by later prophets (Humayun, 1992). The Old Testament was composed by Ezra who lived approximately 450 years before Jesus, along with five other scribes. After the original was destroyed, Ezra and the scribes worked for forty days in seclusion, and rewrote the Old Testament from memory. It is recorded in the Bible, that the book is not completely reliable since it is based on human memory and there may be human interpolation.
The New Testament is composed of the four books of the Gospel and many additional chapters and books written predominantly by the apostle Paul. Of the books of the New Testament, the Gospels were written before the rest of the books and named after their alleged authors. However, the Gospels were in fact written anonymously (Malik, n.d.). The Gospel of Mark was the first of the Gospels to be written, at 65-70 CE, followed by Matthew and Luke at 80-85 CE, and lastly John written around 90-95 CE.
The original authors of the Gospels is a controversial matter. The Gospels are written in Greek and sentences are formed in the third person. This signifies that the author was literate and Greek-speaking, whereas the apostles of Jesus were uneducated, of lower class and Aramaic-speaking.
When was the Quran Revealed?
The words of the Quran were revealed by God to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) in small segments over 23 years (from 610 CE). The revelations were conveyed through the angel Gabriel.
The first revelation was during the month of Ramadan. At the time, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sa) was meditating in seclusion in cave Hira. He was 40 years old at the time. The revelations were completed approximately 23 years later, shortly before the Prophet’s demise.
At each revelation, to ensure accuracy, the angel Gabriel made the Prophet repeat the revealed verses. New revelations were memorized and recorded quickly.
Who wrote the Quran?
In order to preserve the words of the revelations from God, two methods were employed: memorization and scribing (Humayun, 1992). Aside from the Prophet (sa), four people were selected to memorize the revelations. Also, the revelations were repeated in the daily prayers to assist memorization.
Whenever revelations were received, the Prophet (sa) would call for scribes to note down the words. The angel Gabriel also recited the entire Quran to the Prophet (sa) once every Ramadan, and twice in the Prophet’s last Ramadan. This again served as a method of revision.
Through consistent revision of the revelations and scribing, the original words of the Quran have been preserved through time.
Does the Quran contain narratives of the Bible?
The Quran contains many narratives that are also found in the Bible. These include stories of past prophets, significant historical events, moral lessons, and more.
Some significant figures that are mentioned in both the Quran and Bible include: Adam and Eve, Noah and the flood, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and Jesus. The Quran, being a sacred text that has been preserved in its original form, contains narratives that are slightly different from some of the narratives in the Bible. This is because the Bible has been altered by human manipulation.
Why was the Quran revealed after the Bible?
The Holy Quran is a continuation of divine guidance for humanity, after the time of Moses and Jesus. Muslims believe that God sent a series of prophets who guided humanity in various regions of the earth. The Quran is considered to be the final and complete guidance for mankind.
The Quran builds upon the teachings of the Bible, as well as other holy scriptures before it. It gives clarification and corrects distortions that may have occurred in the earlier texts. Additionally, it addresses contemporary issues and provides guidance that is long-lasting. Muslims believe it to be the complete compilation of God’s message to man, and meant to be a guide until the end of time.
Conclusion
The Bible predates the Quran, as it was written many centuries before the Quran was revealed. However, several editions and revisions of the Bible exist and are in circulation today, which were edited in the 19th and 20th centuries. Due to human edits, improvements and refinements, it is difficult to say how much of the original text of the Bible remains. Therefore, it should be clear that it is the original text of the Bible which predates the Quran (Humayun, 1992). On the other hand, every Quran in print is the same, down to each stroke.
References:
History of the Quran. (2024, October 7). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Quran
Humayun, A. (1992). Islam the summit of religious evolution. Islam International Publications. https://files.alislam.cloud/pdf/ReligiousEvolution.pdf
Khan, K.S. (2009). The Qur`an and the Bible. Ahmadiyya Gazette USA. https://www.alislam.org/library/articles/The-Quran-and-the-Bible-200905.pdf
Malik, S. (n.d.) The history of the Bible: The making of the New Testament Canon. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.alislam.org/library/articles/History-of-the-Bible.pdf
Nasir, M.A. (2003). Analysis of the Divinely Revealed Status of the New Testament. The Review of Religions. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.alislam.org/articles/analysis-of-divinely-revealed-status-of-new-testament/
Bible. Description, History, Books, & Facts. Britannica. 12 Jan. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bible
The Quran – History of Text. The Review of Religions, February 1994. Retrieved January 15, 2025 from https://www.alislam.org/articles/quran-history-of-text