The Quran and the Bible: how they compare

The Bible is a collection of books written over more than a thousand years. Christians divide it into the Old Testament, which largely corresponds to the Jewish Tanakh, and the New Testament, which contains the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, letters and the book of Revelation. Protestant Bibles have 66 books; Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional books.

The Quran is a single book of 114 chapters, called surahs, of varying length. Muslims believe it was revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel over about twenty-three years, from around 610 to 632 CE, in Arabic.

The Bible was written by many authors, including prophets, historians, poets and apostles, in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Its books were collected and recognized as scripture over centuries; the New Testament canon was broadly settled by the late fourth century.

The Quran was recited orally during Muhammad’s lifetime and written on various materials by his companions. Muslim tradition holds that a standard written text was compiled under the caliph Uthman around 650 CE. Muslims emphasize the Quran’s oral recitation and memorization, and many Muslims memorize the entire text.

Christians generally describe the Bible as inspired by God: God worked through human writers, whose personalities, languages and historical settings remain visible in the text. Christian traditions differ in how they describe inerrancy and how scripture relates to church tradition.

Muslims believe the Quran is the direct speech of God, not the words of Muhammad. Its Arabic wording is considered part of the revelation, which is why translations are regarded as interpretations of meaning rather than the Quran itself.

Much of the Bible is narrative: it tells a long story from creation through Israel’s history to the life of Jesus and the early church, alongside law, poetry, prophecy and letters.

The Quran is not arranged chronologically. Its surahs are mostly ordered from longest to shortest after the opening chapter, Al-Fatiha. It often refers to stories briefly, assuming the listener knows them, and focuses on their moral and spiritual lessons. Its style is rhythmic and meant to be recited aloud.

Many people appear in both books. Abraham, Moses and Noah are central in each. Mary is the only woman named in the Quran and has a surah named after her. Jesus appears in both, but differently.

In the Bible, Jesus is the Son of God whose crucifixion and resurrection bring salvation. In the Quran, Jesus is a prophet and the Messiah, born of a virgin and performing miracles, but not divine; the Quran states that he was not crucified, though the precise meaning of that passage has been debated. Some stories also differ in detail, such as which of Abraham’s sons was to be sacrificed.

The Quran refers to the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel as earlier revelations from God. Many Muslims believe these texts were later altered, so the Quran is the reliable criterion for judging them. Muslim scholars have discussed whether this alteration concerns the text itself or its interpretation.

Christians do not regard the Quran as scripture. They see the Bible as complete and God’s revelation as fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Both scriptures are read through traditions of interpretation. Christians use commentaries, creeds and church teaching; Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox Christians approach interpretation differently. Muslims rely on tafsir, commentary on the Quran, and on hadith, reports about Muhammad’s words and deeds, with Sunni and Shi’a traditions using different collections.

The Bible is read in Christian services in many languages, with readings from the Old Testament, Psalms, epistles and Gospels. The Quran is recited in Arabic in every Muslim prayer, and its recitation, tajwid, is a respected art. During Ramadan, many mosques recite the entire Quran over the month.

The Bible is a library of books by many authors in several languages, read as God’s inspired word. The Quran is a single Arabic text believed to be God’s literal speech. They share many figures and moral themes but present some, especially Jesus, very differently, and each religion understands the other’s scripture in its own way.